DJI Phantom 4 is a great drone for video stock footage but…

We’ve been flying with DJI drones since it released the DJI Phantom 2 where GoPro 3 camera was needed. Later it could handle GoPro 4 too, which recorded 4K resolution footage from the sky. Now we are using DJI Phantom 4 (the basic one) and we like it very much. But, since the more strict flying rules it became a hassle to fly with DJI Phantom (any sort).

DJI Phantom 4 is a great drone for professional video production. 4K video footage is good quality, very sharp and much better than any GoPro. Getting ready to fly is a bliss and controlling the camera from your smartphone is magical. So much disk space is spared because you only record when you need the shot. You can control the exposure and color just by touching few buttons on screen. Battery has been improved too and if you are good at flying, just one battery is an endless power source. This kinda equipment would be our number one choice anywhere if it wasn’t for drone rules.

We never seek for trouble when flying our drone. That is why we never went in to crowded places because we would take too much attention and would be too concerned about people reactions than making a good shoot. You never know what people reactions could bring. Will they step closer to you and start asking about the drone, will they shout at you because you aren’t allowed to fly there or somebody might hurt you. Our most sold aerial stock footage was where there were the least people in it. Not even aerial of cityscapes didn’t sold as much as our car driving on empty road in countryside. We like to shoot the most simple yet interesting footage from our DJI Phantom drone. And we would shoot even more if it wasn’t for regulations.

Since regulations in Slovenia, where any drone over 500g is considered “professional” and dangerous equipment, you need special allowance to fly it. With many different zones and limited drones safety equipment, DJI Phantom is considered a dangerous flying device which could only fly in open terrain with no buildings, structures or playgrounds. You must fill out the application form one day before flight with so many details that it become bothersome even to think about flying.

Police-Plan-To-Stop-Drones

We were very much looking in to DJI Mavic, but even this device is heavier than 500g and considered same as DJI Phantom. That is why it would be useless to invest.

If DJI makes this aerial equipment even smaller with the capabilities of bigger drones it would really change the whole industry. Because shooting stock footage is creative process which in many cases the best footage is made by lucky timing on right location, it is impossible to work with DJI Phantom drones. We just can’t predict beautiful sunset 24 hours before it happens.

We fly our drone with safety and with people privacy in mind. We don’t need to fly just to brag about but to make great and valuable stock footage.

Aerial harvesting 4K – Drone city – Heli aerial footage – Car chase on road – water tower construction – Mura river in Slovenia

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