Eye in the sky
18 May 2018
They are the latest photography gadget, but do you really need a drone? And what should you know before you buy one?
We’ve all seem them out and about, little four-pronged flying machines making buzzing around the skies like a hive of robot bees. And drones can take some seriously amazing aerial photos and videos, giving you a completely different perspective on your holiday our get-together. In the future you will probably have packages delivered by drone instead of the postman.
Are you thinking of entering the annual Probus Photo Competition in Active Retirees? Maybe a drone will help you stand out, but you don’t know where to start.
The basics
A drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle – they are also called UAVs – and in its simplest terms it is a flying robot. The drone can be flown via remote controls, or can follow a software-controlled flight plan. For the punter they are usually equipped with a camera because most entry-level drones are used for taking pictures or video.
Most commercially available drones are also actually quad-copters – an aircraft with four sets of blades – but as they get more expensive you can have six to eight blades for added stability in the air.
The camera
If you are using your drone to take photos the camera is important. Make sure your drone camera has high resolution, so you pictures can be used as large as you need. Put simply, the cheaper the drone that lower the camera resolution and some of the $50 starter drones will really only work indoors or in an enclosed area.
If you are serious about taking still photos you might need a “gimbal”; this device uses small motors to adjust the position of the camera so you can take pictures from different angles without moving the drone itself. Gimbals look simple but are quite complicated – like the underneath of car bonnets these days you don’t want to have look inside your gimbal you just want it to work!
Which drone is for you?
If you are a beginner you need to know one thing: you will crash your drone. A lot. So it is best to start with a compact, tough and inexpensive option; think of it like training wheels.
Cost is important and with drones ranging from $39 to $3000 there is a lot of room to move. Know what you want to achieve with your drone, you may not need all the bells and whistles to start with.
JB Hifi and Harvey Norman are good places to start for a drone novice and some of their websites have information about what drone might work for you.
Here are some questions that you might like to ask:
• How strong is the wifi connection? This will govern how far you can be away from your drone when it is flying.
• Is it easy to fly? This might seem simple but as a beginner you should ask and get a lesson. As a rule: really cheap drones are often harder to fly (not very responsive), as are really expensive drones (too many bells and whistles). Look for the sweet spot.
• Is your drone ready to fly? This is not a given. Some drones are DIY (do it yourself) and some are RTF (ready to fly) make sure you know which is which.
• How long does the battery last? This will determine how long you can fly.
Drones are fun, they can give you some fantastic photos but like getting a mobile phone plan, there are so many choices that it can be head spinning. But ask a few key questions and you might have a fun toy to take your next Probus Club group photo with.
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