WARNING: CONTENTS OF THIS VIDEO MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME, ESPECIALLY PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO HAVE FELT THE PAIN OF GEAR LOSS.
In the days before my trip to Iceland, I had the chance to play with the DJI Phantom, an affordable, out-of-the-box quadcopter for budding aerial videographers. As I establish in that test flight post, the footage you yield from the DJI Phantom + GoPro combo may not be pro quality, but it’s perfectly serviceable for BTS material, AND it gives a person the opportunity to cut their teeth on a rig that comes in under a grand (or just slightly over, if you include the camera).
Ever the hacks, we tried to circumvent the GoPro limitation and mount a Sony RX 100 II, for three reasons:
1. The RX 100 II has image stabilizations (many commented on the shakiness of the GoPro footage on our first test flight).
2. It has a nice sensor and shoots RAW images.
3. Built-in Wifi. Our plan was to use the iPad Mini with the Sony app and control the camera shutter from the ground.
Seem pretty reasonable, right?
When you watch the video, know this: It brings us no joy to lose expensive gear, ever. I don’t encourage people to go out and perform needless hacks and unsanctioned upgrades, especially if you’re not insured, like we were. In our case we had a legit interest in yielding some higher end footage with a DJI Phantom we had invested in.
Couple UPDATE points… any assumption that i was just goofing around at tourist site just plyaing with my camera couldn’t be further from the truth. we had chartered the entire site for the shoot, been out on boats there at the site earlier – were working with the management there, paying high fees to be there with permits for very specific objectives. We also sought to potentially recover the unit out of concern for the environment but were discouraged from pursuing that option because of danger to divers due to swift current, big tides and huge floating chunks of dangerous ice.
Thanks again for going on this journey – and others – with me. And I hope you don’t mind my sharing all the stuff – even things like this that suck.
It’s insane the amount of hate being thrown around here. Rad concept, less than rad results, haha. Anyone who’s had an idea not pan out in reality can relate, thanks for the share dude.
Loved the video, but reading some of the comments below disappointed me. I am amazed at the lack of fortitude. This was clearly an experiment and failure only happens when you don’t learn something. I am sure Chase was pretty clear on what was advised/instructed by the equipment at hand. He was pushing the boundaries; that’s how discoveries are made.
Chase, sometimes being at the forefront is a thankless job, but I am sure when everyone is flying their drones around, able to take high quality, raw photos from a great distance, you will be one of many forward thinkers we will be able to thank.
Did you guys ever figure out what actually went wrong ? All the drones that I use for AP believe it or not are utilizing a $29.00 kk2.0 board as apposed to the expensive Naza flight controller. One of my primary small sized multirotors for carrying a GoPro is a QAV500, it was used to capture some of the awesome shots on shark week. I have never experienced an issue with fly away’s or loss of control. It requires a little bit of tuning on the KK but once tuned it is a solid flight controller that is cheap to replace in the event of crashing over Iceland. Aside from that awesome video showing your work behind the scenes even when mishaps occur. http://cinemaflight.com/
Chase
Know this is an old post with a lot of old farts complaining, but just for interest sake..
Guy I know flies the Blade 350 with a RX100. They trigger it with software installed on SD card. Even suggested a band around the camera to keep shutter depressed – so its shoots continuous. So it can be done – with Wi-fi switched off.
Regards from Cape Town
Chase,
I love that you took the chance with the DJI and RX 100 II, if you guys had pulled it off the negative people here would have very different comments. Thanks for showing us that things don’t always work out!
Thanks for sharing the video. I disagree with the criticasters here.
I think you took a calculated risk to get the shot.
Some times you get good results testing, but mes up going for it. (ask nasa)
To get results, you beter dare to take a a chase.
When it works your the hero. If it doesnt, shit hapens.
Al the more repect to you for sharing.