Railfan Technology > Drones

Drones.

I finally saw one in action. Now I want one.

I would welcome any suggestions about brands and models to look at or to avoid. What options are best for railfanning?

Dang these newfangled contraptions and the teenagers who use them. One of them posts here so I wont name names.

Many thanks
Michael

DJI inspire, its not very cheap but worth it

Gary

You might want to read this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/video/hands-review/introduction-radio-controlled-aerial-photography?cm_mmc=EML-_-Holiday-ArticleRoundup-_-140107-_-Body_Indepth_Guide-to-Aerial-Photography

KG

The DJI Phantom is a great place to start. Here's a photo taken a couple weeks ago:
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3993838,3993838#3993838

Ryan Wilkerson
Fair Oaks, CA

DJI anything. Period

I went more entry level. I bought a DJI Phantom 3 Standard for $499 a couple months ago from Amazon. Since then, it has dropped in price about $50.  It has everything you need to fly right out of the box: drone, remote, camera, and gimble. It does not include the tablet or smart phone interface which you will have to provide yourself. I also added 2 more batteries and a hard case. So far, I love it. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles as some of the more expensive drones, but It works well for me. I have gotten about 3000' from me and I stick to the hard ceiling of no higher than 400'. Drone flying can be very fun. But, please check the local laws and regulations before you fly as one mistake can ruin the fun for everyone else. 

I came in off the ledge and bought one a couple months ago.  A Yuneec Q500 4K "Typhoon".  It's more fun to fly than it is to get quality photos from, but I've dabbled a little bit with train photos.  The image quality is so-so, but I didn't buy the thing thinking that I was going go to strictly airborne foamage.  I bought it to screw around with in my backyard.  The trains were actually an afterthought. 

I'm also working with a small startup company that is building their own airframe, loosely based on the DJI Phantom body that will allow me to trigger my flash equipment from the drone.  We had a round of flight tests 2 weeks ago, still having some trouble isolating the "noise" from the motors which causes the radio slaves to set the flashes off prematurely.

Sean Hoyden
Broad Run, VA

I'll let you know shortly-I looked at the other brands out there, but went with a Yuneec Q500 4K. It arrives tomorrow! Again, not the cheapest one out there, but not the most expensive eather, at around $1,000 with case, spare battery, and hand held camera mount. Control also includes everything built in, so no using an Ipad or phone device, it's all inclusive.