Fun with quadcopters...

[Anx]

I figured I would pick up a quadcopter before they made them illegal here in the US, and really have been having a blast with it.  The particular one I got is the DJI Phantom (I've subsequently bought 3 more, but the Phantom is still my go to one), but I pretty heavily modified it.

Since I have this crazy notion that even my hobbies should at least support themselves a bit, I made my quad work for it's food and shot this:

Tour of UC Mesa

It's surprising stable indoors, and my outdoor footage would have been better if it hadn't been as windy and the sun was in a better spot.

[meladdo]

Not sure what camera you have used - GoPro? But after seeing some footage from one - what about adding one of the new Sony BOSS equipped camcorders for some extra stable motion shots - the Balanced Optical Steady Shot system is very good, and better than anything I have seen in a consumer full HD camcorder - well without using a gimbal system......

[Anx]

Yup, I used the GoPro Hero 3 Black... I'll check out the Sony, but my guess is that it's too heavy for this quad - I could get more weight if I switched to wood or carbon fiber blades, but TBH I'm a bit too scared, especially with my track record of hitting things. 

As configured with camera this quad came in at about $3k, I think I'm going to built my own Octa (8 rotor) which will definitely have enough carrying capacity, but will also run probably 2x the price.  The Octa's can carry DSLR's, so a smaller compact would be no factor.

The cheapest solution is to just run some software stabilization on it after it's done, but I was pretty enamored of the performance of the gimbal, so I just went with it as is (plus editing the video is not nearly as much fun as flying it around).  I was running the GoPro in it's medium angle mode, so it shows more motion that if I went the full wide angle, but even the fisheye effect of the medium is on the edge for me.

[meladdo]

Not a criticism you understand! just a suggestion - although I obviously have no reference point with ariel video acquisition - 3k is a fair chunk of change...The other copters you talk of are huge too - I have seen one in action over a tall ships festival in Liverpool equipped with a DSLR - I assume a Cannon.

Its way cheaper than a full size helicopter and camera operator and pilot though ....

[Anx]

heheh, not taken in a negative way, so don't worry.    It's definitely not cheap, but the advantage of not having the pucker factor of a $10k+ machine hit the floor is nice.  I hit something on the ceiling in our other building, and it promptly flipped over and fell about 30 feet before smashing into the cement floor.  The shaft on the gimbals roll motor was the only casualty, and that's easily replaced.

Canon's are definitely a popular camera for these, but so is the Red - someone told me about one that crashed into a light as the local track here, nothing survived in that instance.  That's always the way it goes, the cheap one can take a beating, and the expensive one gets looked at wrong and breaks.

Real helicopters would actually be cheaper for me because I happen to be a pilot for them already.  The big challenge there would be flying it inside the warehouse. 

[AtomMadStew]

Quad copters illegal but guns legal.....strange laws your side of the water