HI,

Been having the normal pre Xmas conversations with Wife, Parents, Kids etc about what we each want for Xmas. The consensus is that we are all pretty lucky and have most of the things in life that we need or want (with the exception of a cure for my father’s dementia).

That said I have been really enjoying my photography this year and have turned out some reasonable landscape photos, even got invited to put some into a competition at a local camera club (didn’t win).

I have got plenty of camera stuff but the next step in my brain is a drone. I don’t know much about them other than I bought one for my son about 6 years ago for around forty quid and it was rubbish.

I was looking at one of these DJI Mini 2 – Ultralight and Foldable Drone Quadcopter, 3-Axis Gimbal with 4K Camera, 12MP Photo on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FSQ6BGV

If I am honest it feels a bit spendy for a whim.

So, that said could the hive mind that is STW come up with any hints and tips or suggestions for an absolute beginner.

Thanks
Nick.

I did something similar earlier in the year, picked up a Mini2 for taking shots of the house while we renovate it. It’s useful for that and quite fun to fly, but it is an expensive toy. I need to use it more.

Software-wise, DJI seems to be good. It’s a bit download and updates semi-regularly, but having a bigger phone is a bonus. As for hardware, it’s a solid build. I have not crashed yet (touch wood), but it seems well put together.

Have a look at the rules for flying a drone. You may find out that there aren’t many places local to you that you can fly.

I got a mavic spark primarily for taking pictures of my roof and that if my parents to check damage.
I got it on eBay for just over £150. It’s a bit of fun but yes look at the rules.

https://www.caa.co.uk/consumers/remotely-piloted-aircraft/drones-flying-in-the-open-category/

There are quite a few regulations now for drones over 250g and any with a camera not considered a “toy”. You have to get an operator ID and pass a test for anything over 250g.

Which is why the mavic mini range all comes in at 249g

I’ve got a mavic mini 2. The video quality is simply stunning.
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Regardless of what the rules may or may not say, I go on the basis that if anyone else is conscious of me flying the drone, I’ve not picked a flying location well. I tend to play in quite remote parts so been quite successful so far.
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it was quite expensive, but I think I should have it for a good few years so overall it shouldn’t be too expensive on a whole life basis.

Mavic mini 2 is great entry drone. Not really a toy either as we use them for work in urban areas as the rules are much less strict.

Download the drone assit app and you can check where you definitely can’t fly.

I looked through this fairly recently and bought the Autel Evo Nano+. It’s also just under the 250g restriction so easy to fly legally.

Image quality easily surpasses the Mini 2, which is the main reason for my choice. However, the software is not as good. It took them ages to release a Tracking mode and it’s still not as good as the DJI one. If I was looking now I might consider the Mini 3 but would likely still be swayed by the cheaper cost of the Nano+.

Like all of these “toys”, you really need to consider if you have a decent use for it. In my case it’s going to be used for finding and documenting old tracks, ruins etc. It also gives an interesting extra dimension (literally) for taking photos of routes I’m supplying. The poorer tracking mode therefore doesn’t bother me much.

Definitely buy extra batteries and spare props. There will be a package that’ll include them.

Autel Robotics EVO Nano+ Drone Standard Bundle

If you can’t legally drop munitions on vatniks, there’s no point.

Mini 3 pro would be on my wish list if I could justify it.

When I was a bit broken with my hip I got back into photography and landscape in particular. Now I’m mostly fixed I find myself back doing more active stuff and the photography clobber is being used much less.

The sub 250g weight makes it legal in many more places; the size folded makes it akin to a 70-200 in your bag so easy to mix it up with standard photography by swapping out your big lens for a drone; the much increased flight times; the much quieter flight noise than older drones; the shooting stills in RAW and video in Dlog – it’s pretty crazy what it can do now with something so small. Even the ability to fly in higher wind speeds is vastly improved.

What has really improved for my mainly and made it an attractive thought is the use of a drone for photography rather than videography. I’ve concluded that videography is a bit pointless and for me can ruin a day. You need so much footage to put together even the shortest edit which is hard to do without big dedication to the cause; you need to be somewhere properly lovely to get shots to make it work; you need hours and hours of time to do the editing justice and then when it’s all over a handful of people view it when you uploaded it and you barely look at it again. And drone edits can look so samey if you are not careful. But now lower end drones are becoming capable of taking quality stills in raw I reckon using them creatively has got a new lease of life – the ability to put your tripod wherever you like – all those landscape shots that would have been brilliant if you were 20 yards to the right but that was impossible to get to….and now you can.

So why have I not bought one……the money mainly. I just can’t see I’d use it enough. If I was still borked I’d be much keener. My other reason is that I’m currently really interested in very long exposures with ND filters, playing with water, clouds and stuff. And that’s just not possible with a drone.

Oh – I should really add that it made me buy a 4k monitor. It seemed daft to be shooting at that quality and have no way of seeing how good it is 🙂

Saying that I was riding on a crisp day in Galloway and had an ideal picture south. Damn thing wouldn’t fly as it was too cold. Even with a full battery. It was 7°C.

Still doing loads of searching and this popped up https://toptechreport.org/qinux-drone/ seems too good to be true. Has anyone got any experience of this or similar?

I wouldn’t buy anything without a 3-axis gimbal.

Still doing loads of searching and this popped up https://toptechreport.org/qinux-drone/ seems too good to be true.

everything about that site screams high-pressure-sales-tactics/scam

I have the original Mavic Mini. Awesome drone, but like most I really don’t use it enough at all. But it’s very cool to have as an option and so small/light I often have it in the frame back of my gravel bike or backpack just in case! Personally I would either look for a 2nd hand one of those or go straight to the Pro 3 as the features on that are leagues ahead of the original and indeed the Mini 2 (or anything else I’m aware of at that end of the market). It’s expensive, but not that expensive 😃

Still doing loads of searching and this popped up https://toptechreport.org/qinux-drone/ seems too good to be true. Has anyone got any experience of this or similar?

they’re a scam – someone has done lots of work plastering the internet with positive reviews but if you dig hard enough you can find forum chat about them.

https://mavicpilots.com/threads/qinux4k.130855/