Watching marine life - which drones work best?

[jamesdrone]

Hi all, new to drones but I am particularly interested in using it to spot marine life such as whales and sharks around where I live and whilst travelling. I am aware of regulations around how close you can fly to these animals so I am wondering what zoom capabilities I will require. The mini 3 pro seems like a great first drone but with only 2x zoom in 4k I am wondering if this will allow me to get any close ups of whales at all while complying with regulations.
I am looking for thoughts on the mini 3 pro, air 2s, mavic 2 zoom and finally the mavic 3 although the final choice is probably a bit out of my price range. Let me know your thoughts/experience

Thanks in advance to anyone that leaves advice

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Forget the Mini 3 and the Mini 2 as being out on the water your always going to be negotiating the wind and these two drones just need to bow out as there a hot mess with that.

The mavic 2 Zoom and the Air 2s are both in the running , with the Mavic 2 having some really nice features as the Zoom and how smooth it can be as well as the Super Max Size Pictures a Favorite of ours. You also have the edge in the Extreme winds out over the ocean.

Its going to be very tempting to get close to the subject so having the best zoom possible with a reasonable price point is a good bet along with good quality footage from the zoom.

We make both the Wet Suit and the Rescue Jacket for all the drones so you can land on the water and be around the water in Extreme Weather to help get some interesting and safely secured footage.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water , Capture the Orca shots.

 

[Meta4]

Hi all, new to drones but I am particularly interested in using it to spot marine life such as whales and sharks around where I live and whilst travelling. I am aware of regulations around how close you can fly to these animals so I am wondering what zoom capabilities I will require. The mini 3 pro seems like a great first drone but with only 2x zoom in 4k I am wondering if this will allow me to get any close ups of whales at all while complying with regulations.

Your local regulations prohibit approaching closer than 100 metres, so close-up images are out.

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Animals-and-plants/Native-animals/drone-laws-whale-dolphin-dugong-seal-220274.pdf

This pretty much makes it impossible to get any worthwhile photos with the wideangle lenses that are common on drones.
If you were wanting to comply with regulations, the Mavic 3 is the only DJI drone worth considering.

 

[Repaid1]

I vote for the M2Z, still the best software (Go4) and does quite a bit given the age of debut. And of course I am a tad biased. It basically was the last full featured aircraft (Consumer) that DJI marketed IMHO. And bonus it works wonderful with Litchi and still came with both Optical tracking and GPS track, which DJI canned after for optical only. They can be had for "a song" as compared to new price drones and are still a work horse, also able to be "Hacked" if one so desired a no holds barred aircraft.

If you shoot in 1080p you get 4 times zoom, 2X optical and then 2X digital. For a new flier I think you would love the benefits of this aircraft and then move up later once the "Bug" bites.

 

[jamesdrone]

Thanks guys, anyone on here actually use their drone for watching whales and can share their experience?

 

[Meta4]

Thanks guys, anyone on here actually use their drone for watching whales and can share their experience?

Unless you are very close, it's quite difficult.
With a wideangle lens, you can't see anything on the water unless it's close
You can't tell where the whale is, except when it's on the surface.
But when it surfaces, it's hard to know where the drone is relative to the whale.
Do you would need to fly left, right, forward or back to get closer?

Glare also makes it difficult.
Ideally you want the sun behind the drone.

 

[mobilehomer]

Use a polarizing filter. Sun behind the drone. Air 2S has 1080p 4X zoom. That's my recommendation.

 

[NG Wildman]

Forget the Mini 3 and the Mini 2 as being out on the water your always going to be negotiating the wind and these two drones just need to bow out as there a hot mess with that.

The mavic 2 Zoom and the Air 2s are both in the running , with the Mavic 2 having some really nice features as the Zoom and how smooth it can be as well as the Super Max Size Pictures a Favorite of ours. You also have the edge in the Extreme winds out over the ocean.

Its going to be very tempting to get close to the subject so having the best zoom possible with a reasonable price point is a good bet along with good quality footage from the zoom.

We make both the Wet Suit and the Rescue Jacket for all the drones so you can land on the water and be around the water in Extreme Weather to help get some interesting and safely secured footage.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water , Capture the Orca shots.

I have the rescue jacket for my M2Pro... absolutely love it.

 

[RoarRoar]

As someone who has caught whales with my drone two times this year I will give you this advice.

Shoot at the highest resolution and frame rate for you drone. This will make for really good slow motion. For big animals they move crazy fast and are not so easy to track. They pop up and then go under and then are 1000 feet in another direction.

For photos shoot shoot shoot and get ready to crop your photos. A whale isn’t going to hold a pose for you to get the perfect shot.

As for what drone is say something that can handle wind well. I thought my Air2s handled my whale videos well.

 

[jamesdrone]

As someone who has caught whales with my drone two times this year I will give you this advice.

Shoot at the highest resolution and frame rate for you drone. This will make for really good slow motion. For big animals they move crazy fast and are not so easy to track. They pop up and then go under and then are 1000 feet in another direction.

For photos shoot shoot shoot and get ready to crop your photos. A whale isn’t going to hold a pose for you to get the perfect shot.

As for what drone is say something that can handle wind well. I thought my Air2s handled my whale videos well.

Thanks for sharing, I just worry about sticking to the regulations but I think I am also going to go for the air 2s so hopefully the zoom is sufficient!

 

[hiflyer201]

Head for Baja. Forget the drone