I am new to drones. Can someone steer me in the right direction? I need a drone that will give a great picture while filming football practices. Requirements would be a great picture, long lasting battery, somewhat easy to handle and use. I would prefer something at the top end of quality. Thanks for your help.
Which drone for filming football practice?
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Hello @Bearcat1 and welcome to the forum.
Most "hobby grade" drones have a flight time (per battery) from 5 - 25 minutes. The DJI Mavic Platinum Pro has an "advertised" flight time of 30 minutes but that's only on paper. Depending how how flown, how much wind etc I'd say expect about 25min per battery.
DJI make some really stable and easy to fly aircraft and they all have good or very good cameras. Your budget will be the limiting factor.
Most "hobby grade" drones have a flight time (per battery) from 5 - 25 minutes. The DJI Mavic Platinum Pro has an "advertised" flight time of 30 minutes but that's only on paper. Depending how how flown, how much wind etc I'd say expect about 25min per battery.
DJI make some really stable and easy to fly aircraft and they all have good or very good cameras. Your budget will be the limiting factor.
For the highest quality video, something in the P4 line is the best bet.
The Mavic Pro/Platinum line is ultra portable, but with slightly lower video quality (it's not bad at all, but relative to the P4 line). On the other hand, a P4 will generally have better battery life (particularly with the high capacity batteries) and handle higher winds with more aplomb.
Personally, I'd probably go for the P4 in this particular capacity.
The Mavic Pro/Platinum line is ultra portable, but with slightly lower video quality (it's not bad at all, but relative to the P4 line). On the other hand, a P4 will generally have better battery life (particularly with the high capacity batteries) and handle higher winds with more aplomb.
Personally, I'd probably go for the P4 in this particular capacity.
Thanks for the info.
25 minutes would be good considering each practice period is 15-20 minutes. We could bring it down change the battery and get it back up.
My budget would be around 3-4,000 range. I would need enough batteries to get through a 2 hour session. Do these models come ready to connect to an ipad and fly? Or is there some accessories that I would need?
25 minutes would be good considering each practice period is 15-20 minutes. We could bring it down change the battery and get it back up.
My budget would be around 3-4,000 range. I would need enough batteries to get through a 2 hour session. Do these models come ready to connect to an ipad and fly? Or is there some accessories that I would need?
Thanks for the input.
So the P4 line would give you better video and longer battery time? Because that is a must.
So the P4 line would give you better video and longer battery time? Because that is a must.
Some people have a hard time seeing the ipad screen in the direct sun so a hood of sorts would be a possible accessory. Backpack is a good thing to have. Spend the rest on batteries
You'll generally get a few more minutes out of a P4, especially with high capacity batteries. Battery life ultimately depends on how you are flying and wind conditions. Video is definitely better.
Can you describe more about what you are doing? Is this for something like film review?
And don't forget, that if you are in the US there are a couple of other considerations. Sounds like the operation would require a Part 107 UAS license (doubt that filming football practices would be considered hobby activity). And there is the prohibition against flying over people!
Bearcat, as just mentioned, you indicate being new to drones so may not know, flying over people in most places / countries is considered dangerous and illegal, please inform yourself if you haven’t already about local rules, insurance conditions etc, - my comments intended to inform constructively.
I was speaking with my cousin about me using my drone and donating my service to film theirHigh School football practice. He told me it was against the league rules for high school coaches to film practice with a drone. You might want to check with whatever agency is connected with the football team.
Hi Bearcat, I going to do the exact same thing as you do. I want to film football clips so that players wont miss their good moments of driblings, scoring or defending, etc but still in dark of choosing which device and how to do it properly. How things going with your idea? Could you share with me? Thanks.
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Hi Bearcat1: I would question if the use of a drone - even with a good camera such as that on a Phantom 4 Pro - is what you need. For a start, drones use cameras with a very wide lens. This is not what you want to show fine detail for learning about sports technique improvement. And that's before any legal or health and safety considerations. Or the disruption to the football player's concentration, as drones are noisy and intrusive.
What you need instead are three or more video cameras positioned at different points around the pitch. They could be on tripods and/or attached to existing infrastructure to add varying height perspectives. Battery length won't be a problem. The cost will be the same as a price of one drone, or less. You will have much, much more detail to assess. Alternatively, simply have one video camera on a tripod with a decent operator to follow the player (which will be approximately one third of the cost of a drone).
Drones have their uses, but these are often exaggerated and often not the best choice. There has been much talk of using drones in wildlife conservation for years, for example, but the hard reality is different and somewhat limited.
Elite sport professionals, who all recognise the value of filming to detect detail and enhance performance, use ground-based video capture. And, of course, they use software to help isolate and calibrate the relevant detail. This is where I would suggest you might better focus attention, not on the use of a drone.
All the best - and Merry Christmas.
What you need instead are three or more video cameras positioned at different points around the pitch. They could be on tripods and/or attached to existing infrastructure to add varying height perspectives. Battery length won't be a problem. The cost will be the same as a price of one drone, or less. You will have much, much more detail to assess. Alternatively, simply have one video camera on a tripod with a decent operator to follow the player (which will be approximately one third of the cost of a drone).
Drones have their uses, but these are often exaggerated and often not the best choice. There has been much talk of using drones in wildlife conservation for years, for example, but the hard reality is different and somewhat limited.
Elite sport professionals, who all recognise the value of filming to detect detail and enhance performance, use ground-based video capture. And, of course, they use software to help isolate and calibrate the relevant detail. This is where I would suggest you might better focus attention, not on the use of a drone.
All the best - and Merry Christmas.
I think that there is a place for both. The ground level cameras and tripods will get you the fine details as you mentioned. However if you want to review tactical plans and alignment/positioning on the pitch then there is nothing like an aerial view. You can position the drone off of the touch line at midfield and get a great perspective of the pitch from the proper altitude. The drone is not that loud once it gets to altitude and it won't disturb anyone. Just make sure you are not flying over any players, coaches, or spectators and you're fine.
The other benefit is that these may be leagues with limited funding. Buying these dedicated cameras for only this specific purpose may not make sense for them. A parent or coach that already has a drone can volunteer to take video with it and there is no cash to lay out. Be careful though. If the team takes in any sort of income (not even related to the aerial footage) or the parent decides to charge for the service then you must be Part 107 licensed. Also I would highly recommend having liability insurance no matter what.
@PhantomFandom that's still going to be a Part 107 operation. You can't HOBBY for someone else. Intent of the flight is to provide Aerial Data for a football team. That's well outside of Hobby/Recreational use 
Not if it's for his personal use and just a teaching tool . no money exchanges hands no 107 needed
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