Ask first vs Apologise later.

[AeroJ]

It doesn't matter if you or I think the mini2 is a quiet, unobtrusive nothingburger. They see an anonymous, noisy flying camera that they don't want taking their picture.

Yes it kind of does, because its a demonstrable fact that these things are quiet and tiny ! Park users objecting to such a minor thing is like us objecting to the footwear choices of passing ramblers.

But yes I take your point, and of course I accept that we don't all think the same !

 

[AeroJ]

A drone is not a camera phone, in many critical aspects, as they see it.

Correct !!! It's MUCH MUCH worse in every conceivable way, and especially concerning other people's privacy !! At ground level peoples identities can actually be confirmed from their appearance in the background of other people's phone pics (I think there' even an episode of Columbo that relies on that premise!), which are then freely shared wherever that person likes, and no1 cares about that ! I do accept the difference of opinion, and most of the time am prepared to alter my own behaviour to avoid stressing people, but I just can't respect it as a valid concern, because it's evidently ridiculous !

 

[Droning on and on...]

The biggest issue for most people with camera drones is the anonymity of the person taking the pictures.

Irrational or not, this is where people form the impression of being spied on. And they really really don't like it.

Fighting this is fighting psychology. It makes a huge difference to people to see the person taking their picture with a camera or cell phone. They can judge if it's a creep or not. They can ask them to stop.

None of this is necessarily safer for the random person. Doesn't matter... it's how our instincts work. It's a losing battle to fight it. Your going up against nature.

Better to acknowledge it and work with it. When you ask permission, you're no longer anonymous. You're known. Even better than the Nikon guy in the park with the long lens.

My experience has been "yes" almost every time. Sometimes they want a copy of the pictures and video. Sometimes they want to tag along and see what their property looks like from the air (rarely).

 

[mavic3usa]

Wonder how people will start reacting when the authorities begin to fly their drones and you are unable to determine if it's a personal drone or a government drone. Maybe that's the only positive to this, the public will eventually get use to seeing a drone in certain places once the government flights begin. Let's get real here, the problem is drone flyers are hated and the rules will be "no drone flying" until the rules are no longer then everything will be ok. Just like with cellphones, everyone hated them until everyone got one. Then it became ok. As soon as people started using cellphone for social media, it because hated again. If the park ranger flies a drone, no one will complain and if they do complain, they will condone it once they find out. Just like most everything else in America, it's not the activity but the person performing the activity. If the majority had it their way, it would be ok to decide if something could be done based on the person doing it rather than the activity itself. People want to know who exactly is perform the activity so they can judge them. The truth hurts.