Greenheart
Well-known member
"NOISY NEIGHBOR NEXT DOOR"?
Are Drones the new Jetskis?
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Baggywrinkle
Well-known member
Flying modern camera drones is extremely boring .... they fly themselves and are very stable - not the same fun as flying a RC planes or helicopters, although technology is making RC helicopters much more stable now too. FPV drones (first person view) are more fun, but the pilot wears goggles and "sees" what the drone camera sees in real time, controlling the drone based on the camera images - and the fun there is to go fast and zoom around, not spy on people.
Consumer drone cameras are generally fitted with lenses around 24mm ... which is fairly wide angle and intended to get good landscape photos/panoramas. To get a recognisable shot of a person, a drone would have to be uncomfortably close - same distance as needed to get a mobile phone picture of a person - the paparazzi don't use mobile phone cameras.
Don't know about the UK but in the Germany the drone must carry an identification sticker with the pilot reference number on it.
At the beginning of this year the law across europe (including the UK) was harmonised, all pilots need to be registered and dependent on weight (more than 250g), they will need to hold a CAA approved certificate of competence as well as having 3rd party insurance for their drones.
Typical drone photos look like this ... which I took with my Mini 2
... seriously, there are far better ways to take covert pictures of people than to fly a noisy piece of machinery close enough to get recognisable footage.
Baggywrinkle
Well-known member
Without drones, ordinary people wouldn't be posting stuff like this on YouTube ... and it's what every amateur drone cinematographer/photographer dreams of ...
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
So they wouldn't be able to get a clear picture of, to choose an example at random, someone who lobbed something at them?
Baggywrinkle
Well-known member
If they were close enough for someone to have a good chance of hitting them, then they probably could.
... but they shouldn't be flown that close to uninvolved persons - so although their footage might show who threw the first rock, they also incriminate the pilot with the same footage. Catch 22.As a drone pilot, honestly, I would never hover close or linger long enough to film someone I didn't know with my drone - unless they were in the process of committing a criminal act - and I would understand completely if an uninvolved stranger was overcome with the urge to throw something at my drone to get rid of it - so I fly high and fast to clear uninvolved people as quickly as possible and get to the point where I want to film/photograph.
Drones relay their camera footage back to the controller in real-time as a video stream but this stream is played on the controller and not retained - I know because I have lost loads of good footage by forgetting to press "record" - They only record when told to do so (there is no way of telling if a Mini 2 is recording or not by looking at it). The full 4K footage is stored on the memory card of the drone and a lower-res copy is simultaneously stored on the controller (mobile device).
I think drone use is a bit similar to the internet anonymity effect, people post things on the internet that they would never say to someone face-to-face - relative anonymity brings out the worst in some people - it is the same with drones to a degree, someone might fly a drone close to strangers but would never turn their video camera or mobile phone camera on a stranger and randomly start filming.
The distance between a drone camera and its subject needs to be about the same as the distance from a mobile phone camera and its subject to get useable and recognisable footage of a person.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
Thanks for that very clear and informative answer. I appreciate it.
Baggywrinkle
Well-known member
For everyone's delectation, a drone and a jet-ski .....
WoodyP
Well-known member
The farming forum has threads about farm buildings being flown through to case the joint prior to a night time shopping trip. Much more targeted and recent than Google earth. Both of them are an intrusion of privacy, but thankfully drones are less ubiquitous.
LONG_KEELER
Well-known member
Some good stuff coming from Baggywrinkle now .
If all owners are like you I'm won over.
Where do I sign ?
If all owners are like you I'm won over.
Where do I sign ?
Baggywrinkle
Well-known member
For those still worried about drones here are a few additional resources to help combat irresponsible pilots ....
Are they allowed to fly? ....
Visit this web-site to find out if the drone which is annoying you is flying in restricted airspace .... there are all sorts of restrictions, altitude restrictions, prior authorisation, no-fly zones etc.
Geo Zone Map - Fly Safe - DJI
Get familiar with the law relating to drones ... the most important one being that anything over 250g (bigger than the smallest drones like the DJI Mini 2) is not allowed to intentionally fly over uninvolved people, and as the weight increases this separation becomes larger, horizontal distances of 30m, 50m or 150m dependent on weight. Film the drone with your mobile phone to prove infringement,
If you talk to the pilot, find out politely if he has a pilot ID, 3rd party insurance, and if the drone is over 250g he also needs a CAA certificate of competence.
If you want to do more then write to your MP and campaign to get RemoteID written into law - this is likely to get implemented in the USA. It is like AIS for Drones .... once this happens then apps like this ....
DJI makes app to identify drones and find pilots
... will become available to anyone.
... but anyone who is seriously worried about drone intrusion can already buy this (if they have deep pockets.)
AeroScope - DJI's New Drone Detection and Identification System
... but please don't try and destroy a drone just because you are unhappy with it flying, that will just land you in trouble instead of the pilot.
Are they allowed to fly? ....
Visit this web-site to find out if the drone which is annoying you is flying in restricted airspace .... there are all sorts of restrictions, altitude restrictions, prior authorisation, no-fly zones etc.
Geo Zone Map - Fly Safe - DJI
Get familiar with the law relating to drones ... the most important one being that anything over 250g (bigger than the smallest drones like the DJI Mini 2) is not allowed to intentionally fly over uninvolved people, and as the weight increases this separation becomes larger, horizontal distances of 30m, 50m or 150m dependent on weight. Film the drone with your mobile phone to prove infringement,
If you talk to the pilot, find out politely if he has a pilot ID, 3rd party insurance, and if the drone is over 250g he also needs a CAA certificate of competence.
If you want to do more then write to your MP and campaign to get RemoteID written into law - this is likely to get implemented in the USA. It is like AIS for Drones .... once this happens then apps like this ....
DJI makes app to identify drones and find pilots
... will become available to anyone.
... but anyone who is seriously worried about drone intrusion can already buy this (if they have deep pockets.)
AeroScope - DJI's New Drone Detection and Identification System
... but please don't try and destroy a drone just because you are unhappy with it flying, that will just land you in trouble instead of the pilot.
