all I want to do is take pictures

[deadendacres]

Hi, I'm new here, obviously. And Renew to rc. Dabbled a little 20 years ago.

I, my family, has recently bought land to build our dream home. And I've been clearing the land since the first of the year. But we'd like to be able to track the progress. Especially from above as it's a large tract (5acres, so not huge ) ,but the change of scenery would definitely be best shown from above.

I've got 0 flying experience, but can build and drive anything. Not always well but, I do get by.

I'm a mechanic and fabricator by trade, but in steel and the like.


All I'm looking to do is to take Ariel photos of our property without a huge investment. And learning to fly would be a hobby I could definitely get into.

So , the whole reason I'm here, where do I start?

 

[Capt_Beavis]

for video I use the Horizon Hobby Delta Ray and a Mobius. The Mobius will do time lapse photography which may work for you purposes.

 

[airhawk]

first off i do not advise buying a aerial photography platform first.i would lear to fly with something like a nano qx first then move up http://www.amazon.com/Horizon-Blade...e=UTF8&qid=1442200263&sr=8-3&keywords=nano+qx

 

[Capt_Beavis]

just to be clear, the delta ray is not an AP platform, it is a beginner to intermediate plane (I know AH knows this). I do most of my video flying in beginner mode for stability. The twin props allow the camera to be mounted where the props won't com into the frame.


Here is some sample video, this is on lower res. https://www.dropbox.com/s/nycg1uc76ewaeuu/Centralia_Morning.MP4?dl=0

 

[airhawk]

cap is right if you want something cheap and easy to fly the delta ray is great but you said taking picture and cap correct me if im wrong but the mobius cant take pictures

 

[Snarls]

I'm thinking if you want to go the multirotor root you could build a really cheap quad ~$200 using budget parts. Then you can strap a GoPro to the bottom facing down and fly the quad up to around the area you want and have the camera take pictures on time lapse mode.

One issue is that to fly a cheap quad you will need to learn how to fly a hobby grade quadcopter, and will have to face crashes. You may also need to get a Nano QX like Airhawk says so you can learn the basics. On the other hand if you shell out around $450 for one of the older model DJI phantoms you can easily fly it from day one and get your pictures. Note that I would still advise you learn how to properly fly and be responsible for a DJI Phantom, we don't want another incident

 

[Capt_Beavis]

The mobius does have a picture setting, Set the time and it will continuously take stills.

 

[ZoomNBoom]

Time lapse is no use if you cant control the position and orientation really finely. You know, if the goal is to document the building progress, I would seriously consider doing something much simpler. Just mount one or several time lapse cameras on a high tree, a crane or whatever fixed vantage point you can muster, and have it make a picture every x hours. You could use a mobius for that (with external power and some DIY weather proof case) or a dedicated time lapse camera.

 

[razor02097]

Hi, I'm new here, obviously. And Renew to rc. Dabbled a little 20 years ago.

I, my family, has recently bought land to build our dream home. And I've been clearing the land since the first of the year. But we'd like to be able to track the progress. Especially from above as it's a large tract (5acres, so not huge ) ,but the change of scenery would definitely be best shown from above.

I've got 0 flying experience, but can build and drive anything. Not always well but, I do get by.

I'm a mechanic and fabricator by trade, but in steel and the like.


All I'm looking to do is to take Ariel photos of our property without a huge investment. And learning to fly would be a hobby I could definitely get into.

So , the whole reason I'm here, where do I start?

Are you okay with building one? Do you have a GoPro or other action cam? My suggestion would be to build a platform. This way not only do you have a craft that will accomplish the task but can be versatile enough to play around with when you aren't doing AP.

A couple suggestions would be a kit from the Flite Test store or if you want to go tricopter www.RCExplorer.se Both places you can get almost everything you need.

 

[PHugger]

Drone Timelapse is possible with the "location hold" function that some controllers have, but the downside is that your timelapse can only be as long as your battery can keep it in the air.
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?21583-Satlapse-Drone-based-Timelapse

The problem will always be that your location and camera direction on subsequent flights may or may not be exact.
Without a fixed point and perspective your timelapse will be crap.
If you are just trying to get say 1 photo per week - perfection may not be necessary.



Best regards,
PCH

 

[Capt_Beavis]

My thoughts were that if he wants pics, he could set the time lapse for something like 0.5s or maybe 2s, fly around, get a bunch of pics and keep the ones he wants. Then repeat at whatever interval. It wont be the exact same shot every time but it could still show progress.

That seems to me to be the cheapest way to utilize RC for the project.

Time lapse is no use if you cant control the position and orientation really finely. You know, if the goal is to document the building progress, I would seriously consider doing something much simpler. Just mount one or several time lapse cameras on a high tree, a crane or whatever fixed vantage point you can muster, and have it make a picture every x hours. You could use a mobius for that (with external power and some DIY weather proof case) or a dedicated time lapse camera.

 

[Snarls]

My thoughts were that if he wants pics, he could set the time lapse for something like 0.5s or maybe 2s, fly around, get a bunch of pics and keep the ones he wants. Then repeat at whatever interval. It wont be the exact same shot every time but it could still show progress.

Exactly what I was thinking. An actual timelapse would also be cool, providing a sufficiently high mounting place and external power which may be hard to find on a lot under development.

 

[RAM]

This is a simple alternative:
http://publiclab.org/wiki/balloon-mapping

 

[deadendacres]

Thanks for all the replys! I honestly didn't expect such response.

I'm going to look into everything you all suggested.

I'm planning to buy a gopro camera very soon to use as a helmet cam, so if I could get double duty from that, That'd be great.

Heck I was considering taping my phone to some helium ballons! But obviously there's better options lol.

The one thing that I do have a question about also, is, the photos or video will have to be taken from fairly high. The trees are up to 120' tall. So I'd guess we'll above that for pictures. Will that add any difficulty?

 

[Snarls]

In terms of a multirotor/airplane flying that high, it will just be as easy at flying 10' above the ground, except maybe a little windier. The main thing is you might get more nervous as you see your camera in the sky get farther and farther from solid ground and become smaller and smaller in the sky.

 

[deadendacres]

well I did something.

Was that or keep talking about it. Got a cheerson cx33s.

 

[cranialrectosis]

Was that or keep talking about it. Got a cheerson cx33s.

Nice. Post some photos and video from that Cheerson. Let's see how it works.

 

[deadendacres]

Nice. Post some photos and video from that Cheerson. Let's see how it works.

I've only been able to fly it indoors, so the pictures are kinda crappie due to low light. And for some reason, the videos won't play on the Samsung tablet. Not real sure what to do about that.

But I've got 3 flights on it and so far I'm pleased. Heck, I'm just happy I'm able to fly it!

 

[deadendacres]

Did some flying, got some pictures, now can't figure out how to post them.

 

[PHugger]

When you are editing a post look at the toolbar.
The 3rd icon from the right is for uploading images.
After you upload it, always click on Go Advanced to check everything first before you post.





Best regards,
PCH