Drones, anyone here using them for filming?

[BackcountrySkiBum]

Ok so I'm looking at dropping the coin for a drone but wanted some feedback on what others are using.

I have been looking at this drone from DSLR, its the Expedition series P2 Aerial kit.
Wondering what the battery life is like under cold conditions as well as how the drones are affected in cold weather. Living in the AB, BC area can be rather chilly at times.

Will be using the Gopro 3+ and four with the gimbal arm on the drone.

Thx in advance

[TEXASS]

I have several. I havent gotten any BC footage yet, but I have been doing this with "drones" now and large RC helis before that. You have to keep the batts warm ( 65-70 F) before flight. And that applies to all the batteries. Transmitter batts, mutirotor flight packs ect. If your batteries get cold ( below 45F) your flight time will be cut in half at least. I havent found people willing to help lug all the crap needed so my filming has been more at sea level.
I did take my little one out on a spring BC trip but just filmed camp. We all got corn fever and wanted to ride, not film
I do plan to do a multiday trip using sleds to the wilderness boundry . I plan to bring charges for all the batts, laptop ect.

See - http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...r-from-the-air

to see what my work looks like

[couloirman]

Good luck fitting anything in your backpack except your drone if you go that route. Those kits are HUGE!

I did the crowd funding thing for the hexo plus and the Airdog since I am solo most of the time and have no one to fly a drone while I ski/bike, etc... Also they are MUCH more compact units than the DSLR pro one you mentioned. Although yours would be way more heavily featured for advanced drone users, just imagine fitting all that crap into your bag and also trying to put avy gear in there, extra layers, food, water and whatnot for a day tour. Unless you're touring on a sled where you can haul that stuff out there easy I just don't see how backcountry drone filming can be practical unless it is with one of the yet to be released auto follow drone units like the ones I have linked. Who know if they will even work well though. Crowd funding is always a risk but the idea seems awesome enough that I had to at least try.

Maybe I am wrong and maybe you don't need to bring absolutely everything pictured in the kit you mentioned every time you go filming, just try to think about how you'd transport that stuff into the backcountry before you pull the trigger, because I personally would not be a happy camper if I was the one who had to carry that entire thing.

[plugboots]

Be sure to stretch your dead pet's skin over it as a nice remembrance:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/vid...msterdam-video

[mcski]

When first learning to fly a drone, Expect to crash. A lot. And read all the directions. Prob better to start smaller

[Lonnie]

Which mag shot this. I don't remember.

http://vimeo.com/4176073

I know it was using a RC heli back in 07'-08', and not a quadcopter....

[abraham]

Trackhead I think?

[TEXASS]

Yep. Trackhead. Great stuff Its all his fault IM in this deep

But, Thanks Trackhead

[Lonnie]

Trackhead I think?

Yep. Trackhead. Great stuff Its all his fault IM in this deep

But, Thanks Trackhead

That's it! Toddlers aren't good for memory skills!

[BackcountrySkiBum]

Hey Texass Ya thats what I thought with the batteries getting cold, with the conditions I ski in ( average temps -5 to - 25 C ) it would be somewhat frustrating changing batteries every 7 mins or so. I do a fair bit of hut trips which would help with keeping charging temps consistent but most are in national parks which kills the ability to sled to the hut. Its tough to be out in stellar conditions and even pull out the 7D to take pics little lone setting up a drone. Nice Vid by the way, its those type of shots that make me want to breakdown and get a drone in the first place.

Couloirman Thanks for the links on the two drones. These seem to be a more simplistic system to use without hauling a whole lot of gear and allowing you to not have to have large screened controllers to worry about. I may look at these once released. With all the gear I haul now I only see using the bigger DSLR Drone while sled skiing in non park areas. Need a toboggan behind the sled to haul all the shit in.

Plugboots Thats quit the Camo kit for your drone. Can you get other animals skins? Maybe a Marmot or small Bobcat to fit into natural surroundings. I wasn't expecting that, good laugh.

I have watched trackheads shit before and he's got it down pretty good. Atrain is another good resource.

Still going to pull the trigger on something but may wait until the self followings drones are out. I will still grab the DSLR system once summer comes. Sounds like it will be easier to learn and crash when its warm. Lol. Stay tuned

[Meathelmet]

Have flown the DJI Phantom 2 a bit, seems to basically be a stripped up Expedition P2. With gimball+gopro or some other riggings have gotten about
10 minutes of flight time at sealevel in -5 to -10c. Batteries held in pocket until just before use and as the flight time is so short the cold doesnt seem to
affect the flight time that much.
But, the batteries cost about 100€ a pop, so if you want to be able to get 60 mins of flight time to shoot something the costs add up.

Phantom 2 is relatively easy to use, propellerguards are a must and some slight issues with the compass calibration (gets a slight drift now and then),
but for 800€ including the unit and the gimball is quite cheap.

Havent flown in higher altitudes where I have heard the quads just dont cut it due to the thinner air, dont know how much that cuts out from the flight time.
Hexas or octos are preferred in the film industry but they start to be cost prohibitive to buy...let alone if you manage to fuck them up.
Basically no insurance companies offer insurances to them anymore.


Doing some easy stuff, like fly to point A 50m away, go left & gain height is relatively easy. After the distance gets to 2-300m, understanding
the exact position of the drone starts to get harder and (at least I do) you start to do some driving errors. Doing anything complicated on visuals
alone after 300m...well...I am not up to that.. Havent tried any of remote monitors so dont know how much easier things get then, like following a
skier down the slope and dodging trees.

You can Phantoms with basically no training if you know the logic and have decent motoric skills & good spatial sense. Doing some relatively complicated
stuff ( pan+ height gain + flying a curve) can be done within few tries...once...if you have space that is. Trying to repeat some moves time after time is harder
and trying to follow some geezer on skis whizzing by at 40mph/h...oh man. I guess the thing is to collect as many flying hours as possible back home,
doing tests and playing things as safe as possible. Flying the rig into a tree or dropping it to a pond gets expensive fast. Duh..

[Timberridge]

I did the crowd funding thing for the hexo plus and the Airdog since I am solo most of the time and have no one to fly a drone while I ski/bike, etc...

A friend who is not a skier or outdoorsy type is at CES called me and was blown away by the Hexo+.