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Flying in full sunlight at high noon in Florida with no clouds, over water.

As I understand it (I haven't had my Air2 that long) one requires the Smart Controller to use the goggles, and the Air2 isn't supported by the Smart Controller until the firmware update everyone's been waiting for.

Also - doesn't using goggles mean that one is required to also have a visual observer handy to maintain LoS on the aircraft while the pilot is engoggled?
Ideally you should always have a second pair of eyes, however as you say you cannot see the screen at the moment you are flying blind!! At least this way you will have visibility.
 
I end up flying my Air2 often near the water on very sunny days. Even with my iPhone at maximum brightness, I still have a ton of difficulty seeing my screen.
I'm curious if anyone can recommend a specific hood they use to shade their phone when attached to the controller.

I'm also playing with the FlyMore included ND filters to see how they affect tracking objects in full sun over the water. Without a filter boats don't track well. I believe this to be because they are way overexposed.
I'll share my results with filter and object tracking after I have more data.

Thanks!

Ted
1. Firstly, use a bigger screen!
2.Secondly, try to fly from a shady spot like under a tree, and
3.wear a big straw hat to shade your screen.
4. I try to turn away from the bright sun.

Here is my set up. iPad, Skyreat holder. I fly in Miami all of the time like this and I have just as much sun as you do. There is usually a tree nearby.
 

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Your “system” is pretty much what I use at the moment, the exception being the hat!
I thought you said "phone" not iPad. Here is quote from your post. "Even with my iPhone at maximum brightness,..."
 
Nice shot there ? did you use a ND for longer exposures? Thanks

No. I was shooting in daylight (you can see the bright edge at the bottom that wasn't under that storm) with a home-brewed lightning trigger built around an Arduino controller with an IR phototransistor, and a couple of other transistors for the camera shutter release signal. No need for an ND there.
 
No. I was shooting in daylight (you can see the bright edge at the bottom that wasn't under that storm) with a home-brewed lightning trigger built around an Arduino controller with an IR phototransistor, and a couple of other transistors for the camera shutter release signal. No need for an ND there.
Dude. Phenomenal.




I wish I could find my old long exposure shots.

I did a couple while zooming that came out pretty cool, but my favorite was a crosswalk that showed both symbols, at night, with all the traffic light colors lit in the background.
 
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I'm a very new member, but you seem like a showoff. I want to thank you for showing off that shot :-]

You joined before I did, by a few days... but thank you!
 
I bought this thing and it finally arrived but I can't get it to fit on an iPhone X (original) - it is too small, or I'm dumb, not sure which, but it doesn't work very well for me. Still trying to figure out what I can mod to get it to actually fit....

Tomat Sun Hood - Amazon
This thing is junk btw
 
I own an M2P and it goes well with Epson’s Moverio BT-300 FPV Smartglasses. You can even look directly into sunlight with the optional Rochester Optical sunshields & no problem having VLOS & FPV simultaneously! And you don’t need a spotter/observer. Unfortunately, doesn’t look like these smartglasses will ever have support for your MA2. ?
 
I end up flying my Air2 often near the water on very sunny days. Even with my iPhone at maximum brightness, I still have a ton of difficulty seeing my screen.
I'm curious if anyone can recommend a specific hood they use to shade their phone when attached to the controller.

I'm also playing with the FlyMore included ND filters to see how they affect tracking objects in full sun over the water. Without a filter boats don't track well. I believe this to be because they are way overexposed.
I'll share my results with filter and object tracking after I have more data.

Thanks!

Ted
Unfortunately I’ve found that it is the heat that is causing the iPhone X to dim. I have had this happen in my car in south west Florida on a window mount. When I fly my MAV Air 2 I use a 10” iPad Pro with no issues. Not sure why the iPhones are so sensitive to heat as I tried my wife’s Samsung with no issues of the phone dimming.
 
I don’t get on with DSLR’s, everything is menu driven I liked all the twiddly things, sold all my 35mm equipment & settled for a basically point & shoot Canon SX50 HS I don’t get as creative but with image stabilising and a 50 times optical zoom I still get some good shots.
I have no idea what focal length a 50 times zoom equates to but it certainly gets me close.
If your camera is like those I have used, the Meta Data in the final image will tell you what focal length you were using at the time. Focal Length will change, obviously, as you zoom in and out. It should show up in each image you take.
 
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