# Anyone getting a drone for Christmas?



## GuyF (Dec 23, 2015)

Be careful out there!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-sports/35164700


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 24, 2015)

some how, I just can't get interested in them, even though I'm out in the country on acreage and could use one without annoying close neighbors. Maybe next Christmas!


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## Maximilian (Dec 24, 2015)

GuyF said:


> Anyone getting a drone for Christmas?


I'm sure now that Marcel Hirscher is no longer interested in one


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## AcutancePhotography (Dec 24, 2015)

Nah, a drone would be just another piece of photographic equipment I can't find/make the time to get out and use.


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## GuyF (Dec 24, 2015)

Actually, we may have witnessed a new sport - try to hit the skier with the drone. The drone starts at the bottom of the slalom course with the aim of whacking the skier before they reach the final gate. Perhaps we could add a small ground to air missile to the skier's helmet and they get bonus points for taking out the drone from the greatest distance.

Once I've talked this over with the Winter Olympic Committee, I'll get back to you.

(It's been a slow day and I've lots of time to kill.)


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## Don Haines (Dec 24, 2015)

I got one last year...... it did not end well.......


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## Click (Dec 24, 2015)

Don Haines said:


> I got one last year...... it did not end well.......



LOL ;D


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## tcmatthews (Dec 24, 2015)

I seriously thought about it but in the end I decided it would sit around unused. Instead I bought a bass guitar that will likely sit around unused. But I still plan on learning how to play bass but it may not happen anytime soon. I think I my look into one of the ones that are little more than a toy. Learn how to fly it. And when it falls in the lake as it is sure to do I will just srug.


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## distant.star (Dec 24, 2015)

.
I am irresistibly drawn to the POV, and I want those images. Since I can't fly (or even pole vault) I can't imagine any other way to get such images. However...

Like the early days of aviation, drones are fraught with problems, even misery.

They are fragile. Like all aircraft, they have to be built to very close tolerances, and any deviation from tolerance causes problems. I see people replacing props and other parts at furious paces.

I don't trust their reliability levels. While the "home" concept is nice to "bring it home" if some defect occurs, there is too much that can go wrong. That also suggests a level of liability I'd prefer not to assume -- damaging property, causing harm to people, etc.

Encounters with authority seem almost inevitable, especially here in our land of perpetual paranoia. And I don't do well with authority.

Lastly, from everything I see, customer service is a nightmare. Reading reviews, DJI, for example, wants nothing to do with you except to sell replacement parts. If you have any kind of a problem, their attitudes appears to be "Fly, fly away."

Bottom line for me, the cost is simply too high.


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## zim (Dec 24, 2015)

Nope no skill no fun.... but if I had the space like MtSP I'd like to make a nice big IC heli. Or get back into design/building tuned 60ic aerobatic fixed wings, you know the really fast noisy tuned pipe ones, I think they got banned ;D


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## slclick (Dec 24, 2015)

It was a fun thought a couple years back but the last thing I want is to be entangled in any or all of the mess that these things seem to be bringing these days.


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## Valvebounce (Dec 24, 2015)

Hi Folks. 
No real viable area to fly, small island crowded with people who go everywhere I could go to fly one so I think it would be irresponsible to fly one here, unlike the guy in the house behind mine, gardens too small to swing a cat (without hitting it on the house and the fence!). 
I wish he showed the level of responsibility some of you guys have expressed, I feel it is intrusive (and possibly dangerous when his young son is flying it) in such a built up area but I can see the draw to own one. 
I have a nitro RC car, but no longer use it due to the fact that they are loud and annoying in a residential area and truly disturb a peaceful walk in the countryside. I used to go to an abandoned chalk pit but that is a nature trail area open to the public now. 

Merry Christmas, Graham.


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## Bennymiata (Dec 25, 2015)

A friend of mine who does high end real estate photography bought a top of the line Dji hoping he would make good money out of it, but his customers aren't interested in the shots, so now it sits gathering dust.

Imagine when every kid has one! Going to the local park could be a nightmare.


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## studeb (Dec 25, 2015)

Have one for the kids. WLToys v303. Fun to play with, but have to be careful flying around people. They seem to be convinced that they are all being photographed in 7k. This one can carry a disposable GoPro, no fpv or gimbal yet. If they get one they will have to offer aerial photography services to their friends to recoup $$$$.


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## GuyF (Dec 25, 2015)

Remember folks, you can win bonus points for crashing your drone into anyone using a hoverboard. (If I were American, I'd sue the manufacturers as the boards don't hover. I demand $50m in damages over misrepresentation! I'd then distribute the $50m amongst the users of this site.)


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