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I'm not really a fan of the things tbh. Here is my completely one sided view.
The case for:
Admittedly cool bike footage.
The case against:
Annoying high pitched sound, shatters peace and quiet in the countryside.
Pretty sure they are entertaining to start with, I bet the novelty wears off quick. I did some sea kayak training, chatting to the coach - he totaled one into a sea stack shooting promo footage. Didn't replace it because, well you know once you have filmed a couple of sea kayakers pootling along, that's kind of it. Ditto at a fell race, I mean it is hardly the most electrifying spectator sport.
Guy near me follows pods of dolphins with them, irrationally irritates me.
Footage on local Facebook group, "AHH, beautiful", "oooo lovely". Great, but can you stop snooping over my garden now please.
Dread the day when they are buzzing everywhere delivering rubbish from Amazon/takeaway food.
That's all.
Kinda like gopros - footage shot by pros, processed properly, edited well is great.
Most people won't get anything near that and have rubbish looking boring footage.
Rules are all changing, lots of current stuff will get restricted to far away from people although some smaller/lighter drones with new certification will be able to go to more places. Not that many people seem to abide by the current rules anyway.
I'm supportive of them providing that they are flown responsibly. However, it's an activity which would never work if everyone had one. I've only ever seen one or two in the wild but if every mountain biker had one the noise would become a problem. Thankfully I don't see that happening unless the autonomous ones become cheap and popular. If I pass one on my bike once in a while it really isn't a big deal.
They should be flown in large open areas and away from residential properties so I'm not considering the snooping aspect you are referring to. Frankly, the footage from drones can be stunning and I am glad they exist for professionals to use. I don't see why filming dolphins is disruptive, to me that's an example of what drones should be used for.
Guy near me follows pods of dolphins with them, irrationally irritates me.
Footage on local Facebook group, “AHH, beautiful”, “oooo lovely”. Great, but can you stop snooping over my garden now please.
Dread the day when they are buzzing everywhere delivering rubbish from Amazon/takeaway food.
They have taken filming outdoors to a whole new level so are here to stay.
Check out some of the shots in the recent Winter Walks or following Skiers on the downhill races. They are amazing bits of kit that only helicopter hire could have done in the past.
As with lots of things, regulation and control is the hard part, so if you are worried about Bob from 3 doors down trying to take shots of you topless, just get an air rifle* 🙂
*Only joking
Seems that one of our neighbours got one for Xmas. Seems like the pigging thing is buzzing overhead every time I go into the garden, and even though it's probably not looking our way it still feels like an intrusion.
Looks like a small model so the rules aren't as tight. I'm hoping they'll get bored of it by Easter.
My thoughts...as someone who owns a little one but would like a better one...
As above they are just like gopros. Most of the footage is dross and very repetitive. The difference to gopros is that there is so much more you can do with one - the level of creativity available is amazing. Snag is that you need someone who is creative and is prepared to put in the time to film and to edit. "Golf is a good walk ruined" could be attributed to drone footage filming and pretty much any activity! I still enjoy it though, just elect to only take it with me on days that filming will be the focus and when conditions mean I'll get some good footage. A bit like lugging a DSLR with you.
The editing - love and loath in equal measures. Time heavy, computer heavy and in many ways much more involved that photography editing.
The noise - modern ones are much quieter. The mavic air 2 (my current lust) is bigger & faster than my little spark but much quieter. It seems to be as much about the pitch of the noise as the volume. Also - whilst quite noising if next to it taking off it really does not have to be too far away to not be noticeable. I'd suggest most of the drones that are being complained about being noisy are being flown closer to people than regulations allow.
And that will be their downfall. The new EU (& UK adopted) regs that started on 1 Jan 21 and become totally in effect on 1 Jan 23 are sensible and quite gaming changing. If users abide by them then the hassle/danger to anyone else should be virtually non existent. Snag is I can't see that being done.
As ever the problem is the chumps using them in a manner to irritate and annoy or being unsafely too close to you and your stuff.
and yet
The case against:
Annoying high pitched sound, shatters peace and quiet in the countryside.
Out in the country? can't help but think you're being just a tad nimby...
ever used a loud mower?
ridden a scooter?
driven a car?
used electricity generated at a coal fired station?
priorities, etc.
The main issues with Drones IMO is that most folk do not know, understand or care about the rules
I have been buzzed by one obviously filming me as we rode along porty prom. Totally illegal. I had an argument with someone who tried to claim it was legal to use one on leith links - again totally illegal. Both these places are too close to buildings and too close to people
I would love to get a line throwing gun and bring them down. Next time i am buzzed by one far too close i will try to bring it down by throwing stones
You've been able to make a self guided petrol powered airplane for very little money for quite some time now, it's not new news, nor is weaponisation of the same thing.
Mostly the guerilla army types would just buy a cheap quad though, easier to do/fly/send in.
The main issues with Drones IMO is that most folk do not know, understand or care about the rules
as said, its the chumps driving them in all the wrong ways, that are the problem
guns don't kill people, rappers do, etc.
I'm not too serious with what I write here but;
Its the photography that gets me and the ooooh aaaaah reaction on FB.
"Photographer" drives to nice looking spot....gets out of car...flies drone to spot of interest...drone takes pic...gets back in car....drives home and edits....Posts on FB
Wheres the hard work? 😀
Catapult is the answer! I almost did this on Sunday when our house was buzzed, the pictures later tuned up on a local facebook group. Pretty sure the guy shouldn't have been flying over a congested area but its snowed look at the pretty pictures, bah. #grumpyoldman
Hate them. You try and get away from it all on our busy little island by heading for the countryside, only to have some selfish man baby playing with his noisy toy half way up a hill so that everyone else has to hear a loud buzzing whilst out for a walk or cycle.
An air rifle is the obvious answer.
A couple of singers back whilst BBQing down by the river in town, quite busy, someone started buzzing up and down the river with their drone. Flying just a metre or so above people's heads.
Wasn't long before people got pissed off and started using it for target practice, buzzing stones at it. It got hit and landed on a gravel bank. The guy shit himself and didn't go to pick it up.
Absolutely, my tongue in cheek op stems from a healthy dose of #grumpyoldman.
Grain of truth in it though, and as usual it comes down to the person operating the thing. The potential for it being intrusive is great.
I'll be opting for the Israeli anti drone laser personally.
exactly the same with e-scooters - I think that issue is going to come to a head more quickly than drones TBH!The main issues with Drones IMO is that most folk do not know, understand or care about the rules
My thoughts are that a lot of people will probably get them & then get bored and stop using them. The people who carry on using them are likely to be enthusiasts who hopefully will use them with a bit of consideration.
I’m supportive of them providing that they are flown responsibly. However, it’s an activity which would never work if everyone had one.
They're sort of like cheeky footpaths in that there's actually very few places you can LEGALLY use a drone - but if you use one discreetly without annoying anyone (and the sky isn't full of them!), is it a bad thing?
I have a very small one (Mavic Mini) which I take out cycling as it can fit in a backpack or frame bag. I use it for stealth missions just to whiz it up, get a couple of good shots or some video, then I'm off somewhere else! It's extremely quiet (silent really, unless it's very low) and I don't do it if I'm somewhere busy.
I'd never use it at home over the neighbours gardens etc, that's just common courtesy regardless of the legal considerations.
I have an iPad Pro with the LumaFusion app - makes simple editing very quick & easy and almost fun! 😃 Although I use it for photos more than video tbh (it's just a high-tech selfie stick really 🤣)The editing – love and loath in equal measures. Time heavy, computer heavy and in many ways much more involved that photography editing.
I like the more leftfield applications...how else would you get a sample of whale snot...
SnotBot - Ocean Alliance (whale.org)
@zilog6128 - your use sounds similar to mine. Mine's a spark so forerunner to the DJI mini (kind of). But I go out of the door with a 'this is a droning day' mentality and have already in my head worked out the footage I want. Most days I don't carry it though. I use premiere pro to edit because I have access to it through a adobe CC account and I've gone through the pain of learning it. My current bete noire is the audio side of editing - most of the rights free 'music' (loose interpretation!) is dire.
Like you I would not dream of using around people or housing. Mostly because it seems wrong (again, regardless of regs) and secondly because that's not the sort of footage I'd be interested in filming.
You try and get away from it all on our busy little island by heading for the countryside, only to have some selfish man baby playing with his
noisy toypretend motorcycle half way up a hill so that everyone else has tohear a loud buzzingfind the paths ruined whilst out for a walk
sound familiar?
Like you I wold not dream of using around people or housing.
Exactly. As ever with life, rule #1 applies.
This was just on a farm int'countryside
I didn't see no drones.
I have one, it’s under the 250gm weight limit, so doesn’t need a licence.
I’m surprised at the comments about noise (above) once mine is above 10m or so I can’t hear it, and tbh i think it’s pointless to have one and fly it 2’ above someone’s head, i can hold an slr at that height.
They’re designed to fly higher up and shoot footage pointing down at varying angles.
If you’re being buzzed by a drone, then the operator must (imo) be shite at flying it.
But, it’s important to remember, sometimes dicks walk, sometimes they drive cars, sometimes they ride bikes, sometimes they fly drones.
Drones themself aren’t the problem, irresponsible operators are.
look for the green glow, must be nuclear powered if it’s up for 24hrs at a time 🤣I didn’t see no drones.
Catapult is the answer! I almost did this on Sunday when our house was buzzed, the pictures later tuned up on a local facebook group. Pretty sure the guy shouldn’t have been flying over a congested area but its snowed look at the pretty pictures, bah. #grumpyoldman
One of the slightly strange things is that the new drone regs that came in on the 1st Jan, now allow you to fly small drones (e.g. Mavic mini) in built up areas and you can fly over uninvolved people (but not assemblies of people). So if it was a sub 250g drone, they were probably legal, although as it had a camera, he needs to have registered it.
They’re designed to fly higher up and shoot footage pointing down at varying angles.
If you’re being buzzed by a drone, then the operator must (imo) be shite at flying it.
Not sure I'd agree. I think one of the best things about a drone is the close up stuff. Using it like a camera dolly. And with a small one like yours doing pull back shots through the trees between branches. One of my favourite shots I got was positioning the drone in a gap jump and a friend riding over the top of it. Most of the naff drone footage I see is the at altitude stuff - sooooo boring and samey most of it. It's the go to type of footage of the newbie.
But.....I'd never fly a drone within a couple of feet of someone I didn't know. In fact I wouldn't fly a drone within a couple of feet of someone I was 'working with' if there were other people around. I work on the premise that if someone else apart from me and anyone I'm filming knows I'm doing it (and that includes farmed animals and wildlife), I'm doing it wrong.
sound familiar?
Not in the slightest. When out walkingI don't think a bike having been along a track before me and leaving an imprint is even remotely comparable so something hovering overhead going ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!
I work on the premise that if someone else apart from me and anyone I’m filming knows I’m doing it (and that includes farmed animals and wildlife), I’m doing it wrong.
Thats a great premise
Not in the slightest. When out walkingI don’t think a bike having been along a track before me and leaving an imprint is even remotely comparable so something hovering overhead going ewwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Never noticed nimby ramblers moaning about mtbers? No? Ok then.
My take-away from this thread so far is the biggest problem with drones is that gits think it's fair game to throw rocks at your expensive hardware with nary a care about charges of Criminal Damage. (-:
I was going to ask what the rules are now, but figured it should be easy to look up. CAA guidance. There's, unsurprisingly, limits on how close you can get to people.
They don't really bother me, but then I've only ever seen them a handful of times. Like many other threads on here, it's probably more of an issue in the overpopulated south.
Never noticed nimby ramblers moaning about mtbers? No? Ok then.
Yes of course I have. But by your logic any antisocial behaviour that annoys others is fair game for your lazy "NIMBY" accusation. How about someone with a ghetto blaster playing the best of slayer at 11 on top of Pen Y Ghent? Is that Ok too? The key to everyone getting along in the outdoors is giving others space and not intruding on their own enjoyment too much. So when someone is trying to quietly enjoy the outdoors then someone buzzing away overhead is directly infringing on them in the here are now and a clear breach of "not being a dick". In pretty much in the same way as barreling down a hill on a bike in the direction of walkers shouting "coming through" is also infringing on others and being a dick.
They don’t really bother me, but then I’ve only ever seen them a handful of times. Like many other threads on here, it’s probably more of an issue in the overpopulated south.
woah there, this thread is about hating on the drone enthusiasts shattering the tranquility, not having a pop at southerners. I realise you've probably only got 2 hours daylight up there in which in does nothing but rain, but cheer up sheez. Anyway, it's people that walk along whistling that annoy the heck out of me, trying to be all in-your-face with their pretend happiness.
There’s, unsurprisingly, limits on how close you can get to people.
Well of course there are - but as of 1 Jan 21 for some drones not as much as you'd think or hope. If the drone is <250g it is now perfectly legal to take off from your back garden and fly directly and deliberately over other people's gardens and directly and deliberately over people with no minimum height restriction. There is an odd quirk currently in that whilst there is absolutely no minimum distance anymore (for sub 250g drones, with or without a camera) at the same time you can't either endanger them or invade their privacy.
It's not going to end well. Most people who are 'into' drones think it's a crazy level of freedom. It's also the area where those with the least experience and quite often the youngest too are going to be making value judgments about what they are considering doing is right.
But by your logic any antisocial behaviour that annoys others is fair game for your lazy “NIMBY” accusation.
say what now? as you've missed my point, perhaps deliberately and perhaps not, I can't tell -
the vast bulk of MTBers are considerate and don't warrant nimby-ism
and
the vast bulk of drone flyers are considerate and don't warrant nimby-ism
because
the vast bulk of people are considerate and don't break rule #1
anyway, as ever, rule #1 is the benchmark.
you're complaining about man babies with noisy drones spoiling your countryside experience
just like them ramblers don't want man babies on bicycles tearing up the footpaths and making a mess of the place
feel free to disagree with some or all of the above if you like
The times I've noticed* drones when we've been out and about - they were ****ing annoying.
Iceland - lovely and peaceful, stunning views and then a ****ing annoying high pitched buzzing from someone's radio controlled toy.
Stanage Edge - not quite as peaceful, views were more familiar but still pretty great and same annoying buzzing from a drone.
In both cases they were pretty high up, in both cases they were flying over people during their little journeys and could well have been breaking the rules.
Do I see the point of them? No, not really.
Does that make me a grumpy old man? Maybe in some folk's eyes, but I couldn't care less.
I get why drone fans want to liken it to people complaining about riding bikes / going for a walk / other thing people enjoy but you need to stick "whilst playing music loud enough that it can be heard 20 or 30 meters away (or more)" for there to even be the remotest equivalence.
And people that do that are also selfish idiots that need to be less selfish.
*And THIS is the real point here. I've noticed the annoying buzzy ones. Prev posters have said that more than a few meters away their drones are inaudible which means I wont notice those. So it's just the crappy buzzy ones that I've got an issue with then.
flying over people during their little journeys and could well have been breaking the rules.
almost certainly will have been - no overflying, not closer than 50m horizontal
unless its a piddly one, but they generally aren't outdoor photo machines
either way, rule #1
Yes I am complaining about man babies spoiling the countryside. My exact words were:
selfish man baby playing with his noisy toy half way up a hill so that everyone else has to hear a loud buzzing
But if this doesn't apply to the sensible drone user who has a silent (ish) drone and isn't near others and subjecting everyone else to the loud buzzing then there is no issue.
I have one, a mavic mini. Used it twice in a year. The novelty wore off pretty quick..
unless its a piddly one, but they generally aren’t outdoor photo machines
well..... https://www.dji.com/uk/mini-2?site=brandsite&from=nav
You can do a lot with 249g these days.
But agree about rule 1 as ever.
So can we all agree that noisy drones and their users, if flying near others are dicks. And quiet drones that are flown by considerate people not around other people are lovely?
moot point - nobody can hear them 🙂
almost certainly will have been – no overflying, not closer than 50m horizontal
unless its a piddly one, but they generally aren’t outdoor photo machines
You can overfly people, just not crowds, and it's 50m horizontally or vertically.
well….. https://www.dji.com/uk/mini-2?site=brandsite&from=nav
You can do a lot with 249g these days.
Rules have now changed (since 1 Jan) and *any* drone with a camera now needs the operator to have an Operator ID and Flyer ID from the CAA.
I have a Mavic 2 Pro which I use as a photography tool and general tooling about. Gets me footage and photos I simply could not get any other way.
Agree Rule 1 should always be obeyed but then that goes for people who are non-drone users too. We all have to share outdoor space and one person's hobby may be another's pet hate but hey, that's life. Grow up and move on 🙂
woah there, this thread is about hating on the drone enthusiasts shattering the tranquility, not having a pop at southerners. I realise you’ve probably only got 2 hours daylight up there in which in does nothing but rain, but cheer up
Meh, no much point having all that daylight if yer surrounded by moaning faced miserable bastards! 🤣😂
If they are close enough to be heard, and cause an annoyance, they are close enough to be shot down with a cheap air rifle.
Just saying.
Rules have now changed (since 1 Jan) and *any* drone with a camera now needs the operator to have an Operator ID and Flyer ID from the CAA.
Not correct.
Sub 250g drones need an operator ID (the £9 pa bit) if equipped with a camera but the user does not need a flyer ID (the online multiple choice exam bit) regardless of the camera.
This did not change after 1 Jan 21.
