Drone Newbie Guide

This time, the drones were very popular. Everyone saw that there were people posting fake aerial photographs and photos on the Internet. I really want it? However, the drone is still a very new thing, it is not easy to find an old finger.

However, we have the most complete novice buying guide here, so that you can choose the right drone.

Enjoy drone flight

Many consumers worry that they don't know how to operate drones, but in fact today's drones have added a lot of new technology, which is not difficult to operate. However, not all drones have these new skills. Don't want to put aside because you don't understand the operation. You must pay attention to the following keywords when you buy:

remote control

To control your drone, always have a remote control. At present, the remote control of remote drones is mainly in three categories:

Mobile/tablet remote control: At present, more and more drones can be operated by mobile phone or tablet. Compared with the traditional remote control, it has the advantages of being smaller, lighter and more easy to operate through the sense of body; but its downside is the unstable WiFi signal connection, and it is easy to disconnect the long-distance flight. In the open environment of the suburbs, it is usually broken at around 50-100 meters. Moreover, although its operation is intuitive, it is difficult to make very precise movements. In other words, it is easy to learn and difficult. Traditional remote control operation: Although more and more drones use mobile phone control, the most regular drones are still controlled by traditional remote controls (some remote controls can be used with mobile phones or tablets). Compared with mobile phones, the remote control is more cumbersome and harder to get started; but its signal is far more stable than the mobile phone, and the remote control distance is relatively long (the general remote control range is 100 meters or more). The remote control is difficult for beginners to learn, but it is easier to carry out complex and precise flight movements when familiar. (above) Watches, bracelets, voice control, etc.: In recent years, many drone manufacturers have developed a variety of new remote control tools, but these new technologies are not mature enough, and beginners should avoid such remote control tools as much as possible. .

Self-stable

The new high-end drones know how to "self-stabilize": even if you do nothing after it takes off, it will hover at the same height, at the same position, and will not float, you Push the joystick and it will move. When you stop, it will stop. Therefore, even if you don't know how to fly at all, you are not afraid to fly the plane, and you have time to study slowly. However, not all quadcopters can be self-stabilizing. You must meet the following conditions when selecting...

In the outdoor self-stabilization, the drone must have both GPS and barometer; indoor self-stabilization, the drone must have both visual positioning and ultrasonic height;

Image transmission

When the drone flies high and flies away, it becomes very small and even small enough to be invisible to the naked eye. At this time, we may not see where the drone is, or where it is flying. At that time, it is difficult for us to control the flight path of the drone. We want to know what the drone sees, making it easier for us to operate, so we need "live image transfer", referred to as "picture transfer" (below), or someone called FPV (First Person View).

When we buy a drone, besides paying attention to whether it has a picture, we must also pay attention to:

Figure distance: Many drone manufacturers will mark the maximum distance transmitted by the map, but in fact the map transmission distance is easily disturbed and severely shortened. Calculated in the open area of ​​the suburbs, the drones that are generally operated by mobile phones have a distance of 50-100 meters, while the drones operated by traditional remote controls have a distance of 100-300 meters, while the high-end ones are not. Man-machines can even be as far as 500 meters or more. When buying a drone, you should not be convinced of the manufacturer's "maximum distance" propaganda. It is best to know more about the product's reputation. Image transfer quality: Although the distance of the picture is important, the picture quality is as important as the picture quality: the clearer the picture quality, the more you can understand the flight dynamics. At present, the mainstream UAV picture transmission quality is mainly 360-480p, and some advanced UAVs also have 720p level HD picture quality. Buy a drone to take aerial photography

For the vast majority of consumers, the most attractive thing for drones is “aeronautical photography”: the scenery under the lens of the drone is so magnificent that it is magnificent. However, if we want to buy a drone for aerial photography, what is worth noting?

Lens

Despite the rapid development of today's shooting technology, most of them cannot use professional lenses due to the limitations of weight bearing. Although manufacturers may advertise various parameters, the quality of the images is also uneven.

Picture quality: Although many drones have advertised their own ultra-high-definition picture quality of 4k or 1080p, the actual picture quality of many drones is still not ideal. In addition to paying attention to the resolution, you can pay more attention to the shooting effect in low light environment and the "frame rate" (FPS) that affects the smoothness of the video (4k should be no less than 24 frames, 1080p should be no less than 30 The grid is good). Vision: Since aerial enthusiasts like the wider and more magnificent scenery, many drones will be equipped with wide-angle lenses. However, the general high-angle camera (100 – 170 degree field of view) will cause severe distortion of the picture (the line becomes an arc), but the wide-angle lens that is not deformed, the field of view is generally narrow (80-100 degrees).

Yuntai

If you want to take aerial video, the image stabilizer, the Gimbal is a must (below). Since the drone often has a large swing during flight, if there is no help from the gimbal, the video will become a roller coaster swing. Moreover, a good gimbal allows you to adjust the viewing angle so that you can vertically overlook the ground in the sky.

Three-axis pan/tilt: This physical pan/tilt (above) provides the best image stabilization, but it costs a lot and is bad if it falls; in addition, it is unmanned due to its structural problems. The machine becomes more cumbersome and difficult to store securely. Electronic PTZ: Stabilizes the image of shaking with electronic anti-shake technology, but the anti-shake technology of UAV cameras is not yet mature, anti-shake capability is still limited; video is anti-shake processing, to some extent Will affect the quality of the picture. However, its biggest benefit is that it is light and not easy to break.

Travel with drone

Many times when we are traveling, we will take a camera to record every wonderful moment. In recent years, more and more people are taking drones to travel, and more beautiful scenery is discovered through aerial photography. . Then, when we choose a drone for travel, what else should we pay attention to?

Portable

Travel drones, of course, the focus is to be portable. But the drone is not as lighter as possible:

Large drone: Diagonal wheelbase is about 350mm (zero XIRO Xplorer 4k) to 581mm (Daijiang Inspire 1 Pro). The larger the wheelbase of the drone, the heavier the wheelbase, but the larger the wheelbase, the stronger the wind resistance and the better the stability. It is more secure whether it is flying or aerial photography. Small drone: Diagonal wheelbase From 240mm (Parrot Bebop 1st generation) to 300mm (Haberson H501s). The smaller the wheelbase, the easier it is to carry, but the wind resistance is relatively weak, the stability will be poor, and it will be less reliable when flying, which will also affect the quality of aerial photography.

Endurance

Everyone wants to fly while traveling, but the current life of the drone is still very unsatisfactory. Therefore, if you don't want a drone with no blitz and no flight, you should pay more attention to the problem of endurance:

The battery itself: the general high-end drone flight time is only about 15-30 minutes, the low-end drones often have less than ten minutes of endurance. If you plan to take a drone to travel, you may need to prepare more batteries. However, at present, drone batteries are expensive to sell, and they also have a certain weight. When purchasing a drone, the cost of the backup battery must be considered. Battery charging: At present, only a small number of low-end drones can be charged by devices such as USB or charging treasures; most high-end drone batteries must use exclusive chargers; therefore, don't think that you have a USB charging treasure, you can not have a battery or charger.