Getting your camera into unusual positions and getting new angles is often touted as being the mark of a good photographer, something we endeavour to do all the time.

Taking this to new heights (pardon the pun!), we had a tutorial on Drone Flying and Photography recently from ECCG member, James Brady, who put his dji Phantom 3 through its paces.

Beginning with some classroom work, James outlined the features of the drone and controller, discussed flying the drone including the regulations now in place governing their use and using the drone for photography and videography. Then with all questions suitably answered, we went outside to a nearby park for a practical demonstration.

The experience was mesmerising! This little package, weighing a little over 1Kg is packed with enough smarts to practically fly on its own with minimal input from the pilot. James demonstrated the start up procedure and flew the drone expertly around the park while a live video feed streamed back to the display on the controller, immediately revealing a view of the town rarely seen. The images were breathtaking and solid as a rock even in the blustery and overcast conditions that prevailed.

The specs of the onboard camera are:
Sensor 1/2.3” Effective pixels:12 M
Lens FOV (Field Of View) 94° 20 mm (35 mm format equivalent) f/2.8
ISO Range
100-3200 (video)
100-1600 (photo)
Shutter Speed 8s -1/8000s
Image Max Size 4000 x 3000
Still Photography Modes
Single Shot
Burst Shooting: 3/5/7 shots
Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB): 3/5
Bracketed Frames at 0.7EV Bias
Time-lapse

Video Recording Modes
2.7K: 2704 x1520p 24/25/30 (29.97)
FHD: 1920x1080p 24/25/30
HD: 1280x720p 24/25/30/48/50/60
Max Video Bitrate 40 Mbps
Supported File Formats FAT32 ( ? 32 GB ); exFAT ( > 32 GB )
Supported SD Card Types Micro SD Card 8 GB included
Operating Temperature 32° to 104° F ( 0° to 40° C )
Photo JPEG, DNG
Video MP4, MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264)

The return to home feature, implemented automatically when the drone is out of range or by pressing a command on the controller, landed the drone back automatically within two feet of where it had taken off from – simply amazing.

We reviewed the images on a large screen back at The Midleton Park Hotel after the demo and were suitably impressed by the quality of the images even in less than ideal conditions.

The popularity of drones is definitely on the increase and brings new opportunities to the photographer and videographer alike.

Thanks to James for sharing his knowledge and expertise.

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