I have always been interested in technology and cameras as well - so ever since the first drones came out, I was excited for all the possibilities offer you!
So finally, I got one: The Phantom 4 by DJI!
It's is the latest 4K Camera drone by the market leader, and is supposed to be the perfect model between professional and hobby photographers.
The scope of delivery features the drone itself, 8 rotor blades, one battery, a controller, a 16GB micro SD card, charging cables, and a styrofoam case.
Although the drone is a professional camera and offers a wide variety of filming options, it's still beginner-friendly and can be controlled by anyone who doesn't have drone experience yet (as long as they're familiar with the settings!)
There is a very useful "return to home" button on the controller, that will have the drone returning to its start point if you've lost sight of it. When the drone reaches 30% battery (one battery lasts about 28 minutes), it will automatically calculate the battery needed to return to the start point, and then start its flight home by itself.
Also, there is a "Beginner Mode" that keeps the drone within reach and has all obstacle avoidance Modi installed.
Although the drone detects big objects like buildings easily, there are a few things you need to keep in mind with obstacle avoidance:
- there are only sensors at the front - not at the back ! So make sure you know in which direction you're flying when you lose sight of the drone
- moving objects like branches of trees cannot ALWAYS be detected. It depends on their visibility and the level of wind. So it's a great feature, but you should never rely on it working!
Once the drone is in the air, its surprisingly stable and offers a perfectly clear shot - as if the camera was resting on a tripod in mid-air.
For anyone that's already a Pro at flying drones, DJI has also introduced a "Sport Mode". It offers a speed of up to 70 km/h, and reacts much quicker.
But this is only for very experienced pilots - ALL assistant modes are turned off! So there's nothing (other than your own skills) that prevent the drone from crashing.
Also, when doing quick turns or stops, the rotor blades will be in sight of the camera.
Technical specifications:
- Weight: 1380g
- Diagonal length: 350mm
- Battery life time: 28 minutes - depending on your flight behavior. Extra batteries cost around €120
- Camera: 4K recordings at 30 frames per second
Flight Modi:
- Active Track: you can mark a person or moving object on your DJI App, and the drone will follow it around (as long as there are no obstacles in the way)
- Tap Fly: you can tap on a specific object, and the drone will fly to that point on its own.
- Follow me: follows the GPS signal of the controller in 10m height
- Point of interest: lets the drone fly around a specific set point, offering a 360 degrees view on it.
- Waypoints: you can set a specific route with your drone and mark certain keyframes. After the route has been recorded, the drone will then follow the path on its own
- Home lock or Course lock: keeps the drone in the starting direction or any specific direction, and movements will be made in that direction only.
And now, let's look at some areal footage!
The DJI Phantom 4 is amazingly easy and fun to fly. And the footage it records is breathtaking - there are so many possibilities of using these shots in creative ways! I'm looking forward to a lot more fun and great shots with this!
- Instagram -
© Sirwinchester