Advice on Drone?

[Walter Schulz]

Hi!

I will visit South America by motorbike. 5 months, I think. I want to keep my photo gear light. Just travel tripod, 100D/SL1 and some "plastic" lenses (EF-S 10-18, EF-S 18-55, maybe an 18-135 USM). Landscape, panos, some architecture, mostly. Thinking about adding a (small) drone to this. Does not have to carry a 100D! And no intention to accompany the bike while driving. But:
- 1080p video + higher res stills, if available. RAW for stills, please!
- must do have some high altitude abilities

No experience with drones, yet. And no unlimited budget.

[ArcziPL]

No experience here at all but check the offers of DJI. Once I thought about purchasing a drone and Spark was an interesting candicate. It is tiny, delivers decent quality, price/value ratio is quite good. With some mods it seems you can reach over 1000 meters altitude (but with such small drone and thus a small battery it doesn't make sense to go to that high). 1080p30 video with 2-axis stabilisation, 12Mpix stills. Unfortunately they strip it ouf of RAW format. To get it you need to grab much deeper in your pocket, at least with DJI products.

[Walter Schulz]

Thanks!
I may have made a mistake: I wanted to ask about drones able to operate well in highly elevated areas. Quito has about the same elevation as the highest paved pass in the Alps, the Altiplano's (Bolivian Plateau) height averages about 3750 meters (12,300 feet) and the highest road open to public goes up to about 5750 m (18,800 feet). Of course, the drone's engines doesn't suffer like combustion engines but rotors will have a hard time in thin air.

[Kharak]

The mavic, either the newest itterations or the old one are a good bet.

The spark is too weak.

But i think you might have to hack the altitude limiter.

[mattcraigthomas]

Sounds like an epic trip!

The DJI Mavic Air is probably the best all-rounder for the money. It’s far from perfect, but I’ve been pretty impressed with mine. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about it.

[IDA_ML]

Walter Schulz,

If you don't have serious experience with drones, don't take one on your trip.  You will waste a lot of valuable time fiddling with it and the probability that something goes wrong and you crash or lose it is very high.  Moreover, a small weak drone will never work at these altitudes.

You will be much better off if you use the time that you have for photo and video with the 100D which is a very capable camera, especially now that the latest video modes have been implemented.  Make sure, you have a lite but stable carbon tripod with a good fluid video head.  Also consider a motorized head with a fine control over panning speed that fits on your tripod.  It works really nicely if you shoot 4k timelapses with the wide angle lenses that you mention above.  And instead of the 18-135 lens, take the 85/1,8 with you.  The most interesting objects in these countries are people, so this lens will come quite handy when you stroll down the streets of towns and villages.  The 85/1,8 lens really produces very beautiful images on the 100D.

And most importantly, travel safely and have a lot of fun!

[dfort]

Hey Walter, don't go to Quito, go to the beach and don't get a drone, get an underwater housing. Oh, and motorcycles are dangerous!

Just kidding of course. I'm in sort of the same situation. Going to Costa Rica and thinking about getting a little travel drone like maybe the DJI Spark for some fun. I flew a couple of drones a few years ago and it was super easy. These newest drones pretty much fly themselves. They even have GPS and will automatically return to where you launched them before the battery runs out.

Como esta tu español?

[Walter Schulz]

Sounds like an epic trip!

That's the spirit!

@IDA_ML: Yes, not sure about the drone idea, either. But I have some months for preparations and I suppose I will take the risk.
Fluid head is out of the question and everything motorized, too. You may have missed the part "I want to keep my photo gear light." Yepp, I know a drone doesn't move itself most of the time ...
I owned a 85/1.8 about a decade ago. My mileage varies, I think: Didn't get used to it. And it weights as much as three 50/1.8 STM.

Como esta tu español?

Yo estudiar ...

[dfort]

Hey Walter -- made a decision about a drone yet? I got a DJI Spark for my trip. Definitely need some time reading the manual and the manual has teeny tiny type. Look at the comparison between the small M50 manual and the Spark manual.



Don't need all those languages so I'm leaving these at home and loading up the PDF files on my laptop. The videos online were actually more helpful than the manuals anyway -- how to turn it on isn't until page 27, that's after telling you to download the app and connect to the drone!

It does work and it is fun. Here's my first real flight in my backyard. Ok, I own a condo and this isn't really my backyard but I do live here.

I got it mainly to shoot selfies and it specializes in that.



Shot this just using hand gestures. Notice that the controller is on the table.

Why did I get the cheap drone instead of a 4K, raw photo capable model? Same reason I started playing around with ML on an EOSM. I'm a tightwad. I also like small and simple. Anyway, packing this up with a new M50, an old EOSM (for Magic Lantern of course) and a not too old GoPro.

[dfort]

Have you made a decision about getting a drone yet? I'm having a blast with my little DJI Spark.

Though not all flights go smoothly--here's one where IDA_ML can say, "I told you so." In hindsight I should have stopped when the dog ruined the shot.

This drone has obstacle avoidance sensors for above, below and forward. My mistake was trying to back out when it went into the trees. Fortunately it landed on soft sand and after shaking it off, take 2 was much better.

[Walter Schulz]

Have you made a decision about getting a drone yet?

Nope, done some reading about regulations/taxes and, boy, do I regret it!

[dfort]

Got back from Costa Rica. I registered the drone both in the U.S. and in Costa Rica but there were never any issues taking it through customs. In fact the first thing that happens when connecting with the phone is that it downloads a map of the local area so it won't fly in restricted airspace.

I tell you these things have a mind of their own. Some day I can imagine a personal drone will follow you around taking your vacation pictures for you! I didn't realize it but it saves proxies of what you record and edits a short piece out of it. Not exactly the way I would edit my footage but hey, it does have that cool factor.

One thing I learned was that some of best footage was close to the ground with the drone within a few hundred feet. Though I did make several flights that tested the range limits. Good thing it records the coordinates when it takes off and the return to home is usually very accurate.

[Kharak]

@walter

You just posted that thread about firefox, if you are privacy concerned then beware of DJI. Its basically a physical manifestation of the chinese intelligence service

There is a reason why DJI is banned from all american military complexes.

[dfort]

There is a reason why DJI is banned from all american military complexes.

Like I said:

...it won't fly in restricted airspace.

That is unless you can figure out how to disable the geofence feature.

If you are really paranoid about the Chinese spying through your drone don't connect it to your Chinese made cell phone.

[ArcziPL]

Hi Walter, any news from your side?

I've just started getting familiar with my FIMI X8 SE. The plan is also shooting stills and recording short videos during holidays. I have a feeling one definitely needs practice to achieve best results but in a nice place with a good weather even a beginner (but with a strong photo/video background) could get good shots.

[sahrenity]

DJI Spark Mini maybe?

[Walter Schulz]

A little bit late. Sunday I came back and traveling South America is not an option right now.

[Whr]

Dji spark or Mavic mini is OK

[Walter Schulz]

See reply above yours.
@Mod: Please lock this thread.