Camera Drones and Woman, Times are a Changing!

Los Angeles, CA—The wildly popular camera multi-rotor camera drones had few women admirers.  Advances in technology has facilitated and enabled the drone camera industry explosion just in the last two years.

I became hooked on drones was slightly over a year ago however I was really disappointed by a lack of interest by women in this incredibly exciting and creative endeavor. 

Going to model aircraft flying fields was always an all male event.  Not a wife, daughter, girlfriend of the drone pilots were in sight.  Okay, I have a fondness for women and not seeing any of them enjoying something I’m relishing so much was disappointing.

I suspect that the perceived technical issues and mechanics of the drones had intimidated women.   There are four things a successful drone camera pilot needs to learn.

The actual piloting of an unmanned multi-rotor aircraft is really not too difficult to learn.  The technical issues like GPS and physical intricacies of the aircraft are absorbed with time.  Knowing how the cameras work and enjoying photography is important. 

Knowing how to edit video is really a must.  That used to be difficult but with the modern software products it’s a snap. 

The last needed skill is writing or story telling.  Drone videos need either music or a voiceover to cover the annoying motor noise of the natural sound.  This is easily accomplished with the editing software.  

YouTube is loaded with tutorials on everything you need to know.  Some instructional videos are better than others. 

Notwithstanding the FAA ban on commercial use of drones you cannot see a TV program, feature film or even a commercial that does not have drone video incorporated.  Many producers are flying drone operators off shore to capture the stunning images. 

Flying a drone is fun, addictive and satisfying.  I can only describe this a close as you can experience flying on a magic carpet.  It’s so empowering to see things from above.   One significant benefit is that you’ll never have to fear losing your life operating a drone. 

One additional thing is certain, there will be plenty jobs for those people that have embraced this wonderful technology. 

Finally, the good news is that women are beginning to actually love flying drones!  The intimidation has been reduced by drone marketing efforts and of course their seeing pre-teens operating drones doesn’t hurt.

Women need to know that there are lots of men that would enjoy sharing this hobby and teaching women about the these amazing devices.

I’m putting a drone documentary together.  I still need to assemble some important interviews and video but I landed an interview from an elegant, conventional pilot Abbe Lyle that loves drones.  Abbe lives up in Sacramento and is also a high profile drone pilot.  You can meet Abbe here.

Why Politicians Really Fear Mini-Camera Drones

DJI S900 with a Panasonic GH4 video camera

Phoenix, AZ—With the New technology of the ubiquitous mini camera drones, politicians fear losing dominant military power over the common man.

They know that ground observers and modern radar can’t see these things.  They also know that almost anyone can nearly invisibly, deploy a mini-drone to monitor the movement, armament and size of police and military assets on our streets.

That’s raw power that would allow ordinary citizens with conventional firearms to succeed in a rebellion against government tyranny.

Today we know that African-American thugs have effectively used cell-phones and texting to organize takeover mobs to rob retail establishments.  Until cell phones existed the police were the only ones to have superior instant communication with their walkie-talkies. 

Cell phone technology has given mobs advantages in recent instances of civil unrest.  Past civil insurrections such as the Rodney King of the 1980s or the Martin Luther King riots of the 1960s were put down because of superior police communications.  Those days may be over.

Government has quietly taken control of the cell phone and Internet on and off switches.   We will see that used when civil unrest become widespread.  Still there is no shortage of advanced and cheap wireless walkie-talkies that cannot be controlled so easily by the government.

The very first aircraft brought into military application was for simple and absolutely needed reconnaissance.  Unarmed airplanes facilitated tacktical battle management like never before.

Airplanes and wireless radio were and are considered dangerous military assets.  Now it’s little inexpensive drones that show significant promise to keep government tyranny in check.  

The power of intelligence gathering capabilities of the mini-drones is immense.  Imagine if one side of our Civil War had them?  Imagine how Custer’s troops could have used a mini-drone to see the Indians at the Little Big Horn.

I can’t help but imagine what a great tool the mini drone would have been for European Nazi resistance fighters of World War Two!   

Politicians will always fear civilian technological and firepower parity with the government and can be expected to stop that from happening.

They have waged a propaganda war against the civilian mini drones citing bogus public safety concerns.  The media has fallen on their sword here even though they need drones to survive their serious and ongoing financial crises. 

Laughably the FAA has suddenly changed their airspace regulation from reactive measures to proactive and preventative efforts.  They are suddenly giving the toy like mini drones with more attention than our 747 jumbo jets.

The FAA manned aircraft regulations were never a form of prior restraint policy.  Instead they quite literally are written in blood.  Every FAA regulation has a documented deadly mishap behind it.  That is except for the mini-drones.   Suddenly the FAA has sought Ill-informed prior restraint based rules based on Chicken Little style dire predictions to establish multi-rotor drone policy.

Despite numerous near miss claims there has never been a notable accident involving a multi-rotor camera drone inside the USA.  No lives lost, significant injury or even measureable property losses have been reported.  No photos, video or recovered drones have ever been displayed as evidence to back up the near miss assertions.

The FAA has actually restrained basic commerce and First Amendment protected use of the mini drones for creative art and newsgathering.  They’ve done that without a single documented death or even minimal property damage report. 

Suddenly privacy issues from the little camera drones is a “serious” concern at a time when surveillance cameras, satellite imagery and helicopter photography is commonplace and accepted by the courts.  

This is all a government sham.  The real issue is about despotic politicians keeping government might superior to civilians for absolute control.  As such it becomes obvious that the Second Amendment as well as the First Amendment now protects drones.

Ignorant Americans still somehow seem to think the Second Amendment was about hunting.  It was put in place to prevent government from exercising total control of Americans or seizing their hard won liberty. 

As for the drones, the Genie is out of the bottle.  The technology can’t be stopped.  They are easily made and programmed by hobbyists. There are upwards of a million of them already in civilian hands.

Thankfully regulating mini-drones beyond making hollow threats to do so is an impossible task.  Soon indoor pilots that can’t be readily seen will be able to operate the mini-drone.  The drones will be deployed from all manner of locations far away from the pilots. 

There is simply not enough tax funds or humans to exercise effective regulation of the mini drones on this earth. 

There are some 7000 helicopters to regulate and well over a million multi-rotor drones.  We know what’s safer to use for purposes like newsgathering.  The FAA will still play games and pretend the are concerned about real safety.

Take a Look at the Latest and Greatest Camera Armed, Unmanned Aircraft Drone!

Las Vegas, NV—The National Association of Broadcasters are meeting in Sin City for among other things learn about the rapidly changing technology that brings breathtaking images to those very spectacular TV screens in most of our homes. 

These days TV news directors everywhere are faced with a financial crisis and thankfully the equipment they need has never been better or cheaper.  The largest single expense for any newsroom is that exciting helicopter assisted newsgathering.  Frankly, many medium and small market TV news organizations have had to eliminate helicopters altogether or enter into video sharing and cost splitting agreements with new competitors because they simply can no longer afford it.

Helicopter safety is no small issue with too many deadly crashes and the related liability issues. Another problem is scrambling to get the helicopters quickly in the air when news breaks. 

Quadcopters armed with small high definition cameras are a really good solution.  These have been around for nearly a couple of years but are just now getting refined and perfected for TV newsgathering 

The cost of the drones can be from $1,000.00 to $15,000.00 depending on the camera payload being supported.  TV stations would be well served to obtain several of these drones that should be kept throughout their coverage area.  The less expensive Camera Drones are perfectly adequate for broadcast quality newsgathering purposes. The larger ones are more suited for feature filmmakers.  

Certain reporters or photographers should be trained in handling these easy to use devices so they can respond quickly to accidents, fires or violent incidents. They can be deployed in mere seconds.

In the Las Vegas or Phoenix metropolitan areas perhaps as many as nine drones in each news department would insure quick aerial response to any situation.  This is only a fraction of the cost of operating a news helicopter. 

The captured video can be accessed through a USB port and quickly edited with industry standard software for news packages. 

The quadcopter camera industry leader DJI, is showing off their latest entry into the Camera Drone Race at the NAB Convention.  They just announced their Phantom 2 Vision Plus drone.  This little gem can capture stunning video.  It comes with a three degree stabilizing gimbal. That improved device holds the camera still in windy conditions or during tricky maneuvering of the drone.  The camera shake or vibration is eliminated in this latest version.  It really excels when panning or moving back and forth. 

The Phantom 2 Vision Plus works with modern smart phones to allow both monitoring of the video but to actually change camera settings like exposure while it’s in the air!  The controller has a built-in wifi extender to give as much as a ½ mile range allowing the pilot to view exactly what the camera is able to capture.

The Phantom uses rechargeable batteries that give it life for over 20 minutes, which would be sufficient for most situations.  I’d recommend a second or even a third back up battery for each drone in your news gathering air force.

There are endless uses for Camera Drones in entertainment or documentary filmmaking.  Private investigators, real estate salespeople, roofers and farmers all have a need for this exciting technology.

The new video drones are lightweight and very safe to operate.  The liability issues are almost non-existent.

I don’t yet own the DJI Phantom II Vision Plus since it just was announced. I do however have experience with the two earlier models that some friends of mine have let me use.  They are terrific to say the least.  I will be getting the newest one as fast as I possibly can.  The price is expected to be less than $1,400 with it’s own camera. 

Here is DJI’s website:

http://www.dji.com/products/everyone   

Here is a great night video with an earlier Phantom model.