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Missed business opportunities?

My little bit of 1/2 cents worth, I use my H for commercial use, I do have a Q5004k for back up but have not had the need to use it, my partner fly's the phantom 3 pro, we both fly on all jobs together, and it's funny to see at times we will both take the same photo and one time his is a bit sharper looking and the next mine is. I think there are so many variables to taking great videos and photos and no matter the equipment there will always be many other factors, human, lighting etc. but everyone knows that.

I would like to have an affordable camera that can give me much much better zoom, I am looking to see how the thermal camera does as I am in need of one of those, but the good ones to cost . We have been contracted out to do all the aerial photos and videos for a local town for an entire year, which includes inspections, tourism, events, fire and police needs, crime scenes, etc. anything they need we are there. I am looking at both the 520 and the 920pro to see which of the two will give me the most versatility.

Overall I have been very pleased with both the Q5004K and the H, Yuneec knows they need to always be working to provide new and better equipment and software to stay in the market, so as for now I am sticking with them.

For the money , the h has been fine, if a time comes that I need to spend 10K on a unit then of course there are many very high quality units on the market with more to come.

So between myself and my partners equipment we have never had to refuse a job because or any limitations

You need to only drive 5 miles a day in a car with no or very little options get one of those goofy little smart cars, you want to drive for ever in luxury with all the options get a Bentley
So I guess we could look at are UAVs the same Ha ha
 
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Hi Steve, calm down. I haven't said that the H and/or cam is bad! I love my equipment! Me too usually use video and frame-grabbing and it works great and my customers are happy! My question was if anyone on the forum has lost business due to the cam performance? Ofcourse I know I can get better stuff for more money! Why that agressive approach?

I don't think Steve was being particularly aggressive, just making his point.

It was a bit of a leading question, but to be honest I've not heard of anyone 'not getting the job' due to the quality of the H and it's camera. Certainly in the early days of the machine, there were quite a few people who had talked themselves into believing it would turn them into Spielberg before it was launched, and then talked themselves out of ever even using it when they discovered that a camera at this level doesn't produce footage 'like the movies' straight out of the memory card.

There have been a few users who obsess about specs and small differences between different machines, and some who just don't want to take the time to learn how to get the most of their equipment. They move on after a few months and you won't hear from them again.

Then there are the ones who see the kit and think "now, what can I do with that?" - and the answer can be surprising. I think we've only scratched the surface of curved cable cam, and there's plenty to be learned about editing and post-processing. Team mode also offers some interesting possibilities.

Because the other manufacturer gets a lot more notice on social media, it's easy to fall into believing that you must have 'feature X' to be able to perform a task. Here's an experiment with cable cam to show that you can run a completely repeatable, complex flight with pre-planned camera control 'out of the box'. - Active Track not needed :)

 
Tuna,

That was a very good post a few earlier. The person that learns how to use their equipment will generally obtain far better results and fewer "missed opportunities" than a person that spends tons of money constantly upgrading to new equipment and little time using and understanding. The limits most encounter are quite often personal, not equipment.
 
Hi Steve, calm down. I haven't said that the H and/or cam is bad! I love my equipment! Me too usually use video and frame-grabbing and it works great and my customers are happy! My question was if anyone on the forum has lost business due to the cam performance? Ofcourse I know I can get better stuff for more money! Why that agressive approach?
I think it was only due to your original question being to wide/vague. With what you just said now, you seem to have cleared up that is is not the performance of the H you were asking about, but rather the camera. For me as a studio photographer, camera/lens are trial and error to see what will work for the situation with new ones. The rest I draw from experience of use with past lenses. I tend to just read a lot of what people have tried and failed with. I think time will only tell before they start to produce some of these little cameras with interchangeable lenses so that you are able to buy a body, then twist in the different lenses. At least we can only hope it goes this way.
 
I agree with much that has been said here. But in regards to why one might be looking for a better camera I had some thoughts.

My wife is a photographer and does mostly events and weddings but to fill in the dead spots she has also started doing a lot of real estate photography and naturally has been asked about aerial images. I've been producing videos for about 20 years including some commercial work; events, a few weddings (hate doing those) and a few commercials that played in the Tampa to Orlando market. When the wife needs a B camera at an event, I can fill in as a photographer and have a full complement of gear to cover what I need.

What we are seeing in the real estate market here in Orlando (which is in the top five biggest/fastest growing markets in the US I believe), is much like what we saw in photography over the last decade. When the digital camera boom hit, practically anyone could grab a thousand dollar camera, set it to automatic and could take pictures that seemed to them as good as a pro shot. The result was; you now have "photographers" that will shoot a wedding for 300 dollars. Lots of people cant see the difference, some can. The cream does rise to the top.

Enter the "Drone" phase. Real estate down here sells fast, so realtors have little incentive to differentiate from the next one, and Aerial imaging outfits are popping up like weeds and will shoot a home for 50 bucks. Most of the homes the wife shoots range from 300K to several Million but the realtors want to pay around a hundred for the extra aerial shots. Been there done that, however; if it gets the wife the job, I will do it to benefit her business.

I am going to try and put together a more comprehensive video package for real estate work that is a little more involved than the normal fly over stuff and hopefully be able to capture a slice of the market that the average outfits who are just getting started, or have only been shooting and editing for a short while, can't compete with. And I believe I can get this started with the H.

But one thing is for sure; if you spend any time in a business supported by videography or photography, you should get used to a simple fact; and that is, that your primary equipment has an expiration date, and you are always moving into the next phase. I started editing video with a company before the term NLE was coined, I have a couple five thousand dollar paper weights that at one time were a favorite among documentary film makers, shoots beautiful film-like footage at 540. Got boxes full of other less expensive cameras/trinkets from the past, that are worth practically nothing that; in their time, were pretty good. The technology leaps in the last ten year doubled the previous ten and I suspect that trend will continue. One day, the CGO3+ will be resting beside some once-capable stablemates.

My hope is that companies like Yuneec look at their products in a similar manner as camera makers who understand that photographers, will hold on to a camera body but are always upgrading lenses. So I hope to see Yuneec put out a platform like the H but then keep the business end of the product (Camera) updated and competitive for as long as possible.

Sorry for the long post.
 
Not long at all, and very informative, hey we all had the new state of the art cell phones in the 80s that was as big as a brick, now we can talk from are cars and even watches. Technology will and should always move faster than us. use what you have, what you can afford and experiment with your equipment. And being on forums such as this there is always a wealth of information, take the video that Ty Pilot just did for us, a GREAT help, look at Tuna s app..

We all know that Yuneec here;s what people are saying lets see and hope they are working to stay as one of the best in the industries with providing us new products.
 
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I've said this before, and this thread deems it worth repeating. When I jumped into digital photography, back when the Canon Digital Rebel (aka 300D) was released for under a grand (U.S.), people bashed it in the forums, saying it was "dumbed down" and too slow. Well, that didn't keep me from trying to learn as much as I could. My personal motivation at the time was "If I outgrow the capabilities, good for me. If I do not, shame on me!"

Same philosophy applies here. Did the research and decided on the best machine for me at the time, with room to grow. My first videos, while likely mundane to other, more accomplished videographers, sparked a sense of "wow" in me, pushing me to learn the craft and learn about video post-production.

Looking forward to the H520 for specific task-related reasons, but not about to forget my two H's. They will continue to draw me to the skies and the possibilities for a good long time, I presume.

Jeff

P.S. I still have my DR, along with a 20D, and a couple 5Ds (II and III) for those playing along. :)
 
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Din't feel bad, I still have a functional Yashica FR 35mm film camera in the closet.
 
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The original question and enduser listed several areas where the camera although limited would not make much difference in my opinion. However as a photographer for over 40 years who has much more varied demands than those mentioned I need a few things more...to begin with more resolution and a larger sensor. I have been able to print as large as 30"x 20" inches without degradation using the H camera but that's because I've used special interpolation software to increase the resolution 10 times the original. I have to also comment on the flaky metering also which requires you to constantly check because it often sticks on the auto level regardless of switching to manual and putting in your own settings. While I'm talking about the general platform and not just the limitations of the camera I'd like to mention my experience with the Mavic...today I'm traveling to Europe for 3 weeks with a Mavic and 7 batteries, charger, controller and a few more item in a case the size of a medium woman's purse. The software I will be using is called Maps Made Easy which allows me to have the UAV fly automatically in a grid pattern and automatically space the shots for topographical mapping. In preliminary tests the camera quality is as good and perhaps better with regard to the raw photo files it produces at basically the same resolution as the H. The compact footprint allows me to easily carry other cameras on long glacial hikes unlike the H...the size and weight of what I'm hauling is not much more than what 4 H batteries weighs in total. So to cut to the chase there is much more opportunity for me to deal with a wide array of client requests backed by many more apps than what Yuneec offers. I must applaud Tuna's UAV Toolbox which to my knowledge is the only third party app for the Yuneec H, I've used that with great success (earlier version) for auto flying large potential development sites. I hope Yuneec can up their game a bit. They have been quite vague about what their new "Commercial Grade" drone camera specs and what it will produce as far as file size and sensor resolution. From what I can find out their lens options are what I've already put on my H...the market is migrating to smaller especially for photojournalists and others who need to travel and rapidly deploy with 1 inch sensors not something the size of your small fingernail which was designed for cell phones which Yuneec uses....
 
Hi, there are for sure alot of discussions about H camera quality and (lack?) of possibilities. I work with my H for business for real estate agencies, golf courses, construction companies and more and the "H" works fine for that purposes. My question to you who "always" want the next generation cam or drone and "better this and that" - IF you are in the commercial corner as I am with the H, how many, if any, business opportunities have you been forced to refuse because or the H limitations?
I use mine for the same kinds of work that you do. I have found no limitations there. I work with some roofing and construction companies as well and there are a few times that they wanted to see some specific areas but that was easily accomplished with a combination of flying lower to the subject and some photoshop. The new camera on the H520 in those instances might work out nicely I'm thinking.
 
You have later information than I regarding the change in names. From my recollection, the CI camera is much heavier than the 03+ so it cannot be used on the H. I wouldn't expect to see any other cameras produced that will fit the H beyond the 03+ and the ET. Until the final specs are released for Yuneec we won't know for sure but the H520 is certainly capable of carrying more weight.
One of the reasons I purchased the H was due to the modular design. The camera and gimbal are easy to detach. Why WOULDN'T Yuneec may a variety of upgrade options for current H owners? Sounds like good policy!
 
I love the camera quality of the H, could it be better, sure! But for my needs, the imagery captured from the H works beautifully with HD footage from my camera. Proof is in the pudding! This was my first commercial job using the H:
 
One of the reasons I purchased the H was due to the modular design. The camera and gimbal are easy to detach. Why WOULDN'T Yuneec may a variety of upgrade options for current H owners? Sounds like good policy!
They probably develop attachments based on market demand just like all companies do. If they think they can only sell a few thousand then it will not get built. A limited production camera is going to be more expensive out of necessity even if it's a crappy camera. They have to make a profit and we hope they do.
 
Agree, don't see any of the active tracking technologies being of great use commercially. Wizard or Active Track.

I guess I was thinking more of a static focus. An example being a house being the point of interest while the ST-16 is down the block to not be in the shot. Then doing a fly by of the house, flying down the street, with the H maintaining its view of the house the whole time.

I don't mean the task POI. I do use that for houses often. That sets the center point and flies 360 degree around it.
Have you tried the Global Pan Mode? It holds the camera in a fixed compass direction (or pan) even while the TH rotates. Not exactly what you need but may get you closer.
 
Mickey,

I doubt most using an H will ever achieve your level of ability, or have needs equal to yours. Realistically, at the price point we are dealing with the H camera work pretty well. Is it up to 20mpxl, 1" sensor standards? Not at all and I don't see Yuneec being able to under price DJI. As has been demonstrated many times before, DJI will drop their shorts in pricing every time a new competitive product is near release and they have the financials to maintain a loss in sales profitability for longer than smaller companies can afford to sell at what essentially are "dumping" price levels.

Yuneec certainly needs to step up, even if they can't achieve parity. The market moves fast and playing catch up is a difficult game to succeed at. Yuneec needs to provide more in continuous upgrades along with improvements with imagery if they want to remain a viable alternative. In the mean time, those that require more advanced imagery options will need to look elsewhere, unless Yuneec elects to get serious with the Tornado. The Tornado could be and do a lot more than it is and does if they only put some time and effort into it.
 

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