djiphantom

Consumer Drones Unlikely to Inflict Horrible Head Injuries, Study Finds

Researchers at Virginia Tech have been studying the injury risks posed by consumer drones by flying them into dummies' faces, and they've now come to a conclusion. The study found that the risk of a catastrophic head injury was less than 5 percent in an impact with a drone weighing 2.6 lbs (such as the popular DJI Phantom).

This is What Happens When a Drone is Struck by Lightning

Ever wondered what would happen if your fancy DJI Phantom drone got struck by lightning while you were out flying it? Well, wonder no more. Thanks to YouTuber Tom Scott and the University of Manchester High Voltage Lab, we can watch it happen... twice.

These Drone Selfies Were Inspired by Inception

After seeing the trailer for Inception years ago, photographer Patrick Gilbert of North Bay, Ontario, recently decided to recreate the surreal "folding landscapes" in a series of drone selfies. The project is titled #BendNorthBay.

This Aerial Short Film Shows the Beauty of Scotland’s Wilderness at Golden Hour

Freelance aerial videographer John Duncan of Edinburgh, Scotland, recently spent about 5 months taking his camera drone to remote locations around his country, searching for epic landscapes and ethereal light (especially during golden hour).

The fruit of his efforts is this 3.5-minute short film, titled "Wild Scotland." It's a gorgeous tour of Scotland's beauty.

Sat­lapse: Aerial Time-Lapses from a Bird’s Eye View

UK-based photographer Jamie Brightmore tells us that he has been working on a new style of filmmaking: a "a bird's-eye aerial timelapse cinematography technique" that he calls the Satlapse. The 1-minute video above shows some sample Satlapse clips.

Fisherman Casts Line and Catches a Camera Drone

Tice Ledbetter was flying his DJI camera drone over a pier at Pacific Beach in San Diego this week when something bizarre happened: a fisherman on the pier noticed his drone, cast his fishing line at it, and hooked the quadcopter right below one of the propellers. The whole thing was captured by the drone in the video above.

DJI Mandatory Firmware Update Will Disable Camera Drones in Washington DC’s No Fly Zone

Yesterday we reported that a DJI Phantom quadcopter operator had accidentally crashed his camera drone onto the lawn of the White House at 3 in the morning, causing a security panic among those tasked with ensuring the President's safety (later reports suggest the man was drunk).

DJI wants to make sure this type of incident never happens again: the company is issuing a mandatory firmware update that will disable its camera drones in Washington DC's no fly zone.

Camera Drone Crashes Onto White House Lawn and Causes More Wariness of Drones

Photographers have long been grumbling about the FAA's tight regulations for camera drone usage, and the actions of one operator over in Washington DC aren't going to help the cause. An anonymous DJI Phantom owner and government employee crashed his DJI Phantom quadcopter on the White House lawn yesterday morning, causing a lock down of the President's residence.

Lions Pounce on Fallen Camera Drone After a Fly-By Goes Horribly Wrong

Here's another case to file under "It's a bad idea to fly camera drones too close to animals": James and Mira Raley of The Honey Badger recently tried to do a "quick flight" with their camera drone over a group of male lions. Unfortunately for them, they lost control during the flight, crashed the drone into a nearby tree, and watched helplessly as the lions pounced on the fallen "prey" with the camera still rolling.

Please Don’t Be the One to Get Drones Banned

Photography drones are facing a perilous atmosphere of distrust and legal chaos. In these circumstances, even small mistakes can have big consequences. A shift in public sentiment against private drone usage could easily result in the application of restrictive regulations, or perhaps even conditional bans.

DIY: Build Your Own Anti-Vibration Camera Drone Mount for Only $10!

Just picked up a DJI Phantom but don't have the cash to drop on an expensive gimbal to keep your shots steady and level? Well, it turns out $10 will get you at least half-way there and keep the 'jello effect' and blur out of the videos and photos you plan to go out and capture.

NYPD Air Traffic Control Recording Tells a Different Side of Near-Crash Drone Story

Yesterday, the story of two DJI Phantom quadcopters endangering an NYPD helicopter made the rounds online. Initial reports claimed that the two 'drones' were flying right at the helicopter forcing the NYPD pilot to take evasive action before following the Phantoms back to their source and taking the RC pilots into custody.

The air traffic control recording and several statements from the pilots themselves, however, seem to run contrary to what the NYPD is claiming, making it look like the helicopter was never in danger and, in fact, chased down the pilots with no idea what to even charge them with.

Fly Into an Ocean of Exploding Fireworks in this Captivating Drone Video

Seeing as it's the day after July 4th, it seemed appropriate to share a different perspective on a fireworks show than most people are likely to see popping up in their News Feeds. Shot by videographer Jos Stinglingh in West Palm Beach, Florida using a DJI Phantom 2 and GoPro Hero 3 Silver edition, this captivating video puts you closer to the action than you might ever otherwise wish to get.

Slow Motion Aerial Video Takes You Inside a Fireworks Show

Slow-motion footage is cool. Camera copter footage is cool. Fireworks are cool. So what happens when you mash all of them together into one video? No worries, your head won't explode (mostly because the GoPro this was probably filmed on doesn't do so hot in super low light) but the resulting video is a mesmerizing two and a half minute experience.

Breathtaking Aerial and Time-Lapse Tours of Iceland Make You Want to Go There Now

When it comes to spectacular landscape photography, Iceland is one of the foremost destinations. Stunning vistas (not to mention the aurora borealis) seem to greet photographers in every direction and so they take to the skies to capture aerial footage or set up their tripods and dollies and let the intervalometer do its thing.

We ran across both approaches lately, shot by two different but equally talented groups, and instead of sharing each individually we thought we'd let one build on the other.

Phantom Drone Captures Some Incredible Footage of an Erupting Volcano

Drones (we're talking about the quadcopter kind, not the military kind) are pretty incredible devices... especially when you toss a camera on them. They tend to be a bit expensive though, starting at around $500 for a lower-level one and going all the way up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Because of this, the drone footage we usually see is done in a semi-safe environment, where the risk of losing it is minimal. YouTuber Shaun O'Callaghan, however, is a bit more brave -- if that's the right word here -- than the rest of us.