Town of Paradise Valley, AZ —Some of this small but wealthy community’s politicians bought into the baseless idea that multi-rotor camera drones were a threat to safety and privacy.   Ignorance and the novelty of the drones themselves motivated politicians here to make an effort to ban drones. They thought that their residents would somehow appreciate their efforts. Things backfired when local relators complained that the use of drones showcased the homes and community like never before.   Banning or over-regulating them could damage property values and of course property tax collections. The Town Council considered the ban but cooler heads in that body tabled the idea at least until they had more valid guidance and information.   How they revisit this issue remains to be seen. As for the somewhat popular Drone Invasion, there were no less than 700 reports of near misses with conventional aircraf t investigated by the FAA . Not a s...

Los Angeles, CA —Yes! As most of my visitors know I’m pumped up and over the top about camera drones as a photographer and filmmaker.   I already own two of them.   My current flagship is the DJI Phantom 2 , which uses a GoPro camera . Today, worldwide there are more than a million multi-rotor camera drones in civilian hands.   They well outnumber conventional helicopters.   They have a perfect safety record of no reported deaths or remarkable injuries.   To date there are still no known collisions between a camera drone and any conventional aircraft.   Like all of the DJI drones the new Inspire 1 model they unveiled yesterday is relatively easy to fly.   If you have or acquire photography and video editing skills you have the time of your life capturing images.   I find flying these multi-rotor copters incredibly exciting, addicting and empowering! Now there is a new must have camera drone in the skies as I speak.   It’s the DJI ...