Flew the drone again

Bit cloudy here in Ottawa but hardly any wind.  Supposed to rain the next two days so I doubt I'll fly after work.  I've always wanted this type of shot of the Parliament buildings.  I was very careful when flying here.  Stayed away from people, buildings and other obstacles.   Hope you enjoy.

Drone flight at dusk

Was out with the girlfriend last night at a friends place for dinner and a sit down by a fire.  I decided to test the DJI Spark out at dusk just to see how the camera would perform.  It's ok.  But it could be better.  A lot better.  Maybe in the spring I will upgrade to the DJI Mavic Pro 2.  The Hasselblad camera should help a bit.

I edited about 6 clips which I'm currently uploading to Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.

Editing DJI Spark photos

Just as I thought, the photos from the DJI Spark at dusk are completely useless.  The Spark is just not steady enough for anything slower than 1/100th of a second in shutter speed.  They're shaky and blurry.  The footage is a bit noisy but you can get rid of that in FCP X.  I'm actually editing the footage from last evening right now.  

The girlfriend and I went to church this morning followed by sushi and a movie.  So I'm just sitting here writing the blog while FCP X edits each clip.  They'll be up on Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks at some point.  I just wish Storyblocks was quicker at looking at each submissions.  They take up to 3-4 weeks to review the footage.  Shutterstock and Pond5 are 24-48 hours right now.

First day of work

First day of work on a new contract.  Will be taking the drone with me so I can fly it after work.  I did not get a chance to fly it yesterday.  Girlfriend and I were so tired from Saturday.  I think we both got a bit of sun stroke so that did not help.  Well, it 's time to go to work.  And flying the drone.

Sandbanks Provincial Park

This is why we go.  It was so nice.  A bit windy and the water was a bit cold compared to the last time we were there.  It was still nice to get out and go.  Spend a day on a nice beach relaxing with friends.  I got to fly my drone again. It was very windy the whole day.   The gimbal had a hard time stabilizing.  After my recent experience with the DJI Spark, I didn't want to do anything in mid flight with it.

Just got back from Sandbanks

Just got back from Sandbanks Provincial Park just now.  Minor heat stroke but doing ok.  Got to fly the drone today a few times but it was so windy, the gimbal had a hard time tracking anything video wise so I did more photography than footage.  I didn't fly far as I'm still testing the new DJI Spark after the last incident.  I don't want to lose it again.

I'm just charging up the batteries on the drone right now.  Not doing much tomorrow so I may fly the drone again tomorrow and get more footage.  As for right now, it's hard to keep the eyes closed.  So time for bed since we've been up since 4:30am this morning.

Off to Sandbanks PP

Off to Sandbanks Provincial Park.  Everything is ready.  Drone batteries are charged.  Drone is ready.  Cameras are ready.  Batteries are charged.  When we get there, I'm gonna be sleeping for a few hours.  I did not get any sleep last night.

DJI Spark and DJI's response

As some of you may know, I lost connection to my DJI Spark last week and it did not come back home.  I opened a ticket with DJI and was told yesterday that they viewed the log files that I had sent back.  They did not admit that I lost connection.  They actually admitted nothing.  They offered a 30% discount if I wanted to buy a new DJI Spark.  Why would I want to buy something that may or may not work again?  What if the new DJI Spark does the same thing and I can't locate it again?  This is awful customer service from DJI.

I still have the remote control, one battery and the case along with some propellers.  I honestly don't know what I'm going to do now.  I would love to get another drone but I am hesitant to get another DJI product.

DJI finally got back to me

They will not admit the I lost transmission from my remote control to the DJI Spark.  They have offered me a 30% discount on a new Spark if I choose to do so.  I have not accepted this as I feel I bought a dud.  I flew it a total of 17 times losing connection 3 times.  The last time being the end of my flying career unit l I get a new drone.

Honestly I'm disappointed with DJI.  I thought they made a really good product.  In my view, they make a product that is overhyped and a bit pricey for what it is.

On a side note, I sold a video of a tulip that I profited $96US on today which is awesome.  That one video quadrupled the amount of money I've made so far this month on Shutterstock.  That's one reason why I got into doing video.  It's a fun hobby along with photography.

I also start a new contract on Monday so I'm trying to get caught up on some stuff.  The last two weeks have kind of sucked because of the lack of work.  Gladly that is now over and I can get back to making more money to support the photography/videography side business.

I might buy another DJI Spark tomorrow.  I'm addicted to flying the drone.

DJI is looking

Looks like DJI is looking at the drone data right now.  Hopefully I will hear something tomorrow if I'm getting a credit from DJI or if it was pilot error.  I'm 100% certain that it was equipment failure and not user error.  Tomorrow DJI apparently has an event where they're going to announce new drones like the DJI Spark 2.  I was at my local camera store and from what the sales guy told me is that DJI has discontinued the DJI Spark.  With the event tomorrow, I might just stay at home and watch the event online if it's streamed.

In other news I got a new contract with Global Affairs Canada that I start next week.  I am pretty happy about that.  I'm thinking of doing some photography tomorrow as well with my Apple iPhone 8 Plus and my DJI Osmo 2.  I just have to figure out where to go.

Just an update on the DJI Spark

The update is that there is no update.  I have to wait 2-3 days for DJI to take a look at the log files to see what happened to the drone.  I hope to hear by Wednesday of this week.  I'm hoping DJI gives me a credit so I can go buy another drone.

On another note, I have a few jobs I'm being submitted for.  I should hear something by Wednesday for a few of them.  Hopefully Wednesday will be a good day.  If I do get a job on Wednesday, and DJI gives me bad news, I'll have to make a decision to see if I'll get the same drone.  I do have the remote controller for the DJI Spark and it's even on sale right now.  I'm hoping everything turns around and does a 180 this week and I can get back to work and I can start flying a drone again.  If I do get a drone again, I know where not to fly it.  LOL

DJI Spark - LOST FOR GOOD

As some of you may know, earlier this week I lost my DJI Spark in mid flight.  No explanation.  Nothing.  I uploaded the log files to the web and sent them to DJI as well.  I have a ticket open with DJI to see what went wrong.

From the DJI forums, it looks like and I hope to be getting a new drone.  But that is just other users opinions.  Not DJI' opinion.  I hope to hear from DJI next week to see what the results of their testing is.  I hope they work quick to find the results.  Hopefully, I will get a new drone.  I hope.

Please view and share

So I went to fly the drone yesterday and lost it.  Lost all connection to the drone via the hand remote control device.  Spent about an hour the first time looking for it.  Got home and waited for my girlfriend to come home as she wanted to go looking for it again.  This a the first video I made after losing the drone.  You can view the video here.  Please view and share.

More drone pics

I think it's time to go fly a bit more.  Just rained here for about 20 minutes.  So the air should be nice and clean.

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.

Will be heading to...

...Sandbanks Provincial Park near Kingston, Ontario this weekend.  I will be taking the drone and cameras.  Hopefully the weather will co-operate and my back will be ok.  The last time we went, my back pretty much spasmed out and we had to go to the hospital for the back pain.  I could not sleep on my back and it was really uncomfortable.  Luckily we went to the chiropractor and my back seems to be ok.

On a side note, Google in its infinite wisdom does not support the blogger app in the Apple app store.  So I'm looking for a blogging IOS app which is cheap and good.  Let me know in the comments section please.   Thanks everyone and have a good weekend.  Especially the long weekend here in Ontario.