What do you use your phantom for?

[geirrosset]

Hello all!

Ever since I was a little kid (40+ now) I have (now and again) wanted to fly model helicopters or planes. Trouble is they are hard to fly well, and by the time you're really good at it and you have a scale WWII fighter you'll have spent a small fortune. As well as being interested in model building and planes I have been an amateur photographer for many years with all that comes with it in terms of spending money on camera gear and studio equipment. Now it seems I am finally able to combine those interests by getting a vision 2 plus. But I am afraid that I'll do a hover over our house. Film the view from the nearby park, a trip or two to the beach and then I'll run out of ideas as far as what to use it for. I see all these great clips of wildlife and beautiful scenery, but most of us will only ever travel to the places we usually go anyway, and those places might not be as breathtaking...

What is your experience as far as keeping things interesting go? I can't imagine staying interested if all I do is fly around in circles till the battery runs out. There is a limit to how many times you can film the same views and still find it to be fascinating. I know I can do just that and then sell it on to the next person when I am no longer using it, so it'll never be a pure loss.

Best regards
Guy Rosset
Oslo
Norway

 

[kitari]

I'm about 3 months away from having mine a full year and I still love flying mine. My camera is broke at the moment, but even without the camera I still enjoy flying. It's very relaxing to me, especially if it's a nice warm night out and the wind is calm.

 

[knuckles]

Maybe I'm 6 months in and I'm finding some interest is fading for me a bit on the photography side. That is probably because I go to mostly to the same areas unless I get to go on a vacation.
I still enjoy flying for sure but I haven't used it in a week since I live in a no fly zone and also when I check the weather there is high wind.
I think I will be able to fly on Sunday.
This has sparked a photography interest in me the last few months. I just bought a DSLR that I can use anywhere. I'm also trying to learn Lightroom and Photoshop so my pictures come out better. Looking forward to flying this weekend anyhow

 

[750r]

I have always been flying got my first phantom as another mount for my GoPros . I fly to fly the being able to see what it sees and record is a bonus . Sometimes I don't use cam just fly .
Welcome to the forum

 

[sergekouper]

Good question! For me it's video and photography. I have no interest in piloting at all. I'm just flying a camera to take elevated pictures and videos. Many are RC pilots first and seem to enjoy piloting it. I don't get what is interesting in flying a phantom. It flies like a brick, it's slow, and if you go manual to do some aerobatics, you loose the main reason why it has been designed: Filming, smoothly if possible!

 

[PhantomFanatic]

Welcome to the forum, Guy!

I have limited areas to fly and, yes, as far as photography is concerned, it is a bit boring. But, practicing my skills with photography, will help when I do go on vacation. I also find the forum to be an extension of the hobby and because of my friends and loving to help, I stay motivated. I have a variety of RC crafts, many not mentioned due to the word limit. I fly planes and someday I will learn to fly my helicopters, both small and large scale.

So, learn, practice your skills and when you get there, help others, here. Again, Welcome!

 

[750r]

Good question! For me it's video and photography. I have no interest in piloting at all. I'm just flying a camera to take elevated pictures and videos. Many are RC pilots first and seem to enjoy piloting it. I don't get what is interesting in flying a phantom. It flies like a brick, it's slow, and if you go manual to do some aerobatics, you loose the main reason why it has been designed: Filming, smoothly if possible!

It is a hobby just like off-roading another hobby people watch me put a few grand into my jeep just to take it in the woods a beat the crap out of it . People think that's crazy and don't understand . I guess we could sit in the house and watch tv :lol:
The phantom can move unloaded and in manual .we all have different interests don't judge a person on what they like doing . life is short try and enjoy your time :mrgreen:

 

[jason]

As a videographer the P2 is just another tool to be used to capture aerial footage that you could otherwise only obtain by helicopter or plane.

 

[RichWest]

Dude, you're in Norway, what's not to video!!!!...

I've been doing a video (artistic) study of a windmill over the last 4 months. It's a boring subject just looking at what it is, but the different times of day or seasons makes it much more interesting. How I fly in and around the subject has really been an interesting study. My typical area flown is flat coastal land, there are no breathtaking views as far as the eye can see.

Really its opening up your eye to a new perspective that this platform brings. You just need to explore or not...

 

[GeneralKitFisto]

I use my FC40 just for fun. At least, that was the original plan. I'm going to college in 4 years, and am seriously thinking of getting a degree in drones and making a career out of that.

 

[johan]

I got into kite aerial photography about six or seven years ago. After all that time we still go out and shoot photos with the kites and the camera rig regularly. This is because in my six years of shooting aerial photos, I've found that the more photos I shoot, the more new subjects and places I find that I want to shoot. One of the things that has kept my wife and I so attracted to kite photography is that you never know what you're going to get. You scope out a location that you think might be interesting due to this feature or that if shot from kite height. And once you get the rig down and look at the shots, you find that the really interesting aspects were things you didn't even know were there. Like I said, there is a certain you never know what you're going to get quality to it that has kept us interested in it all this time.

One of the most frustrating things about kite photography is taking your gear out to a location only to get skunked because of no wind or not the right wind. That situation was one of the primary motivators in our recent decision to buy a used Phantom 2 with a GoPro. I think we spent more on the used Phantom rig than we've spent on all our kites and kite camera gear combined. And while I'm not yet completely confident that we'll keep the Phantom long term, I'm very confident that we'll have and use both the kites and some sort of UAV solution for quite some time to come.

 

[sergekouper]

Good question! For me it's video and photography. I have no interest in piloting at all. I'm just flying a camera to take elevated pictures and videos. Many are RC pilots first and seem to enjoy piloting it. I don't get what is interesting in flying a phantom. It flies like a brick, it's slow, and if you go manual to do some aerobatics, you loose the main reason why it has been designed: Filming, smoothly if possible!

It is a hobby just like off-roading another hobby people watch me put a few grand into my jeep just to take it in the woods a beat the crap out of it . People think that's crazy and don't understand . I guess we could sit in the house and watch tv :lol:
The phantom can move unloaded and in manual .we all have different interests don't judge a person on what they like doing . life is short try and enjoy your time :mrgreen:

This is your opinion, to each his own. I don't judge, and moreover, I don't care. I'm just saying that if you use the phantom for another purpose than film and photo, you kind of misuse it that's all, and then you better use a fixed wing or a heli. But yeah you have the right to do anything with anything if'it's your pleasure.

 

[enseth]

Same as sergekouper. It's a way to get a camera to fly. I can't seem to get any jollies at all out of flying and really can't relate to those that do. The sooner I'm back on the ground safely with my photos the happier I am.

 

[dirkclod]

Same as sergekouper. It's a way to get a camera to fly. I can't seem to get any jollies at all out of flying and really can't relate to those that do. The sooner I'm back on the ground safely with my photos the happier I am.

:shock: If you can't even relate to all of us that get our jollies from flying then why are you even here ! :roll:

Welcome to the forum geirrosset !!
I use mine just to relax and just see everything where I fly in a different perspective and get some good shots !
Don't have to even do that to enjoy what I am doing.

 

[enseth]

:shock: If you can't even relate to all of us that get our jollies from flying then why are you even here ! :roll:

Err... I still fly a phantom to get my photos and it's a pretty useful place for information.

 

[dirkclod]

:shock: If you can't even relate to all of us that get our jollies from flying then why are you even here ! :roll:

Err... I still fly a phantom to get my photos and it's a pretty useful place for information.

Well referring to us that do like flying our Phantoms as getting our jollies from flying just didn't sit right with me and I should not have even quoted you on it and for that I apologize .
It is the best place to learn about Phantoms as far as I am concerned and just didn't think that was a proper thing to say greeting a new member.
Again I apologize for the remark.

 

[IflyinWY]

Mine works good for herding cows and running deer out of the yard. :lol:

I take a lot of beautiful video as well.

 

[enseth]

Well referring to us that do like flying our Phantoms as getting our jollies from flying just didn't sit right with me and I should not have even quoted you on it and for that I apologize .
It is the best place to learn about Phantoms as far as I am concerned and just didn't think that was a proper thing to say greeting a new member.
Again I apologize for the remark.

Apology accepted although I can't say I was really that offended. I was more confused by your response.

When speaking of apologies, "Getting our jollies" wasn't meant to be derogatory. If it came across that way then I'm sorry. That's the problem communicating with text. The subtleties and sub meanings behind the comments can often be misconstrued. More emoticons required!

 

[geirrosset]

Thank you all. And misunderstand me correctly. I'm looking for an excuse to get one, not an excuse to not I do have regular access to a really nice coastline near our summer house, and if I take the boat out (boat season is still another 3 months away) there are a couple of light houses about 30 minutes away to the east (towards Sweden) and south. At home there is a really nice park with a 17th century farm with a clock tower and about 10 minutes drive away you're in the woods (18 sq. km) (Oslo is a small city and surrounded by the Oslo fjord, and wilderness to the north and east). How much I film will largely depend on my ability to get out and about.

But then there's that bothersome fact that if I don't get the most expensive one there's always going to be videos out there that are way better. If you get the vision you want the vision +, if you get the plus you'll want the Hero3, if you have the hero 3 you want the Hero 4 and so on. Kind of like the time I bought a cheap pair of snowboard boots. They had no support which meant that after 3 trips down the slopes my legs were shot and I couldn't enjoy what I was there to do. After that I just went back to the store and bought the best boots they had without looking at the price tag, and they were great. Problem is that with this stuff, the best costs a fortune...

I'm leaning towards getting a vision 2 plus. I'd just promise myself that if I don't touch it for more than a month I'll sell it on to the next guy...

I am kind of pessimistic by nature when it comes to gadgets like this and I am sure I'd be worried that it'll crash onto someone's roof, through a window or hit a car if I tried filming in populated areas. Or if I'm above water I'd worry about it loosing control and vanishing into the sea. I know it's not supposed to, it's just that nagging guy on my shoulder telling me it'll break any second

Oh indecision how I loath thee