Fly by hand, map, or automation?

[Srock]

I am a newbee and have been flying for 6 months or so (New England so rain and snow a problem)- I have been careful with my learning going to empty fields and learning to control the drone. My main interest is using the Mavic as an aerial camera (amateur)

For me - the Mavic gets real small, real fast and I have trouble with depth perception when the drone gets a couple of hundred feet away. Hand control gets much more difficult.

Do most of you still try to control with direct vision, use the map view hoping to avoid obstructions with adequate altitude, fly by camera (can't take pictures that way) or use Litchi or similar?

I'm finding that Litchi works but you still have to validate each waypoint for altitude and that you have to give waypoints a substantial amount of wiggle room ( GPS is just not that precise) to be certain of obstacle avoidance.

Would love to hear others thoughts and tips about how they think is the easiest way to fly the drone any other tips they can offer.

Steve

 

[DodgeP]

Do most of you still try to control with direct vision.

No, you should fly with a V.O. or scout your location prior to flying to be aware of potential obstacles. If you're flying while looking at the drone how are you composing your shots?

For me - the Mavic gets real small, real fast and I have trouble with depth perception when the drone gets a couple of hundred feet away. Hand control gets much more difficult.
Steve

You will get more comfortable and better at determining how close you are to objects the more you practice flying near objects. You have OA so you should use it when you're near things at different distances to help train yourself.

I'm finding that Litchi works but you still have to validate each waypoint for altitude and that you have to give waypoints a substantial amount of wiggle room.
Steve

You can fly a mission that has no elevation changes or you'll have to change the elevation at the Waypoints that require something different, the app is doing what it's designed to do. You also have to be careful if you're using Mission hub (on a computer) to plan because I've noticed that when I load missions onto my mobile device they are not exactly in the same place they were on the computer.

I was with a friend yesterday that is new to flying and I told him to never look at his drone while it was in the sky, I would be his eyes (V.O.). I told him to only use his ipad to fly. He was surprised at how easy it was to actually fly without looking to the sky and only use the tablet. He had no problems with orientation and since I was watching for obstacles, he could compose some of the best stuff he's shot with his drone since he's had it.

 

[Srock]

Very helpful. Thank you- I am trying Litchi now that I have a little experience with free flight-Have spent many batteries flying squares, figure eights etc. Litchi appears to be helpful as I often go out alone.

Again- thanks for the tips!

Steve

 

[newnan3]

Being a photog myself I always try to research the a potential shot and see what if anything has been shot there before.

For aerial stuff I like to see the satellite images on google maps to find areas of interest and have a general idea of what's there.

One thing I like to do is when I take off and travel a few hundred feet from my take off location I turn the craft around to see how it looks from above. It helps to see how your home point looks from the sky.

For me a successful flight is my mavic returning to me in fully functioning state in one piece!

 

[SONIC]

"fly by camera (can't take pictures that way) "
What do you mean by this? What's stopping you from taking photos while flying?

 

[Srock]

If you are watching the camera view and using it for navigation, its very hard to move the camera for views and position the craft for a good shot (difficult and dangerous but not impossible). Its also a restricted view and its hard to see obstructions that might be in your way.

People fly FPV every day, but doing both good photography and good flying seems to be difficult

Steve

 

[SONIC]

If you are watching the camera view and using it for navigation, its very hard to move the camera for views and position the craft for a good shot (difficult and dangerous but not impossible). Its also a restricted view and its hard to see obstructions that might be in your way.

People fly FPV every day, but doing both good photography and good flying seems to be difficult

Steve

Are we talking video or photography?

For photography I fly FPV and stop spin check for problems then frame the shot and go from there.

For video I get what you mean, but it's kind of the same procedure for me, fly it once looking around to make sure you're clear of stuff. Memorize, fly again while filming.

I suppose it depends on what and where you're filming. I generally try to be above obstacles, or if not at least plan a route first so I know where they are. If you're trying to fly through the middle of skyscrapers that's a whole different game haha.

Point is I would wager that 90% of people are flying FPV with the occasional glance up at the bird. Almost none of my filming is done close enough for visual control to be useful. This is probably not the way the FAA wants you to fly, but realistically if I can get close enough to fly by sight I can get the shot with a hand camera.

You absolutely 100% need to be able to control your bird and bring it home in the event that you have no camera. That just takes practice knowing the right stick movements to get it where you want it. But for filming the FPV is the way to go imho.