Egypt4u

Determined to get a better action video than Grandad's car dash-cam, Horus takes to the air
And yes I am flying solo and with only 5 minutes practice the lengths some people will go to to get a good picture

Whatever ARE you doing H?!?!?!? Are you flying something? You're not copying that postman in the USA who rigged his lawn mower into a flying machine and then flew it 2 miles (or something) onto the White House grounds AND managed to evade ALL their high tech detection equipment? (Course they did end up arresting him after he landed on the White House lawn)

What you doing

I think he has hired a drone for a couple of hours ?????

Whatever ARE you doing H?!?!?!? Are you flying something?

I am certainly flying something LLL and its not a lawn mower, but it does sound very noisy though.

think he has hired a drone for a couple of hours ?????

Can you hire such things for a couple of hours

I know! Ordered something on Amazon and KEPT the delivery vehicle naughty naughty H

(Boys toys Kiya )

Grandad wrote:I know! Ordered something on Amazon and KEPT the delivery vehicle naughty naughty H

(Boys toys Kiya )

Or shot one down Grandad

But not far from the truth though, I actually decided to get one of those quadcopters with a camera attached to see what sort of video and still images I could get. It was not expensive and cost less than if I had bought a small ‘point and shoot’ camera, so it is essentially just another part of my camera kit to go with my normal camera, high zoom and macro cameras and my dedicated video camera. I had never flown one before and believe me they are not easy, I did not show all of the many crashes and you need a very big practice area. It is really nerve wrecking when you first power up and don’t have a clue what is going to happen as you push toggles and buttons, I can only liken it to patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time, not as easy as it may seem.

The wind is also another big factor, as they are so lightweight it is really easy to get caught up and lose control as often the engine power is not enough to counter a good gust and you watch your copter heading off over the trees. Another thing is orientation, it is possible to rotate the quad in roughly 90 degree steps, but that then puts all the controls differently, so ‘forward’ may become ‘Right Side’ direction or some other combination. The other thing you can do is to make one ‘corner’ tilt up and that will make it change direction, the only problem is that although it is a bit easier to fly by doing that once you get used to it, but there is a draw back. Because the camera is fixed below the quad, when you use the ‘tilt’ method to control direction especially when trying to hover in one place, (which is harder than you think) then the horizon will tilt in your video recording as you correct the movement.

Much more expensive Quads that take cameras will have ‘gimbals’ to stabilise the camera movement, but as I said this is only a cheap version, so skill will be required. Like anything of this nature there are rules that you should adhere to for safety and unless you are really skilled at flying one, then you need a REALLY big open space to practice, it is not uncommon for someone new to flying them to see it disappearing into the distance never to be seen again, or stuck up a tree.

The good thing was that Annie just ignored it during take off and landings and was quite content to just wander about close by, so that means I will not have to leave her behind when I go for a practice. So there you have it, not really a toy as I don’t have much interest in just flying them around, but I am keen to get some Arial shots of some local stuff in the future, so watch this space.

I really thought you had bought one of those motorbikes with wings on, like a guy nearby, but then I realised you were going too slow. I do like your new toy . . . was it heavy to get out to the field?

How big is it?

LovelyLadyLux wrote:How big is it?

Well I have never had any complaints up to now

Ok H - you got me on that one!

Sorry LLL, I couldn't resist it

Well wasn't to far off in my guessing

Will look forward to seeing your arial shots

I am glad you were Kiya the last place you will find me is strapped beneath one of those power gliders
Yes hopefully now the kids are back at school and if the weather stays calm and bright I hope to get some more practice flights in and once I gain enough skill to fly it with some confidence I will try out a few venues.
You would be surprised how quickly they can go out of sight and out of range and once that happens they can finish up anywhere , or land somewhere that you can't see it, like up a tree.

Just came to me H that you've taken lots of photos on land and now you've taken to the air...............are you we going to be treated to under water photos any time soon?

I reckon the closest you are going to get to seeing that is if I buy an aquarium and take pictures of the fish in it It is far too cold around these islands to to go scuba diving IMO, I will leave that to Grandad as he lives nearer the sea than I do

And I'm about twenty paces from the sea edge & wouldn't stick my big toe in it just now

Oh yes I forgot! Kiya is a lot closer to the sea
In that case I nominate her for 'underwater photographic reporter' for our forum.
So dig out that Bikini Kiya and lets get you in that water and sending in photos.

YES! We could have Kiya as the 'underwater' Water photo Rep! Hope there are no sharks off your shores Kiya! I think all the underwater camera gear is pretty heavy.

Actually I was in Mexico at some cenotes when an underwater dive crew from France came to film something in it. They showed me their cameras and WOW! Talk about intricate expensive gear!!!

The professional stuff is very expensive, but believe it or not you can get some little point and shoots that are quite cheap. You can get a disposable one for under £10 and a waterproof 'digital' one for under £50

Well, I nominate LLL, she goes travelling to where the ocean is warm, Kiya, you stay out of the sea like I do, its far too cold - - -