drone subject finding- it ain't as easy as you might think...

[edfrombama]

Good morning to all-
So since yesterday was the prettiest day God ever made, my son and I went over to the beach in Florida to do some fishing and flying.
My son was about a half-mile offshore. the wind was out of the north- not too bad, the water was flat, we were the only folks out there. Perfect set up, right?
When I launched and flew, the drone was in VLOS- see, I can do that from time to time- and I flew directly to where my son was paddling his kayak.

And I could not find him. Water, water everywhere, but not a kayak to be found. I had to raise the drone up to a couple of hundred feet and do a circle search to finally locate him. then I could lower the drone and use 2X telephoto to get my video.

But I'll tell you, finding a fairly small object in a wide expanse is not easy. this was very educational for me.

you all be safe and keep well-Ed

 

[Crash Gibby]

Good morning to all-
So since yesterday was the prettiest day God ever made, my son and I went over to the beach in Florida to do some fishing and flying.
My son was about a half-mile offshore. the wind was out of the north- not too bad, the water was flat, we were the only folks out there. Perfect set up, right?
When I launched and flew, the drone was in VLOS- see, I can do that from time to time- and I flew directly to where my son was paddling his kayak.

And I could not find him. Water, water everywhere, but not a kayak to be found. I had to raise the drone up to a couple of hundred feet and do a circle search to finally locate him. then I could lower the drone and use 2X telephoto to get my video.

But I'll tell you, finding a fairly small object in a wide expanse is not easy. this was very educational for me.

you all be safe and keep well-Ed

Very True. Not that easy at all, some times.

 

[retiredNH]

It's the wide angle view of the camera, which is good and bad...

Personally, I'd prefer a less wide angle view because I can always use panorama to get a wide angle effect.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Good morning to all-
So since yesterday was the prettiest day God ever made, my son and I went over to the beach in Florida to do some fishing and flying.
My son was about a half-mile offshore. the wind was out of the north- not too bad, the water was flat, we were the only folks out there. Perfect set up, right?
When I launched and flew, the drone was in VLOS- see, I can do that from time to time- and I flew directly to where my son was paddling his kayak.

And I could not find him. Water, water everywhere, but not a kayak to be found. I had to raise the drone up to a couple of hundred feet and do a circle search to finally locate him. then I could lower the drone and use 2X telephoto to get my video.

But I'll tell you, finding a fairly small object in a wide expanse is not easy. this was very educational for me.

you all be safe and keep well-Ed

That's where the 1x-28x dynamic zoom of the Explore Mode on the Mavic 3 shines! Quickly zoom in to locate possible suspects for your subject from afar, and then fly closer for the best image quality! Having only 2x makes it much harder. You have to fly 14x closer with no idea where to look. With the 28x, you can just scan the horizon from just above the flat water surface.