The quadcopter takes off with the steady whine of rotor blades and rises gracefully, hovering in the air for a while before off the edge of the building. The red and green blinking lights mark its progress as it flits about against the backdrop of a grey sky, and the display wielded by Vishnu Sankar shows Vytilla junction in a whole new light. Sights like this are becoming more common in Kochi, with a lot of young enthusiasts investing in quadcopters for aerial photography and videography.
The copter currently whirring in the air is the DJI Phantom 2 Vision Plus, piloted by Linto Mathew, a final year civil engineering student of Viswajyothi College of Engineering and Technology, Vazhakulam. Linto, who is a photography enthusiast and Vishnu, who works for a London-based game development studio, pooled their resources to purchase the copter, which comes with a camera capable of swivelling 90 degrees vertically and shooting full HD video. The duo has started a Youtube channel called ‘The Quadcam Bros’, and have captured the Pulinkunnu Church and the Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alappuzha, Kovalam lighthouse in Thiruvanananthapuram, Thattekadu Bird Sanctuary and more from a bird’s eye view.
“The idea came to us when we were at Alappuzha beach and wanted to take a different kind of photograph, so we put a phone in burst mode and threw it in the air hoping to get a new angle. It didn’t work, but it set us thinking, and after researching compact cameras, we eventually settled on a copter,” says Vishnu. These copters, which come with four, six or even eight rotors, are broadly termed multicopters or drones and are commonly used for aerial and wildlife photography, surveillance, and are even being touted as the future of package delivery.
While Linto and Vishnu’s quadcopter (named so for its four rotors) with it’s ‘ready to fly and shoot’ setup is a great bet for hobbyists and is quickly gaining traction among those who can afford it (the price is upwards of Rs.1 lakh for the top end version), serious photographers tinker with the concept even further. E.V Sreekumar, a news photographer who also owns one, says that while it is popular because of its ease of use, there are alternatives out there that may serve better depending on individual requirement.
This sentiment is echoed by Rinoy Sebastian, who runs an ad film making company called Film It, and has used a modified first generation copter for a video capturing Kochi from the air called ‘Kochi Heights’, the trailer for which is now doing the rounds on social media.
“My copter did not come with a built-in camera, so I use the GoPro Hero 3+ mounted on a high performance gimbal (a motorised frame that stabilises the camera from shaking and buffeting). This allows for extremely high definition videography and is quite handy when I’m shooting ads or participating in film shoots. I put these components together and fabricated a basic display, which uses a regular transmitter and receiver system instead of Wi-Fi so that I get greater range,” says Rinoy.
Seethal Joseph, an aerial photography enthusiast who has been flying radio-controlled (RC) copters for nine years, makes his disdain for readymade copters quite clear. “Those things are toys, and while they suffice for basic coverage, professional videography requires specialised equipment. I build my copters with imported parts sourced from online retailers. Though they are more complex to operate, they provide superior range, are sturdier in bad weather, and can execute complex, planned shots,” he says.
The advantages are many, and copters are becoming favourites for crowded events like weddings and concerts and for capturing inaccessible locations on video, but there are problems as well. “When we filmed the Nehru Trophy Boat Race, the copter was getting so much attention that we were unable to land it as people in the crowd were constantly trying to pluck it out of the air. Since we inform local police stations before using the copter in an area, the policemen help us land it safely,” says Linto.
Rinoy agrees that it is a crowd puller, but it has its problems. “I had my fair share of technical difficulties when I started, and actually lost my first copter because I was in a hurry and did not bother setting a GPS ‘home point’ to which it would return automatically if I lost control. Also, when I take it for feature film shoots, they are at times inconsiderate to the safety of the device and ask for risky shots in adverse weather conditions,” he says.
Linto and Vishnu are looking to feature all of the State’s famous landmarks from the air, while Rinoy implements the technology in ad films. The one common thing that everyone who uses a copter seems to stress on is “showing places we see everyday in a new light.”
As Linto slowly manoeuvres the copter back down to the rooftop, one thing becomes certain. The sky is a limit no more.
