OT: DJI Quadcopter for GoPro for $479

John_Cline wrote on 9/11/2013, 5:39 PM
For $500, this puts aerial videography in the mostly affordable category. It even has a GPS autopilot system.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/919955-REG/dji_phantom_djiphantom_phantom_quadcopter_with_gopro.html

Here is some footage shot with the DJI at the "Burning of Zozobra", an annual event which took place last week just north of here in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is our version of "Burning Man."

Comments

Rory Cooper wrote on 9/16/2013, 4:26 AM
These are really cool, a buddy of mine who does stuff for local car trade just got one and they are remarkably easy to fly = so he says
They come with brushless gimble setup so the images are very stable.
MikeyDH wrote on 9/16/2013, 9:07 AM
They are pretty cool. Too bad they don't have more than 15 minutes of fly time on a single charge. Nothing a bag full of batteries couldn't conquer, I guess. I suspect we will be seeing a heck of a lot more video taken from these drones.
pilsburypie wrote on 9/16/2013, 12:20 PM
They look like great fun and the possibility of amazing shots and angles is incredible. The jello rolling shutter is an issue though. There are a few DIY fixes but the only true fix is a very expensive electronic gimble that costs more than the aircraft.

I would love one though!
pilsburypie wrote on 9/16/2013, 1:47 PM
More amazing footage - by the looks of the stability I'd guess his $470 copter had the $800 gimble attached!
TomTomJ wrote on 9/16/2013, 2:32 PM
Here is a wedding video shot with a AR.Drone. The shot is about 50 seconds in:


Here is outtake (fail). Be careful drones.


Steve Mann wrote on 9/16/2013, 5:12 PM
"The jello rolling shutter is an issue though. There are a few DIY fixes but the only true fix is a very expensive electronic gimble that costs more than the aircraft. "

No, the only true fix is to not shoot with a Jello camera. The rolling shutter is endemic to CMOS cameras - a direct result of how the CMOS imaging chip transfers the image to the camera processor. I bought a CCD-based camera for my hexacopter, but I haven't tried it on the copter yet.

P.S. Before you go out to buy one, it is currently not legal in the USA to use an unmanned aviation vehicle (like the AR Drone or DJI Quadcopter) for compensation or hire. That may change next year for light UAV's like these.
Rory Cooper wrote on 9/17/2013, 2:28 AM
Just loved this

Hold these up to your one good eye,

pilsburypie wrote on 9/17/2013, 3:48 AM
The wedding video shoot uses the copter shots well. Not too much, but just enough to make the viewer wonder and wow how the shots were got. I'd also like to know if the cut on the guys right cheek was a previous accident or as a result of the copter crashing into his head! Now that had got to hurt if the props hit him!

In response to a CCD based small camera, what are the options? I was under the impression that the GoPro hero 3 black was the smallest, lightest, best PQ vs cost available? My comment on the jello issue was based on reasonable cost for an amateur like me (although this is still out of my league).