I Los Angeles, CA--I had my somewhat pricy DJI Inspire 1 camera drone for five months.   I love the product and it never gave a bad moment.  Well not quite.   DJI has an update policy from Hell.  They suddenly announce a firmware update.  You can't fly until you get to good internet service with a computer, download and install the update.   That is a disaster when you drive to a location for a shoot and everything stops.   Okay that sucks but while attempting my last update for the cold weather battery fix things went to Hell. The camera stopped retaining the little SD memory card spitting it out!  There suddenly was a second problem with the coupling of the camera and gimbal to the drone.  Contact was somehow lost.   Technical support was sympathetic and told me to take it to Fedex and provided several explicate pages of instructions on shipping it back. The repair facility is in nearby Carson but they demand it be shipped by Fedex eve...

Los Angeles, CA —The word of the day is FLIR !  I knew this was in development but now it’s actually here!  FLIR became a major public safety and search & rescue tool more than two decades ago.  Now even civilian camera drones are in the FLIR mix!  Flir has primarily been delegated to expensive cameras carried on board conventional aircraft for military, police, fire and every public safety application. Recently the popular drone maker DJI and Flir teamed up to offer these now affordable lifesaving cameras.   They can now operate from the popular DJI Inspire1 and Matrice 100 drone platforms.   That means anyone with these drones can save or at least protect lives.   Flir is simply an optical device that captures imagery of heat signatures or thermal patterns.  At 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit our bodies are normally warmer than the ambient air temperature.  At night the outside air is almost always colder than the bodies of hu...

Los Angeles, CA —I really looked forward to the first ever L.A. Drone Expo .  It happened today at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.  The exhibitors came with products and displays.   Hundreds of drone enthusiasts stormed the venue and there was real excitement. It was terrific to talk with many of the engineers and inventors that have made contributions to this specialized technology.   Products were for sale everywhere and for the attendees it seemed like their first trip to Disneyland.   Additionally there were speakers on all of the creative and regulatory issues.   Speaking of regulatory issues there are those that want cumbersome regulations and those like me that don’t.   It’s seems so un-American to use regulation as a way to reduce competition by making things difficult for the unwashed newbies. This country was number one in technology, design and innovation.   Somehow we made a Left turn and fell behind. ...

Los Angeles, CA –Today the NTSB ruled that the FAA may continue to ban any commercial use model aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. We are anxiously awaiting the FAA’s long overdue and final regulations on the drones that have become so popular primarily to photographers. The ruling leaves in tact the incredibly vague, subjective and overly broad language in it’s provision, “No person may operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner as to endanger the life or property or another.”   This language could allow for some judge to find that the mere flight of a device to be unlawful.   This is amazing since despite that there’s never been a single death or serious reported injury involving a multi-rotor camera drones.   If the unreasonably intrusive requirements recently imposed on filmmakers granted drone operation FAA permits are a sign of things to come this industry is doomed at least in the USA. For now the use of drones by hobbyists is s...