Surfing and kitesurfing videos filmed with Drones are now widespread and on youtube they are increasingly spectacular and engaging. This obviously leads many to buy a drone to film their own sessions, but the result is not always the one hoped for as there are some things to know to choose the right Drone, before jumping headlong into the shoot. We have tried to clarify things with the help of Giovanni Callea, who works as a video shooter with the Drones, also in the sports sector.
For those who are not in the sector and do not know him, Giovanni Callea is the owner of Levante Drones , a reality of Sestri Levante born two years ago from the passion for the world of drones and photography, initially carried out to promote the beauty of Liguria on Fb page www.facebook.com/levantedrones which is followed by many users and has seen steady growth over the past few months. Over time, video filming with drones from a simple hobby has become a real job that has opened up numerous opportunities in various sectors, including sports. The birth of the Sport Extreme Drone division , dedicated exclusively to sports filming, with great news that you can follow on the pagewww.facebook.com/sportextremedrone Division born thanks also to Simmo of the FB group "Sestri Levante KITESURF - WINDSURF GANG", which has pushed a lot towards the realization of this type of sports shooting.
N.1 ENAC Regulation
The first thing to pay attention to is the Enac regulation. The ENAC standards for the use of remote pilot air systems refer to the Regulations in progress Edition 2, Amendment 4 of 21 May 2018 ( read the complete regulation of the ENAC relating to Remote Pilot Aircraft). The big distinction concerns the professional use or not of the drone; in the first case, being professional filming, it is necessary to be an Enac certified operator (therefore in possession of a license) and subject to the specific regulation. Nothing prevents a person from using his drone for recreational purposes to shoot for personal use, obviously respecting the rules dedicated to the amateur use of drones, without the need to achieve the necessary qualifications. For example, these regulations require the drone to fly within a maximum radius of 200 meters and within 70 meters of height, away from ports, airports, sensitive areas, urban centers, populated areas , buildings, infrastructures and installations . This as a principle, but in reality the ENAC legislation is certainly more complex and deserves a separate study.
N.2 Dangers: wind, shocks and falls into the sea
Surely shooting with drone of people engaged in kitesurfing requires a great deal of attention and experience. The wind obviously affects the behavior of the drone in flight and it is always necessary to take into account the direction and intensity of the wind, as well as being ready to handle any gusts. Not all drones are also able to fly in heavy wind. In addition it is necessary to be very careful in avoiding possible contact with the lines, the wing and with the rider, since the drone can fall into the sea and get lost forever or even cause serious injuries.
N.3 Characteristics of the Drone
To shoot kitesurfing, above all to make spectacular shots, it is necessary to use a drone capable of flying at a sufficient speed to keep up with a kite, but also that has a good video device capable of offering quality footage in very dynamic situations (so not only with an adequate resolution but also with image stabilizer for example). Other characteristics to be taken into consideration are flight range, range and the presence of various aids for the pilot, useful above all for those who are beginners such as head maintenance , one key return, height maintenance functions followetc. To learn to use a drone in general it is a good thing to start with a minidrone of a few tens of euros. Once acquired a good ability to pilot certainly it is necessary to pass to superior models in order to succeed in making practice with the first subjects engaged in Kite, otherwise impossible with very cheap drones.
On amazon, for example, there are many cheap drones even for less than € 50 . But be careful what is expected of these drones: it is fine to buy it with a view to training and confidence, but they are almost never suitable for kitesurfing, because they are usually not able to fly in strong winds, in addition to not have a suitable video device!
No. 4 Top Drones for kitesurfing
For this type of dynamic shooting the most used models are certainly the DJI drones, in particular Mavic and Phantom, fast, responsive, very solid drones with excellent video quality, necessary to offer high-level shooting. Being professional drones they are also quite expensive, with a list price that is around a thousand euros and over. For this reason, before buying and above all using them over the sea, it is undoubtedly a good idea to do some practice with some cheaper models.
Here is just to get an idea the link to some Dji drone models for sale on Amazon:
Eventually it is possible to repay something by settling for the previous model (eg the Phantom 3) or by buying a reconditioned drone, if available. In this way, for example, it is possible to purchase a reconditioned DJI Phantom 3 drone (of course the availability and prices of reconditioned products is very variable, so it must be verified at the moment).
Cheap alternatives to Dji drones
If your budget is more limited, but you want something more than a toy for a few tens of euros, here are a couple of models that will be able to entertain you, creating some respectable shots.
No. 5 Tips
For those who want to try their hand at shooting subjects in Kitesurfing, at the beginning it is always better to film upwinds to the rider (ie 98% of the cases behind) so as not to risk colliding with the wing. In the case of the hydrofoil it is even more complex as it goes
much further the wind and consequently the dead angle where the drone does not risk any impact with the kite is greatly reduced. With a little practice, however, the shots you can get are absolutely spectacular.
Pubblicato il 04 ottobre 2018 | Blog > Technique: KITESURF