What more do you need from a recreation drone?

[Droning on and on...]

Yes, GPS guides the craft back to a close approximation of its launch point. But on my Air 3, whose firmware was updated about two weeks ago, the main camera then automatically pivots downward and locks into a vertical position at the start of the RTH landing sequence (at my chosen RTH return altitude of 120' above the home point), and a small drone-shaped symbol is projected on the camera's image of the home point (in my case, a conspicuous Hoodman pad) on the controller display. Then, four or five feet above the ground, the main camera pivots back to its horizontal position and the downward VPS cameras apparently take over.

How would you explain the main camera's behavior in that manner if it plays no role in precision landing? It didn't start doing that until after my recent update.

PL has been around as a feature for years. The auto tilt down and then back up is much newer than PL. The main camera plays no role in PL; prove this to yourself by using the gimbal wheel to point the camera straight again right after it pitches down. The bird will still perform a successful PL.

 

[hank970]

I still don't understand why the camera module now automatically tilts straight down during the RTH landing sequence, and why a silhouette of the drone is projected onto the center of the controller's display if they play no role in the procedure. What's the point of the camera module doing that? Is it just so the operator can watch the prelude to landing from the perspective of the drone? If so, that option has always been available, albeit manually.

 

[mavic3usa]

I still don't understand why the camera module now automatically tilts straight down during the RTH landing sequence, and why a silhouette of the drone is projected onto the center of the controller's display if they play no role in the procedure. What's the point of the camera module doing that? Is it just so the operator can watch the prelude to landing from the perspective of the drone? If so, that option has always been available, albeit manually.

I could be wrong but the camera might look down when you are landing so you can see exactly where you are landing and perhaps nudge the drone a bit using the sticks to get it exactly centered when, for example, you are landing on the rooftop of your car. There's no reason for the drone to be looking forward while you are landing in automatic mode so I don't have a problem with it pointing down as you can you can move it back to forward should you wish. Often people land in remote locations to far away from them to see the landing site so it's a good thing to have the camera pointed down.

Projecting the drone image, somebody else (another unnamed drone manufacturer) did this first, DJI is copying this gimmick. Next, you'll be able to stick the landing to a specific image.

 

[Max Headroom]

I could be wrong but the camera might look down when you are landing so you can see exactly where you are landing and perhaps nudge the drone a bit using the sticks to get it exactly centered when, for example, you are landing on the rooftop of your car

Mine doesn't tilt down, I think you are right RTH isn't perfect and if you are using a landing mat because of grass or dirt etc being able to see where it will land on its own is a big plus you can always cancel as I do and finish the landing.

 

[old man mavic]

there is no special reason ,that the camera points straight down, and an image of a drone is shown it is just an added feature of the O4 RTH ,where a green flight path is shown on the screen as it RTH

 

[4 inch pistons]

Well I finally got the 4 Pro and yes I am impressed. Bang for the buck it is the best thing going in camera drones IMHO.

 

[hank970]

I could be wrong but the camera might look down when you are landing so you can see exactly where you are landing and perhaps nudge the drone a bit using the sticks to get it exactly centered when, for example, you are landing on the rooftop of your car. There's no reason for the drone to be looking forward while you are landing in automatic mode so I don't have a problem with it pointing down as you can you can move it back to forward should you wish. Often people land in remote locations to far away from them to see the landing site so it's a good thing to have the camera pointed down.

Projecting the drone image, somebody else (another unnamed drone manufacturer) did this first, DJI is copying this gimmick. Next, you'll be able to stick the landing to a specific image.

No, because the camera pivots upward to zero-degree tilt when the drone is still several feet above the landing spot. Of course, it's possible to watch the drone and make manual corrections as it descends the rest of the way to the landing pad.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I still don't understand why the camera module now automatically tilts straight down during the RTH landing sequence, and why a silhouette of the drone is projected onto the center of the controller's display if they play no role in the procedure.

This is in error.

The projected quad shadow is a bit of Augmented Reality projecting the "shadow" on the ground directly below the drone. It isn't simply fixed in the centerpoint of the screen.

It is immensely useful when landing manually.

 

[sawman]

Yes, and that's nice but they're just waypoints.
Imagine a 3d map where you could program a flight line and bend the line to all different directions and altitudes. And then have rotation points you could add for camera angles. Even possibilities of zoom, speed of flight, etc.

There's a lot of room for an improvement in automatic controls (with operator override, of course) that could be made.

At what point does it stop being "recreational"? Kinda like self-driving cars...no thanks, I'll do the driving/flying myself. Now, if talking non-recreational, then whatever makes the job easier!

 

[akdrone]

The thing that kept me from buying a high end drone, for so long, was the fear of crashing, the fear of flying off, fear of wind and the fear of not bringing it back to land due to directional confusion.

So, with my Mini 4 Pro, it seems to have overcome those fears.
• Obstacle avoidance
• RTH on lost signal (plus amazing signal distance)
• Strong enough to handle 20mph winds
• RTH at a push of a button

Adding in benefits of a remarkably stable camera
Stop on joystick release
GPS hover
Auto landing
Great battery life, all things considered
And so much more

The question is, what more can you add to a drone to make it better?
Improvements can be made via software.
Eventually there might be a better battery technology to extend flight time
But I don't see much room for improvement.

I could see a possible build program for flight planning (might already exist) where someone could program an entire flight, like they do with drone light shows, that is easy to use but that's not necessarily a drone improvement.

What more do we need?

I would like a true zoom lens. Samsung can put it in their phones and so it may be a matter of paying them for the use of that technology, but it’s not a matter of the sensor being too small. It’s a technical problem they might be able to overcome or could pay for access to those patented technologies.

 

[tstr14]

I would like a true zoom lens. Samsung can put it in their phones and so it may be a matter of paying them for the use of that technology, but it’s not a matter of the sensor being too small. It’s a technical problem they might be able to overcome or could pay for access to those patented technologies.

I have no idea how Samsung does it. My Samsung phone has 5 lenses on the back of the phone, 3 larger ones and 2 small ones, yet the zoom capabilities are amazing.








All three pictures were taken from the same spot, using the phone's zoom capability. Yes, full zoom is not the greatest quality but holy cow, what an impressive range!

 

[Johnmcl7]

I think DJI could easily implement such a zoom if they wanted do but likely don't due to the many compromises such a design forces, the periscope design they're using is nothing new and was on the go long before Samsung were even making phones. DJI's general trend is to move to bigger sensors and to use reasonable sized sensors for the secondary cameras, the Mini 5 is rumoured to be moving up from a 1/1.3in sensor to a 1in sensor, the Air 3S uses a 1in sensor for its main camera and a 1/1.3in sensor for the secondary while the Mavic 4 Pro uses a 4/3 sensor for its main camera with 1/1.5in and 1/1.3in secondary cameras.

Samsung have the opposite approach with the main S25U camera using a 1/1.3in sensor (note that they don't use the zoom lens as their main camera) but the rest are smaller and in some cases much smaller with one of the telephoto lenses using a 1/3.5in sensor. The system also adds size and weight with the S25U tipping the scales at a hefty 218g which isn't far off the 250g drone limit for just the phone.

 

[Bad Santa]

I think DJI could easily implement such a zoom if they wanted do but likely don't due to the many compromises such a design forces, the periscope design they're using is nothing new and was on the go long before Samsung were even making phones. DJI's general trend is to move to bigger sensors and to use reasonable sized sensors for the secondary cameras, the Mini 5 is rumoured to be moving up from a 1/1.3in sensor to a 1in sensor, the Air 3S uses a 1in sensor for its main camera and a 1/1.3in sensor for the secondary while the Mavic 4 Pro uses a 4/3 sensor for its main camera with 1/1.5in and 1/1.3in secondary cameras.

Samsung have the opposite approach with the main S25U camera using a 1/1.3in sensor (note that they don't use the zoom lens as their main camera) but the rest are smaller and in some cases much smaller with one of the telephoto lenses using a 1/3.5in sensor. The system also adds size and weight with the S25U tipping the scales at a hefty 218g which isn't far off the 250g drone limit for just the phone.

I believe the answer is far more simple than that.

The stabilization technology curve increases exponentially based on the focal length of the lens.

In short, it's harder to stabilize a camera the more you zoom in.

 

[hank970]

I'm happy with RTH, obstacle avoidance, and other features on my Air 3, but it sure would be nice to have built-in, multi-directional strobe lights, one in each arm that are visible at night for at least three statute miles. My clip-on Firehouse strobes work OK, but they require being charged separately and are a bit of a bother to attach. Being able to activate strobes by pressing a button on the controller would be awesome. Would the additional electrical load affect flight time significantly? I don't know.

 

[Johnmcl7]

I believe the answer is far more simple than that.

The stabilization technology curve increases exponentially based on the focal length of the lens.

In short, it's harder to stabilize a camera the more you zoom in.

That's certainly not the reason, firstly Samsung are able to offer stabilisation on their telephoto lenses and secondly DJI have superior stabilisation through the mechanical gimbal which already has no problems with telephoto focal lengths on their other models.

Going back to the original topic my main want for a new drone is a bigger sensor and would prefer a single larger sensor than several small ones although can appreciate the latter is a more flexible approach that appeals to more people.

 

[PINEBARON]

I have no idea how Samsung does it. My Samsung phone has 5 lenses on the back of the phone, 3 larger ones and 2 small ones, yet the zoom capabilities are amazing.

View attachment 184598

View attachment 184599

View attachment 184600


All three pictures were taken from the same spot, using the phone's zoom capability. Yes, full zoom is not the greatest quality but holy cow, what an impressive range!

I feel the MP4 Pro 168mm 6X zoom with digital zoom to 28X is amazing; I simply love it.