So I have always been a major lover of using only a camera when exploring. I am never one for new stuff. I still have a D200 that I freaking love so much even to this day I use it all the time. Even the Sony A77 and D5100 I have never get a look in much. I use my A6000 quite a lot because of the size and weight. But I love the older stuff. Just what I like! Anyway.... I was watching a documentary the other day (not urbex related) and I loved the way the people in the documentary got pictures from above some castles and such. Then my impulsive nature kicked in and I decided to buy a DJI Mavic Mini. I would love to know if you guys use a drone for shots? If so I would love to see some shots you have taken. I have never flown a drone in my life so I am sure I'll crash it but YOLO right!

I just picked up a used Mavic Pro 1 last month. Haven't had a chance to take it out much yet, but it's pretty fun and I can see myself using it at the end of an explore to get some exterior shots of the place after i finish photographing. There's a bit of a learning curve.

I've been using drones for photos and videos since before I got into exploring. The new DJIs have so many safety features that it's pretty hard to crash. For me personally, they just get in my way but other people love them. It's not hard to use one for photography since you just go to a spot and take a picture. Video is more tricky though since you have to really understand your stick movements to get the move you want. The biggest thing for me is having to cary it with me and take the time to fly it up and get the shots while exploring.

These are all from before DJI pushed the geofencing onto my firmware. I need to buy that Russian board that fucks up the gps. They look like shit because they are stills from video I don't feel like editing yet. Remember to keep your drone below 1000ft if you can and out of landing zones. https://skyvector.com/ has the charts you should be reading.

Posted by uLiveAndYouBurn These are all from before DJI pushed the geofencing onto my firmware. I need to buy that Russian board that fucks up the gps. They look like shit because they are stills from video I don't feel like editing yet. Remember to keep your drone below 1000ft if you can and out of landing zones. https://skyvector.com/ has the charts you should be reading. https://live.stati...5_2d89f5ca1b_c.jpg https://live.stati...8_23d061a866_c.jpg https://live.stati...1_3de2b619cf_c.jpg https://live.stati...6_c2922a4c63_c.jpg https://live.stati...4_acb683145b_c.jpg https://live.stati...6_e81d205946_c.jpg https://live.stati...0_88e72c41fe_c.jpg https://live.stati...6_a9f918ca48_c.jpg https://live.stati...1_63d2fd243d_c.jpg

Some of those pics look awesome! I’d love to see the videos.

I've had a DJI Spark, and currently own a Mavic Air and the new Mavic Mini. AMA.

Not sure if it's relevant to the thread but don't know where else to post it, so whatever.

About a month back my brother was at a place shooting a documentary for school on exploration. Basically just following someone through while he explores, interspersed with interviews from other explorers, and more about the culture than the building. During the shoot, they found a downed drone in the courtyard. They carried it with them for a while, then removed the attached GoPro and left the drone behind in the building, as they didn't have a place to stow it and still had a whole day of shooting to do.

He brought the GoPro home, and we reviewed the footage - pretty cool stuff, as we saw the guy zipping around the building, even flying through two open doors and back out, before hitting a tree branch and tumbling into the courtyard below. On the card was a text file with contact info... uh-oh. We dropped an email to say we had the GoPro, but didn't know how we'd explain why we didn't have the drone. The guy never responded.

About two weeks later I was in the area with some friends, and decided to try and find the drone. I knew from my brother's footage roughly where it was, at least which floor, but when we got there, we found that some kind of construction was going on and all the old entrances, which had been open for at least 3 years, were boarded up. We looked around and luckily came across a metal door that seemed shut, but had its latch bent out of shape, allowing it to be opened. Inside was a staircase that lead straight down to the hallway from the video - perfect! We looked around for like 20 minutes, getting turned around in the maze-like basement before I decided to head out, as it was getting dark. When we returned to the hallway we entered from, I wanted to check down one last path before my friend stopped me... and pointed to the drone sitting on the floor literally feet from where we entered. Somehow we had walked right past this drone, TWICE, with its neon pink and green propellers.

Now with both the drone and GoPro, my brother again tried to contact the owner, this time via text. This time he responded instantly, thanking him and asking where they should meet. The guy told us which town he lived in, which, conveniently, was just a hop away from where I work, and I was just getting ready to go there and pick up my check. We asked if he could meet in front of the place, to which he remarked at what a small world it is - he's good friends with the lady who handles the checks there!

We went over there to meet the guy, and he was pretty cool. He thanked us and offered a reward, which my brother refused and asked if he could instead have permission to use some of the drone's footage in his documentary. The guy said that'd be fine, and even offered up more footage he had at home. He gave us tips on more sites around the island, tech advice, it was a nice conversation, and he wasn't done with the unlikely coincidences. The drone was self-made, and I remarked that it looked pretty familiar. We started talking about how that might be, and it turns out, we had actually met once, about two years before. We had run into a large informal group flying drones at a park. We'd had a short small-talky conversation and I'd even photographed his drone as it went by.

Posted by DescentOnARope Not sure if it's relevant to the thread but don't know where else to post it, so whatever. About a month back my brother was at a place shooting a documentary for school on exploration. Basically just following someone through while he explores, interspersed with interviews from other explorers, and more about the culture than the building. During the shoot, they found a downed drone in the courtyard. They carried it with them for a while, then removed the attached GoPro and left the drone behind in the building, as they didn't have a place to stow it and still had a whole day of shooting to do. He brought the GoPro home, and we reviewed the footage - pretty cool stuff, as we saw the guy zipping around the building, even flying through two open doors and back out, before hitting a tree branch and tumbling into the courtyard below. On the card was a text file with contact info... uh-oh. We dropped an email to say we had the GoPro, but didn't know how we'd explain why we didn't have the drone. The guy never responded. About two weeks later I was in the area with some friends, and decided to try and find the drone. I knew from my brother's footage roughly where it was, at least which floor, but when we got there, we found that some kind of construction was going on and all the old entrances, which had been open for at least 3 years, were boarded up. We looked around and luckily came across a metal door that seemed shut, but had its latch bent out of shape, allowing it to be opened. Inside was a staircase that lead straight down to the hallway from the video - perfect! We looked around for like 20 minutes, getting turned around in the maze-like basement before I decided to head out, as it was getting dark. When we returned to the hallway we entered from, I wanted to check down one last path before my friend stopped me... and pointed to the drone sitting on the floor literally feet from where we entered. Somehow we had walked right past this drone, TWICE, with its neon pink and green propellers. Now with both the drone and GoPro, my brother again tried to contact the owner, this time via text. This time he responded instantly, thanking him and asking where they should meet. The guy told us which town he lived in, which, conveniently, was just a hop away from where I work, and I was just getting ready to go there and pick up my check. We asked if he could meet in front of the place, to which he remarked at what a small world it is - he's good friends with the lady who handles the checks there! We went over there to meet the guy, and he was pretty cool. He thanked us and offered a reward, which my brother refused and asked if he could instead have permission to use some of the drone's footage in his documentary. The guy said that'd be fine, and even offered up more footage he had at home. He gave us tips on more sites around the island, tech advice, it was a nice conversation, and he wasn't done with the unlikely coincidences. The drone was self-made, and I remarked that it looked pretty familiar. We started talking about how that might be, and it turns out, we had actually met once, about two years before. We had run into a large informal group flying drones at a park. We'd had a short small-talky conversation and I'd even photographed his drone as it went by.

What a neat story! Small world indeed! Enjoyed reading your post

I use a Phantom 4 for filming the exterior of buildings. Got it when it came out 5 years ago. It's a great drone, but it could be a nuisance because of its size. I usually keep the drone in my car and save exterior shots for post exploring so I don't have to carry the drone around and as to not draw attention before exploring. I'm thinking about upgrading to the Mavic Pro for portability after I upgrade my camera.