Thanks to others, I've been bit by that nasty drone bug! The first one was a low-cost drone that was simple to fly, but didn't tolerate winds over 10mph. But yes, that was enough to hook me into the drone life, plus it did have a good camera. The second and third drones were a bit more expensive BUT during testing, after a successful flight around the park, it suddenly flew off on its own, and so lucky it didn't land in a busy street just 15.7 feet away! Both of these drones did that! They were quickly returned!
So I finally went the other route, and picked up a DJI mini 2 se.
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My mini 2 se |
The newer drone was very nice. Stable. It flies in higher winds better and still get relatively good images, and quite sharp at that! I went through a few of those due to one event or another; it wasn't the drone but just me getting used to just flying a drone. It's not just getting the necessary experience flying a drone, it also takes a lot of concentration looking out for wires, cables and those long branches of any and all Trees!
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| mini 2 se memory of local parks |
With much more experience with the controller and drone, I haven't had a lot of the many heart-pounding experiences of those earlier mishaps with the other drones, now knowing to position myself in a manner where I can eye the environment my drone is flying into: close to overhead cables or wires, Trees and its many parts that just love drones, plus signs and other things found above and on public streets and areas.
I've only been involved with drones not even a full month, and now have an even newer drone, now my active and most-used drone - considering I still have the mini 2 se which is collecting dust. This mini 4 pro has sensors that detects obstacles near and around it, and it's very cool to see that in operation, and what things are detected and avoids! That in itself helps, but it's still and will always be the steady eye and clear observations needed to keep it safe from objects and hazards high and low.
at right and new RC2 controller at bottom
I still haven't used all the options of this drone, but will eventually check out most of the options. I've played with the tracking mode, with several tests tracking me and us walking, but while the trials have been successful, later when I really want it to work, it didn't function as planned. I'll just continue practicing with it more, to ensure the tracking mode options are correct, so it should track when it's used for real again.
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| The abandoned Hotel Niagara |
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| The old Mount Saint Mary's Hospital, now abandoned for decades |
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| The long-abandoned Tonawanda NY NG armory |
Otherwise it's just me trying to use the drone everyday when and if possible, and getting accustomed to flying the dawg [my choice name for the drone, and the best thing of walking this "dawg", is never needing to pick up poop!] to build up my flight hours, which gets me the needed experience to have better uneventful flights. I've just scheduled an interior shoot soon, and along with a real camera, will be taking the drone also. It'll be interesting to see the angles and shots I can get, IF the drone is used at all!
Here's another image, tonight's cloudy upper Niagara River drone sunset..... enjoy!
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Potter's House Christian Church, Niagara falls NY |
