What Kind of Drone Pilot Are You?

[Chaosrider]

Play with me on this one for a little bit. Are you:

1) A pilot of a drone, which has a camera attached, or
2) A photographer with a camera, that happens to be attached to a drone

?

I know it's not binary, and that many people have aspects of both, but I think there may be a pattern in how people respond to things, based around this distinction.

I'm definitely "Type 1".

This occurred to me specifically in the context of the choice between the Mini-2 (which I have) and the Mini Se (which I don't yet have). I think the Mini SE would be just fine for a Type 1 drone pilot like me. If you're primarily a photographer, I think the Mini-2 is the only choice, between those two, based on the specs that I've seen.

The one thing I think I'd miss with the SE is the control range. I really like to go out and explore the other side of the canyon, or up the mountain in the other direction. If in my environment I can only get 3000-4000 ft control range on the Mini-2, how much less would that be with the Mini-SE? The specs I see only talk about video transmission range, not control range.

Thoughts?

TCS

 

[old man mavic]

@Chaosrider i am type 1 also ,the primary enjoyment for me is flying the drone myself
the maintenance aspect of drone ownership, and being able to enjoy all the pics and videos ,in the comfort of my man cave, when the weather out side is not good for flying
which unfortunately is a lot of the time where i live.
the Mini SE would have the same range and signal stability as the original MM ,it will not be as good as the Ocusynce of the Mini 2 ,the original MM was never really intended to be a long range drone, mainly because of its lack of wind resistance and the lack of real power from its 2 cell batteries ,the Mini 2 addressed some of those issues, but not the range issue between the RC and aircraft

 

[MA2 317]

#1 for me.

 

[Tomk_]

Solid #1 here. I often don't even think to film until I'm coming in.

 

[cheddar-man]

#1 - BUT I am also a wildlife photographer but the drone would scare it away, so I use Sony camera for that

 

[slup]

For me it's been & is a constant evolution ...

-From the absolute beginning it was full focus on 1) A pilot of a drone, learning all aspects of flying & how/why they actually works/flies.

-Then gradually more & more leaned over to 2) A photographer with a camera (which always been another major main interest)

Once here ... I missed the initial phase.

So the "camera platform" drone truly became a camera, that happens to be attached to a drone ... & I bought my first digital FPV Acro quad with all thing's needed around it.

And the circle started all over again ...

-A winter, training to be a virtual 1) A pilot of a quad waiting for the spring.

-A full season being a 1) A pilot of a quad for real.

Once here ... I missed the creative picture/video making.

-Upgraded my old GoPro to the latest & bought another larger FPV quad.

-And eventually ended up being both 1) A pilot & 2) A photographer (with a quad you simply can't chose )

So nowadays my drone is strictly another camera, mainly for stills ...
And my quads a bit of both 1) & 2) (2 for videoing) ... but mostly biased towards 1) definitely.

 

[akdrone]

Play with me on this one for a little bit. Are you:

1) A pilot of a drone, which has a camera attached, or
2) A photographer with a camera, that happens to be attached to a drone

?

I know it's not binary, and that many people have aspects of both, but I think there may be a pattern in how people respond to things, based around this distinction.

I'm definitely "Type 1".

This occurred to me specifically in the context of the choice between the Mini-2 (which I have) and the Mini Se (which I don't yet have). I think the Mini SE would be just fine for a Type 1 drone pilot like me. If you're primarily a photographer, I think the Mini-2 is the only choice, between those two, based on the specs that I've seen.

The one thing I think I'd miss with the SE is the control range. I really like to go out and explore the other side of the canyon, or up the mountain in the other direction. If in my environment I can only get 3000-4000 ft control range on the Mini-2, how much less would that be with the Mini-SE? The specs I see only talk about video transmission range, not control range.

Thoughts?

TCS

When I fly my FPV, the camera is secondary. When I fly my M3, it is a flying video camera.

 

[Chrislaf]

#2 for me. The only reason I bought my drones.

Chris

 

[Deleted member 103366]

2 for me, to get views I could not get as a ground hugger.

 

[lensimages]

2 Also, am a retired Pro Photographer so the taking of images to me is very important, cheers Len

 

[OkDrone]

#2 for me. As a long time photographer, the main reason I bought the Air 2s was for the camera specs. Not to say at first would have been a #1. When drones came out, I wanted one. I am a long-term RC plane flyer so the drone idea to learn and fly was there. I waited till all the bells came available. That made it easy to use for photography the main reason for spending the big bucks. Now when I get the FPV it will be for sure #1.

 

[Chrislaf]

To add to my original post (#8), I originally bought an el cheapo drone to see if I would even like or be able to fly a drone, then I bought my first real camera drone, the Phantom 3 Standard with the intention of complementing my landscape photography. I still fly the Phantom to this day every week. After more than 5 years with the Phantom and 4 years with the Spark practising and shooting in all kinds of weather and lighting conditions to learn how a fixed aperture wide angle lens works in the air while trying to compose a shot while looking at a small iPhone screen , I feel it is finally time for me to upgrade to a better photography platform (Mavic 3). Again, the reason for my upgrade will be the camera, the drone although important is secondary.

Chris

 

[Wade L.]

When I’m in a place with limited or no scenery (like around my house/hometown) and just want to get some flying time in, type 1. When I’m somewhere more inspiring, type 2, although my photography/videography skills are still at an amateur level at best (but slowly improving). Interesting question!

 

[WyomingCB]

Absolutely type #1 for myself. Real time agricultural inspection and observation on my own property. This kinda requires the GPS, Mapping, Zoom and Hover abilities of a camera drone but it would be an additional benefit to have the low latency and ultra fast transmission rate of FPV.

Flight time, Penetration, Range and Wind resistance are also important but that's largely due to the topography and large expanses of land I need to traverse, not to mention average wind speeds here are usually 10-15 mph, gusting to 30 mph is pretty common.

Photos, Videos, editing and sharing of same; those are currently at the bottom of my interest....perhaps that will evolve some, but real time discovery will always be a priority.

 

[Rayzr]

Definitely #1. The pilot experience far exceeds the footage for me.

 

[tvc184]

I am maybe 1.5 for now. I took classes in photography in the mid-1970s. I started with a Pentax K1000 and a few times developed film, pushed the ISO like 400 pushing to 1600 and so on. Maybe 4 years ago I took an online photography course which was mostly updating and refreshing from many years earlier but from film to digital.

I started and commanded a police drone unit and helped write a basic law enforcement UAV course. I have had almost 4 years as a Part 107 pilot and 32 years as a private pilot.

Now retired (7months after 37 years) I am leaning to fly for photography. I have flown several law enforcement missions and photographed scenes but it was not for effect

So…. I am looking to get back into photography, possibly commercially so I am about a 1.5 and hopefully heading for #2.

 

[Bryan L]

Definitely #2. Wanted to expand our video capabilities. I enjoy flying, but the purpose of the flight is to get the footage.

 

[Heijst]

without any doubt #2, a photographer for the last50 years and now using amazing new points of view

 

[JohnnyD913]

#1

 

[TTP]

Here you have a solid #1.