Drones - are they worth it?

[llarious]

Hi, new here, and new to drones. I';m not wanting to be antagonistic with that title, but genuinely curious.  I';ve been interested in getting one for ages now, but for lots of reasons haven';t bothered... price, other expensive hobbies - cycling, etc, but I keep coming back to do some window shopping...

My interest lies in the photographic side of things.  I love photography/a bit of videography, and fairly recently got a DJI Osmo mobile (for an absolute steal of a price from jessops a while ago), and have had great fun using that to film some great family moments.

And that';s mostly where my interest lies with a drone too - a selfie drone (not for selfies of me!) - but shots of my family when we';re out and about, holidays and maybe even some of me and my mates when we';re out cycling too - so mostly the follow me sort of feature.  The other aspect that always attracted me is the fantastic aerial video footage that';s possible, and I';d love to do some of that.

So the reason for my title/question is, I';ve been reading a bit about "the rules", and I';m struggling to see how you could ever use a drone sensibly for any of the above purposes, as the likely places would be around other people (beaches, country walks etc). Ok, sometimes there wouldn';t be many, but for instance we';re going to Cornwall for a few days this summer and I';d love to take a drone with, but if the beaches are going to be busy, which is likely...

The other reason - I live in South Notts not far from East Mids airport, so using it very locally might be a problem (planes are low near us as they come into land/take-off), but I downloaded the Drone Assist App to have a look at where I could use a drone locally.  Obviously there';s the peak district, but I read in an article that officially drones are not allowed, and then the areas not owned by them you would need to seek permission from the landowners etc.  It seems pretty difficult to find somewhere you can use a drone!  Seriously is it difficult?VFEFEE

So if anyone can convince me otherwise - please do as I';d like to get involved.

Next up, I';m guessing this will get frowned upon here (as if using the selfie word earlier didn';t already do that), but I';m really interested in the new soon to be released DJI Spark - ease of use (according to all the reviews I';ve looked at), and it does everything I want/need - could keep up with us on the bikes etc and seems to have a decent enough battery life.

Alternatively, I like the look of the Hover Camera Passport - but the DJI seems to trump it in every department, given the similar costs (at least for new ones).  The only other feature I like with the Passport is the fact the blades are all protected in a cage, which is good for me, but also my 20 month daughter/dogs etc (not that I plan on getting it close to them, but just in case...).

[nate80]

Yes.  Yes they are.   

The Spark (for example) is small and reliable enough to use in an area with some other people about - as long as it';s not being used in an obviously high risk and inconsiderate manner.  Most people won';t mind if they see someone using a small and quite-ish quad copter for family photographs etc. as long as your not flying directly over or at people';s heads!  You shouldn';t have any issues regarding no flight zones if you';re only taking low level selfies etc.  If you want to fly high, far and wide it could well be a problem.  But every photographic drone pilot has that limitation to consider and still gets plenty use out of their toy.

The DJI Spark is a great (though quite expensive) bit of kit for basic and intermediate photography.

Welcome aboard by the way.   

>>> Just an addition so as not to cause any confusion... When I mentioned you shouldn';t have issues flying a small selfie type multicopter in a ';no fly zone'; (I mean any area within 50 meters of people etc. Not just a legally designated red flight area), as long as flights are only a few feet high then all should be fine - assuming, of course, the ';no fly zone'; isn';t somewhere packed full of people (like a stadium), airplanes (any airport) or housing the prime minister (like Downing Street)!  lol.  These ARE red band no fly zones. In general as long as the drone';s small and doesn';t grab people';s attention you should be fine flying it in large parks, the countryside, empty beaches and the like. Just fly sensibly, quietly, and keep it away from people and you shouldn';t have any reason to catch any grief.

[guest325]

If you want to stick rigidly to ';The rules'; make sure that you know them.
If you are responsible and would use one in a responsible manner, not risking damage or injury to anyone or their possessions then as long as you don';t make a big fuss about what you have been doing on YouTube then you might be able to duck under the radar as quite a few do.

[Fletch]

Hmmm,

The kind of uses you mention are going to be the ones that worry people the most.

For following you while your cycling or doing other sports it';s going to need decent sense and avoid, and I don';t think the spark will cut it.  (I could be very wrong)

If you were to fly any quad around me or my family I would have words, gently at first followed by firmer after.  I';ve seen them go wrong with the simplest of things ... and no matter the prop size they hurt!!  Just have a look on here at prop injuries!

I went to catch my quad just as I was coming in to land and I didn';t disarm it quick enough ... my touch was enough for it to freak out and disappear off at full throttle for a few seconds at a strange angle.  Had it come towards me I';d have lost most of my face on 6" carbon props

No fly zones are just that ... and my understanding of djis software is that no matter what height you';re at it won';t let you take off inside a no fly zone even if you promise to be a good boy

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[apollo7]

Welcome to the forum, you are in the right place for good advice.
This is a question i pondered a bit, so i now have a phantom, a home build Hex 550, home built 600 quad and some flying wings 
If your sensible about where you fly, and you sound like you would be, then go for it, look at a place and think "would i be okay flying here", if in doubt then dont fly there, and yes the Spark looks a lot of fun with some cool features

[llarious]

Thanks for all the comments and tips.  I thought these would be the answers I';d see.  To be honest, I live in the country side and know much of the local country side well enough in terms of built-up/remote/nothing around etc etc from cycling through it so much.  I might find out if there is a local club or something nearby, as I recall seeing some RC aircraft at a local airfield that';s popular for sky diving.

This is a question i pondered a bit, so i now have a phantom, a home build Hex 550, home built 600 quad and some flying wings 

That';s the bit that I worry about... If I get into something, I really do, and don';t do it by halves!

No fly zones are just that ... and my understanding of djis software is that no matter what height you';re at it won';t let you take off inside a no fly zone even if you promise to be a good boy

So as much as I like the idea of getting some awesome city shots, I completely understand the safety implications, and therefore they would be a no fly zone - are they likely to be proper no fly zones that a DJI wouldn';t let you fly in then?

I could be wrong but think I';ve read that DJI drones sold in the UK are limited according to the legal status - is that correct - and if I took it abroad, I assume it would apply the same rules despite having GPS to locate itself and know it';s somewhere different?

To be fair there seem to be a lot of similarities to cycling in that you need to know your rules, so that when you do inevitably come across those that don';t you can politely educate them  Every cyclist weighs up the risks in what they do and takes them according to their own risk attitudes - there are good, bad, and everything in between cyclists too.

Are there insurances for RC aircraft/drones etc?  I have that all covered with my cycling - not just for me and my bikes/accessories, but I';m also covered third party in the case of an accident I might cause.  It';s all tied into my home and contents insurance, so I wonder if drone usage might be too?  Got to be worth asking the question.

[Wyntrblue]

Bmfa provides 3rd party insurance. It';s who I use.

I also love the fact you have gone out to learn the rules instead of buying something and just flying over a jet or through a shopping centre :)

[Two-Six]

Humm flying a drone abroad...I really don';t fancy doing that at all.  If something goes wrong, imagine dealing with angry foreigners/cops in a language you have no idea about in a legal system you have no idea about. 

I saw a you tube vid where a guy flew his drone a bit in a Spanish country park type area and was up for a HUGE fine.  Some local park keeper official stuck him with an on-the-spot-fine.  He didn';t know about the rules.

Nope, too scary for me.

There will be places where you can fly your drone, you might be surprised at how farmers will be happy to you let you fly in one of their fields.  It is way better to ask first but if need be you probably won';t upset people too much flying out in the country-side.  Watch out for livestock and horses and walkers and don';t trample crops.

Flying in other areas can be a bit iffy unless it really is a vary small drone with prop guards and even then you still want a nice clear open area. 

Instead of relying on automatic flight (it sounds like you haven';t flown an RC aircraft before), why not buy a small quad like a Hubsan X4 and have fun learning to fly it.  Then you will have a better appreciation of what your getting into.

[Fletch]

Instead of relying on automatic flight (it sounds like you haven';t flown an RC aircraft before), why not buy a small quad like a Hubsan X4 and have fun learning to fly it.  Then you will have a better appreciation of what your getting into.

While this is a good plan away from DJI it';s pointless if your focussing on DJI equipment as it';s impossible to fly it without automation

Throttle is a spring return height adjustment and I don';t actually
Think there is manual mode unless it drops the GPS signal

[nate80]

While this is a good plan away from DJI it';s pointless if your focussing on DJI equipment as it';s impossible to fly it without automation

Throttle is a spring return height adjustment and I don';t actually
Think there is manual mode unless it drops the GPS signal

DJI drones all feature ATTI mode and most also feature OPTI mode. If I remember correctly all DJI models except the mavic and spark have physical buttons to switch between modes on the fly (my Phantom does). As far as I know the mavic only changes mode if it looses gps signal. The spark I';m unsure about.

ATTI mode is where the drone has no GPS connection and relies on internal instruments to keep itself level. The drone will drift horizontally while in ATTI mode.

OPTI mode is the same as ATTI except it uses the downward visual sensors (OPTI short for optical) in an attempt to hold it';s position from drift.

[Cheredanine]

Ok chipping in.
Title is a bit off.
Of course drones are worth it depending on what you want to do with them
The problem is what you are describing - follow me/family holiday snaps

There have been various attempts to create drone for this sort of thing, Lilly drone leaps to mind. These fail for a number of reasons related to physics, technology and price.

As a result you start looking at close to 1000quid for something you get a limited flight time, is big and bulky and a pain to lug around etc.

I don';t believe that is worth it.

However if your interest extends further to photography, where the purpose is the photography it';s self rather than the photography being secondary to, for example, the family holiday, then they can definatley be worth it.

[JeremyE]

I completely get where you are coming from with the "are they worth it" sentiment. I had that exact conversation with my girlfriend last night as I have been considering pulling the trigger on the Mavic for quite some time. But when it really comes down to it, for £1000 I could buy better things that i feel I';d use and enjoy more (and I also have a huge amount of drone stuff just not getting used).

I have wanted a drone that can film me and mates surfing, paddling and generally doing fun stuff for ages. The diy route has proved bulky and a lot of time and effort.

The spark however does fit an interesting niche...
- It';s not overly expensive.
- It';s compact.
- It will no doubt get a set of prop-guards (how that will influence flight times will be interesting).
- It could make a fantastic simple product to just capture footage for the likes of home and social media.
The unanswered questions...
- How will it handle wind if it is used for action sports and tracking.
- Will the 2 axis gimbal be sufficient in more challenging environments.

[llarious]

Ok chipping in.
Title is a bit off.
Of course drones are worth it depending on what you want to do with them
The problem is what you are describing - follow me/family holiday snaps...

...I don';t believe that is worth it.

However if your interest extends further to photography, where the purpose is the photography it';s self rather than the photography being secondary to, for example, the family holiday, then they can definatley be worth it.

Ok, so I didn';t want to bore with all the photographic interest - I spend a lot of time outdoors anyway, and years ago was into photography, and have recently rekindled my passion and also gotten into videography, which I was never interested in, mostly because of my 20 month old daughter.  Whilst that sounds like ';snaps'; - that isn';t the aim - I';m happy to spend a few hours afterwards editing photos, footage etc for various purposes.  That will be the primary use - and whilst it may seem expensive/daft to others there';s a value in that alone for me.  Just with a phone/gimbal setup we';ve captured some great moments for the future, that would have probably otherwise been lost.

I';m not trying to justify the cost - I can convince myself of anything like that when I want too but seriously for me there really is a value to having some of those moments recorded - not all of them, as I want to live them too if you know what I mean?

Humm flying a drone abroad...I really don';t fancy doing that at all.  If something goes wrong, imagine dealing with angry foreigners/cops in a language you have no idea about in a legal system you have no idea about. 

Instead of relying on automatic flight (it sounds like you haven';t flown an RC aircraft before), why not buy a small quad like a Hubsan X4 and have fun learning to fly it.  Then you will have a better appreciation of what your getting into.

I';m lucky enough to travel frequently at times for work, and sometimes have a bit of time to spare in some very interesting places.  Research is the key to doing anything like this abroad, and there tend to be places to ask these questions online too. Failing that I know people in most countries I visit pretty well and could get assistance from them so I';m not too worried about that.

And you';re spot on, I';ve never flown anything before.  Always liked the idea of it though.  I had thought about trying something cheap to just ';try it out'; too but I feel that tends to be a waste of money.  I did it with cycling - bought a cheapish bike for £300 to make sure I got on with it.  A year later after that and there were three more in the garage and I gave the starter one away to someone else who wanted to get into it.  False economies and all that - OK, I could have sold it, but I couldn';t be bothered with the hassle, and would rather help someone out who is less fortunate.

Out of curiosity, what';s a good budget to start with to try this out with if I were to do that?  I looked up the hubsan x4 which I';ve seen before too, but can see pricing from £35 to £200 - that';s a pretty wide range, albeit a heck of a lot cheaper than the DJI Spark.

I guess, I';m looking for the best compromise all round and realise that means limitations in certain areas, and that';s fine by me.  I';m not sure yet if I';m interested specifically to fly for the sake of flying so to speak - perhaps that will come if I get into it.

Fletch and Nate80 - you guys lost me!  I understood practically none of that, but that';s just my novice-ness.

[nate80]

Fletch and Nate80 - you guys lost me!  I understood practically none of that, but that';s just my novice-ness.

No worries.   

You said you';re interested in the DJI Spark, a selfie focused drone for family snaps etc.  Like all DJI drones it knows where you are in the world via GPS positioning.  DJI';s global maps feature No-Fly-Zones.  So it might be helpful to know you won';t be able to fly a DJI drone in any No-Fly-Zones that are recognised by the drone as a red area.

You then seemed to suggest you';re concerned by rules and people';s opinions, and you wanted to know if having a drone was viable or a waste of money as you feared you wouldn';t be able to use it without offending or annoying people.  Legally speaking, in the UK you can';t fly drones within 50m of people or buildings (not owned by you) etc.  So if you follow the rules to the letter you won';t have the freedom to take selfies as often as you might like.  I was saying that, in my opinion, as long as you don';t obviously endanger people by flying too close to them and you don';t fly in a crowded or busy area that common sense dictates is not drone friendly, then I can';t see you catching any grief.  Fly for selfie purposes in wide open and empty-ish spaces (parks, empty beaches, the countryside etc.) and you should be fine.  At the end of the day safe flight is part following the rules and part adhering to common sense.

My second post was not so much aimed at you, so no need to worry too much about the technical jargon (although a quick search on Google will bring you up to speed on flight modes if you decide that you do want to invest in a drone and want to better understand it).  In short Atti and Opti are flight modes that DJI drones have. They allow you to fly when you don';t have access to GPS (such as when you';re indoors) or when you don';t WANT access to GPS (by physically masking your GPS sensor on newer DJI drones, and therefore allowing you to fly anywhere - because the drone won';t know where in the world you are).

To be honest the first thing I';d do is buy a £35 quadcopter and learn how to control it safely.  Then I';d re-consider my options.   

[guest325]

If you want something inexpensive to learn to fly a camera model you couldn';t go far wrong with one of these:
http://www.hobbywow.com/en-cheerson-cx-33s-cx33s-cx-33-5-8g-fpv-with-2mp-camera-4ch-6-axis-gyro-high-hold-mode-rc-tricopter-rtf-p240055.htm?source=ProductListAds&id=18283950120&currency=gbp&country=GB&gclid=CjwKEAjw07nJBRDG_tvshefHhWQSJABRcE-ZIkICU4EGXGd6FtlTQm8rDc2z32nAMWW_d6rFQOxGbRoCOHnw_wcB
And a link to my thread when I got mine:
http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?topic=19045.0
Still got it, still use it, no problems at all since I got it!!!