The idea of buying a Sony A7 V got replaced by a drone. Ever since the DJI Phantom was released in 2013, I've had a case of gear acquisition syndrome, but with a mighty effort, I resisted it. Recently, I read that the DJI Mavic 4 Pro had landed in the marketplace with a Hasselblad 100 MP APS-C sensor, two other cameras with different focal lengths and lots of other impressive specs. I was hooked. Then reality set in again. It was the most sophisticated camera drone yet, but its weight meant that I would have to register it, and I thought it might be too difficult for a raw beginner to fly. I did some research and settled on the next best, the DJI Air 3s.
The Air 3s also has impressive specs, including two cameras, the main one having a 1” sensor, but not a Hasselblad lens. It has facial recognition, subject tracking, and automated flight settings, such as orbiting a selected subject. Cool! The control software, with sophisticated obstacle avoidance utilising Lidar and a host of other sensors, is impressive. The return-to-home feature doesn’t use GPS technology. It memorises the outward-bound flight path, then retraces it.
Without dipping into the voluminous settings, I flew it from a crowded launch area without crashing! To better understand its capabilities, I need to work through the settings and learn to work the joysticks instinctively so that I can concentrate on framing images. One of my beliefs is that good photography depends on good composition*, which in turn depends on camera position and orientation. This device will open a whole world of possibilities regardless of whether the aircraft height is three metres or 100 metres. The future looks interesting.
Good composition and a score of other things!
Note: The Department of Civil Aviation has rules! However, they have a number of recommended apps that make it easy. I use ‘OpenSky’.