There’s a Learning Curve in the Air

That was yesterday afternoon: first the Avata drone was almost dunked in the river, then I switched to the Mavic 3 Pro and finally got still images with the Nikon. My thanks again go to Philip Glass for his relaxed attitude towards pirates.👍

Two Better Cameras for the Air Tripod

That’s quite a camera module on that gimbal! Image from the DJI Germany website.

Here’s a 48 MPx aerial photo of a nearby village from last weekend made with my DJI Mini 3 Pro drone.

And here’s a 100% crop from the same photo, as good as I could get it starting with the *.dng file and after careful denoising (yes, even a 100 ISO file shows noise in the shadows!) and sharpening in Lightroom Classic. I have the well founded suspicion that these are not really straight from the (tiny) sensor 48 megapixels, they’re 2x or even 4x uprezzed *before* writing the *.dng file. These so-called RAW files will develop ugly artefacts at the merest touch of the sharpening slider. Lightroom’s otherwise very capable AI denoise function will also make a mess of them.

Now, this won’t do! I’ve decided to upgrade the cameras that sit atop the air tripod and have invested in a DJI Mavic 3 Pro drone.

The Pariah of the Lower Atmosphere

A democratization of the aerial view

Drones and the people flying them have been getting a bad rap in recent years. In Europe, this has led to a change in legislation and to stricter rules regarding where and how high you can fly. The laws coming into effect the day before yesterday also mean that you need an A1/A3 license for more drones than in the year before. Only the mini drones weighing less than 250 g can be flown without a license. So, is it still worth it?

Whoop!

Just Lacks a “r” and a Steady Hand

Avata(r)

One drone begets another. Post Christmas, I got another DJI drone. This time it’s an FPV drone with a cinematic aspect, called Avata.

More on the Air Tripod

One of the first aerial shots with the replaced drone: the town hall in my hometown Waltershausen

So, long story short:

A Tripod made of Air

Getting used to the new drone, a DJI Mini 3 Pro

Drony McDroneface

Take a DJI Mini 3 Pro “Asteroid” mastershot, reverse it in Final Cut Pro, put a snappy jingle under it, et voila, le petit prince!

Got myself one of these drone things.