Rig for reliable aerial still photography

Discussion in 'New Products, News, Advancements, etc.' started by palani, Nov 24, 2018.

  1. palani

    palani New Member

    Hello All,

    I'm a wildlife and nature photographer, but new to UAV. I tried a friend's Mavic Air recently while on a photo trip. I like the perspective from air and have been wondering about getting into aerial photography, as well.

    I certainly would like atleast a full-frame DSLR or mirrorless in the air, and have read quite a bit in the past few days about the UAV, gimbal and intelli-G but still very confused.

    My understanding is that the best option would be a Matrice 600 Pro with Ronin MX or Gremsy T3 gimbal.

    I have a Nikon D850 and can use it with either 16-35 f/4 or 24-70 f/2.8 lens. I read somewhere that Nikon has issues with remote control of settings such as aperture, shutter speed and focus point. Is it still a problem? Total weight of camera + lens would be about 1.7 - 2 kg depending on the lens.

    Another option (which I prefer) - Fuji GFX 50S mirrorless + 32-64mm f/4 lens. Can this be used with either of those gimbals? How would be control of the settings be? Total weight of camera + lens would be about 1.7 kg.

    I'd be the only operator - of the craft and gimbal/camera. Can I achieve this with a single controller or would I need 2 separate controllers and have to go back and forth? For any meaningful photography I'd need live video feed.

    I'd really appeciate if someone can let me know the potential setup, either with Matrice 600 Pro or any other rig, or point to where I can find more info.

    Thanks a lot in advance,

    Cheers,
    Senthil
     
  2. VladTepes

    VladTepes Member

    I can't comment on any of the technical aspects, but -

    As a wildlife photographer, you may find your biggest problem is the sound of the quadcopter spooking the animals.

    Some mates of mine have tried using Mavic Pros and Phantoms for spotting feral animals when out hunting. They've found that the noise spooks pigs, roos and so on. Something to keep in mind at least.

    I would imagine that a solution might be to have the quad at a higher altitude using a zoom lens but of course use of a zoom like that can compromise photo quality/flexibility to some degree too.
     
  3. palani

    palani New Member

    Thanks a lot, VladTepes. I totally agree, the noise spooks the animals, having experienced while shooting from choppers in the past. This time around, my main goal with drones is to shoot landscape from air and if shooting animals, more of wide view from a higher altitude.

    Cheers,
    Senthil
     
    VladTepes likes this.

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