5 ms·

Maybe not weird or surreal enough for HN. But I am amazed by the stability and quality of videos from my drone. It's just amazing that I could easily fly a kil

by 7ewis 4y ago

Maybe not weird or surreal enough for HN. But I am amazed by the stability and quality of videos from my drone. It's just amazing that I could easily fly a kilometer away whilst having a live feed of the footage being streamed back to my controller. I have a sub 250g drone, so it's so light yet easily able to withstand pretty strong winds and the videos look great on a big 4K TV afterwards!

bilsbie 4y ago
Do you worry about losing it though?
- 7ewis 4y ago
  Yeah, I have insurance with 'Flyaway Coverage'. Still have to pay a fee and there's a limit to the number of claims you can make over a time period but it's a lot cheaper than buying a new drone.
  - bilsbie 4y ago
    Wow how much is it? Where do you buy it? Is it worth it for a sub $500 drone?
    - richiebful1 4y ago
      Looks like something you can buy with a DJI drone from their online store. https://store.dji.com/guides/dji-care-refresh-flyaway-coverage/ https://store.dji.com/guides/dji-care-refresh-flyaway-covera...
wil421 4y ago
I do a lot of kayaking (not white water kayaking) and fishing off my kayak in lakes, rivers, and the ocean on calmer days. Does your style drone have any following features? Looking for something to fly around looking for fish and something that will follow me or do fly-bys when I’m doing something with the family.
- Ftuuky 4y ago
  Not OP but Skydio might have the drones you need?
  - jcims 4y ago
    DJI is a juggernaut and i imagine will catch up, but when i last looked about a year ago Skydio autonomous tracking was dramatically better. It was the first thing that popped into mind when reading that question.
- 7ewis 4y ago
  I have a DJI Mini 3 Pro, it has a feature called Active Track[0] where you highlight a subject on the screen and then select how you'd like it to follow you. It can go alongside you or behind you - can follow things like cars too. Despite the sensors, it can be a little scary getting it to follow you when there are trees or telephone lines nearby, but in a lake or the sea it should be great. There are safety features where if it loses connection to the controller it can hover in place, land or return to home (where it took off from). [0] - https://store.dji.com/guides/film-like-a-pro-with-activetrack/ https://store.dji.com/guides/film-like-a-pro-with-activetrac...
- WrtCdEvrydy 4y ago
  Yeah, the DJI Mini 3 Pro is that drone... get the basic controller version.
  - saiya-jin 4y ago
    in some form, this was present on DJI drones even 2 generations ago
- kerpotgh 4y ago
  I think Skydio has the best autonomous follow feature I’ve seen so far.
- xrayarx 4y ago
  I thought about that too and they are all not watertight. There are Swellpros that are, but they are not hobby drones. And their specs are no match to current hobby drones.
mkurz 4y ago
Which drone do you have?
- 7ewis 4y ago
  It's a DJI Mini 3 Pro. Never had any experiences with other drones, so can't compare it to others - but I love it! The new DJI Mini 3 does look good too if you're on more of a budget.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
googlryas 4y ago
It seems like every amateur or even personal production has these big beautiful sweeping aerial shots now, when 10 years ago it would be only available to medium size productions that could rent a commercial drone, and 20 years ago only available to large productions that could afford to rent a helicopter.
- tempoponet 4y ago
  The original "Planet Earth" was a showpiece for HD, but also these kinds of sweeping shots that people had rarely seen before. These were done with heavy cameras and complicated wire systems run through caves and forests. Today it seems almost pedestrian and quaint.
Dzugaru 4y ago
Absolutely this - I was completely blown away by the technology since it was a long long childhood dream for me (to fly or control something flying remotely). I've flown the thing off the top of the volcano (at 3000 meters), and in heavy wind and clouds and was amazed how stable it is, how easy you can fly one and the 4k video it generates is breathtaking. One thing I still want for this is to remove 500m ceiling and being able to pierce the clouds fast - not sure if this is possible anywhere since it's probably dangerous and illegal, but that would complete my childhood dream I think (short of actually learning to fly a real small plane or a glider).
joenot443 4y ago
Is now a good time to get into the hobby? I remember having an interest in college but it seemed so expensive and prohibitive. Have drones reached the same cost-value consumer sweet spot that 4K tv and e-bikes are recently enjoying?
- buggy6257 4y ago
  Go look up the DJI Mini 2. <700 for drone plus accessory kit. 4k video with 30min battery life all flown from your controller and phone. It’s mind blowing.

by 7ewis 4y ago

bilsbie 4y ago

Do you worry about losing it though?

7ewis 4y ago
Yeah, I have insurance with 'Flyaway Coverage'. Still have to pay a fee and there's a limit to the number of claims you can make over a time period but it's a lot cheaper than buying a new drone.
- bilsbie 4y ago
  Wow how much is it? Where do you buy it? Is it worth it for a sub $500 drone?
  - richiebful1 4y ago
    Looks like something you can buy with a DJI drone from their online store. https://store.dji.com/guides/dji-care-refresh-flyaway-coverage/ https://store.dji.com/guides/dji-care-refresh-flyaway-covera...

wil421 4y ago

I do a lot of kayaking (not white water kayaking) and fishing off my kayak in lakes, rivers, and the ocean on calmer days. Does your style drone have any following features? Looking for something to fly around looking for fish and something that will follow me or do fly-bys when I’m doing something with the family.

Ftuuky 4y ago
Not OP but Skydio might have the drones you need?
- jcims 4y ago
  DJI is a juggernaut and i imagine will catch up, but when i last looked about a year ago Skydio autonomous tracking was dramatically better. It was the first thing that popped into mind when reading that question.
7ewis 4y ago
I have a DJI Mini 3 Pro, it has a feature called Active Track[0] where you highlight a subject on the screen and then select how you'd like it to follow you. It can go alongside you or behind you - can follow things like cars too. Despite the sensors, it can be a little scary getting it to follow you when there are trees or telephone lines nearby, but in a lake or the sea it should be great. There are safety features where if it loses connection to the controller it can hover in place, land or return to home (where it took off from). [0] - https://store.dji.com/guides/film-like-a-pro-with-activetrack/ https://store.dji.com/guides/film-like-a-pro-with-activetrac...
WrtCdEvrydy 4y ago
Yeah, the DJI Mini 3 Pro is that drone... get the basic controller version.
- saiya-jin 4y ago
  in some form, this was present on DJI drones even 2 generations ago
kerpotgh 4y ago
I think Skydio has the best autonomous follow feature I’ve seen so far.
xrayarx 4y ago
I thought about that too and they are all not watertight. There are Swellpros that are, but they are not hobby drones. And their specs are no match to current hobby drones.

mkurz 4y ago

Which drone do you have?

7ewis 4y ago
It's a DJI Mini 3 Pro. Never had any experiences with other drones, so can't compare it to others - but I love it! The new DJI Mini 3 does look good too if you're on more of a budget.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

googlryas 4y ago

It seems like every amateur or even personal production has these big beautiful sweeping aerial shots now, when 10 years ago it would be only available to medium size productions that could rent a commercial drone, and 20 years ago only available to large productions that could afford to rent a helicopter.

tempoponet 4y ago
The original "Planet Earth" was a showpiece for HD, but also these kinds of sweeping shots that people had rarely seen before. These were done with heavy cameras and complicated wire systems run through caves and forests. Today it seems almost pedestrian and quaint.

Dzugaru 4y ago

Absolutely this - I was completely blown away by the technology since it was a long long childhood dream for me (to fly or control something flying remotely). I've flown the thing off the top of the volcano (at 3000 meters), and in heavy wind and clouds and was amazed how stable it is, how easy you can fly one and the 4k video it generates is breathtaking. One thing I still want for this is to remove 500m ceiling and being able to pierce the clouds fast - not sure if this is possible anywhere since it's probably dangerous and illegal, but that would complete my childhood dream I think (short of actually learning to fly a real small plane or a glider).

joenot443 4y ago

Is now a good time to get into the hobby? I remember having an interest in college but it seemed so expensive and prohibitive. Have drones reached the same cost-value consumer sweet spot that 4K tv and e-bikes are recently enjoying?

buggy6257 4y ago
Go look up the DJI Mini 2. <700 for drone plus accessory kit. 4k video with 30min battery life all flown from your controller and phone. It’s mind blowing.