Two features it should have: Optical Zoom and 1080p Lightbridge

Bocephus-73 · Mar 2, 2016

Dirty Bird said:
Hunted my entire life. Perhaps you could just tie the game to a tree so the "hunters" bag a kill? Were you a member of the crew who lured Cecil the lion from his sanctuary? That dentist sure would be ticked if he didn't "hunt" himself a lion!

I see from your responses living with the big game has impacted your people skills & suspect you won't be around long. Have a nice day!

Rather interesting that you have no credible retort to my statement about using rifle scopes and binoculars in hunting?

When I make a really solid argument for using drones with zoom cameras for big-game scouting --- I find it predictable I get a meaningless tangential response about Cecil the Lion.

Dirty Bird · Mar 2, 2016

I'm certain in your mind it was a "solid" analogy, but it's only "solid" to you. Hunters learn the behavior & movement of their prey. Spotting them from the air with a drone? That's like a FLIR satellite view leading you to the target. May as well just tie them to a tree....

Bocephus-73 said:
Rather interesting that you have no credible retort to my statement about using rifle scopes and binoculars in hunting?

When I make a really solid argument for using drones with zoom cameras for big-game scouting --- I find it predictable I get a meaningless tangential response about Cecil the Lion.

herein2014 · Mar 2, 2016

Bocephus-73 said:
You're looking at this issue with a lot of tunnel vision. PLENTY of people want optical zoom -- there are literally hundreds of uses for it. I quoted in another thread about how I've used my P3P for scouting game ahead of hunting season for deer and turkey. You might not be a hunter or have knowledge of animal behavior, but I can tell you it's very hard for a P3 to descend on a herd of deer in order to check antler points on a trophy buck! They tend to scatter once you get below 200 feet because of the prop noise. A nice zoom would allow me to stay above 200' to not spook the critters while I snap some choice photos of any possible big-rack bucks. I've snapped photos with my P3P at 200' and all you can see is deer-shaped brown objects --- not good enough for analyzing rack size and points.

Also think about the implications of zoom on search-and-rescue teams that already use Phantom drones. When time is running out on finding a missing person, you dont have the luxury of doing broad panoramic shots from 400' high and then heading back to the office to analyze the video. What's urgently needed is a zoom feature that can allow teams to easily distinguish between a rock or a dead body hidden in the underbrush. These kinds of details can mean life or death.

Try to open your mind and you'll see that there are many, many uses for a zoom camera on a drone.

There are drones that have all of that, it's called $20K plus platforms. They have everything from night vision to infrared to zoom. At this price point its simply not going to happen. The DJI products are built for the masses, not the niche cases. If you want a full terrain mapping aerial platform with every sensor you can think of then you are looking at over $40K. PLENTY of people can want it, but afford it is a different scenario. I'm looking at the DJI products for what they are; fantastic aerial photography and mediocre videography platforms; anything beyond that and the price goes north very quickly.

Even the $40K drones do not have optical zoom, due to the stability issues mentioned previously. They have either thermal imaging, or they have much higher resolution cameras which allow you to digitally zoom without distortion.

And if you are using a Phantom to find a missing person you are using the wrong equipment, last time I checked they are using re-purposed Predators and Reapers to look for missing persons, and I can assure you they can spot a missing person from 20K+ feet up.