Sailing in Croatia. Filming advice?

[Kestrel]

Hello all. I am looking for advice/expertise.

We are going on a family vacation to sail around the Dalmatian Islands in Croatia next week. I am taking my Nano+ in the hopes of getting some fun footage (including the requisite orbit-around-the-boat thing). Ive watched a few YTs about doing this, but I thought I’d ask the experts here to see if anyone has any advice/thoughts, or any specific lessons-learned. Though I want to get good shots, I’d REALLY hate to splash my drone!

Things I wonder about:

Camera settings? I have not been able to figure out how to enable HDR.
How far away from the boat at what zoom level (e.g. what zoom level equates to a “normal” 50mm 35mm lens?). My footage always appears “farther away” than what I expected from what I saw on my phone while flying.
How far off the water? (I know bottom sensors have a problem with water but I don’t know how high that “vulnerability” (from an obstacle detection/avoidance perspective), exists.is there a height above which all is “safe”?
Advice for anchored boat vs underway boat?
Possible to hand launch/recover? (I’d understand if the skipper is uncomfortable with the drone launching/landing on the deck)
If using any intelligent flight modes, is it possible to maneuver the aircraft, while the mode is running? (E. g. Climb/descend or move closer/farther, while doing an orbit?)

Thank you very much in advance! It’d be excellent to come home with some nice shots! Should be a fun project that, if I get good results (or even bad!), I’ll be happy to share upon our return.

Oh yeah, I have already checked the flight restrictions in that area. Fortunately, they only extend about halfway out to the outer islands, so all should be good outside of those polygons.

 

[herein2021]

Hello all. I am looking for advice/expertise.

We are going on a family vacation to sail around the Dalmatian Islands in Croatia next week. I am taking my Nano+ in the hopes of getting some fun footage (including the requisite orbit-around-the-boat thing). Ive watched a few YTs about doing this, but I thought I’d ask the experts here to see if anyone has any advice/thoughts, or any specific lessons-learned. Though I want to get good shots, I’d REALLY hate to splash my drone!

Things I wonder about:

Camera settings? I have not been able to figure out how to enable HDR.
How far away from the boat at what zoom level (e.g. what zoom level equates to a “normal” 50mm 35mm lens?). My footage always appears “farther away” than what I expected from what I saw on my phone while flying.
How far off the water? (I know bottom sensors have a problem with water but I don’t know how high that “vulnerability” (from an obstacle detection/avoidance perspective), exists.is there a height above which all is “safe”?
Advice for anchored boat vs underway boat?
Possible to hand launch/recover? (I’d understand if the skipper is uncomfortable with the drone launching/landing on the deck)
If using any intelligent flight modes, is it possible to maneuver the aircraft, while the mode is running? (E. g. Climb/descend or move closer/farther, while doing an orbit?)

Thank you very much in advance! It’d be excellent to come home with some nice shots! Should be a fun project that, if I get good results (or even bad!), I’ll be happy to share upon our return.

Oh yeah, I have already checked the flight restrictions in that area. Fortunately, they only extend about halfway out to the outer islands, so all should be good outside of those polygons.

I have the EVO II 6K and have never flown the Nano, but I have flown extensively over water for commercial projects so hopefully some of the below helps:

• Camera Settings - Don't waste your time with HDR it's a useless buzzword that will not improve your footage. For the best settings use a LOG color profile, and whatever shutter speed gets you proper exposure on the histogram. You can read more about my recommended settings for the EVO II 6K here. The main Nano difference would be that you have a fixed aperture so you would need to increase your shutter speed.
• How Far Away - Don't bother with zoom, just get closer to the boat and frame it however it looks right on the screen. The sensor is small enough as it is, digitally zooming will only make it worse.
• How Far Off the Water - I haven't had any problems just 10' off the water, if it is really choppy and you are going full speed you might get some sensor warnings about an obstacle below the drone. Nothing major. It really depends on how sunny it is that day.
• Anchored vs Underway - Not sure what you are asking here, anchored is obviously easier to film, dolly-in, dolly out, crane tilts, orbits, etc. all work here. For underway footage you can dolly in follow or approach, dolly out from the front approach is a popular shot, etc. The challenge is fighting the wind and keeping smooth shots at the same time especially with the Nano's smaller size; stay aware of the wind and its direction at all times, it is very easy to get too far downwind to return before the battery runs out.
• Hand Launching - I personally do not hand launch ever, but I also have a larger drone and believe in conducting operations in the safest way possible. However, from a moving boat, I would imagine hand launching would be the only option.
• Intelligent Flight Modes - I don't use them ever, I prefer to frame everything manually and stay in full control of the drone to the extent possible.

 

[Kestrel]

I have the EVO+ and have never flown the Nano, but I have flown extensively over water for commercial projects so hopefully some of the below helps:

• Camera Settings - Don't waste your time with HDR it's a useless buzzword that will not improve your footage. For the best settings use a LOG color profile, and whatever shutter speed gets you proper exposure on the histogram. You can read more about my recommended settings for the EVO II 6K here. The main Nano difference would be that you have a fixed aperture so you would need to increase your shutter speed.
• How Far Away - Don't bother with zoom, just get closer to the boat and frame it however it looks right on the screen. The sensor is small enough as it is, digitally zooming will only make it worse.
• How Far Off the Water - I haven't had any problems just 10' off the water, if it is really choppy and you are going full speed you might get some sensor warnings about an obstacle below the drone. Nothing major. It really depends on how sunny it is that day.
• Anchored vs Underway - Not sure what you are asking here, anchored is obviously easier to film, dolly-in, dolly out, crane tilts, orbits, etc. all work here. For underway footage you can dolly in follow or approach, dolly out from the front approach is a popular shot, etc. The challenge is fighting the wind and keeping smooth shots at the same time especially with the Nano's smaller size; stay aware of the wind and its direction at all times, it is very easy to get too far downwind to return before the battery runs out.
• Hand Launching - I personally do not hand launch ever, but I also have a larger drone and believe in conducting operations in the safest way possible. However, from a moving boat, I would imagine hand launching would be the only option.
• Intelligent Flight Modes - I don't use them ever, I prefer to frame everything manually and stay in full control of the drone to the extent possible.

Wow! Thank you very much for your detailed and informative reply. Much appreciated!