I tend to get emails from people spreading the word about new products and I wanted to share these two with you. I have not put my hands on anything below, just wanted to pass along cool new tech and products. The SubMurresThis thing packs some crazy features and reminds me a little bit of the car that Homer Simpson got to design. Until I see a working prototype, this gets the ya-right treatment. I know stuff like this will eventually be created, but I always get a kick out of 3d mock ups because they can just ignore physics. So lets have a laugh at their expense but also wish them luck as they push the boundaries of drone technology. Read more about this at SubMurres.com. Here is my favorite part of the press release: The dual submarine aircraft moves ubiquitously from water to air. As a submarine, SubMurres glide silently underwater performing its mission as it surfaces. Once on the water surface its flight system is engaged and its four rotors emerge from their compartments as vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) is initiated. Once airborne, there is no expulsion of parts. SubMurres simply flies unfettered, with all components intact. Its landing apparatus allow it to settle on terrain, and its second camera system allows it to fully capture surroundings. From land, it can be directly re-dispatched to water. No need to redeploy or to be picked up by another carrier aircraft, unlike any of the chief aeronautic industry or Navy-funded university’s latest submersive drone models! Yuneec H920 Plus - For engineering/architecture, broadcast, law enforcement, and inspections spacesI have been carefully watching Yuneec's product offerings and it seems like they are emerging as one of the main competitors to DJI. I really want to get my hands on some of their stuff to test it out and compare it to my DJI gear. While this H920 hexacopter drone is being pitched as a commercial drone, I was instantly attracted to the CG04 camera because you can change out the lenses. This is a micro four thirds camera so it might be comparable to the X5 from DJI. I am still using the X3 (that is basically a GoPro) but I really want to step up my game and get one of these cameras with bigger sensors. Better low light performance, more detail, more options for creating amazing aerial photography. The price range will be $2499 - $3999. That fully integrated remote control looks amazing too and it would make my flight kit more simple because it would eliminate the need for a smart phone. This thing looks awesome too, nice work Yuneec. This new drone was originally the H920, but now has updated features such as:
Comments
When flying a symetrical drone, it is really easy to lose your orientation relative to the drone. There are ways to fix this like turning on an intelligent flight mode or hitting return to home to get your drone back safely and you should practice using the return to home feature at least once in a controlled way so you know how it works. But lets say you want to keep your drone "on target" and filming, then the only thing to do is to regain your orientation. Practicing this with your photo rig is certainly one way to do it, but you might also consider using a $20 CX-10D and the following practice exercise. It can be done inside or outside.
Tips: Small movements work best. If you fly it forward and you could not learn anything about its orientation, try and fly it the opposite direction just so you aren't losing any ground.
I used to have an affiliate link to banggood to buy this but I have had an issue twice already and I just can't recommend them anymore. You should be able to get them off Amazon and Ebay with no problem, just make sure you get the CX-10D. I finally got my trusty Inspire 1 back from DJI after the landing gear mechanism stopped working. About $275 and several phone calls later it flies as good as new [there will be another post about my experience with DJI support soon]. The X3 camera has a similar sensor as the GoPro, so low light work will never be amazing but with a bit of experimenting and post production work I was able to create the following image I am happy with. I really want to engage more with people who are reading my blog so I submit this simple challenge to anyone reading this who has a drone that can take AEB Bracketed photos - Go out and take a sunrise picture with your drone and send it to me to be featured in a slideshow at the end of this blog posting. I am going to talk about the simple steps I took to make this photograph but if this is something you would like to see a full blown tutorial on, please let me know. Step 1: Set your photo mode to AEB Bracketing. This takes 3 or 5 shots with different exposures. For this test image I just took them in JPEG and did a 3 shot burst. If I wanted the absolute best post production material to work with I would do JPEG + RAW and do a 5 shot burst. When you are taking these, give your drone a second or two to stabilize before you take the picture. You really want things to be as stable as possible. Step 2: [You have lots of options for merging bracketed images, I just happen to use Adobe] Get the files onto your computer and open up Adobe Bridge. Navigate to your 3 or 5 bracketed RAW images and select them all using CTRL - Click. Then go to tools > Photoshop > Merge to HDR Pro. This will launch Adobe Photoshop and merge them together, leaving you with your final image. Step 3: It will present you with your final image that will not look all that impressive yet, just click ok. Now back into Photoshop, select your image and then from the top pull down menus Filter > Camera Raw Filter. There are a bunch of sliders you can move around until you have the perfect picture. I really like to turn down Highlights to make the cloud texture slow. Contrast and exposure can help compensate for lost brightness from adjusting highlights and shadows. Clarity sharpens things up a bit while Vibrance and Saturation bring out the colors. Now go try this out so I can add your picture below!!!
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June 2017
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