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.
HI Chase,
Thanks for showing this one. Fun to see some of the lighter side when you guys are in the field. Interesting reactions from the hobbyists out there. LOL I’m pretty sure if your insurance adjuster sees this video that claim might be denied. Happy Holidays!
Everyone is perfectly entitled to destroy whatever they own, but disposing it in our world’s already too dirty waters is pretty irresponsible.
Chase, it seems you forgot what it’s like for photographers who can’t afford such an abundance of cool equipment. At least test over land until ALL the kinks are worked out. And what about a rescue mission! Just because it’s insured doesn’t make it a disposable unit! This video bothered me a little and I felt compelled to say something…Still, accidents happen, thanks for sharing.
thanks for the note craig.
1. we did test it over land and got decent results. that was in the video.
2. we didn’t have time to ensure it was all worked out – that’s why we called it out in advance that it was a risk. if I couldn’t afford the risk (not just money – but time, footage, etc) I wouldn’t have taken the risk
3. we took the risk and it failed. nothing in me considers that unit disposable. it was a bummer to lose it.
thx for engaging!
Not available widely, the big issue.
Thanks for sharing this video.I guess the main problem for your crash is because of wifi.