Pulled the Trigger Today!

[VonZipper]

Well, after months of research and looking at everything on the market today, I ordered my Parrot Anafi! It's funny because that's the drone that I first took an interest in. It took that long to come full circuit, I guess but I am thrilled with my new purchase! Can't wait for it to get here!

I live in Baton Rouge, LA and have been flying nitro and electric RC for a long time. I got interested in camera drones after seeing some around the RC field where I fly. I've been interested in aviation all my life. I'm a Commercial/Instrument Helicopter and Airplane (SEL/MEL) Pilot. Nearing retirement as a commercial pilot, I have become interested in my daughter's part-time wedding photography business and decided to help her out with some aerial photography. I completed my Part 107 training and got my training completion certificate. Just need to submit it to the FAA with proof of my current flight review to get my UAS Certificate.

I've been practicing my drone flying skills with a Parrot Mambo that I picked up on clearance at Best Buy. Also picked up a couple of Parrot Swings on clearance to play with: Boy they are fun! Anyway, I went all in with the Anafi, picking up all the accessories: extra batteries, Freewheel All Day camera filters, MC hard case, extra SD memory card holder, 22mm data cable, screwdriver set, memory card reader, red motor covers, leg extensions, landing pad, and a bunch of other stuff I probably won't really need! I do still need to pick up a larger memory card and USB-C PD charger. I know it's probably not the right place to ask, but any suggestions on which memory card and charger I should get?

I'm excited to get started learning the art of drone piloting and learning about the Anafi. I'm glad I found this forum! I'm sure I'll have lots of questions once my Anafi shows up! Thanks in advance for your help! Sorry for the long post but, again, I am super-excited to get started! Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Thanks, Eric

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the ParrotPilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in Parrot quadcopters.
Enjoy the forum!

 

[dmbrody]

Awesome! Welcome to the forum.
Good luck and post any questions you have. We are all learning and this is a great place to share.

I recommend the SanDisk Ultra plus 64gb SD card for the Anafi. I use it and someone else on this site also recommends it. See this link:
SanDisk Ultra PLUS 64GB

I used to go for bigger SD cards (128gb), but now I actually prefer to have a few 64GB cards that I can swap out. They can record more minutes of video than the Anafi’s flight time. So after a few flights I just swap cards. In case of a catastrophic failure (ie landing in a lake. LOL), I’ll at least have the footage from the first few cards. (Luckily I’ve avoided any such catastrophes for a few years, but it’s still good peace of mind. Edit: oops that’s not true. I did lose a Mavic Air in a gorge in Iceland a couple weeks ago - but before that, it’s been years).

Regarding power adapters, I like the Anker 60W USBC adapters. I got 3 of them to charge 3 batteries at once. You may not need the 60W version, but I can also use it to charge a laptop I have. A 48w version will charge an anafi battery almost as fast.

Edit 2: if you want a car charger, I recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071WYF9HP?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2

And last but not least, not all USB C cables are the same. Make sure you get quality ones that support PD.

 

[VonZipper]

Awesome! Welcome to the forum.
Good luck and post any questions you have. We are all learning and this is a great place to share.

I recommend the SanDisk Ultra plus 64gb SD card for the Anafi. I use it and someone else on this site also recommends it. See this link:
SanDisk Ultra PLUS 64GB

I used to go for bigger SD cards (128gb), but now I actually prefer to have a few 64GB cards that I can swap out. They can record more minutes of video than the Anafi’s flight time. So after a few flights I just swap cards. In case of a catastrophic failure (ie landing in a lake. LOL), I’ll at least have the footage from the first few cards. (Luckily I’ve avoided any such catastrophes for a few years, but it’s still good peace of mind. Edit: oops that’s not true. I did lose a Mavic Air in a gorge in Iceland a couple weeks ago - but before that, it’s been years).

Regarding power adapters, I like the Anker 60W USBC adapters. I got 3 of them to charge 3 batteries at once. You may not need the 60W version, but I can also use it to charge a laptop I have. A 48w version will charge an anafi battery almost as fast.

Edit 2: if you want a car charger, I recommend this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B071WYF9HP?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_yo_pop_mb_pd_t2

And last but not least, not all USB C cables are the same. Make sure you get quality ones that support PD.

dmbrody,

Thanks for all the good advice. I was planning to go with the 128gb cards but didn't consider the amount of video you could capture in a 20-25 minute flight. Good idea! Have you ever had an issue with the SD card holder? I know that's one of the criticisms I see. I did purchase a spare from Drone Valley just in case. Thirteen dollars seemed steep for a tiny piece of aluminum but If you lose it in the field, I guess you're out of business!

On the power adapters, it is my understanding of the Power Delivery technology that anything above the devices charging rating (24W in the case of the Anafi, I believe) won't be realized in terms of shorter charging times and, more importantly, won't cause damage to the device. That sounds right to me but, I certainly could be wrong: won't be the first time! I appreciate the advice on the cables. I will certainly heed your warning.

Appreciate any and all of the advice you can share. Let me know if you think of anything else...

Eric

I

 

[dmbrody]

dmbrody,

Thanks for all the good advice. I was planning to go with the 128gb cards but didn't consider the amount of video you could capture in a 20-25 minute flight. Good idea! Have you ever had an issue with the SD card holder? I know that's one of the criticisms I see. I did purchase a spare from Drone Valley just in case. Thirteen dollars seemed steep for a tiny piece of aluminum but If you lose it in the field, I guess you're out of business!

On the power adapters, it is my understanding of the Power Delivery technology that anything above the devices charging rating (24W in the case of the Anafi, I believe) won't be realized in terms of shorter charging times and, more importantly, won't cause damage to the device. That sounds right to me but, I certainly could be wrong: won't be the first time! I appreciate the advice on the cables. I will certainly heed your warning.

Appreciate any and all of the advice you can share. Let me know if you think of anything else...

Eric

I

I did rip the card slot holder off once... while trying to change the sd card in the back of a bumpy truck. It popped right back in (once I got them to stop the truck). The next time I tried that, I was more careful and didn’t have an issue (and didn’t even ask them to stop the truck).

As far as the PD adapters go, even if you get a 60 watt adapter it should detect and provide what’s called for by the USB C device. At least they are supposed to. I guess that’s one reason to go with Anker or a brand of known good quality. For me, I also wanted to be able to power a MacBook so I went with the 60W. I’ve never timed how long it takes to charge and I’m not enough of an expert on watts and amps to tell you whether the 60w somehow magically charges an Anafi battery faster than say a 24watt. I just know they step down and won’t damage the battery. There is a guy on these boards who really seems to know this stuff well. I’ll tag him here and he might see this ( @Agustine ).

As far as other advice, if you are going to be doing video, you’ll need to find and learn a good video editing app. I use FinalCut and DaVinci Resolve on the Mac, and Adobe Premeire on PC.

I shoot in 4K standard at 24 FPS. Sometimes at 30fps. I use ND filters to allow me to pick a shutter speed of 1/50 to 1/100. I prefer the slower shutter speed, but will go up to 1/120 because a good exposure is more important than pretty much anything else, including motion blur (what people call the “cinematic look”). Ideally I shoot at 24fps with 1/50 shutter and always an ISO of 100. Most of the work I do will be delivered in 1080p, but you get a nicer, cleaner image if you capture at 4K and then down Rez to 1080p (as opposed to capturing at 1080p).

Some of the smart shots reset your video settings. Also (unless they fixed this bug) I find my video settings get switched to Auto without me doing anything - I think this only happens when you power off the drone to change batteries.

Let’s see. What else?
P-log. I shoot in p-log because I can use Resolve to push around shadows, highlights and colors. You may want to just use Natural to get started - unless you are already familiar with color grading.

I haven’t used the HDR mode yet because the Anafi was a last minute purchase before a project and I didn’t have time to figure out how I would color grade it. That’s something I’ll eventually test and figure out.

When I finally get some free time I’ll post some Anafi videos I took in Iceland. I really fell in love with the Anafi there. It’s easy to fly and get good smooth results. It’s easy to set up and deploy. And the video quality exceeded my expectations. For absolute best quality, it needs a noise removal pass with Neat Video, but I haven’t had time to build a noise profile yet.

I’m sure there is a lot more I’m forgetting.

 

[VonZipper]

Man, I sure appreciate that time you took to offer your advice on getting started. Super helpful stuff!

I do like the Anker branded chargers. However, I also ran across a brand which got great reviews from thewirecutter.com. In fact, the ranked it number one. It's the Nekteck 4 Port 72W USB Wall Charger with Type C 60W Power Delivery. I never heard of them but, like I said, they got a good reviewing from thewirecutter.com. Of course, I never heard of them either but the review seemed thorough enough. Retails for $36 and you can get an additional 15% off your first order by signing up for their newsletter on Nekteck.com. I'll probably go for the Anker or this brand. We'll see.

The photography advise is most welcome. To paraphrase the famous Sergeant Shultz, "I know nothing" about photography at all. I plan to rely heavily on my daughter experience and knowledge on the subject. She is not an expert, by any means but knows far more than I do and has been making pretty decent money at it for a while. I know she is a very good editor. I'm not sure what program she uses but I think she primarily uses the Mac. I'll pass the information along to her about the apps your using and let her take a look at those (if she's not already using them). I am planning to head to the library to do some reading on basic photography to get a grasp of at least the fundamentals, I hope. I also saw where LSU is offering some continuing education classes on photography beginning in mid-September for a small fee. I think she and I would benefit greatly from attending.

I guess the best thing about not knowing anything on the subject is that I am definitely a blank slate. I won't be coming into it with any preconceived notions. That is certain. Right now, I am just trying to gather up the tools I need to make a decent go of it! I will heed all of the advice you've offered and I'm sure I will have a lot more questions for you as I get more into it. Again, I am grateful for your time and effort in sharing your experience with me. It means a lot. So glad I found this forum. It's already been very educational.

Eric



The Best USB-C MacBook and Laptop Chargers

 

[dmbrody]

Man, I sure appreciate that time you took to offer your advice on getting started. Super helpful stuff!

I do like the Anker branded chargers. However, I also ran across a brand which got great reviews from thewirecutter.com. In fact, the ranked it number one. It's the Nekteck 4 Port 72W USB Wall Charger with Type C 60W Power Delivery. I never heard of them but, like I said, they got a good reviewing from thewirecutter.com. Of course, I never heard of them either but the review seemed thorough enough. Retails for $36 and you can get an additional 15% off your first order by signing up for their newsletter on Nekteck.com. I'll probably go for the Anker or this brand. We'll see.

The photography advise is most welcome. To paraphrase the famous Sergeant Shultz, "I know nothing" about photography at all. I plan to rely heavily on my daughter experience and knowledge on the subject. She is not an expert, by any means but knows far more than I do and has been making pretty decent money at it for a while. I know she is a very good editor. I'm not sure what program she uses but I think she primarily uses the Mac. I'll pass the information along to her about the apps your using and let her take a look at those (if she's not already using them). I am planning to head to the library to do some reading on basic photography to get a grasp of at least the fundamentals, I hope. I also saw where LSU is offering some continuing education classes on photography beginning in mid-September for a small fee. I think she and I would benefit greatly from attending.

I guess the best thing about not knowing anything on the subject is that I am definitely a blank slate. I won't be coming into it with any preconceived notions. That is certain. Right now, I am just trying to gather up the tools I need to make a decent go of it! I will heed all of the advice you've offered and I'm sure I will have a lot more questions for you as I get more into it. Again, I am grateful for your time and effort in sharing your experience with me. It means a lot. So glad I found this forum. It's already been very educational.

Eric



The Best USB-C MacBook and Laptop Chargers

No problem. Glad to help.

Drone photographery is considerably easier to manage than videography. Video consumes a lot memory. The files are huge. The workflow is considerably more complex.

Photography on the other hand is much more straightforward. You might want to start with that. All you need to learn there is how to use a program called Lightroom (on the Mac).

 

[VonZipper]

Some of the accessories I ordered are starting to trickle in... ANAFI arrives tomorrow! Very excited!!!

 

[VonZipper]

When I finally get some free time I’ll post some Anafi videos I took in Iceland. I really fell in love with the Anafi there. It’s easy to fly and get good smooth results. It’s easy to set up and deploy. And the video quality exceeded my expectations. For absolute best quality, it needs a noise removal pass with Neat Video, but I haven’t had time to build a noise profile yet.

Hey, Don't forget... We'd still all love to see your Iceland photos! Hope you can find the time!

 

[dmbrody]

When I finally get some free time I’ll post some Anafi videos I took in Iceland. I really fell in love with the Anafi there. It’s easy to fly and get good smooth results. It’s easy to set up and deploy. And the video quality exceeded my expectations. For absolute best quality, it needs a noise removal pass with Neat Video, but I haven’t had time to build a noise profile yet.

Hey, Don't forget... We'd still all love to see your Iceland photos! Hope you can find the time!

Oh yeah. I need to upload some of them. Still haven’t had time. Maybe this weekend.

 

[VonZipper]

Awesome! Welcome to the forum.
Good luck and post any questions you have. We are all learning and this is a great place to share.

I recommend the SanDisk Ultra plus 64gb SD card for the Anafi. I use it and someone else on this site also recommends it. See this link:
SanDisk Ultra PLUS 64GB

I used to go for bigger SD cards (128gb), but now I actually prefer to have a few 64GB cards that I can swap out. They can record more minutes of video than the Anafi’s flight time. So after a few flights I just swap cards. In case of a catastrophic failure (ie landing in a lake. LOL), I’ll at least have the footage from the first few cards. (Luckily I’ve avoided any such catastrophes for a few years, but it’s still good peace of mind. Edit: oops that’s not true. I did lose a Mavic Air in a gorge in Iceland a couple weeks ago - but before that, it’s been years).

Brody,

I've been looking at MicroSD cards. Chiefly, the SandDisk Extreme Pro 64GB. Just wondering how long of a 4K recording you've been able to capture on a 64GB card? What about in 1080P?

Eric

 

[VonZipper]

Completed another major step today: I received my Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate! I had finished my Part 107 online training course a few weeks ago and today I had a CFI verify my Flight Review, Driver's License and Pilot Certificate so he could complete my online application in IACRA. I received my Temporary Remote Pilot Certificate shortly therafter!

No excuses now! I have just about procured all the equipment I need for my Anafi to get started although I still lack a few memory cards and a smartphone with a better (brighter) screen for outside work in bright sunlight. I'm going to see how the screens on Apple's new offerings look tomorrow during their big release event (9AM PT) before making a decision on the new phone. I'm still leaning strongly toward the Huawei Ascend XT2. Any suggestions on phones (or anything other equipment) is very welcome!

I still have quite a bit of training to do to become proficient. I'm tying to practice flying and shooting video everyday when I can. I also have a steep learning curve learning to edit and produce a finished product. I still plan on relying on my daughter to do most of this work. Hoping I can learn from watching her...

Also recieved a Bebop 2 the kids had ordered for my Birthday. I got a few flights in before dark. Seems like a capable and stable platform. The video quality looks a lot better than I expected. I'm really liking the Bebop Too!