DJI Phantom 3 - An Incredible Aerial Perspective

Footage captured on my first flight with the DJI Phantom 3 Professional around my home in Connecticut. Read further to learn how I made the transition to capturing beautiful footage my first day out, and learned to fly safely before ever going out in public with a quadcopter.

My First Flight and Experience with the DJI Phantom 3

I've been paying attention and waiting for the right moment to jump in on drone technology in regards to filmmaking and photography, and with the introduction of the DJI Phantom 3 Professional I was confident that time was now. 

A few years back I purchased my first quadcopter at a Photo-plus expo that turned out to be a complete waste of $500.00. Nothing against the expo of course as it is a remarkable show I've been attending since high school. As luck would have it though, I picked it up a starter quadcopter, and it was so difficult to fly that I simply gave up learning to fly it. I thought it was me, but turns out there had to be something wrong with the unit because it was completely uncontrollable. Sadly that experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth about the safety of quadcopters, and made me wait longer than I might should have to take the dive in again.

Drones have been in the news constantly leaving many skeptical of how they may be used, and whether they are safe or not. I too have been wary of them especially after my first experience. However, they do have the potential to offer society some incredible benefits, and ultimately they offer small businesses and entrepreneurs the capability to invent and compete with corporate giants. So as long as they are safe and used responsibly, I am all for it. I am thrilled today to say that I am 100% confident in the safety of certain quadcopters assuming the pilot is abiding by the law.

Just a few months ago and I started to get the itch again to learn to fly quadcopters. Just thinking about the possibilities for creative clips and shots that would be impossible without flight was starting to wear on me. I gave a call to a friend of mine in the photography industry who has years of experience. He was kind enough to lay it all out for me and filled me in on a smart path to flying with confidence. The first thing he said was "buy a cheap practice drone because you will crash the expensive one at some point even if you are experienced."

So, that is what I did. I picked up a $70 Hubsan Drone at B&H along with several extra batteries and began the quest to learn to fly a quadcopter once again. For two months I flew this tiny Hubsan toy drone everyday. I even setup an obstacle course in my home. For example, I would fly around the chandelier in the dining room and slip it through the tripod legs sitting on the floor of my living room and find a way to gently land in a difficult place.

Practicing at home with the Hubsan X4. I highly suggest a small practice drone with limited capabilities to learn how to fly a quadcopter prior to investing further. I put in a few minutes everyday for nearly two months, and it made the transition really easy. I still practice in my living room with this little drone because it makes me a better real world pilot.

This is something I definitely recommend as a place to start. Flying a miniature drone is a perfect way to learn prior to picking up the real thing. Toy drones of this size and value are harder to fly than the Phantom because they lack the stability of larger units. They are also more agile and less forgiving because you manually fly the entire time instead of relying on GPS to stabilize the unit. Learning to fly manually, and pull off challenging moves, allows you to fly with confidence the moment you get your Phantom.

Now onto the Phantom 3... I was giving a speech at Unique Photo with no plans to buy a drone that day. But, as luck would have it I had a two hour drive ahead of me on my journey back to Connecticut and it was 4:30pm in upstate New Jersey. That meant that regardless of when I left I had a 4-5 hour commute ahead of me due to rush hour traffic on a Friday. If you have the chance to visit Unique Photo, I highly recommend it. I learned that it is quite a remarkable photography store with ample professional gear and a very knowledgeable staff. In fact their staff knew their stuff when talking about the DJI products and they just happened to have a section dedicated to drones. In a weak moment of spontaneity I bought a DJI Phantom 3 Professional, and spent the next 5 hours driving home dreaming of what I was going to be able to do with it. To be clear, there are two versions of the Phantom 3... There is the professional version which shoots 4K video priced at $1259.00, and the Advanced version which shoots 1080p and comes in at $999. I already shoot a lot of 4K motion picture on the Panasonic Lumix GH4, so it only made sense for me to get the 4K version as there are benefits to 4K, and I since I am running Mac Pro's I can edit it without worry of speed.

The next morning with batteries charged, and a short review of the directions, I took off around 5:30am. I was completely blown away. My training sessions on the miniature drone paid off immediately. I flew over the trees of my country home in Connecticut and across a corn field filming in 4K with a full HD stream being beautifully delivered to my iPhone 6 via the free DJI Pilot App. The Phantom was much easier to fly than the toy drone I had practiced on for two months, and the footage I was getting was nothing short of gorgeous.

The DJI Pilot app is very intuitive, and simply put, it just works. You can see your shot in real time, and control the exposure through ISO and shutter speeds. On the Professional version you can take 12 megapixel photographs, shoot in 4K or 1080p, shoot 23p, 30p, in 4K or even up to 60p in 1080 for slow motion with everything writing to a micro SD card. At all times you can see your distance and altitude read outs, see a map in standard or satellite view, and more. It is a pleasure to work with, and understood very easily.

As for safety and responsible flying... The DJI Phantom 3 is remarkably safe as long as you are responsible about where and how you fly. In the hands of good samaritans who abide by the law and put safety first they are an incredible tool for photography, filmmaking, and many other related topic. 

For me this was the perfect time to start flying and capturing footage from the air. I am excited for when the industry gets it together for commercial usage, and will definitely be certified to use my quadcopter professionally when that time comes. For now I am just thrilled with the ability to enjoy the creative process and capture unique angles that this technology has afforded me. I am perfectly fine with using it for non-commercial, unpaid, and personal projects until that time comes. The DJI Phantom 3 provides a new way to capture life, and see the world in a beautiful way. In fact, I never realized just how gorgeous my hometown was until I saw it from this incredible perspective, and it made me fall in love with Connecticut all over again.

I want to close this story with this statement... "Please abide by the laws, fly safely, and responsibly." This is an incredible technology that should not be taken for granted, and please put the safety of others first when choosing a location and above all just do the right thing.