Which drone to fly GH4?

A

alohype

Veteran
Which drone to buy for GH4? Are there any other options besides DJI S1000?
I've read on some other forums how bad they are. I don't know if that opinion is supported by reality or it is just an usual internet bashing.
Please help me out!
 
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First, I don't consider a Multirotor with a two axis gimbal a professional setup. All quads, hexes, octocopters and coaxial machines like the Steadidrone all have issues in windy weather on pan axis. Basically multirotors are not real stable on yaw axis in turbulent wind. I would never consider using the machine for pan axis for the camera as they are doing. In the second video on their site that was posted two months ago in the middle somewhere they are flying low and fast across a field/swampy area and you can see notchy movements in the pan axis in the video. There are other issues in the video if you look closely. The horse video that was posted one month ago looks like it was shot at 60P and slowed down maybe 25%. Anytime someone's reel is all slow motion like that they are hiding things. Slow motion really smoothes out unwanted movement in the video and makes it look really nice. I stopped looking at their reels after that, but I never saw any footage from windy weather which is another hint. In the real world where I film the wind usually blows quite a bit and it is choppy. A three axis gimbal will get rid of any movement on the yaw axis of the machine. I do not like DJI Phantoms with Gopros, but a properly tuned Phantom would produce much better video in windy weather than the Steadidrone. It would be great to be able to look straight up without seeing the booms and props, but not at the expense of loosing pan axis on the gimbal.


Wayne Mann
www.HeliCamHDmedia.com
 
If you have to ask what UAS to use to fly a GH4, you're not ready to fly a GH4-sized UAS. By the time you're ready to put 14 lbs. and nearly $10,000 in the air, you should know what you want.

Save yourself a lot of headache and money (and the hobby any more bad press) and start SMALL.
 
For the GH4 as others have said I don't think there's any great option other than the Zenmuse, just don't fly it on a frame with an A2 controller unless you like beta testing with $1000's in the sky.
 
jbregar said:
If you have to ask what UAS to use to fly a GH4, you're not ready to fly a GH4-sized UAS. By the time you're ready to put 14 lbs. and nearly $10,000 in the air, you should know what you want.

Save yourself a lot of headache and money (and the hobby any more bad press) and start SMALL.
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Whoa! I detect a cocky attitude here! You don't know if he's ready, It's one thing to give advice, but not like some old cocky professor. Your assuming the negative here, not very wise.
 
Legit question, if I want to use s900 to fly GH4, do I really need a gimbal?
Does anybody know somebody who has shot without a gimbal and just taped the camera to the drone etc..
In a non windy day I reckon it might be possible.
PS. I don´t turn the camera when I film, so I don´t care about moving in the air left to right etc.
 
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It's not cockiness... it's a desire to not have this hobby/pursuit legislated into the ground because people go out, buy an aircraft that's too much for them, crash it, and make the news.

Seriously, if you don't KNOW what airframe you want to use to fly a GH4-sized camera you're not ready to fly an aircraft that has that kind of lifting capacity. An S900 with a GH4 and Zenmuse on it weighs around 14 lbs. depending on what batteries you decide to run on it. Fourteen pounds falling from the sky is going to do some serious damage to people or property... even from a relatively modest altitude. The S900 also has six, 15" props that are VERY dangerous when spinning.

Before I even considered flying something like an S900 or S1000, I moved up from a Phantom through a smaller hex (DJI Flamewheel) to a larger hex (ARRIS M680) then to a BIG hex (S900). I'm very comfortable building, programming and flying my aircraft because I've spent a LOT of time with them. The Phantom crashed a lot. The Flamewheel crashed a lot. By the time I got to the Arris, I only crashed that one once. I'm not sure it's wise to "learn" on a $4000, 14 lbs. hexacopter.

Also, I can be pretty sure he's not ready because he has almost no knowledge about drone video/photo. If you need Internet forums to tell you whether the S1000 is "bad" or not, you're not ready to fly one. If you don't know the landscape well enough to know of more than just the DJI S1000 for flying a GH4, you're probably not ready. If you don't know whether or not you need a gimbal or can "tape the camera to the drone," you're not ready to fly a big drone.

If saying this stuff makes me a huge jerk, so be it... if it keeps someone from getting hurt because someone who doesn't even know whether he should get a gimbal or tape his camera to his drone decided to start small and learn how to fly before jumping in the deep end of the pool, then I'm 100% ok with being the jerk here.

To the OP, yes you need a gimbal. PLEASE start with something smaller like the Phantom 3.

And for what its worth, the A2 has been rock solid for me. Even more so since the GPS antenna upgrade.
 
Everything jbregar says is true. Please start small - for everyone's sake and safety. The Phantom range can produce some amazing results when in the right hands. Don't be that guy........

15267606173_3d06bb93fd_o.jpg


If something this size hits someone, it could kill them.
 
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No, losers ignore the advice of those who've walked the path before them and fail to avoid mistakes that have been made many times before.

But hey, what do we know? We've only been doing this for years... right?

You sure you don't want to ask our advice on the type of tape to use to stick your GH4 to your 'copter? I'd recommend electrical tape myself, it's stretchy so it'll probably help with jello.
 
The OP is researching. So better to give him the facts. Since we don't see each other's faces, one can easily misunderstand the other. So keeping the tone neutral and just offering suggestions would find more acceptance.

Also, we don't know if the OP is going to fly or whether he is going to engage someone else to do the flying. Personally I only fly for fun once in a blue moon and have completely given that responsibility to my partner who is a trained pilot. One needs to do a lot of practice systematically starting from taking off and landing on the marked locations to keeping records of near misses etc. Only after complete control over flying one can think of cinematic moves....

The way camera technology is improving, I think we may soon be fine with the Inspire/3DRs/Go Pros....
 
CustomerGH4 said:
Go pro with balloons and the shot is done.
Losers always whine about their best, winners go home and f#ck the promqueen.

Thanks for replies though.
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All balloon footage I have seen has the camera spinning around and is not stable. Are there any techniques that result in stable footage?
 
Might there be a versatile alternative to mounting the gh4 itself such like the Zenmuse X5/X5R but with more lens compatability? This theoretically reduces weight which, if I'm understanding this conversation correctly, might make the operation of the drone easier and safer. I can't say anything for quality having no experience (not a drone operator... Yet)
 
The Yuneec Tornado H920 with a GB603 Gimble (3 axis) would do the trick and is super easy to fly. It's 11 pounds (5000 grams) with batteries camera and GH4 gimble. For $5,000 you get the hexacopter, gimble, hand held solution (accepts the 3 axis GH4 gimble) and two batteries. I also recommend a cheaper way to learn and a Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K quadcopter is just over 1/5th the cost and comes with a 4K camera and 3 axis gimble.
 
peterbright said:
The Yuneec Tornado H920 with a GB603 Gimble (3 axis) would do the trick and is super easy to fly. It's 11 pounds (5000 grams) with batteries camera and GH4 gimble. For $5,000 you get the hexacopter, gimble, hand held solution (accepts the 3 axis GH4 gimble) and two batteries. I also recommend a cheaper way to learn and a Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K quadcopter is just over 1/5th the cost and comes with a 4K camera and 3 axis gimble.
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I agree, I just purchased the Yuneec Q500 4K quadcopter and it's very easy to fly. The Yuneec Tornado H920 looks like a great one for the GH4.
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