What is the next step up gonna do for me?

[Pumpkinguy]

Let's say I go to a mid size platform like the s900 to carry a mid sized camera vs my current P2 with hero 3 black, what are the realistic advantages? Are the mid sized cameras that much better? Will I get more flight time? I wouldnt mind building or buying a mid sized but I wouod want to see noticible gains.

 

[kloner]

way better footage, a lot more lens options, a lot more camera setting options. Question would be more are you ready to take on another hobby in Cameras.... and can you afford to loose $1000 dollar bodies, $1000 lenses

originaly i was just gonna say a lighter wallet, none the less i explained how.

if your selling footage, imo the hero footage just isn't marketable and the main difference being a much bigger day rate. a hero on a real estate gig might bring $200, a gh4 or 5d might bring $2k... we fly gh4 for around $6k a day on commercials and features, epics for $8-$10k a day

 

[Pumpkinguy]

That's a good explanation. Thank you. Yes I can afford to buy this stuff but no I cannot afford to loose it. Lol.

 

[Ronan]

That's a good explanation. Thank you. Yes I can afford to buy this stuff but no I cannot afford to loose it. Lol.

Are we talking about commercial or hobby? If commercial then you need good insurance for liability and some even offer insurance on your rig.

If we are talking about hobby, then honestly, don't play with expensive toys if you can't afford to replace them. Or else it sucks if it breaks and you are left with your hands in your pants

 

[Old Man]

As in everything else, the quality level increases as the price of the equipment and the knowledge level squares.

 

[kloner]

I've met so many people on here myself included that used to have a 5d or a gh3......

 

[Pumpkinguy]

It's just a hobby for me. I am 41. Don't have fancy cars. Don't drink or smoke pot lol. Live a pretty good life and I'm at the point in life where I have some play money. I like nice things. So the natural progression for me eventually is to move up in size. I'd love to build one like the 680 I've been following on this forum. Or even maybe a s900.
What's the best consumer grade camera for these mid sized units now? Sony Nex? Or is that old

 

[Pumpkinguy]

I've met so many people on here myself included that used to have a 5d or a gh3......

Sorry buddy. You posted this while I was typing in the last post. What do you mean "used to have", past tense?

 

[kloner]

gh4, something 900-1100mm with extra power so it'll sit still safely in wind..... even a gh3 if your not super into it and want something a little less painfull to loose. This is gh3, gh4 and red epic....

 

[Pumpkinguy]

The gh3, gh4 is a full size dslr that would require a heavy lift craft like the s1000, no?

 

[kloner]

it's a mirrorless dslr sized but a lot lighter than a 5d or the like. if a person only knew dji rtf's, they have been flying them on the s800 for a year or two, but came out with a s900 to make up for the s800 shortcomings. I'd rather have a real frame with good parts like i'm doing.... there is no overhead in many of there rigs but a lot of people start out with them and get by, but eventualy have problems that eats them.....

imo s800 is a nex rig, decent camera, not a lot of lens options and it's not a very good sensor in a pro setting, not sealed so dust on the sensor is a game they play. GH3 or GH4 will make movies but not many "real" film makers use much other than 5d or an epic.

yes past tense cause they get blown apart in a decent crash

Stepping up takes you from a 3 lbs relatively tame to crash, might dent a car or dent siding on a house. when you go up in weight from there the liability and the damage they can do is pretty major. Through cars, into houses ranging from 25-35 lbs.... thousands of watts, etc. Batteries get big and expensive, takes big expensive chargers and to do it right is using a 3 axis gimbal that takes a two man operation.

 

[Ronan]

The gh3, gh4 is a full size dslr that would require a heavy lift craft like the s1000, no?

No. It's a mirrorless camera, weights about 560g. A 5D Mark III, with no battery or lens will weight 860g (it's lenses are pretty big and heavy too).

A S900 will easily carry a GH4 + Z15 gimbal.

 

[SJBrit]

This is an interesting topic that I thought a lot about before my current build (Pumpkinguy - you've seen my Tarot 650 thread). I'm a semi-professional photographer who knows the value of good equipment and I invest quite a bit in SLR camera bodies and lenses. However, even there I understand that there is only so much a good camera can get you, and the secret of photography is in your eye and your technique. So you can invest all you want but you can still take crappy pictures with the best equipment. My equipment also gets seriously abused with the type of photography I do (www.adrianjennings.zenfolio.com/portfolio) so I balance the quality of my gear with the risk of trashing it and having to replace it.

I feel very much the same about my new AP addiction. I'm flying a GoPro right now and I've just stepped up from a Phantom to a much more capable airframe with capacity for other electronics and much better endurance. But stepping up from there to a much higher quality camera is a huge leap in cost and consequently heartache (and wallet-ache) when you trash it. The reason I'm not willing to make that step up yet is that I have a TON to learn about cinematography and it makes no sense at all to invest heavily in a high end camera and a rig to carry it until I have built some skills. I can do that quite happily with a GoPro.

So, my advice from my photography experience is that you will see a much bigger improvement in the impact of your videos if you invest time in getting good than if you invest money in better equipment. One day you will start to feel frustrated that your equipment is holding you back and that is the time to upgrade. You can put the best camera going in the hands of an amateur and they will get crappy results, and you can put an iPhone on the hands of a pro and the results are amazing.

 

[Old Man]

gh4, something 900-1100mm with extra power so it'll sit still safely in wind..... even a gh3 if your not super into it and want something a little less painfull to loose. This is gh3, gh4 and red epic....

Show off
Nice work!

 

[Racerx1962]

I shot this using a gopro BE and just pieced it together... had it been shot with a GH4 with a CP gimbal, then I think the results would've been so much better. So, I'm in the middle of a new build to lift the heavier stuff too. I'm looking at building a quad based on the Tarot T1000 with KDE 4014s, Hobbywing platinum pro ESCs and 1755 CF props with either a Pixhawk or SuperX and a GHT gimbal with CP controller.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwBOE4AVCVE

 

[pizzano]

I shot this using a gopro BE and just pieced it together... had it been shot with a GH4 with a CP gimbal, then I think the results would've been so much better. So, I'm in the middle of a new build to lift the heavier stuff too. I'm looking at building a quad based on the Tarot T1000 with KDE 4014s, Hobbywing platinum pro ESCs and 1755 CF props with either a Pixhawk or SuperX and a GHT gimbal with CP controller.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwBOE4AVCVE

I find the resolution and focus quality of that vid to be pretty good for a GoPro without a sophisticated gimbal.......curious was that shot FPV or LOS....and what size craft carried the camera......?

 

[Pumpkinguy]

I liked that vid as well. I would be perfectly happy with that quality. Now that the new gopro will have 4k @ 30 maybe I don't need a high end camera for my needs. Still I need, I mean I want a larger drone
I wonder what flight times a s900 would get with only a h3-3d and gopro using 21000 batteries? It's gotta be up and over 1/2 hour.

 

[Racerx1962]

I was using an Arris 680 hex with a Tarot T2D gimbal... LOS. It's a bit overkill for a gopro, but I can get 15 minutes on a single 6S 5000 lipo or nearly 25 minutes from a 6S 8000.

 

[kloner]

the biggest difference and even with hero$ is the small sensor makes somewhat lack luster dynamic range.... when you got a screen full of anything, you can't see anything in teh shaddows and that's what a gh3-4 starts to do but why they use epics in professional production.... like that chevy spot, the chrysler spot in the vid i posted..... when you look at the solar farm or the nike stuff, that's gh4 and while not as powerful as the red, it stands out to me.

All the new hero 4 spots i've seen didn't do much for the dynamic range but the stuff shot at night looks better than alot of what i've seen from them in the past. Am i getting one you bet, but m i gonna try to sell footage from from it, not a chance.

heres some examples of trying to be creative with light and such using a hero3+....

some of this one is 2 man with a backbone mod....

 

[pizzano]

I was using an Arris 680 hex with a Tarot T2D gimbal... LOS. It's a bit overkill for a gopro, but I can get 15 minutes on a single 6S 5000 lipo or nearly 25 minutes from a 6S 8000.

That explains the nice ride.....lol......Spektrum managed on board........seems to be a seamless set-up for a Gopro.