Best drone for aerials?

[svp]

Right now the "drone" market is changing faster than the computer market. The moment a company ships you your drone they already have something better designed and ready to go which will be obsolete the moment it ships too. It's evolving FAST. If you MUST have one now I say evaluate your needs and go as cheap as possible for the next two years. By that time it will be amazing at what's available on the market. I just bought a modified DJI Phantom from an expert who builds and flies drones for police, fire, etc and its impressive what it will do with a GoPro. Unfortunately, I no more than bought it and now DJI has the Phantom Vision which completely renders the old Phantom obsolete to the point that nearly everything DJI is building is not compatible with the old Phantom. However, what I bought will fit my needs over the next two years.

He and I have had conversations about the FAA and, despite the laws, more and more shots on cable network shows filmed in the US are coming from drones so nobody is really following those rules. I plan to fly as needed. Several people fly around here for commercial use. Cops know about it and know its illegal but they look the other way because they know how valuable of a tool they are.

 

[svp]

Basically it comes down to drones are like fireworks. It's illegal to set them off in most areas but as long as they are legal to buy and sell, people will set them off and police won't be able to stop it. Yes, a few will get caught and fines but the skies will be flooded with them and police will be powerless to stop it.

 

[focusthis]

Drones 101, please: A drone is a R/C aircraft with a camera? Are there specific flight regs for a R/C aircraft? I am admittedly ignorant of this type of flying, so why is it a problem? Are the Ken Burns shots of civil war cannon filmed using a R/C helicopter-mounted camera illegal (now, if that is considered a drone)?

 

[joycepaul]

As far as I as I have researched these are the top drone makers
Boeing
Lockheed Martin
General Atomics

 

[BluesCam]

Even B&H is selling the stuff.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=919955&is=REG&A=details&Q=

 

[Land Rover]

Drones 101, please: A drone is a R/C aircraft with a camera? Are there specific flight regs for a R/C aircraft? I am admittedly ignorant of this type of flying, so why is it a problem? Are the Ken Burns shots of civil war cannon filmed using a R/C helicopter-mounted camera illegal (now, if that is considered a drone)?

As far as I know the difference between a drone and at typical R/C craft is that R/C takes a direct input from the remote to activate a command; the servos. It becomes a drone when there is a computer translating the commands to the flight controls of the aircraft. That may an over simplification but it's the definition I picked up on one of the sites somewhere in the past.

As for mounting a camera on a heli? It's not an actual drone so I don't know how the regulations actually apply to it.

 

[Land Rover]

Even B&H is selling the stuff.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=919955&is=REG&A=details&Q=

More and more people are using them and skirting the law so B&H is figureing they'll at least offer an option. One company told me they were getting around by they way they billed. They weren't actually billing for the direct use of the craft even though it was used in the project. That was after they had a blank look on their face when I asked them how they were getting around the FAA restrictions.

I did see two shots in cable shows recently that used them. One was Fast and Loud where the craft was following a truck along the highway and another was Treehouse Masters where they used it to orbit around a tree to show the finished product. It seems they were using them just enough to put it in the show and see what kind of pushback they would get, if any.

 

[Terry E. Toller]

there is new software for the AR drone. Director two. It helps control the drone better and in post, you can take the shake out of the shot. give it a try. it is out forr apple now and for android soon...

 

[Land Rover]

I have one of those. I'll check into it.

 

[Necktie Boy]

Any "drone" used for commercial use is illegal since there is no way to get a permit. There was a very good article in VideoMaker. As long as you fly it for personal use, and follow the 400 foot rule. it's okay. The minute you received money or used that footage in a paid project, it's illegal. The article should be posted on their site.