Straight Down Vertical Imagery Options

[wilbev]

My main intent is to get the DJI Phantom Vision for capturing still images from a directly down perspective vs. the more typical bird-eyes imagery and video. I'm guessing the integrated camera in the Vision does not make this possible? It only points the lens mostly forward vs. straight down? If that's the case, and maybe I should rather post this in the Phantom 2 section, let me know if I should. But could there be a way to do this with a Go Pro with one of the Gimbal mount?. Seems like the length of lenses could extend past the length of landing gears and be an issue. Maybe the higher end Spreading Wings is a better fit for this?

Thanks...

 

[havasuphoto]

My main intent is to get the DJI Phantom Vision for capturing still images from a directly down perspective vs. the more typical bird-eyes imagery and video. I'm guessing the integrated camera in the Vision does not make this possible? It only points the lens mostly forward vs. straight down? If that's the case, and maybe I should rather post this in the Phantom 2 section, let me know if I should. But could there be a way to do this with a Go Pro with one of the Gimbal mount?. Seems like the length of lenses could extend past the length of landing gears and be an issue. Maybe the higher end Spreading Wings is a better fit for this?

Thanks...

Phantom 1+Zenmouse Gimbal,no problem. Phantom 2 is the same as Phantom 1 but with bigger battery, and can be purchased bundled with the Gimbal. Mine tilts straight down, and the lens of the GP3 clears the landing gear with ease. Even in Wide mode, the gear does not appear in the video's I shoot.

 

[wilbev]

Thanks for the reply and great information havasuphoto. So the Gimbal mount bundled with the Phantom 2 can be easily adjusted to point straight down? Great. So when you do this, is there issues with landing it and the lenses hitting the ground first and thus not allowing proper landing? Or is it not a big deal since the GP3 lenses is durable enough?

 

[Pull_Up]

You can adjust the tilt in the air with the transmitter - bring it back up to horizontal before landing if required.

 

[havasuphoto]

Thanks for the reply and great information havasuphoto. So the Gimbal mount bundled with the Phantom 2 can be easily adjusted to point straight down? Great. So when you do this, is there issues with landing it and the lenses hitting the ground first and thus not allowing proper landing? Or is it not a big deal since the GP3 lenses is durable enough?

It depends on the type of ground you land on. I tilt my camera back up before landing. I also take-off and land from my own "helipad" that I take with me. It's a big rubbermaid tub, and holds the Quad, remote, monitor, etc. I have it taped on the top, with graduated markings to help me reproduce the exact tilt angle I want when filming. You can also tilt while flying.

However....IF you get the new Zenmouse Gimbal, Do Not update to firmware 1.60....stay with 1.40. The newer firmware corrected 1 problem-sometimes the Gimbal will just enter Hibernation mode for a few seconds, for no apparent reason.
However, they have made the tilt much too sensitive and jerky now. Also, before you could tilt the lens about 30 degrees higher than level-to really protect the lens. Now, the camera will only tilt level, at max nose up. It still tilts full down.

Make your own "helipad"..that way, no matter where you fly(high grass, rocks, snow), you're landing on the same surface each time.

 

[wilbev]

You can adjust the tilt in the air with the transmitter - bring it back up to horizontal before landing if required.

Cool, didn't realize that. So you can do that both with the Vision camera as well as a GP Hero3? Now I'm wondering which camera is better for still images, any idea?

 

[wilbev]

Thanks for the reply and great information havasuphoto. So the Gimbal mount bundled with the Phantom 2 can be easily adjusted to point straight down? Great. So when you do this, is there issues with landing it and the lenses hitting the ground first and thus not allowing proper landing? Or is it not a big deal since the GP3 lenses is durable enough?

It depends on the type of ground you land on. I tilt my camera back up before landing. I also take-off and land from my own "helipad" that I take with me. It's a big rubbermaid tub, and holds the Quad, remote, monitor, etc. I have it taped on the top, with graduated markings to help me reproduce the exact tilt angle I want when filming. You can also tilt while flying.

However....IF you get the new Zenmouse Gimbal, Do Not update to firmware 1.60....stay with 1.40. The newer firmware corrected 1 problem-sometimes the Gimbal will just enter Hibernation mode for a few seconds, for no apparent reason.
However, they have made the tilt much too sensitive and jerky now. Also, before you could tilt the lens about 30 degrees higher than level-to really protect the lens. Now, the camera will only tilt level, at max nose up. It still tilts full down.

Make your own "helipad"..that way, no matter where you fly(high grass, rocks, snow), you're landing on the same surface each time.

Cool idea on the Helipad with a rubbermaid tub. I don't have anything purchased, I'm still in pre-buy mode. Now I'm trying decide on whether to go with the Vision or the Phantom 2 + GP3. I'm mostly interested in the still images with lens pointed down.

 

[Pull_Up]

You can adjust the tilt in the air with the transmitter - bring it back up to horizontal before landing if required.

Cool, didn't realize that. So you can do that both with the Vision camera as well as a GP Hero3? Now I'm wondering which camera is better for still images, any idea?

No, the Vision camera stops at about 60 degrees. The Phantom 2 brushless gimbal will allow you to go all the way to 90. The Vision camera can be controlled remotely by your phone app to about 1000ft range (depending on terrain) - shutter, exposure, start and stop video, etc, all on the fly. The GoPro can't be remotely controlled to the same range if at all (only certain models of GoPro have wifi control but range is apparently in the order of 100ft or less. Generally it was not recommended to have GoPro wifi turned on as may interfere with Phantom - not sure if that carries over to new P2

The quality of the cameras is to some extent subjective, of course. The Vision jpegs are generally good but are obviously a compressed format. However it can shoot in RAW (proprietary format, not editable at the moment) with a firmware upgrade in the pipeline to shoot in DNG RAW which a lot of people are waiting for in order to see the true ability of the camera. Some cameras have had defective lenses leading to softening either to the right or left side - people have been having these replaced under warranty.

There are several threads with photos over on the Vision section of this forum if you want to see what they look like before people have got their hands on the RAW files...