Droneflyers.com

Quadcopter, Multirotor and Drones Resource Site

Fall 2016 Camera Drone Slugfest – Karma vs. Mavic vs. Phantom 3 & 4 vs. Yuneec

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Fall 2016 Camera Drone Slugfest – GoPro Karma vs. Mavic Pro vs. Phantom 3 & 4 vs. Yuneec

With the recent introduction of the DJI Mavic Pro and GoPro Karma, the 2016 Fall and Holiday Season lineup of consumer camera drones has taken shape. The internet chatter, as usual, has built to a crescendo as to “which is the best drone?” and “which company will bury the others?“. We think it’s time for Dronflyers.com to step into the ring as referee and decide which models are contenders for the crown and which should perhaps be sent back to the gym for some additional work. Put another way – which drone should you buy if you want to have one (or gift one) in the 2016 Holiday season?

Are You Serious?

Two small models, both based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon drone platform, have hit the market recently. These are the Yuneec Breeze and the Zerotech Dobby. Both are quite small and operated from your smartphone. A similar drone, the Wingsland S6, is also slated for release soon. These models – with the needed extra batteries and case – will cost approx. $500. [Read more…]

Finding Beautiful Places to Fly and Photograph with your Drone

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Bought your new video/photo drone? Check!
Read the Manual? Check!
Run the flight simulator program or practiced with some toy quads? Check!
Watched some of the online Videos relating to your model? Check!
Made your maiden flights at a large open field (school or similar field) to test the setup? Check!

Now it’s time to find some more varied places to fly your quadcopter and take some stunning still pictures and videos. Don’t be tempted to use your front and back yards and local neighborhood as regular flying grounds they probably aren’t that interesting and you’ll be quite embarrassed if you need to retrieve your new machine from the neighbor’s pool. Worse yet, you could damage cars, property or injure people.

Finding suitable and photogenic locations can take some effort but the results will be worthwhile. Here are some hints and tips which may help you find some safe

Know Where you Are!

Study local maps carefully ideally on Google, Bing or Apple Maps Satellite view. Once you become familiar with your locale, locate large open (usually green) areas. During a recent trip to Florida, I noticed that a large fairgrounds was just a few blocks away. This area provided a great view of the city and surrounding area and was very safe for flying.

Example of Map View

Example of Map View


I founds some large abandoned areas near some railroad tracks which provided an amazing view of a local park as well as the center of town. [Read more…]

How to shoot and create aerial 360 panoramas

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(Author- Jeff Foster)

With all the recent interest in 360º VR technology, cameras like the Ricoh Theta S and multi-cam setups for GoPros and the like, we’re only just beginning to scratch the surface on the latest craze. Most recently, Facebook introduced the ability to view 360 panorama images directly in the page feeds, which not only allows you to upload directly from your cameras or iPhones, but also to create spherical panos that you can capture professionally with your drone and some computer magic and bringing old print panos to new life in the process. So let’s take a look at what’s involved…
[Read more…]

Parrot BeBop Quadcopter Review – Part 1 of 3

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Our review of the Parrot BeBop Quadcopter will be done as a three part review. Subjects covered in the reviews parts are;

Part 1: initial look / open box / instruction review / setup / range and “radio” check / first flight / initial thoughts

Part 2: advanced flight / camera performance / flight time length / controls / movie and still photography / file retrieval (from BeBop to phone, tablet, or computer)

Part 3: WiFi performance testing / GPS function / acrobatic flight / cell and tablet performance / suggested improvements / final ratings

DroneFlyers.com purchased a Parrot BeBop from Best Buy…cost with tax was approx. $550. For that price you get more capabilities than with the earlier Parrot ARDrone 2.0.
This is a GPS enabled, video steaming UAS that is controlled by your own Smart Phone or WiFi Tablet.

Also note, DroneFlyers.com purchases every UAS we review, just like you would. We don’t want Manufacturers to send us a “pre-tested” model, we want exactly what you’d get from the store. By doing this we will give real results from field testing. We do not reprint Press Releases or copy what the manufacturer wants us to say about their bird.
[Read more…]

Quadcopter Aerial Photography and Video on a shoestring budget

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Drone and Quadcopter Aerial Photography and Video (APV) on a budget.

A large percentage of of the new hobbyists taking up this pursuit have interest in the photography and video aspects of quadcopters. People are often impressed when you show them amatuer pics such as the one below – and they want to know how much it costs to set up a similar rig.

Taken with a Mobius Cam and older Model Phantom I

Taken with a Mobius Cam and older Model Phantom I

This article will explain some of the options available from $80 to $700 (total) for getting aerial pictures and video.

———————Lowest End – under $200 Total

WL Toys Model 222
[Read more…]

Midland XTC300 Camera Flight Test

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Midland Radio, known to many of us from our older CB Radio days, has launched a new wearable sports camera and we got our grubby hands on one this week and started putting it through it’s paces. There will be a full review as we try out more of the different options and modes so this is just a quick demo of it in flight.

Below you can see a comparison in size between the GoPro HD Hero and the Midland XTC.  On the bottom of the XTC is a standard tripod mounting screw where the GoPro has no mounting option without its extra housing. This small feature does make it easier to mount the XTC but there is no built-in option to record the video upside down so you will have to process that in post production which may take longer than normal depending on your software/hardware.

The camera was hard mounted on the bottom of the Walkera MX400 for a quick test flight. You can see from this quick test that it’s not immune to the rolling shutter Jell-O effect. Stay tuned for more information and the full review to come later.