Drone Cameras for Airsoft Days

[Del Monty]

A friend of mine was looking to start a business recording weddings and celebrations with a drone camera .. and this got me thinking .. wouldn't this make a cool idea for Airsoft .. recording skirmish days or firefights from a drone camera .. it would give game days a new perspective for videos and pictures .. obviously the operator would have to be neutral so not to ruin games by calling out player/team locations but from a cameraman's view it would open up the game days and give way to some exciting footage I think ..

 

The US Sells a camera drone called a Phantom 2 , the price is a lot .. but I am sure there could be cheaper versions available in the UK.

 

Interesting idea .. or talking rubbish ?

 

I am familiar with the issues of drone use and commercial flying .. not sure on the UK stance however.

 

http://www.dji.com/product/phantom-2-vision

[Airsoft_Mr B]

I saw a Spanish blokes YouTube airsoft videos and he uses a drone a lot. I'll have to see if I can find the videos again because I'm sure he must have mentioned the drone he has in one of them. I saw another video ages ago, I believe it was a team of lads, with their own professional drone, and I think they mourned an airsoft gun on the bottom. I'm not completely sure as I only very vaguely remember it but it was a cool video. Simple YouTube search should hopefully bring up a few results.

 

 

There's also a site in Wales IIRC who did a fly around of their site and I think it was a drone photography who did it. Can't remember the name of the site but I think it has dragon in the name..? (Not sure if I'm thinking of that Asian retailer that sells helmets? It's called red dragon or something)

 

I don't think it's a bad idea at all, I think it would be a lot of fun and a great way to capture the action. In terms of the law, I believe it would be perfectly fine since you aren't filming random people in public or anything like that . I'd ask the site before you went to the skirmish to see if they'd allow it. If there was a safety concern but if I were them I'd just say don't fly too low.

 

Speaking of prices - these ones on here are incredibly cheap in comparison!

http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=Drone&catId=&initiative_id=SB_20140803085736

 

I highly doubt they are very good since a proper one will cost hundreds...but I guess it shows you could get one pretty affordably.

[Moose87]

phantom drones are pretty good, you can attach go pros to them and also do alot of upgrades to them making them better and better. its what im going to use to film snow boarding in canada. only problem with Britain is that if you are gonna use it it a way that you get paid for it then you need a commercial license for it and that costs like 1.5k

[jcheeseright]

British airspace is a lot more cramped than the US too, flying a drone over a certain weight (can't remember exact figures, I'll look it up at work) inside controlled airspace is a pretty sure way to pick up some big fines.

[Baz JJ]

Somebody had a UAV at an Airsoft game here.

Owner was concerned that somebody might shoot it down as it only flew at treetop height.

[Josh95]

Hello, I am a very experienced RC pilot I have a B grade license have been doing it for many years. I have flown a friends rotor copter drone, it has a camera on the front and you wear these glasses that rely the video image into your eyes, like an oculus rift. and you can fly the drone that way its pretty cool. This idea would work if its an open area (no trees) would be literally impossible to fly one in a forested environment even for a very skilled pilot it would just be a hazard.

Also these high quality drones cost £1000-2000 and are quite fragile even a stray BB would damage it.

You could fly it at high altitudes over the trees, but you cant really see much action from there unless it maybe had a IV camera that would be cool.

[Samurai]

Yeh, can be fun. But it needs some expensive equipment.

[Airsoft_Mr B]

£1,500! Fucking hell.

[Moose87]

you would also need public liability insurance as your flying above people heads.

a friend of mine is starting another business doing the same thing some hes pretty clued up on it all and hes helping me with my stuff in canada.

he can also get and upgrade anything you want, hes pretty good when it comes to tech.

can ask him any questions you want.

find him at. http://bertscomputerrepairs.co.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/BertsComputerRepairs?fref=ufi

good friend i served with him.

[skeeter]

Like Josh95 I also fly R/C. I fly fixed wing but I know cheaper helicopter stuff is available. Have a look at the hubsan s4. There are others with cameras. I don't know what the quality will be like but, if you are just wanting to record then something of this nature may be ok. The bmfa insurance should be ok to cover you, unless Josh95 knows otherwise? I know when our club has been asked to give displays in front of the public, it has been the 3rd party liability that has stopped it. However, the air soft field shouldn't be classed as a public place. The snag then is to find a pilot.

I am no expert but I believe that quadricopters are fairly stable

I assume that something like the hubsan may be limited as to its performance. As I always say, I will stand corrected by those more experienced or knowledgeable.

[BunkeredSphinx]

A friend of mine was looking to start a business recording weddings and celebrations with a drone camera .. and this got me thinking .. wouldn't this make a cool idea for Airsoft .. recording skirmish days or firefights from a drone camera .. it would give game days a new perspective for videos and pictures .. obviously the operator would have to be neutral so not to ruin games by calling out player/team locations but from a cameraman's view it would open up the game days and give way to some exciting footage I think ..

 

The US Sells a camera drone called a Phantom 2 , the price is a lot .. but I am sure there could be cheaper versions available in the UK.

 

Interesting idea .. or talking rubbish ?

 

I am familiar with the issues of drone use and commercial flying .. not sure on the UK stance however.

 

http://www.dji.com/product/phantom-2-vision

we have one at my work place for one of our clients boy toys weekend. I will have a look at price, its from US via amazon and I think comes with camera.

[BunkeredSphinx]

would they be considered legit target if they are used by enemy to spot position.

[jcheeseright]

I don't think really you could allow people to shoot at them, RC aircraft are just too fragile to take BB hits and it'd be a bloody expensive 'one use' item.

 

Perhaps have them just for filming rather than reconnaissance, especially since over airsoft distances the information you're passing on is normally obsolete by the time you've said it anyway!

[BunkeredSphinx]

but by filming more often then not you would be closing in on a player even with zoom, which would make the shoot shaky.

[Moose87]

you can buy gimbals for them to make the camera more stable when flying around.

[CaptainSwoop]

Centurion Airsoft at Scarborough have experimented with a multi rotor camera drone

[NickM]

There is a video of game play at UCAP Sandpit however I can't find it on the guys YouTube that made it. There is a link to it that works on the UCAP Facebook page. He used it as a filming tool not to gather Intel so no point shooting at it. Check out the AirDog system. Very impressive but stupidly expensive.

[M_P]

My usual site has both a 6 rotor helicopter drone thing that drops bombs and other stuff and a heavy duty remote control car (controlled from a briefcase with front and back camera screens) that carries a huge array of pyro. I'll see if I can find a video of them.

[NickM]

Now that sounds impressive although I'm not sure what the law would say about a bomb dropping drone in private hands.

[M_P]

Not literal bombs obviously similar to the usual cardboard pyro I believe.

[NickM]

Yeah I know but it's an explosive none the less.

[Moose87]

its also getting dropped on peoples heads lol

[Del Monty]

I think now I have some free time , I will look into building my own one .. (Yes it will be pink) it will keep my mind occupied and be fun for my Photography sideline for skirmish days.

[Russe11]

Rather than a powered aircraft, why not a tethered blimp? Skirmishes tend to be over a relatively small area so if you tether a blimp and control cameras on it to zoom in on the action you aren't giving away where the enemy are by hovering over them.

[Del Monty]

I just have visions of a zeppelin style aircraft hovering over head on a skirmish day.