Thursday, April 24, 2014

My first flights of the DJI Phantom 2 Vision +

Last Friday I got my hands on the new DJI Phantom 2 Vision + quadcopter, and I could not wait to get home, charge it up and take it for a spin.


For those of you who have not seen or heard about these, you need to check this out. These drones have the ability to take our photography to new heights (yes - the pun is intended). This particular model has a 14MP camera attached to a gimble under the copter, allowing me to capture stills and video from places that previously were impossible.

Now, let me say this right up front, I am still learning how to fly this thing, and have made a couple of mistakes, but overall, this is very easy to control. I love that I can see what the camera sees in realtime, using the wireless connection to my iPhone. This not only lets me fly easier, but also gives me the ability to start and stop the camera and video from the ground.

Below is a one minute sample of video captured from my first couple of flights. I was shooting portraits in Half Moon Bay and, afterwards, took the risk of sending the Phantom 2 out over the marina. This was really nerve wracking, since it was a pretty good distance of travel away from me, and over water. I could not afford to make any mistakes and lose this $1400 piece of equipment in the ocean. By the time I landed it safely, I was literally shaking. I don't think I will try this again for a while. The second part of the video shows my neighborhood, with me sending the Phantom up to a 300 foot altitude and looking down and across Saratoga, CA.

BTW - You can see this larger if you view this directly on YouTube.

As I get better at using this, I hope to post more polished video for you all to see. My son, Connor, was nice enough to edit this for me in Final Cut Pro. Enjoy!
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12 comments:

  1. GingerApril 24, 2014 at 8:23 AM

    Awesome!!! Can't wait to see your further endeavors with it. BTW... who was on the tight rope?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousApril 24, 2014 at 11:55 AM

    I got my A.R. Drone caught up in a redwood last summer. It was so high up there I thought it was a goner. But luckily there is a "rescue" shake that runs the propellors at random, awkward intervals. My 8-year old son did that when I let him mess around with the controls and it fell. Camera was on the whole time so I was lucky. I found another rescue that was a bit more dramatic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQQsG-xauAg

    ReplyDelete
  3. bonphoto@earthlink.netApril 24, 2014 at 1:19 PM

    How do you get it down without crashing? Looks like fun! Great start.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownApril 25, 2014 at 1:14 AM

    Hi Jeff, i bought one in Januar, but I have not tryed yet. In Germany is so windy or rainy all the time. :/

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownJune 13, 2014 at 6:35 AM

    i cant get the firmware installed on my phantom! the controller was easy enough, but not the vision plus itself, please help!

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownJuly 28, 2014 at 4:45 AM

    I have visited this site and its blog for more information about drone please follow our blog:-The piece of writing Phantom Drone has been largely and mostly inspired for the piece which has most and effective sues that are New Phantom mentioned for other items such as the fpv transmitter fact that will help the user to run and use the drones in various field we are providing all our drone autopilot customers with all facts regarding the common sues of the gadget.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bac718August 5, 2014 at 9:35 PM

    Been having a HORRIBLE time with Dji
    My camera went berserk,banged itself around and now NO PICTURE...

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownSeptember 4, 2014 at 9:29 AM

    Perhaps it's me but does anyone else think that the video is 'grainy' at 100asa even in bright daylight?

    Are there any tips you can recommend to reduce?

    Thank You.

    ReplyDelete
  9. UnknownSeptember 4, 2014 at 9:32 AM

    The video appears 'grainy' with my
    Phantom 2 Vision+!!
    Even at 100asa / 720 or 1080P and in bright daylight.
    Any tips or suggestions?

    Thank You.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jeff Cable Photography BlogSeptember 4, 2014 at 10:15 AM

    Andrew - I have not seen that problem. You should call DJI support in Southern California.

    ReplyDelete
  11. UnknownDecember 8, 2014 at 3:17 AM

    I have read all blogs and this is a nice one:

    The S900 is just one of the several models that are very popular. Technological solutions should definitely remember that the Phantom 3 is very handy. Aerial Cinematography is considered really useful since from the top everything looks radically different. The DJI rumors will have to be ignored if there is any confusion regarding the utility as these will often be just hearsay and not true.

    ReplyDelete
  12. UnknownApril 17, 2016 at 9:05 PM

    Thank you for this post. It’s simple, the Phantom is a filming drone, and as such, it provides longer air time, really impressive than most of the drones available on the market.  The Phantom’s flying time is 20-25 minutes, depending on the surrounding conditions. See more http://mydronelab.com/reviews/dji-phantom-2.html

    ReplyDelete