Playing around with the DJI Spark

Shot a few clips with the DJI Spark on Tuesday.  The DJI GO 4 app processed and stitched my clips into a short video and added music.  Seems to be a cool little app.  Hope you enjoy the short video.  Most of the photos and videos have been accepted on the stock agencies I deal with.  Just waiting for a few to be approved on them.  They should be up there in a few days or so.

Who needs a plane when you have a drone

I'm in love with the DJI Spark drone.  One little hick up from today' flights.  Lost connection again for less than 10 seconds today.  The only thing I can think of is there were some power lines between myself and the drone.  That is the only constant from the last two flight sessions.

I'm also thinking of at some point upgrading to a DJI Mavic Pro or a higher end drone as I need a drone that can fly longer.  I'm limited to about 15 minutes with the DJI Spark.  The video also looks good but only shoots at 1080p/30fps.  I'd love to have a drone that shoots 1080p/60fps.  I really don't shoot in 4k as I find it totally unnecessary.   The DJI Spark only shoots in the JPEG format and not RAW so editing is somewhat limiting.

I bought the DJI Spark to learn how to operate a drone.  It's been a great teacher so far.  Right now I have other priorities like getting back to work.  With fall and winter coming up quick, I think my drone use will be dead in the winter with the short, cold days and the long, cold nights.  I'm trying to get as much drone footage in as I can.

Drone flight

Solar farm near Arnprior, Ontario

I am planning on flying my drone again today.  I hope I don't lose connection with the drone for a whole 7+ minutes like I did yesterday.  I have the video and you can clearly see from my body language that I am more than mad and miffed because it is a good little drone.

Death from above

So I took this picture of the Mississippi in Pakenham, Ontario over the Mississippi River and started a video.  Roughly 5 seconds into said video, I lost any and all contact with my DJI Spark drone.  Most harrowing 30-44 seconds of my week and it's only Monday.  I know it's a beginner drone starting at $499. But to me, that's still a lot of money.  I'm planning to upgrade my drone next year to the DJI Mavic Pro 2 when it comes out.

I am just relieved to have my DJI Spark back safe and sound.  It's actually a lot of fun to operate and it's easy.  I've seen a lot of videos of drones crashing and/or what's called fly aways.  Thankfully I still have my drone.  I'm planning to fly it a lot more and take more pictures and videos with it.

The DEATH of a drone (Almost).

So I decided on my lunch break today to go fly my DJI Spark drone.  In the 2 weeks that I've been flying it, I never had a problem with it.  Until today.  I've flown over forests, fields, rivers and lakes.  Today was one of those days that I was flying over a river.  The Mississippi River in fact near Pakenham, Ontario.  I was on the maiden flight today when at about 200 feet away and 300 feet up, I lost any and all connection to the drone via my remote control and phone.  Nothing.  No visual on the phone.  No connection.  Absolutely nothing.  I'm gazing up at the sky and it's not in sight.  I stare at my phone.  No signal from the DJI Go 2 app.  Absolutely nothing.  I'm scanning the sky, the horizon. I'm listening to see if I can hear it.  Just the rush of the water.  All of a sudden, off in the distance I hear a plop.  Like something hitting the water and sinking waste deep into the river.  I'm 110% sure that was my DJI Spark.  I'm scared.  I'm pissed.  I'm mad beyond mad.  I try and connect to the drone.  Nothing.  I'm about to shut my remote and head off home when all of a sudden, about 30-45 seconds after losing all connection to the drone, my feed comes up and I can see myself on my iPhone 8 Plus screen from about 300 feet up.  I see me.  I see my car.  I feel so much relief.  

How the f can I lose contact with the drone for 30-45 seconds?  I swear I heard it plop down into the Mississippi. I was 110% sure I lost it. I rebooted the app.  I hit the come home button like a jack rabbit repeatedly.  That 30-45 seconds was maddening.  If I was over a field I at least had a chance of finding it and bringing it home with me.  But over a river?  Not a chance.  If it did drop into the water, it was a goner for sure.  I don't know what caused the drone to lose connection with my remote.  The app didn't crash.  The phone was on full battery.  The only thing I can think of is the wind or an app malfunction.  

All I can is that I'm glad I have the drone back and safe with me.  I'm just editing the footage I shot yesterday and today.  Hope to have it up soon.