[iCrop]

I assume this quad copter would work pretty good with the Ricoh GR? (Meaning, it's not too heavy for it?)...

Weight wise, at 245gm, it looks like it could work. At 2.4" in height, it might also work, though you'd probably have to get landing gear extensions to avoid smacking the camera on the ground during landings. I say get yourself a Phantom and try it!

[iCrop]

The last flight of my Winter 2013 trip was in Monument Valley, Arizona. Again it was extremely cold (to me), around 25F, and windy. I originally stopped to try to fly it at the area between Thunderbird Mesa (left) and Rain God Mesa (right) in the image below, but it was just too windy there. The reason I wanted to do it there was because no one else was around and I thought the images of the mesas would be nice. We drove on a bit further and I noticed the wind had died down a bit. It turns out it was probably still too windy, but there was no one around and I figured I could control it well enough to not lose it. It was blown around quite a bit, and ended up running out of power and descending on its own, but I'm glad I took the chance. The landing was harder than I'd like, but all hardware survived.

The full set can be found at MCHerdering Photography and click on the 'Aerial Photography' link in the upper left.

Monument Valley, AZ, taken Monday, December 9, 2013 with a Pentax Q7 and 02 Zoom at 5.9mm, F3.2, 1/800s. mounted on a DJI Phantom.

[GibbyTheMole]

I toyed with the idea of doing that with the Q, but I know there would be some crashing involved, so if I do it, I'm gonna go with a cheap copter with built in camera, at least to start.

[iCrop]

I toyed with the idea of doing that with the Q, but I know there would be some crashing involved, so if I do it, I'm gonna go with a cheap copter with built in camera, at least to start.

I've been lucky, my only crash was without the camera, trying new props, in the back yard. The Phantom wasn't handling well and started trimming the orange tree. Haven't used those props since.

Other than that, the Phantom is quite stable, if it's not too windy. Just don't fly too close to (orange) trees.

Thanks for looking.

[Glen_S]

If you're lifting a NEX-5N aloft, you're using a larger airframe than the Phantom.
One thing I like about this setup is it's so small. Granted, a larger sensor would yield better photos, but a man needs to know his limits, and I think this setup is MY limit.
Thanks for looking, Glen, and have fun!

I fly two flamewheel 450(mm) frames and a hoverthings 450 frame, have DJI Naza FC's on the flamewheels and Arduino based FC on the other. I'll admit I haven't got the NEX-5 airborne yet, but anticipate no issues as it's not that heavy with the 16, 19 or 30mm lenses I have for them, the biggest thing will be fashioning a mount.

I was looking at the Phantom too, neatly packaged and pre configured, but changed my mind because of battery size restrictions etc. and my Naza machines are basically the same thing anyway, with the added option of putting beefier motors on them to haul more payload. As it is I can fly my gopro in its case with a 3000 Mah battery for a flight time of about 7 minutes (in calm conditions)

This years project is going to be a heavy lift hexacopter, which I'm hoping to get 10+ minutes of flight time while easily handling a payload like the Nex with it's kit lens, (although I can really see no reason to fly with anything but the prime lenses)

For now my favorite cam for stills are my cheapo Canon A490's with CHDK intervolometer on them, the GoPro 3 BE takes pretty decent stills but I don't always like that ultra wide effect.

Here are a couple from my A490 I took last winter:

[TonyTurley]

I did spring for a Q and the 01 prime this week. Great little camera. I have a fixed wing Easystar II new in a box on the shelf behind me. I bought it as a replacement for my old original Easystar that has gone on many AP flights. Before I stick the Q on the the new plane, I'm going to load it down with a weight equivalent to the Q, and fly the heck out of it to make sure there are no bugs in the system. I probably won't get to it before Spring, because I have a room remodel and a yard drainage problem to sort out first.

Tony

[BlackTalon]

This technology could make it possible to quickly access/ inspect a portion of a building exterior that would otherwise require a costly swing stage or stack scaffolding setup. I really hope battery life increases at least twofold, as that will make it much more viable. I look forward to playing with a setup like this in the next year or so.

[TonyTurley]

I am far from a quad expert, but I have read of people claiming 15+ minutes on a large camera-carrying quad. I know it is quite easy to get 30-60 minutes with a fixed wing aircraft carrying a camera (I've done it), but the dynamics of a quad are so much different. I look forward to reading more of what you guys are doing. This thread has helped rekindle my interest in AP.

Tony

[iCrop]

Here are a couple from my A490 I took last winter:

Nice shots. Keep 'em coming.

I'm pondering a kit to add a second battery to the Phantom. The trade off is more weight to lift. I'll post if I ever get that off the ground.

[Glen_S]

If you want more flight time I'd seriously look at a different frame than the Phantom. I know the Phantom is nice with its built in mounts but brushless gimbals are coming down in price and can be found for almost any camera these days. Actually for stills a servo gimbal is sufficient enough.

Some frames come with very good battery mounting options for balance, particularly the "H" style frames which also eliminate the front motors out of the picture when shooting ultra wide shots. There is a point of diminishing returns for battery weight vs flight time - a good place to read up on this is the aerial photography forum at RCgroups.com site.

Tony - I built a large foamy plane that was specifically designed to carry a DSLR, with two stacked 3300 batteries I easily get 30+ minutes out of it. It was designed to fly really slow and once trimmed nicely will just crawl along at a brisk walking pace, but it's a handful in any wind. I use it for video mostly but have had my canon on it shooting stills while shooting video with a gopro or Drift action cam too, or two go pros with one shooting stills.

Here is a pic of it:


And here is how I kept track of progress when my roof was replaced two summers ago without having to use a ladder :-)

[TonyTurley]

Glen,

Nice way to monitor your roof! I'm familiar with Mike's foam designs, having hung out on RCGroups for years until I sort of drifted away. A couple of years ago, it seemed Mike was coming out with a new foam AP plane about every other week. I have a Multiplex Mentor I've used for AP, and it is probably about the size of your plane there. It is more of a traditional "40" size trainer, but was designed for electric power. I didn't fly it much last year. It penetrates wind much better than my smaller planes, but is a bit of a pain to transport. It has enough power and wing area that my Q would get lost in it. A full size DSLR would be no problem for it.

Tony

[Glen_S]

Glen,

Nice way to monitor your roof! I'm familiar with Mike's foam designs, having hung out on RCGroups for years until I sort of drifted away. A couple of years ago, it seemed Mike was coming out with a new foam AP plane about every other week. I have a Multiplex Mentor I've used for AP, and it is probably about the size of your plane there. It is more of a traditional "40" size trainer, but was designed for electric power. I didn't fly it much last year. It penetrates wind much better than my smaller planes, but is a bit of a pain to transport. It has enough power and wing area that my Q would get lost in it. A full size DSLR would be no problem for it.

Tony

This model is the "Exposure", which I think was the pinnacle of Mike's AP planes. I built it to haul my K10D or my wifes Kx (when she wasn't around) but with the purchase of a NEX-5N there is really no need to fly my DSLR.

As mentioned before my next project is a hexacopter but one of my favourite vendors just came out with a new plane, which is awfully tempting..

You Tube

You Tube

[iCrop]

Tony - I built a large foamy plane...

Here is a pic of it:

My, that's a BIG one. And nice video. But I still like the Q7/Phantom combo because it's compact and easy to fly in 'relatively' confined spaces.
Also, I don't have to worry about cleaning bugs off the lens.

Very nice setup though...

[TonyTurley]

That looks really interesting Glen, but like Mike above, I prefer the compact planes. I bought the Mentor because I needed a larger, more stable platform for a research project I was doing while in grad school recently, but once I had completed my thesis, the Mentor went into overhead storage. I need to go to one of our local swap meets and see if I can sell it for a half decent price.

Tony

[Michael Piziak]

This model is the "Exposure", which I think was the pinnacle of Mike's AP planes. I built it to haul my K10D or my wifes Kx (when she wasn't around) but with the purchase of a NEX-5N there is really no need to fly my DSLR.

As mentioned before my next project is a hexacopter but one of my favourite vendors just came out with a new plane, which is awfully tempting..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9stpfujoUcA

I'd like to have that rc plane, but with my luck I'd crash it and break it