Phantom Vision - Can I produce video that I can sell?

saphotoexpress

saphotoexpress

PhotoLabGuy
Hi, I'm new to this forum and I'm just starting out. I currently own a Blade 180 that I bought to learn on before I get into something bigger/more expensive. I eventually want to make video that I can sell and already have 2 customers wanting my services for real-estate purposes. I've been looking around and I can see that a professional setup would cost $8K-$30K and Go Pro systems run around $1K-$4K. The Phantom Vision with a case, extra batteries and some other extras will run under $2K. There is supposed to be a Gimbal for the Vision coming in the next month or so and I would add that as well. I'd like to know if you guys feel like the quality of the Vision camera (with added Gimbal) will be good enough as a starter system? I have a photo/video background and used to build & fly RC planes. I have the knowledge and experience to produce a quality video, just not sure about the camera on the Vision.

I watched a comparison video of a Phantom Vision with a Go Pro strapped under the Vision camera and the Vision camera seemed to produce much better results in that test. If you feel that the Vision camera won't work my purposes, I'd be curious if you think a Go Pro would and why.

If this all goes well, I would eventually buy/build a more professional setup, but for now, I'd like to see if can do this on a budget and get up and running very quickly. Thanks.
 

X650Mouse

X650Mouse

Take no prisoners
Depends on how fussy your customers are! and what their end use of the product is, the short answer is NO! none of the Phantoms are commercial quality vehicles, they are too light in the frame and a 'shell' type vehicle is inherently bad for vibrations.

You would need a good quality 3 axis gimbals for your GoPro which again is hobbiest type camera, a professional camera would be a good quality DSLR which would require a much bigger vehicle.

There are reasons why a commercial quality rig is in the many thousands of dollars, as there are many users who have tried to do it with hobbiest grade equipment and failed!

David
 


DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
As there seems to be a HUGE amount of kids with Phantoms willing to do work for free, I would say that you could probably do commercial work....for free. I would personally be absolutely embarrassed to show up with a Phantom or an f450/550 on a set and call myself a pro. It's like someone with an iphone calling themselves a photographer. Sure it might take decent shots but c'mon, who are you fooling? The only viable situation I could see selling someone on the phantom would be if the shot was inherently dangerous and had a high probability of failure such as close up big surf shots or flying around fire. My advise would be to keep the phantom for fun/training/travelling/learning fpv. Having said this, I have actually seen pretty impressive footage come from a stabilized go pro using the Phantom. If you could do your shoots without the client seeing what you are flying it might work. :)
 

B

BeachRunner

Member
I've been doing a lot of reading about this...not legal...especially in TX. You can still do it just taking chances is all....
 


S

sk8brd

Member
if your client knows nothing about rc you can tell them it's a professional system. go pro set at 2k stabilized and defished on a zen hero for realestate vid will be fine. for commercial work probably not gonna fly- no pun intended..lol if i had a dollar for every time i heard someone say they must be a professional because that someone was carrying a dslr i would be a rich man. people just assume that because people have certain gear they must be pro's. real estate agents generally are not tech heads like us and if they see decently smooth arial video in hd it's a wow moment for them. don't think a vision will cut it-too much shake rattle and roll.
 

saphotoexpress

saphotoexpress

PhotoLabGuy
Thanks for the responses and I get that this is more of a builders forum so a RTF is not going to be very popular. I can tell that I will outgrow it quickly, but for my current purposes, this seems like a good starter setup. FYI, I'm sure many of you guys have already seen this, but it was this video that inspired me to start looking at multi-rotor's:
 
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Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
saphotoexpress said:
............and I get that this is more of a builders forum so a RTF is not going to be very popular..............
Click to expand...

that's not entirely true. rtf is a great option for a lot of people but the limitation it inevitably demonstrates is with the owner that can't complete repairs after their first mishap. experience has taught a lot of us that if you're going to be an operator that you've also got to have some ability to do repairs or you'll cancel as many shoots as you'll complete, which isn't very professional.
 

DucktileMedia

DucktileMedia

Drone Enthusiast
I feel like you missed one important thing there. True, that with a RTF, you dont learn how to repair your own gear. But you also surrender experience in exchange for getting airborne sooner. But you may also be putting yourself and others in harms way as well. Understanding what is going on when you fly is just as important as knowing the basic controls. Being able to visualize the ins and outs of what is making the thing fly is critical in safely growing this hobby. The more RTF Chinese sky garbage you see, the more unintended crashes you'll see. Do i think this means it should be illegal to go out and but RTF heli's? YES! But as this is a sign of the times we have to learn to grow with the changes and not try and trash them like I sound like I am doing now. I just feel that there is an element of safety that is bypassed by letting your eagerness get the better of you. Would you want a pilot flying you around that took a flying course online? Of course not. It's kinda the same thing. Now having said that, if you purchase a RTF unit like a ladybird or blade mqx or even the Phantom and have the intent of learning on it in an open area, then I can see the benefit to getting some stick time without breaking the bank. But the main problem is that ANYONE can buy these and get airborne. I have been camping along the coast a lot this last few months and I have seen quite a few Phantoms buzzing around. They are everywhere!
 

W

W. Reimer

Member
I think you may have people lined up, but they won't be for long if you're planning on shooting with a Phantom/GoPro. It's not that they don't produce fairly decent video;they do, and the Phantom is
surprisingly capable for the dollar. It's simply that there are rigs that are SO much better, and I guarantee you, if someone in your area sees that you are getting work with a Phantom and a GoPro, they WILL have deeper pockets, they WILL drop $10. for every $1 you have invested and you and your Phantom will be relegated to flying for fun...which by the way is the ONLY thing you can do legally in the U.S.A.
You run the risk of running afoul of the FAA if you are making money, they seem to be paying a lot more attention to that lately, and there are dozens of arguments pro and con about whether you want to try to get away with it without getting caught, or if you want to do it legally, which means you have got a couple of years to save up the money you'll need to get into it with decent equipment.
By all means, get a Phantom and learn to fly well using it. There is nothing like experience...nothing. Position yourself to be the guy coming in with higher end equipment and experience in a couple years when the FAA regs are out and snatch the business away from the Phantom flyers. Personally, I don't think AV/AP for real estate is an application with a lot of legs. There was a time when people with a decent digital camera could make a pretty good buck from realtors just because they could get photos online or printed faster than a film camera. That market didn't last long; the realtors bought their own cameras, and they have already started buying Phantoms of their own. As UAV's become more plentiful and mainstream, more realtors are going to catch onto the fact that they can fly a Phantom with a GoPro just as easily as you can, and for the price of having you shoot 4 or 5 properties, they can do it themselves...that's something that's already starting in some areas of the U.S.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. I hope you'll take some of the advice you've gotten here (principles and practice of safe flying always)
 

saphotoexpress

saphotoexpress

PhotoLabGuy
It looks like the Niagra video I posted from youtube has been removed from this thread with no explanation, are we only allowed to post videos and images on this forum that we create?
 



Accupro

Accupro

Member
Should be interesting to see what happens on the real estate side. I'm looking at the UAV as augmenting my home inspection biz (roof inspection) but could see my realtors asking me to do the ariel property overview. I'm thinking with the price point coming down on aerial video more realtors may be interested in getting aerial videos on lower end properties rather than just estates. Having 700+ realtors in my database I would say the majority are illiterate when it comes to technology, just me personal point of view. Don't get me wrong many of them are very technology literate, but if the listing agent suggested to the sellers of the property an aerial video of their property for say $150 to $250 that might work. Realtors are all about dodging the bullet on liability. I'm thinking the guys/gals who would get that UAV business would be those that presented the property well, in a positive and professional way, REGARDLESS of equipment, just my personal opinion. I have maybe $10K of various tools in my vehicle to do the inspection and the clients/realtors could typically careless what kind of tools I'm using, more the presentation at the end and the ability to fully document everything in a way that everyone gets it. Lots if not most of what makes everything understood is pictures!

I think the higher end UAV videographers are always going to attempt to differentiate their product from the lower-end entry level players like say a Phantom 2 with a gimbal and a GoPro but, times are changing!!
 

Motopreserve

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
I recently read the Texas law which has many exemption listed. One of the exemptions is for Real Estate. It speaks about realtors specifically, not people hired by realtors. But you could look into it a bit more.
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Accupro said:
Should be interesting to see what happens on the real estate side. I'm looking at the UAV as augmenting my home inspection biz (roof inspection) but could see my realtors asking me to do the ariel property overview. I'm thinking with the price point coming down on aerial video more realtors may be interested in getting aerial videos on lower end properties rather than just estates. Having 700+ realtors in my database I would say the majority are illiterate when it comes to technology, just me personal point of view. Don't get me wrong many of them are very technology literate, but if the listing agent suggested to the sellers of the property an aerial video of their property for say $150 to $250 that might work. Realtors are all about dodging the bullet on liability. I'm thinking the guys/gals who would get that UAV business would be those that presented the property well, in a positive and professional way, REGARDLESS of equipment, just my personal opinion. I have maybe $10K of various tools in my vehicle to do the inspection and the clients/realtors could typically careless what kind of tools I'm using, more the presentation at the end and the ability to fully document everything in a way that everyone gets it. Lots if not most of what makes everything understood is pictures!

I think the higher end UAV videographers are always going to attempt to differentiate their product from the lower-end entry level players like say a Phantom 2 with a gimbal and a GoPro but, times are changing!!
Click to expand...


have you done much video editing? for $150 to $250, if you have any success you'll find yourself editing video endlessly for not a lot of money. jmho.
 

Accupro

Accupro

Member
No Bart might be a much bigger deal then I realize, and maybe offering videos on lower end properties may not happen. I do have a sense of what sellers, buyers, and realtors might pay to "stage" a property and its typically in the few hundred $ range.
 

saphotoexpress

saphotoexpress

PhotoLabGuy
In my research, I found a friend who is a photo journalist turned attorney that has been quoted in several of the Texas drone law stories, so I called her. Her comments suggested that while Texas laws might lean on the side of real estate use and with land owner permission, you still have to deal with the FAA. She also had some interesting comments on how to deal with the FAA if you got a letter from them.

It all seems very similar to the California pot situation where the store owners know that the federal govt can come in at any time and close them down but the state is ok with it.
 

Motopreserve

Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
saphotoexpress said:
In my research, I found a friend who is a photo journalist turned attorney that has been quoted in several of the Texas drone law stories, so I called her. Her comments suggested that while Texas laws might lean on the side of real estate use and with land owner permission, you still have to deal with the FAA. She also had some interesting comments on how to deal with the FAA if you got a letter from them.

It all seems very similar to the California pot situation where the store owners know that the federal govt can come in at any time and close them down but the state is ok with it.
Click to expand...

Although no one wants to be on the wrong side of the Federal Gov't in these affairs (defending yourself, even if you won would be a PITA), this is where the fact that no Federal Law has been written explicitly prohibiting anyone from doing this comes into play. The FAA "officially" only has guidelines. Your friend would have a better handle on this. But it seems to me that if there IS a state law, but NOT a Federal Law on the books, you might be in a better place than if no law existed at all - which is what pilots in the rest of the country are dealing with now.

How this all plays out to me is fascinating - but as I said, I am happy to be one of the people that watches it play out from the sidelines, and not having to pay your friend to defend me in court :)
 

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