DJI – Love em, Hate em. & The OSMO!

So i haven’t posted in a while, i have been busy, not being a UAS Pilot, and busy being a ground based camera man. Yorkshire weather isn’t the best. Today i got to fly, i filmed a Garden Nursery, which was nice!

Anyway this post is a quick rant, aimed right at DJI.

My Inspire 1 was damaged on 28th Aug (i drove over it – yup, that actually happened) and i sent it off to DJI to get fixed. Still waiting for the final price, but they have initially quoted 2000 Euros!!!!! For a snapped Boom Arm. Well im waiting on their response to my strongly worded email – more on that in another post.

Today DJI have released the OSMO, you probably won’t get your hands on one till mid Nov, maybe Christmas, but i for one will be buying it. As i mentioned today, i have been using my GH4, which i bought because most of my clients need ground as well as aerial footage, and the DJI have taken months to release, the OSMO.

This is my issue. I love DJI. Im my opinion they rival Apple in terms of their pure imagination and epic product design. But like Apple, they have two issues. They have a tendency to rob us of our money in broad daylight, and we like it. And secondly their customer service, is frankly shit.

Apple is the only company that makes you wait a week to get a problem fixed that they usually cause. So many times i’ve had to visit the ‘genius bar’ to get a stupid problem fixed with my iPhone. But i love my iPhone/s, and my iPads, and Macs, so i put up with it.

To be fair to Apple, at least there is somewhere in the UK, that you can actually go to fix it………….

Now DJI have finally released the OSMO – I love them. BUT. I also hate them, and for good reason. First off, they released details of this product months ago, to such fan fair, it seemed like it was due for immanent release. So we waited.

And we waited.

And we got sick of waiting. So most Inspire users, decided to sack off waiting, and bought a GH4 and a Ronin. Then they released the much better (my opinion), much cheaper (fact!) Ronin M. With a good lens, kiss good buy to £4000.

Dont get my wrong, the  GH4 with a Ronin M is epic (much better than the X3, but better than the new X5, sure there will be a video comparisons up soon), but professional standard epic. TV and Movie production quality. Not an Inspire Pilot, who originally, just wanted to get some good ground shots, and not look like a tit, holding his Inspire, in hand, running around like a fool. The OSMO, means you can now do this and look cool!

I know so many people who have decided to go down the GH4 Ronin route, who would have defiantly NOT had this been out sooner. Yes they are getting better quality footage, £4ks worth more? Don’t know, but ill ask one of them!

And another thing, and i’m sure someone else has thought this, but i can’t find it anywhere. How much is the OSMO without the X3? The promo acknowledges, Inspire users and states we can attach our camera to the OSMO, but i cant find a price for it without the new black OSMO camera that comes packaged????

AND ON THIS POINT – HOW CAN YOU ONLY CHARGE £100 MORE FOR THE OSMO, THAN AN INSPIRE X3 CAMERA IS ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://store.dji.com/product/osmo

http://store.dji.com/product/zenmuse-x3-gimbal-camera

Are you telling me that the Handheld Gimbal and all accessories, but excluding the X3 camera are only £100? Does this mean Inspire owners will be able to buy the OSMO for £100? Of course not, but imagine how annoyed people like me are, when last month we bought a new X3 Camera, for £450, and less than a month later, for only £100 more, you can get a brand new cool looking black X3 and handheld stabilised awesome thingy? DJI this is a harsh, some might even say, total bastard move.

I don’t actually think the OSMO is over priced. I don’t think DJI have much of a choice with the price point on this product, but i do think the x3 and the Phantom models are over priced.  Im just really annoyed that i wasted £450 on a new camera, and now i need to spend £550, to get what i have been holding out for since April, May, not sure when, but ages.

But maybe, this is more DJI genius. Get everyone excited about the Inspire, delay shipping, release it, everyone goes mad to own one. Make a killing. Tease the Osmo, people go crazy with anticipation. Then deiced to buy a Ronin M. Then decide to buy an S900 and attach the GH4. S900 sell well again. Then release the OSMO, and everyone goes mad again, and even the GH4/Ronin/S900 owners, who still have their Inspires, will also go mad, and buy one, because once again DJI release something amazing. Maybe this was their plan all along.

Damn, my brain hurts, this was only supposed to be a quick rant about the price difference between a x3 and the OSMO! Anyway i for one will be placing an order, as soon as i can buy the OSMO and use my own X3 and save up for a X5, eventually!

TU

Drones Do Good

For the general public, the only time they hear or see a UAS in the news, is a negative story… an idiot trying to take down a plane or the Army blowing up a wedding…. so its always good to see a positive spin on Drones.

Unfortunately  in this instance, their positive use, was in a very negative story; the huge explosion in Tianjin, China.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33901950

Not sure what was used to capture the images, a Phantom, i assume. Regardless of platform, it just shows how, in the right hands, Drones can be so versatile and useful.

It was back in April 2015, Drone again proved their worth in Nepal. A major earthquake, rocked the country and killed thousands, Drones were used to access areas helicopters couldn’t reach, and helped rescuers and journalists see the devastation from ‘relative’ safely.

It will be interesting to see how emergency services adopt and utilise UAS around the world. They are cheap and easy to use, it wont be long before they are staple equipment for any rescues service.

lets hope thats sooner rather than later.

TU!

Source – http://www.bbcnews.co.uk

DJI Inspire Firework Explosion

For American’s the last week has been a been a celebration. For the rest of us, its a chance to laugh, at some Americans, celebrating!

Check out this clip of a DJI Inspire firing rockets at two young scamps, and the Inspire eventually crashing to the ground, totalled.  (oh and sorry for the 30 second ad that you cant avoid!)

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/strap-fireworks-to-drone/

I don’t think the guys explanation for what happened is correct. I think that the case of left rocket explodes and breaks the rear left prop, and the Inspire comes crashing down.

Anyways i guess if you have rich parents, you can afford to attach rockets to a £3000 UAS, and when you trash it ‘go buy a new one’!

TU

Selling Yourself – UAS Sales Tips

I haven’t posted anything in weeks. I haven’t stopped. Since my PFAW came through. I really miss writing my little blog.

So, this is a post i plan on adding to over the next few weeks, i just wanted to share a few pictures a friend and fellow UAS Pilot, Des Sterland of SkyHawx, took of my and my client at a local Golf Course.

I went in the see the Club back in May and offered to do a short promo video for free, as i hadn’t got my PFAW, and i wanted the experience…. my first tip, if you can get in the club pro, Golf Clubs are great places to meet the kind of people you need to meet in our industry. Its doubtful you can survive 365 days of the year, in the UK, from weddings, golf clubs and estate agents (which was originally my business plan, and many others new to the industry).

Most of these business will doubtfully, need your services, come the cold, rainy winter months…remember how much flight time you got between December and March?

I have learnt from working with SKEYEBV (more on that and them in a later post!), that if you really want to succeed in this industry and thrive, you need to make good contacts, and look more towards other industries. I don’t want to get in this now, thats a whole 3 hour writing sessions.

Anyways, back to my original comment, golf courses are great for contacts. I have already met and filmed couple of PGA Pros and on friday will be filming, Joe Miller, 2010 Long Drive Champion. There is mumbling with one or two well known golf brands as well. Mumblings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZhAc0b3NRs

My point is this. Offering your services for free, isn’t a bad way to make good contacts. The people in this world, who run companies and earn lots of money, like Golf, its a fact, you know it is 🙂

Anyways i wanted to show you these great images, taken by Des, with a Sony Nex 5n. These are going on my own personal webpage and showreel – thanks Des.

And a huge thanks to Arron Hodkin, the soon to be Pro at Wheatley Golf Club, who have given me the keys to a Golf Buggy and given me free region of his beautiful course. I must have been back five times, just to enjoy the view and food on their patio.

Now i need to learn how to play golf…and dress appropriately!

Thumbs Up Wheatley!

http://www.wheatleygolfclub.co.uk/

http://www.skeyebv.com/

You can tell which one is me, the one not dress like a golfer! The Golf Pro, Aaron, is the one dress like a Golf Pro!

‘Unstoppable’ Fun!

Isn’t it funny, how, when a hobby becomes your job, it can lose some of its fun?

I found this years ago playing basketball, and now, more recently, flying my UAS.

This time last year, any break in the clouds, would have seen me out flying my toy UAS. Now because i’m working and flying everyday, when the weekend comes, i just want a break from the Inspire.

  VS  

Why? well i think its down to my platform; The Inspire 1, it is an awesome work tool….but is it as much fun to fly as say a Phantom or similar smaller rig?

NOPE!!! I sold my Phantom to a friend a few months ago, and didn’t realise how much i missed it. We took it out over the weekend, and i had so much fun with it. Of course it isn’t as responsive or quick as the Inspire, but it so nimble and because it doesnt cost your right arm to buy, you can be more adventurous. If i crash my Inspire i’m out of work for a while!

DCIM100MEDIADJI_0012.JPG

And i guess that is the crux of it. My Phantom was a bought as a toy. My Inspire was bought as a business investment.

Well if like me, you are looking to buy a new UAS for ‘fun’ and ‘weekend-warrioring’, maybe this is what you’re looking for……..

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2017062404/b-unstoppable

Looks cool right? A Tank Quadcopter – awesome! This is at least the forth UAS crowding funding campaign i’ve blogged about recently. And if you are quick you can pick one up for the bargain price of £55! – UPDATE – These have all gone. Next price is £59. Still so cheap. So much so, i’ve just backed them too!

Yay – First time, i’ve ever crowd funded before. I’ll be back with my own personal review in October…. right now they have £19,785 of the required £49,000 total.

TU B-Unstoppable.

http://www.bgobeyond.co.uk/

Stupid Pop star makes Drones look bad – again

So by now most of you will have laughed heartily at Enrique Iglesias, firstly grabbing the Inspire Camera and screaming one of his shit songs right at it (poor Inspire 1), and secondly you will have certainly laughed as it decided to take its revenge, and attack him…. ‘that’ll show him for making shit music!’ – said the inspire 1 – But just to clarify, nothing with the Inspire goes wrong. He cuts his finger because he catches it in a spinning prop….. who knew!?

An epic fail in front of 12,000, which has gone viral, Inspire 1 forums are alight around the world…..’stupid pop star’, tends to be a common phrase.

What amazes me more than his stupidity was the fact that it was there in the first place. Ok so the concert was in Mexico, but does that mean you can fly anything, anywhere there? Erm, well yeah. According to my research there is no Mexican CAA regulation on the use of UAS at all.

So thats awesome news if your a stupid pop star. Secondly, once the Inspire cuts his fingers, he appears to throw it off the stage towards the audicence. Now that could have been disaterous. Anyone who owns an Inspire will know, it always tries to corrects itself. That could have easily corrected itself, flying back upwards, into the faces of his equally stupid fans (can anyone who buys a Enrique Iglesias concert ticket be anything else?)

So, was flying a UAS over these people, literally an accident waiting to happen? In my opinion, no. There is no reason to fear a UAS, in particular an Inspire 1, over say a car!!!!

Do you fear for your safety every time you walk down the road, that it will lose a wheel and career towards you? Of course you don’t. Thats because we have become used to cars on our roads. We interact with toy versions of them from 9 months. What is more dangerous a 3.5kg object or a 2000kg one? Maybe now its time for better UAS regulations like cars; a licence, insurance, training for all users.

Drones are still a new trend for most, but in fact if you ask anyone, born since 1980, if they have ever flown a remote controlled car of helicopter, they will say yes! If people associated ‘Drones’ with the RC toys from their childhood, rather than Military and Surveillance UAVs, i’m sure the public would be more receptive….

And stupid Pop Stars like this fool, aren’t helping. Once again we have another negative story associated with a UAS. People who read this story at face value, will think he was the innocent victim of ‘yet another drone incident’, when in fact they should be thinking ‘oh look, another stupid pop star’!

All i can say, i please, please, please, can someone upload the actual footage from the Inspire, i want to see the look on his face when he realises his mistake.

The Source of this video is ABC News, just check out the other negative UAS reports. One in, all in.

TU!

30MPH Wind vs DJI Inspire 1

I have seen a few threads on how well the DJI Inspire 1 handles wind.

You need to know you’re platforms Max Wind Speed Resistance for your Ops Manual; for the Inspire 1 the User Manual states 10 m/s.

10 m/s equates to approximately 22mph…. so you can imagine my slight hesitation when a friend suggested we took his Phantom and my Inspire out, to test her handling in the wind.

Not going to lie. It wasn’t his best idea. I don’t even have footage of his Phantom 2 because it was blown into a tree within 20 seconds of him taking off. A strong gust just carried it off, nothing he could do… broke 2 props but wounded his pride more than his craft (secretly i was actually happy, just confirmed for me that the Phantom 3 is not a competitor to the Inspire, 4k camera or not – they just aren’t stable enough).

So, i was even more hesitant when it was my turn, and my Anemometer said 26MPH… but as Paul Carr, the BNUC-s Examiner told me, “always test yourself, every time you fly, try something a bit more difficult than the last time”.

So i took her up, not high, because i wanted to make sure any potential harm was mitigated……

The footage from the Inspire was smooth and flat as per, but not worthy of posting, just a short video of me getting blown to shit by the wind!

Sufficed to say the DJI Inspire 1 can handle winds in excess of 30 MPH, here is the proof. Would i want to shoot a wedding or survey a roof, no. But i would be happy surveying a large building site or farmers field, no worries.

Hope this is of some use!

TU!

‘Pimp My Inspire’

Just a quick post this evening, i’ve got another Pre Site Assessment to do, this time for my local, Country Hall and Park. Its a Grade I listed House, built in 1740, but the Estate dates back to 1086, and i’ve walked around its grounds for 25 years, so you can imagine how pleased i am. More news to follow.

So i came across this DJI Inspire 1 the other day. I thought the Inspire couldn’t look any better. Well i was wrong. I actually contacted the guy who made this on Facebook, Max Magerkurth. Not only has this guy got a coolest looking Inspire, he also has a name to match!

Check this out

Oh Yeah.

According to Max its been ‘Hydro Dipped’, no idea what that means, but that also sounds cool, and i want it too! Having your own company logo or branding on a flying platform is not a stupid idea!?!?! Now thats got me thinking…

If you like the Max’s Inspire, you might like some of his other fantastic creations.

https://vimeo.com/magerkurthfilms/videos

http://workhousecreative.com/

 

I had a look around the net to see if anyone else had done similar things. It appears DJI are now selling a Carbon Fibre Inspire directly. Maybe everyone already knew this, but it was news to me.

http://www.scorpiondrones.com/inspire-1-carbon

Looks cool, better in my opinion than my white one, but not as cool as the first. I love the pattern and the red Leg Struts. They are my business colours, so yeah, we like.

Thumbs Up Max!

New DJI Updates!

DJI have just released details on the next set of up-dates for the DJI Inspire 1… and the one we have all been waiting for…..

GROUND STATION!

Yes, DJI have finally got round to giving us what should really have been launched, Ground Station control. Which will allow you to autonomously plan and navigate your flight plans. YouTube streaming will be available. Which is great for me, as i’ve just set up a YouTube Channel and this will cut out having to upload to my MacBook first. Sweet.

Their is brief mention of the new Inspire Gimbal, but there is still no mention as to when Home-Lock and Point of Interest will be released.

Come on DJI, stop giving us new updates for the Phantom3, lets get what people have paid a fortune for, sorted first…… stop being like Apple!

Not sure when over these updates will happen but ill keep you posted!

TU!

DJI Inspire, Me and the Police!

If i think of Drones and the Police, i think of one thing…someones in trouble!

Back in December, i blogged about Eddie Mitchell, who was arrested for using his UAS, i think it was a Phantom. He is a CAA approved UAS Pilot, he identified himself, and was flying safely before three offices detrained him, and attempted to land the Aircraft themselves. Eddie was detained for 5 hours. Not needed.

Because of this, i called South Yorkshire Police and informed the confused Officer that took my call, who i was, my contact details and the areas i was flying. I wanted to make sure i covered my ass, and also to give the Police a bit of information about UAS (and after my experience with the Police the other day, im hoping i can work with my local force and help improve their awareness of our industry).

So on tuesday i was out flying. It was the day before my exam, i had been out for an hour that morning and it was about 2pm. I was parked at my one of my usual haunts, a collection of huge fields, that over look a Medieval Castle. Nice.

I was still sat in my car about to get out and set up to fly. They slowed as they approached my car. Both looked at me. Eeek, even though i have nothing to be guilty about, i immediately feel guilty. 20 seconds later, they pull up behind me.

I in a moment of ‘inspiration’ the best way to avoid looking guilty for something i haven’t even done… is my Inspire!

I get out the car with my black plastic case. They give me a strange look. I walk over and ask if they would like to see me fly. Another strange look.

I set up in my usual spot while they dealt with a call. 5 minutes later they are back. One of the Officers walks over, really friendly and asks if he can watch. Of course! I make sure its safe to take off. I begin with showing off the auto take off, impressed him with the auto landing gear, dazzled him with the speed and amazed him with the dual remote live stream feed. He was really impressed. Like really, impressed.

As he said, imagine how much money could be saved using a fleet of small UAV’s, as opposed to a maintaining and refuelling a Helicopter. You can imagine a future where Police cars have their own Drone in the boot and the Ground Station built into the Dash, one drives, one flies, both chase and catch the crim.

CAR ID REMOVED

Anyways i just thought i’d share my very positive experience with South Yorkshire Police, and i hope if you come into contact with Officers in the field, they are as friendly and appreciative.

Thumbs Up SYP!