Hi folks, I'm an experienced photographer, with some curiosity about aerial photography and an impending need to do some real estate photography for an overseas property my family owns and manages. I've dismissed drone ownership until recently.
Last April, NewEgg had a refurbished Phantom 3 Advanced on sale cheap. When I did a little reading it seemed to be a decent photography platform so I bit the bullet. The drone is registered now (and labeled) but I really don't have any Part 107 intentions.
I participate in a ham radio club and recently read an article about how drones can be useful for antenna inspections so I'm looking forward to being useful in that regard.
After a little reading I picked up an iPad 3 Mini on eBay to use just for the drone. I tether it to my iPhone to get Internet access for mapping and to reach DJI.
I got off to a shaky start. I watched lots of YouTube videos, figured I was pretty well prepared, then updating the firmware on the remote controller ended up with me "bricking" it - no fault of mine. But DJI's service was superlative. They paid for shipping both ways and turned the kit around the day the got it.
Me having twelve thumbs, I managed to crash my drone into my car within the first ten seconds of flight. Threw on the included spare props and I was good to go. No crashes since then. But I ordered more props after that. My car's front right quarter panel now has the coolest marks from the props!
I also ordered a DJI sun shade - perfect size for the iPad Mini - and fished out a lanyard from a computer show to help support the controller. But I need to use fit a camera strap instead, to be more comfy around my neck.
First impressions...
As a photog, not having an aperture control seems a little peculiar but it doesn't matter for what I'm doing.
Saving pics is SLOW. Waiting for bracketing is painful. My aging Adobe CS2 machine won't read the DNG (raw) files but my only slightly aging CS4 machine will.
I miss not having a zoom lens.
Radio range is a bit of a challenge. NYC is of course full of interference but I seem lucky if I can get as far as 200 yards downrange before loss of radio contact makes it come back to daddy.
I wish camera tilt was smoother. Less "stepped". Yes, I've fiddled with the settings. And the smoothest setting has a lot of lag, then keeps going after you let go of the control.
A second aircraft battery would be a nice addition to my kit. But they do charge fairly quickly. So far I haven't gotten more than 19 minutes of flight but it seems to be creeping up.
I'm thinking of picking up a travel case but for now, I think wrapping the OEM box in gaffers tape will do just fine. The documentation pocket is just the right size to keep the iPad.
The plastic gadget supplied to stabilize the camera mechanism during travel tends to fall off. It fell off when I received the P3A from NewEgg. And it fell off when I received the serviced unit back from DJI.
Auto-landing works well (i.e., for critical battery) but seems to land a little hard.
That's all I can think of at the moment. Looking forward to getting up to speed.
Last April, NewEgg had a refurbished Phantom 3 Advanced on sale cheap. When I did a little reading it seemed to be a decent photography platform so I bit the bullet. The drone is registered now (and labeled) but I really don't have any Part 107 intentions.
I participate in a ham radio club and recently read an article about how drones can be useful for antenna inspections so I'm looking forward to being useful in that regard.
After a little reading I picked up an iPad 3 Mini on eBay to use just for the drone. I tether it to my iPhone to get Internet access for mapping and to reach DJI.
I got off to a shaky start. I watched lots of YouTube videos, figured I was pretty well prepared, then updating the firmware on the remote controller ended up with me "bricking" it - no fault of mine. But DJI's service was superlative. They paid for shipping both ways and turned the kit around the day the got it.
Me having twelve thumbs, I managed to crash my drone into my car within the first ten seconds of flight. Threw on the included spare props and I was good to go. No crashes since then. But I ordered more props after that. My car's front right quarter panel now has the coolest marks from the props!
I also ordered a DJI sun shade - perfect size for the iPad Mini - and fished out a lanyard from a computer show to help support the controller. But I need to use fit a camera strap instead, to be more comfy around my neck.
First impressions...
As a photog, not having an aperture control seems a little peculiar but it doesn't matter for what I'm doing.
Saving pics is SLOW. Waiting for bracketing is painful. My aging Adobe CS2 machine won't read the DNG (raw) files but my only slightly aging CS4 machine will.
I miss not having a zoom lens.
Radio range is a bit of a challenge. NYC is of course full of interference but I seem lucky if I can get as far as 200 yards downrange before loss of radio contact makes it come back to daddy.
I wish camera tilt was smoother. Less "stepped". Yes, I've fiddled with the settings. And the smoothest setting has a lot of lag, then keeps going after you let go of the control.
A second aircraft battery would be a nice addition to my kit. But they do charge fairly quickly. So far I haven't gotten more than 19 minutes of flight but it seems to be creeping up.
I'm thinking of picking up a travel case but for now, I think wrapping the OEM box in gaffers tape will do just fine. The documentation pocket is just the right size to keep the iPad.
The plastic gadget supplied to stabilize the camera mechanism during travel tends to fall off. It fell off when I received the P3A from NewEgg. And it fell off when I received the serviced unit back from DJI.
Auto-landing works well (i.e., for critical battery) but seems to land a little hard.
That's all I can think of at the moment. Looking forward to getting up to speed.
