Drones...

[Bibs]

My local gym (I know!) has a ropey 15m x 3m photo on the wall in the spa of an Italian lake which is very old and faded now. I took this one and have offered it to them in return for 5 years free membership, which equates to about 4 visits from me!

Full size it's 500mb, a composition of 27 images cropped to size for them. The gym is bottom middle (David Lloyd, Kings Hill if you wondered) and you can see all the houses in the estate in quite detail at full resolution. I think it would make a great talking point! 

 

[C8RKH]

On 30/08/2020 at 20:16, Sparky said:

I'm on the verge of a Mini too.

I missed this post but just wanted to say there is no way you'll get in a Mini, skirt or car @Sparky

[Sparky]

You're half right.

[Neal H]

[Bibs]

On 17/06/2018 at 18:29, Bibs said:

I added that Camber Sands pic to Google Maps less than a week ago, it's had almost 12,000 views already!

That got a few more views in the end!

[Bibs]

It's been a busy 7 days!

 

[slewthy]

V keen to get into this but not so keen to part with lots of cash at the moment and need to test myself. Already have my pilot ID and operator number so ready to go from that pov.

So, second hand options? 

What is the model to start with for let's say £400-500?

What is the best I could do? Thanks in advance

[Bibs]

The Mavic Mini is pretty cool and pretty cheap. There's a Mavic Mini 2 out soon by all account so it might be worth waiting a while...

https://www.heliguy.com/dji-mavic-mini-drone-p6599

 

[slewthy]

Interesting. So the actual size of the drone. That presumably has an effect on its robustness or resistance to wind etc. But also on the camera it can carry? Or not? My phone camera is pretty tiny. 

As you go up in size or weight, does the flight time go up or down in general? Or maybe not related at all?

I guess I'd like a good first impression in terms of flyability, flight time and camera quality. If the Mavic mini does it then so be it.

On a side note, Bibs. At the start of this thread, whilst waiting delivery for your drone, you were pretty clear that you didn't rate DJI for their service. Their products must be pretty good to have overcome that or maybe the customer service has improved. Just interested on your take.

Si

[Bibs]

The flight time on the Mini is more than on my I2, it's much lighter so size doesn't correlate to flight time. 

They are small though in terms of motors. While I've seen over 80mph from the I2 (with a tail wind, max speed in still air is just under 60mph), you'll struggle to see over 25mph on the Mini as the motors and props are much smaller. This does have an effect on wind resistance and if there's a strong breeze, you could find your Mini going backwards rather than forwards when trying to get it back - always fly upwind first! 

DJI customer service is still very poor by all accounts but their products are excellent and very robust for commercial use. Fortunately, beyond the initial delay I've gone back to the retailer for any issues and they've always sorted the problem before having to contact DJI. They do have a huge share of the market though and from a kit perspective, for good reason. 

[Neal H]

Are you looking at it from a hobby or commercial point of view? As a hobby the DJI Mini is a great starting point, I’ve been very impressed with mine both from a flying and photography point of view.

It’s small and light - once the legs/props are folded in it’s little bigger than a large mobile phone, it will sit in the palm of your hand. This has pros and cons.

Pros are that I can easily get all the gear into my back pack and go out on my bicycle looking for suitable filming locations and it’s quick and easy to get flying. Being small and fairly quiet also makes it fairly stealthy which means it shouldn’t annoy people or animals. The camera films in either 2.7k or 1080p, both of which provide fine quality for an amateur enthusiast. photos are also decent quality. Flight time is about 30 minutes which in reality means 20-25 minutes before you’re going to want it to return home. Max speed is 18mph in Normal (P) mode or 30mph in Sport mode, but flight time will be substantially reduced if you fly everywhere in Sport mode.

Cons are that being small and light it’s difficult to keep in visual sight and is more susceptible to wind than it’s big brothers so flying opportunities are reduced. In reality I’ve found it behaves fine in wind speeds up to mid 20’s mph, but anything higher and I wouldn’t fly. It’s rated to wind speeds of 18mph - The Max it can maintain a stable hover in. Also being relatively cheap, it lacks the proximity sensors that more expensive drones have so it won’t automatically avoid obstacles, so additional care required!

The flying app (DJI Fly) is excellent and the return to home function works extremely well if you've lost sight of it and confused about where it actually is! I use my iPad connected to the controller to act as a screen and the video quality (720p) you get back from it is very clear. If flying near a built up area (staying within the law of course!) I’ve found the transmitter range can vary enormously sometimes losing connection from about 1200ft, but out in the countryside I’ve been 2500ft with a stable connection, but it will be well outside visual range at this distance. You can get range extenders to fit on the transmitter antenna but I’ve not tried these.

It has a number of useful fail-safe features, including automatically engaging return to home if it loses contact with the controller for more than 11 seconds or it calculates that battery power is about to become insufficient to fly back, but as bibs mentioned, if it flew out with a tail wind and has to fly back into a head wind it may not make it! To be fair though, it will already have pinged you warnings about battery level before it comes to this, so ignore at your own risk

 

[slewthy]

Really appreciate the responses guys. Very helpful.

Certainly looking at it on a personal rather than commercial level at the moment although it was whilst thinking about the latter that I really started to engage interest seriously. Unfortunately, my current job is weekdays so unless there is a reasonable amount of weekend work available I can't see myself paying for the training, insurance, registration and capital outlay it would take to get going commercially. It would be good to think I could work up to that however. 

It still seems reasonable to start small, learn the ropes and then upgrade as appropriate. I guess the mini fills that bill on that.

Si

[Bibs]

A drone is just a flying camera. If you want someone to pay you to use it, you'll need to be an accomplished photographer or videographer first. Just sayin', but I hear from a lot of people seem to think it's an easy way to make a nice bit of extra cash but you don't become David Bailey by buying a Canon! The industry has a 50% annual churn rate at present from people not renewing on their first anniversary. 

[slewthy]

Too right!

I've got a spade but I'm not an archaeologist!

Got to start small and build if it seems the right way to go. Appreciate the reality check!

Si

[Bibs]

 

[slewthy]

V. Nice.

And as said, mini 2 now released. I am surprised that is not a big price increase. Question is, does the 4k upgrade and increased range really matter for such s small drone? Thinking the original mini still ok for me to start.

[Bibs]

Range is irrelevant in the UK, the legal limit is 500m but Occusync 2.0 will be much more reliable than wifi at any range really.

4k video is nice if you're going to use it. The video above was shot in 4k but I used the extra to zoom in on a few of the shots as only HD was required as the deliverable but the nice thing (by a lot) with the 2 is the capability to take RAW shots rather than jpgs. If you want to do any post processing, that's the game changer. If you're happy with shots like a mobile phone takes, it's not that big a deal.

 

 

[Neal H]

The Mini 2 is only an extra £50 so for me it would be a no-brainer if I was buying now. Additional advantages it has over the original Mini are a 4x zoom which would be really useful, plus forward facing sensors and slightly improved wind resistance. None of these are enough to make me consider upgrading - I’m still really happy with my Mavic Mini - but for only an extra £50 it seems great value.

[slewthy]

Cheers for the advice guys.

Went for the mini 2 in the end. Should be here this week but I've decided it can be my Christmas present so no peeking!

 

[Neal H]

So, which ‘lucky’ person is having to get you that for Christmas? They were probably planning on spending £20 on pants and socks as your Christmas pressie 😊

[Bazza 907]

21 hours ago, slewthy said:

Cheers for the advice guys.

Went for the mini 2 in the end. Should be here this week but I've decided it can be my Christmas present so no peeking!

 

Would be interested in your views of it as a drone first timer. At some point I'd like to get one. 

[Bibs]

I joined Drone Safe Register last Friday, you may have seen it on Dragon's Den. 

Just won half my annual membership fee back out of over 130 entries! 

 

[Bibs]

There's a new Skybet advert out tomorrow that I was involved in, should look epic from what we did and how they've put it all together! 

[Bibs]

What are the chances, it's literally just gone live! 

 

[Bibs]

Popped down to Manston Airport today, it's pretty grim if you're a lorry driver!

https://www.espritdroneservices.co.uk/4000-lorries-at-manston-airport-december-2020/