Pro You DON'T need a big drone to win big awards

christangey · Dec 6, 2021

I've been honored to win 17 international drone film awards in 2020/21. That includes a recent US$5000 win in the landscape category at the world's premiere drone film event,
Jeju International Drone Film Festival in South Korea. My first winning short film "Unseen Australia" featured shots from an M2P but also from the original Mavic!

My second film "Outback" (the South Korea winner) was ALL shot on the M2P. The fact is YOU can win too, so be "Inspired" you have the tools already, go to it!

(You can also get to make lame speeches)

old man mavic · Dec 6, 2021

@christangey ,i really am beginning to think ,that DJI and other drone makers ,have rather lost the plot ,when it comes to the latest batch of new drones that are hitting the market
as you title says you dont need big very expensive drones to get some amazing footage
and for me you also dont need a plethora of avoidance sensors either
they in my opinion, give a false sense of security to the person flying the drone ,and when they dont prevent a crash they are surprised by that
i am sure that you would rather have a simple drone that had a very good camera on it ,because at the end of the day the drone is just a means of getting that camera to a position where that very special footage can be obtained
i hope that in the future drone makers will produce two versions of the same drone (as some already have started to do ) so that those flyers who like all the bells and whistles of obstacle avoidance and automated flight can have that ,and those like myself, who prefer to fly the drone ourselves can do so also
in the race by drone makers to outdo each other ,it is sadly us the consumer who seem to be the ones that pay the price

SmilingOgre · Dec 6, 2021

Greg from Pilot Institute did an interesting interview with a producer/drone film pilot/etc.. The gentleman talked quite a bit about how on even high end productions they will opt to use a DJI drone rather than a kabillian dollar an hour monster drone. I believe we see a lot more DJI footage than we are led to believe.

Trippp · Dec 6, 2021

I like how you faded out the ending by flying into the dust behind the van. Clever. T

snowghost · Dec 6, 2021

old man mavic said:
@christangey ,i really am beginning to think ,that DJI and other drone makers ,have rather lost the plot ,when it comes to the latest batch of new drones that are hitting the market
as you title says you dont need big very expensive drones to get some amazing footage
and for me you also dont need a plethora of avoidance sensors either
they in my opinion, give a false sense of security to the person flying the drone ,and when they dont prevent a crash they are surprised by that
i am sure that you would rather have a simple drone that had a very good camera on it ,because at the end of the day the drone is just a means of getting that camera to a position where that very special footage can be obtained
i hope that in the future drone makers will produce two versions of the same drone (as some already have started to do ) so that those flyers who like all the bells and whistles of obstacle avoidance and automated flight can have that ,and those like myself, who prefer to fly the drone ourselves can do so also
in the race by drone makers to outdo each other ,it is sadly us the consumer who seem to be the ones that pay the price

I like having the OA system, but absolutely do not trust or rely on it. I pretend it's not there and fly accordingly. But it has saved my butt on at least one occasion.

Prop Wash · Dec 6, 2021

Congratulations Chris!! I certainly see why they picked your entry! VERY well done.
Now that you're famous, I guess we'll have to pay for your autograph!!

christangey · Dec 6, 2021

Prop Wash said:
Congratulations Chris!! I certainly see why they picked your entry! VERY well done.
Now that you're famous, I guess we'll have to pay for your autograph!!

No but I can sell you a tie real cheap if you like!

Deleted member 93449 · Dec 6, 2021

Congratulations!

I realize at this point I'm not even close to exhausting the capabilities of my Mavic Pro and Parrot Anafi. I have a long way to go in my understanding of photography, videography, flight controls and settings so the only thing pushing me to buy another drone will be regulations or a malfunction.

Barbara · Dec 6, 2021

Congrats, very nice videos I can only aspire to.

SmilingOgre · Dec 6, 2021

Barbara said:
Congrats, very nice videos I can only aspire to.

And that's what I love. I see what can be done and figuring out how is the joy. It is my inspiration to fly.

bmcelya · Dec 6, 2021

Well Chris, that is fabulous footage of beautiful Australia. A monumental effort. Thanks for spending the time to produce those, and thanks for sharing them here. One day I hope to get down under and see some things. Maybe fly if they let me.

christangey · Dec 7, 2021

bmcelya said:
Well Chris, that is fabulous footage of beautiful Australia. A monumental effort. Thanks for spending the time to produce those, and thanks for sharing them here. One day I hope to get down under and see some things. Maybe fly if they let me.

We'd love to have you over, I'm sure our air safety people CASA Home page have a way to sign you up while you're here!

christangey · Dec 7, 2021

old man mavic said:
@christangey ,i really am beginning to think ,that DJI and other drone makers ,have rather lost the plot ,when it comes to the latest batch of new drones that are hitting the market
as you title says you dont need big very expensive drones to get some amazing footage
and for me you also dont need a plethora of avoidance sensors either
they in my opinion, give a false sense of security to the person flying the drone ,and when they dont prevent a crash they are surprised by that
i am sure that you would rather have a simple drone that had a very good camera on it ,because at the end of the day the drone is just a means of getting that camera to a position where that very special footage can be obtained
i hope that in the future drone makers will produce two versions of the same drone (as some already have started to do ) so that those flyers who like all the bells and whistles of obstacle avoidance and automated flight can have that ,and those like myself, who prefer to fly the drone ourselves can do so also
in the race by drone makers to outdo each other ,it is sadly us the consumer who seem to be the ones that pay the price

Yes, I've already said I would have been happy with an M2 with the new camera really!

christangey · Dec 7, 2021

SmilingOgre said:
And that's what I love. I see what can be done and figuring out how is the joy. It is my inspiration to fly.

That's great to hear

obistevekenobi · Dec 7, 2021

Congrats! Fantastic footage.

christangey · Dec 7, 2021

Barbara said:
Congrats, very nice videos I can only aspire to.

Thanks Barbara

PAW · Dec 7, 2021

Proof the most important tool is not the equipment, but the person behind the lens...

bmcelya · Dec 7, 2021

christangey said:
We'd love to have you over, I'm sure our air safety people CASA Home page have a way to sign you up while you're here!

Chris. Good, the link saves me a lot of investigative work (smile). I’ll contact them when covid slows and see what’s to it.

Also fun would be hot air ballooning and whitewater rafting. Good stuff. Thanks for the invite.

cgmaxed · Dec 7, 2021

old man mavic said:
@christangey ,i really am beginning to think ,that DJI and other drone makers ,have rather lost the plot ,when it comes to the latest batch of new drones that are hitting the market
as you title says you dont need big very expensive drones to get some amazing footage
and for me you also dont need a plethora of avoidance sensors either
they in my opinion, give a false sense of security to the person flying the drone ,and when they dont prevent a crash they are surprised by that
i am sure that you would rather have a simple drone that had a very good camera on it ,because at the end of the day the drone is just a means of getting that camera to a position where that very special footage can be obtained
i hope that in the future drone makers will produce two versions of the same drone (as some already have started to do ) so that those flyers who like all the bells and whistles of obstacle avoidance and automated flight can have that ,and those like myself, who prefer to fly the drone ourselves can do so also
in the race by drone makers to outdo each other ,it is sadly us the consumer who seem to be the ones that pay the price

I've been flying drones for a few years now. I stopped using my obstacle sensors only after a few months of flying because, I did get that false sense of security and did crash a couple times. Now that I almost never use the sensors, I wish they would make a no obstacle avoidance version of their drones. Except for the landing sensors, of course. It would reduce weight, power consumption and give longer flight times, I expect.