As a professional drone operator, I often have the opportunity to do commercial work on the behalf of different productions. With the unique set of skills that a professional drone racer can bring to the table, many doors are opened for different techniques for filming things in a unique way. That being said, there are certain limitations and payloads that these drones are able to provide, so I wanted to create a post that shows my personal arsenal, as well as the recommended cameras for each.
Cinewhoop
The Cinewhoop is probably one of the most-worked drones in my fleet. It has a small wheelbase while simultaneously having a fairly high payload for a drone of its size and safety. The ducts surrounding the props not only provide extra lift by increasing airflow over the propellors, but they also provide protection against harming persons or property when on a shoot.
The Cinewhoop is recommended for good conditions, slow flights, and technical flights within proximity to valuables or soft targets. Because of it’s small size, it’s very easy to fly it through complicated flight paths, through obstacles, and create excellent shots.
Click here to read more about the Cinewhoop
| Payloads | GoPro Hero 7 Black Insta360 OneX Insta360 Evo |
| Acceptable Conditions | Winds less than 10 mph Indoors Outdoors |
| Max Speed | 65 kph |
Here are a couple videos featuring work from the Cinewhoop:
Ichabod
In contrast to the Cinewhoop, the Ichabod is a high-performance, high speed filmmaking machine. With a much higher top speed and thrust to weight ratio, the Ichabod is capable carrying heavier payloads in more extreme flightpaths. The Ichabod is primarily reserved for extreme sports filming, but is extremely capable for just about any kind of shoot. The angle of the filming camera is variable, so any speed of movement can be shot – from walking up to 160kph in short bursts.
| Payloads | GoPro Hero 7 Black Insta360 OneX Insta360 Evo Stick Mounted 360 cameras |
| Acceptable Conditions | Esstentially unlimited in terms of conditions |
| Max Speed | 160 kph |
Here are a couple examples featuring the Ichabod
SuperG
The SuperG is a traditional FPV freestyle drone. While it offers slightly less flexibility than the Ichabod does, it’s more rigid and more durable. As a result, this thing can take a beating. 100kph crash into the ground? No problem. Gets run over by a car? It might not fly out of that, but it won’t take long to get it back into the air.
| Payloads | GoPro Hero 7 Black Insta360 OneX Insta360 Evo Stick Mounted 360 cameras |
| Acceptable Conditions | Esstentially unlimited in terms of conditions |
| Max Speed | 160 kph |
Here is an example of a flight done with the SuperG
SuperG (Plus)
The SuperG+ is a slightly larger version of the SuperG, and it has many of the same characteristics. However, this version can fly slightly longer and has a slightly higher payload. It’s capable of carrying up to two of any of the available cameras.
| Payloads | (2x) GoPro Hero 7 Black (2x) Insta360 OneX (2x) Insta360 Evo (1x) Stick Mounted 360 cameras |
| Acceptable Conditions | Esstentially unlimited in terms of conditions |
| Max Speed | 120kph |
Here are some examples of videos shot with the SuperG (Plus)
Shendrones Thicc
Capable of carrying up to 1.5 kilograms, this beast is able to carry the Black Magic Pocket Cinema 4k, Red Komodo (with certain lenses), and the Z Cam E2 (with certain lenses). This drone offers the best picture quality to performance balance available on the market, and allows us to film FPV shots with up to BRAW or the RED Codec.
| Payloads | RED Komodo + Lowa 9mm Black Magic Pocket Cinema 4k + Lowa 7.5mm Black Magic Pocket Cinema 6k + Lowa 9mm ZCam E2 Panasonic BGH1 |
| Acceptable Conditions | Esstentially unlimited in terms of conditions |
| Max Speed | 120kph |
Cinebeast
The Cinebeast is another drone designed to carry lightweight cinema cameras, but at speeds in excess of 90mph for sustained shots.
| Payloads | RED Komodo + Lowa 9mm Black Magic Pocket Cinema 4k + Lowa 7.5mm Black Magic Pocket Cinema 6k + Lowa 9mm ZCam E2 Panasonic BGH1 |
| Acceptable Conditions | Esstentially unlimited in terms of conditions |
| Max Speed | 160 kph |