learning to use a drone

[DanK]

I was very impressed by some drone photography I've seen recently that bordered on abstractions, so I took the plunge and got a drone. It takes some time to learn to fly it well (I'm still fumbling), but the camera is basically an iPhone on a helicopter: it's a wide-angle point-and-shoot. This morning was the first time I tried actually taking some photos rather than just learning not to run it into buildings. I did a few quick edits. These aren't polished, but C&C welcome, as always.

[xpatUSA]

As a R/C model aircraft flier long ago, I'm tempted by drones too, Dan.

A lot of trees on the property, so we know where mine would end up probably ...

There's a drone forum on DPR in case you didn't know ...

[Manfred M]

I had wondered about your limited postings here. I guess you are heading in the direction of landscape photography after all..

[xpatUSA]

Forgot to ask ... what drone?

Duh, exif says DJI 3511 ...

... from which I guess Mavic II Pro?

[DanK]

I got a DJI 2s.

There are a lot of features in the hardware and software to make it easier to fly near obstacles like trees. For example, it has obstacle sensors on the top, bottom, front, and back--but not the sides--and you can program what it should do when it sees an obstacle: stop, fly around it, or fly over it. It will automatically fly back to its starting point and land if you want it to, and if it is more than 50m away, it will first ascend vertically to whatever height you set, fly horizontally to the starting point, and descend. It came set for something like 300 ft, but 100 ft or so should take care of trees.

One problem is that it's very small, and it's very easy to loose visual contact. It has lights, but they aren't visible at a distance in sunlight. I've trained myself to memorize where it is before looking away. I've lost sight several times and had to tell it to start coming home so that I can hear or see it, but I'm getting better at that. It's also hard to see how it's oriented, which makes it very easy to fly or rotate in the wrong direction, but you can put something on the screen that shows orientation. You can also let it hover while you tilt the gimbal up so that you can see where it's pointed.

It also can move very fast in normal mode, so I often fly it in a much slower "cine" mode.

So far, I'm not so impressed with the camera, even though it's apparently considerably better than some of the competitors. I think I'm just spoiled by shooting with a 5D Mark IV most of the time. The color balance isn't quite right, and I need to do more tinkering with color than I normally do with the 5D. Still, with experience, those adjustments will become easier and more routine. And it's hardly fair to expect a camera that accounts for a small share of the cost of the drone to compare with the 5D.

[xpatUSA]

Thanks, Dan.

Good point about it being small, my distance vision isn't so good these days, glasses or not.

[EllaBaileq]

As for learning not to crash into houses, I think everyone has faced this. I recently purchased one drone and thought it would be easy to control it. How naive I was. At first, I decided to try it without really going into details or instructions, and then I just read about how to use drones correctly on weflywithdrones.com. I had no idea that it would be so difficult, but nevertheless very interesting. I couldn't shoot something beautiful at first, but thanks to such training, now I can share my content with other people who have drones and learn much faster by their advice.

[BrianA61]

I got a DJI 2s.

There are a lot of features in the hardware and software to make it easier to fly near obstacles like trees. For example, it has obstacle sensors on the top, bottom, front, and back--but not the sides--and you can program what it should do when it sees an obstacle: stop, fly around it, or fly over it. It will automatically fly back to its starting point and land if you want it to, and if it is more than 50m away, it will first ascend vertically to whatever height you set, fly horizontally to the starting point, and descend. It came set for something like 300 ft, but 100 ft or so should take care of trees.

One problem is that it's very small, and it's very easy to loose visual contact. It has lights, but they aren't visible at a distance in sunlight. I've trained myself to memorize where it is before looking away. I've lost sight several times and had to tell it to start coming home so that I can hear or see it, but I'm getting better at that. It's also hard to see how it's oriented, which makes it very easy to fly or rotate in the wrong direction, but you can put something on the screen that shows orientation. You can also let it hover while you tilt the gimbal up so that you can see where it's pointed.

It also can move very fast in normal mode, so I often fly it in a much slower "cine" mode.

So far, I'm not so impressed with the camera, even though it's apparently considerably better than some of the competitors. I think I'm just spoiled by shooting with a 5D Mark IV most of the time. The color balance isn't quite right, and I need to do more tinkering with color than I normally do with the 5D. Still, with experience, those adjustments will become easier and more routine. And it's hardly fair to expect a camera that accounts for a small share of the cost of the drone to compare with the 5D.

I also have an Air 2S. I find it quite easy to fly since I've been flying the Mini 2 for about 6 months or so. That one doesn't have near as many semi-auto features that the A2S does. As far as settings, go with full manual (Pro) settings and adjust shutter speed and ISO to get your exposure right. Also manual white balance is good to adjust color as well. There are some limitations to the camera like a fixed aperture at 2.8 but, for the price, it produces some great stills and up to 5.4k video.

As far as orientation, there is an attitude indicator on the lower left of your view screen that give orientation of the aircraft with reference to the home point as the blue dot. Once you are able to get used to what that is telling you, it is relatively easy to figure out which way you're pointed. As with anything, practice, practice, practice. I think drone still photography is one of the coolest specialties to explore. Aerial shots gives you a completely different perspective and that's what photography is all about. Perspective. If you need any pointers or help with flying, shoot me a PM. Oh, and I don't know if you've seen the video clip I took with the Mini, I posted it a couple of weeks ago. That might inspire you to keep practicing. After all, a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in while with the video I posted.

[BrianA61]

As a R/C model aircraft flier long ago, I'm tempted by drones too, Dan.

A lot of trees on the property, so we know where mine would end up probably ...

There's a drone forum on DPR in case you didn't know ...

Where is the DPR forum? I would be interested in looking that up.

[xpatUSA]

Where is the DPR forum? I would be interested in looking that up.

Here y'are, Brian:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/1066
.

[DanK]

Brian,

Thanks. I'm moderately adept at flying the thing now, but still not very good at previsualizing what things will look like.

I always use "pro" mode. I almost always use the DNG files, so WB isn't an issue, which is fortunate, because I have found its AWB to be pretty poor under some circumstances. I've found the metering to be a bit off and wasn't surprised when I stumbled across suggestions to set a small negative EV compensation.

Their DNG files aren't quite fully raw, as you may have read. There are a few adjustments done automatically. One is just a lens correction profile, but apparently, there are some tonality adjustments as well. Still, it's a more flexible option than their JPEGs. The only times I have used JPEGs is when I've taken shots for informational purposes and to practice flying.

I'm hoping to take it to a nearby rocky coastline sometime soon, when the coastal winds aren't too strong.

Dan