Drone

[rdayley]

I'm looking for a drone to take videos and pictures of Real Estate. I need one that is fairly easy to use because I don't have the patience to learn how to use it well. Any suggestions for one? Ease of use is a must.

[smrpix]

If you don't have the time to learn, consider hiring a local skilled operator.

[rdayley]

That is an option but within a few months it adds up. I could buy a really nice drone and do it myself in just a few months time. I read where there are drones that can fly patterns and loops, I didn't know if maybe that would work for what I need. I can edit the videos without any issues, it's just learning how to fly and video.

[redwudz]

Do a internet search for:' youtube, learn to fly a drone ' and you will find a lot of guides.

Be aware the quality drones can be expensive, in the $600 - $1000US or more range. You might want to buy a cheaper one to learn with.
The better ones are very easy to fly and can auto return if there are problems. Also check local laws about drone flights to keep out of legal problems.

DJI Phantom models are popular for serious photographers.

And welcome to our forums.

[johnmeyer]

I can help you with this because I had the exact same question 2-1/2 years ago. A friend had just gotten a DJI Phantom drone and was trying to learn how to fly it. He had two ex-Navy friends who had access to the old government installation at the Pt. Sur lighthouse on the California coast, just north of Big Sur. Both of them had extensive experience flying drones for professional work (mapping terrain). This video shows exactly what we did there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxYEyl0_0p4

You will see me, piloting a drone for the first time. I am the guy in the dark red (burgundy) shirt

Now, here's the advice.

The two friends of my friend were both quite experienced with their drones. When we broke for lunch (we flew them all day), I asked the same question you are asking. We were eating in the small RV you see at the beginning of the video. The RV owner answered my question by reaching behind a pile of stuff and pulling out a Hubsan drone:

Hubsan Drone

What he said was this: "if you can fly this, you can fly anything. You can fly it indoors. You can crash it all you want. It won't break. Once you learn how to fly this, the DJI drones will be unbelievably easy."

Boy, was he right. This thing can do everything, but it does not have any of the GPS, ground radar, stabilization, hands-off neutral mode (i.e., when you take your hands off the drone controls it hovers, perfectly still, without moving or changing altitude). Instead, you have to pilot it every second that it is in the air. When you switch to one of the DJI drones (which is what I would recommend) they are trivially easy to pilot. BTW, you absolutely MUST install the propeller guards (they are hidden in the bottom side of the box). If you don't, not only are the blades dangerous to you, but they will nick things that you run into (and you will run into things).

You can even take video with this $25 toy, although without stabilization it is absolutely horrible. I applied a huge amount of "Deshaker" stabilization to this clip to make it viewable:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQVv5nJt3Dw

I gave one of these Hubsans to my son-in-law, who has a sideline as a professional "adventure photographer." On one of his Iceland shoots, before I gave him a Hubsan, he hired a professional drone operator from England and he shot this amazing video:

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

The first half of the video was done in exchange for a free two-week rental of that Rover. The second half was used to sell running clothing.

The final bit of information is that on my son-in-law's latest trip to Iceland, which he did last month, in the dead of winter, he did his own drone shooting, having become proficient enough to do it himself. You can see some of the results here (these are still photos, not video):

Iceland in February

I think there are two drone photos in the Iceland pics (they are the first ten photos). You can tell they are drone simply because of the altitude of the viewpoint.

Hope this helps! Get a Hubsan.

[johnmeyer]

P.S. You said you want to use if for real estate video. Here is a test I did, with my friend's DJI Phantom Advanced drone, which was an attempt to simulate what a real estate agent would do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ernyUKLUUH8

[edit]I just watched this and it is actually (as the title says) a really rough cut. YouTube added its own music, which is awful, and it doesn't tell a story.

So, if you want to see an amazing, very professional, drone video for real estate, watch this one. It was taken on the rich side of the tracks in the community where I grew up in the 1950s. I think that almost everything, including the indoor shots, were taken with a drone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtPPd0nXmSs

Pretty amazing house, eh?

[rdayley]

johnmeyer, that is perfect.

Yeah, it's a nice house.
Thank you, I will check out the DJI Phantom.

[johnmeyer]

Wow, that was a long time replying (almost a year). In that time, DJI has brought out a line of Mavic drones which are smaller and lighter and will do just fine for your application. I believe they are generally less expensive. They have lots of collision avoidance, something the is crucial for someone new to the game.

BTW, in case I didn't mention it, federal law requires that you be licensed if you are going to use this for commercial work, and they do check on this.

[rdayley]

Lol, I forgot my password and just found my notebook that I had it written in.

Crap, hope it's not hard to get licensed.

[johnmeyer]

https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/