Negative attitudes to drone photography?

[RedHotPoker]

I kinda resent to comments about cameras and optical zoom lenses. Even though I don't partake in what 'Jeopardy' call, way up in the North country, as "Tom Tookaluk" that''s "What do you call an Eskimo, igloo peeping?"
I have a Niikon D800 with AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR & the new AF-S Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lenses and have never aimed at anyones window or even towards a person, who I didn't already know.

I think that's behavior which Is only asking/inviting trouble to follow or worse... ;-) as in this situation. Even though the OP here, was innocent.
Thankfully there were witnesses about, and level heads prevailed.

RedHotPoker

 

[RyanK]

They just all wave to me.

this is P2v+3.0 video, the the P3A went down in the lake Friday for unknown reasons, last radar shot showed it headed down at 20 MPH.

Any more info for the story of how you lost the P3? Were you able to check logs and/or send them to DJI?

 

[Hovtech]

The last time I flew I was asked "how much does it cost?" by three separate people, lol.

But the trigger question I've discovered is "Do you have a camera on that thing?". When I hear that my ears perk up. About half the time this is followed-up with "well you better not be photographing me!" so some such statement.

I have had that said to me. I reply, why would I want to photo you? Are you somebody important? Or, "Why, are your children someone special I don't know about"?

 

[snerd]

As has been said, I would ask them if they had a cell phone. When they say yes, I'd say well you better not be photographing me!

 

[richardseguro]

I also never mention drone, if anyone ever asks if its a drone i say no, its a quadcopter.

Love it. I will say this from now on!

 

[PTCX]

I regularly have people stopping to watch me flying my Phantoms and asking all the usual questions and like others have mentioned I let them see the view through the fpv goggles.
Everyone is impessed and amazed,usually.
There has only been one time someone has taken objection to my flying.
It was out in the Simpson Desert,Central Australia,I was showing an interested crowd of folks what it was all about and they were taking turns to look through the goggles and I went through three batteries so everyone could have a go.I even put one guys GoPro on the gimbal and shot some video for him.
Then a couple who had been watching and left came back to tell me that someone was complaining to all who would pass by that my quad was upsetting their baby.They did not approach me just winged at passers by.
I stopped flying just to keep the peace.
I did considder going to complain to them the many other times their baby was crying,VERY LOUDLY,and keeping me awake at 11pm,1am,2am,4am and 5am but again to keep the peace I kept quiet.
Even through the day the baby was screaming almost constantly.
They were obviously just looking for someone else to blame for their lack or absence of parenting skills.And who in their right mind takes a two month old baby into the desert anyway?
I know you can't please all the people all the time but some people are just never going to happy about anything.

 

[dottat4]

I regularly have people stopping to watch me flying my Phantoms and asking all the usual questions and like others have mentioned I let them see the view through the fpv goggles.
Everyone is impessed and amazed,usually.
There has only been one time someone has taken objection to my flying.
It was out in the Simpson Desert,Central Australia,I was showing an interested crowd of folks what it was all about and they were taking turns to look through the goggles and I went through three batteries so everyone could have a go.I even put one guys GoPro on the gimbal and shot some video for him.
Then a couple who had been watching and left came back to tell me that someone was complaining to all who would pass by that my quad was upsetting their baby.They did not approach me just winged at passers by.
I stopped flying just to keep the peace.
I did considder going to complain to them the many other times their baby was crying,VERY LOUDLY,and keeping me awake at 11pm,1am,2am,4am and 5am but again to keep the peace I kept quiet.
Even through the day the baby was screaming almost constantly.
They were obviously just looking for someone else to blame for their lack or absence of parenting skills.And who in their right mind takes a two month old baby into the desert anyway?
I know you can't please all the people all the time but some people are just never going to happy about anything.

Next they will be screaming the djingo stole their baby!!

 

[Clipper707]

Even better when, before talking to me, they whip out their phones and take pictures of my drone and (sometimes) me flying it. I share the video feed if they're interested. If the subject of photographing them comes up, I point out they've already taken my pic.

 

[Survey Flyer]

I would like to see the industry drop the "Drone" and use quadcopter or Phantom, My biggest issue is I try to move far away from people and I see to attract them like a magnet, with their dog and little kids. They are just curious but makes it hard to land with the milling around.

I was in a large public field of weeds, you could just see the roof tops of homes 600 feet away, and a guy came out and stood looking really mean with his arms crossed, I landed, changed batteries and kept flying, I was not anywhere near their homes. I feel that if I fly over someones property they can shoot me down if they wish, I don't want people flying around my house either.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I kinda resent to comments about cameras and optical zoom lenses. Even though I don't partake in what 'Jeopardy' call, way up in the North country, as "Tom Tookaluk" that''s "What do you call an Eskimo, igloo peeping?"
I have a Niikon D800 with AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR & the new AF-S Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lenses and have never aimed at anyones window or even towards a person, who I didn't already know.

I think that's behavior which Is only asking/inviting trouble to follow or worse... ;-) as in this situation. Even though the OP here, was innocent.
Thankfully there were witnesses about, and level heads prevailed.

RedHotPoker

You need a 24MP D7200 with a 1.5 crop factor and a TC 2.0 IIIE doubler on the 200-400mm F/4 for a true surveilance rig! Combo results in a 600-1200mm at f/8! That's 12x-24x, with a 6 foot close focus capabilty. However, you need a gimbal tripod on terra firma, or a police helicopter to operate it from the air! P3P "tripod in the sky" can't quite handle the load. Love my 20mm f/2.8 rectilinear lens on the P3P! Way too noisy for peeping! Ideal for aerial landscapes!

 

[RedHotPoker]

I don't use doubler lenses, but Nikon just released some new lenses.
Get up close and personal with Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4.0 E FL ED VR, or Nikon AF-S 500mm f/4.0 E FL ED VR.
Kind of pricey, but what of quality isn't these days... ;-)

RedHotPoker

 

[GadgetGuy]

Given the range of the P3P, you can easily hide your location from those annoyed by the quad. Just set up and launch discreetly outside of view, fly to your location, shoot, and fly back, and move on. I was shooting the Hotel Del Coronado, and had set up out on the beach, just outside their cabanas and beach chairs. The "Cabana Boy" came up to me only after he saw me flying over Hotel property, and told me I was not "permitted" to fly over the Hotel Del property, but as long as I observed that limitation, I was free to carry on. Otherwise, he would have to call "Security." I told him I would happily comply, and I moved the copter in the air 50 feet toward the water directly over me, and asked if that met with his "approval" and he said yes. I flew up and down the coast at that distance away from the boardwalk and got terrific video. However, I could have easily set up, well out of public view, where I had parked, and flown directly over the Hotel Del, and no one would have had any idea who was controlling the quad, until I was done, and then only if they followed it to my landing area. Next time...

 

[Fraser19]

I have, on two occasions, had someone indicate they would "shoot it down" if they saw my drone flying over them. I knew one of them and had just met the other. To each of them I responded, "I've seen you shoot...and I'm not worried..." That pretty much took care of it.

Sometimes you just have to fight fire with fire...but in a good way, with a bit of levity so as to let people know you are not out to spy on them...or do them harm...and to let them know you understand, but basically saying to them in a pleasant way...just chill!

 

[GadgetGuy]

I don't use doubler lenses, but Nikon just released some new lenses.
Get up close and personal with Nikon AF-S 600mm f/4.0 E FL ED VR, or Nikon AF-S 500mm f/4.0 E FL ED VR.
Kind of pricey, but what of quality isn't these days... ;-)

RedHotPoker

If you want to totally bling out your DSLR rig, go with the $18,000 Nikon 800mm f/5.6 which works really well with TC's and has a built-in 1.25 TC! The new TC2.0 IIIE is actually sharper than the TC1.4! Image quality is also very close. I actually use the 70-200 f/2.8 with the TC2.0 IIIE on the D7100 as the perfect handheld 210-600mm telephoto rig with autofocus at f/5.6! No tripod or gimbal needed, and ISO 6400 is still usable! Can read license plates shot from over 3 blocks away!

 

[AirborneInPDX]

I flew my Phantom in a public space for the first time today and it got a lot of looks. One lady came up to me a few minutes after I landed and asked if it was mine, to which I replied, "Yes." She asked a few questions about how it worked so I gave her a quick takeoff demonstration but didn't go far after that as I only had 17% battery left. She thanked me for the demonstration, told me she thought it was cool and kept walking.

I know I'll have to deal with idiots at some point but for now, I'm taking them as they come.

 

[Alan NZ]

I've had some people come up to me concerned with their perception of privacy.
Most are really interested though.
I tell them there is more chance of hearing a drone outside your bedroom window than some weirdo in the bushes with a camera.
It's not illegal to take pix with your phone in public.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Some kid posted a YouTube video comparing what you could see through a bedroom window on the second floor both up close and far away, during the day and at night with a light on inside, using a Phantom and his Dad's DSLR with a 300mm lens. Conclusion: to see anything at all indoors through the window with the Phantom, you would have to be flying within 10 feet of the window where the noise would be very noticeable, day or night, while, with Dad's telephoto lens, you could get a much better photo from 200 feet away at night completely unnoticed. No contest! People should be much more concerned about long lenses in the bushes than the noisy copter flying overhead!

 

[sergekouper]

Most people ignore what exactly privacy means when it comes to film and photography. Privacy doesn't exist in public place. A public place is not a restaurant, a pool, or the inside a car parked in the street.Taking pictures where general people appear in a public place is not illegal. However if you publish the picture of an individual, or anyone that can be identified without authorization, you could be prosecuted.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Most people ignore what exactly privacy means when it comes to film and photography. Privacy doesn't exist in public place. A public place is not a restaurant, a pool, or the inside a car parked in the street.Taking pictures where general people appear in a public place is not illegal. However if you publish the picture of an individual, or anyone that can be identified without authorization, you the you could be prosecuted.

The laws on that vary significantly from country to country, and state to state. It appears you are in the U.K. and not the U.S.. Here, only commercial use of identifiable people requires a model release, mostly because publishers and advertisers require it before using an image. However, noncommercial and journalistic use does not. It's usually not a criminal matter but a civil one. People in restaurants, in public pools and at the beach, or even inside a car on the street are all considered to be in public in the U.S. and people have no reasonable expectation of privacy in any of those places, and may be photographed at will, without their consent. It might get you thrown out or beaten up, but not because it is illegal! Private investigators are hired to take photographs in all those places of people doing things that might get them in trouble with spouses or insurance claims. It's not illegal. Nor are typical paparazzi photos!

 

[sergekouper]

The laws on that vary significantly from country to country, and state to state. It appears you are in the U.K. and not the U.S.. Here, only commercial use of identifiable people requires a model release, mostly because publishers and advertisers require it before using an image. However, noncommercial and journalistic use does not. It's usually not a criminal matter but a civil one. People in restaurants, in public pools and at the beach, or even inside a car on the street are all considered to be in public in the U.S. and people have no reasonable expectation of privacy in any of those places, and may be photographed at will, without their consent. It might get you thrown out or beaten up, but not because it is illegal! Private investigators are hired to take photographs in all those places of people doing things that might get them in trouble with spouses or insurance claims. It's not illegal. Nor are typical paparazzi photos!

Yes, different countries , different rules. One you seem to have though, is photographing or filming on a private property opened to the public, such a restaurant for example, requires permission from the owner, you could be arrested then for trespassing... Problems anyway! Private investigators are a different matter I think, as they mostly act discretly, mostly out of sight. Then their work goes as an evidence for their client, not published on the public place. (except programs like "cheaters" maybe where everyone is happy to make a few bucks). But I stand by what I said, the real problem, amateur or pro is more about what you do with the picture rather than how you took it.