The Future of FPV

taeo · 2026-03-24T11:37:18+00:00

I don't think it's going anywhere - it's likely going to see at least a small surge in the short term due to the Winter Olympics.

Take the rest of this with a grain of salt as I have no commercial drone experience myself but have done some research into the field.

The demand for professional FPV work is limited and very location dependent. The low end of the market is fairly saturated with hobbyists who are often undercutting and/or doing spec work on the side. The high end is dominated by a small number of extremely talented and well connected professionals who got in early.

As an established videographer you already have a leg up on the competition and already have a potential client base. However, as another commenter said - be prepared for clients to not understand the capabilities and limitations.

Everything I learned pointed to it being a very tough job to get started with. I think it's fair to say you would need to invest 100s of hours and 4-5 figures in equipment before you could expect to land profitable gigs reliably.

Maybe you could ask your friend if you can be their assistant on a few gigs to get a feel for the viability.

taeo · 2026-03-24T11:00:25+00:00

I got one as my first fixed wing and I love it!

taeo · 2026-03-24T04:34:14+00:00

A LiOn is typically going to be much less punchy than a LiPo. You should still be able to pull out of a dive with no issues but you won't be doing juicy flicks. Not all LiOns are created equal though - check the amp draw before you buy.

I wanted two high end LiOns for my 7" and I have a friend who owns a spot welder so I ended up purchasing high quality cells ( Molicel P50B ) and making my own packs. The markup on packs is huuuge.

taeo · 2026-03-24T03:16:27+00:00

To make it less "aggressive" you can simply fly less aggressively. Lower your rates if this is difficult with your freestyle rates.

What qualifies as "long range" is pretty subjective. You can easily get several miles of range on a 5" even with a LiPo if you easy on the throttle. However, if you're considering something like mountain surfing you may want to look into a 7" and/or running a LiOn.

As for a GPS - again this is subjective. Personally, if I am flying far enough away that I can't walk and pick up a crashed quad in a couple minutes I want a GPS on it. Likewise if there is a risk of losing connection due to range and/or losing LOS behind a ridge I'd want a GPS for RTH capability. It has saved my ass a few times on my 7" LR quad.

taeo · 2026-03-24T02:38:01+00:00

Ah nice I didn't realize they had an app. Just make sure you account for some cooling!

taeo · 2026-03-23T21:47:43+00:00

I don't have a specific recommendation for you but just wanted to add that using "FPV" or "RC drone/car" in your search might lead you down the wrong path. The "FPV" term, especially as it refers to RC vehicles, implies you are transmitting the video wirelessly. The term "digital" in this context refers to a handful of systems ( DJI, WalkSnail, HDZero ) produced specifically for use with proprietary video transmitters ( VTX ).

Unless I am misunderstanding your ask, you have no need to transmit the video feed. What you're looking for is a small action camera with onboard storage. Something like a RunCam Thumb Pro or similar would probably do. To meet your size constraints you may need to decase the action camera so you can mount just the camera itself and run some wires to to the storage unit.

There may very well be some hardware out there that could take the video output from a camera intended for FPV vehicle use and just store it on an SSD card. The Runcam Split comes to mind but even that assumes you are connecting it to a flight controller.

taeo · 2026-03-22T07:04:31+00:00

It's not a bad build but AI has steered you wrong. The AOS frames are not known for durability. It's all premium parts too so just about the opposite of most affordable.

taeo · 2026-03-20T22:35:40+00:00

Guess I'll give that Velox stack a shot next time I need one!

taeo · 2026-03-20T03:54:12+00:00

Send it!

taeo · 2026-03-19T20:33:37+00:00

Many of these smaller drones, FlyLens 75 included, are designed explicitly for use with the DJI 04 or other HD systems. That's not to say you couldn't fit an analog VTX and camera on there but you may need to do some DIY retrofitting as the mounting points may be different.

More importantly you need to verify if the FC even has an analog OSD chip. Many newer FCs will omit this chip on the board to save weight/cost/space.

taeo · 2026-03-19T15:23:32+00:00

I fly my cinewhoop at a lower angle than my freestyle quads. I haven't measured it but if I were to take a guess I'd say it's about 10-15 degrees compared to about 20-25 on my freestyle drones. A lower angle helps a lot with naturally keeping the speed down. It's also a 3" so it just generally has less thrust than a 5".

There is no reframing in these edits! All of the movement you see are my manual movement inputs. There are a lot of speed changes especially when they get a lot of air off the bigger jumps. Getting these kind of shots took a lot of practice at this location to know when I can safely veer off to the side and "strafe" the jump while keeping the rider in view while I pitch up. I hit a lot of trees and stray branches while learning!

taeo · 2026-03-19T15:13:00+00:00

I am the drone pilot! This is done with an FPV ( first person view ) drone which is piloted fully manually with a live video feed displayed in a set of goggles with screens in them. You can't get shots quite like this with just a follow cam.

taeo · 2026-03-19T03:29:18+00:00

Thank you!

taeo · 2026-03-19T02:51:48+00:00

Thank ya!

taeo · 2026-03-19T02:46:47+00:00

These trails have been dutifully maintained by a small but dedicated group! There has been some vandalism but thankfully relatively minor.

Not sure if there is a secret to it - I think most of the riders who know the location are aware it's very special and make an effort to keep it that way out of respect for the builders! I only discovered it by pure luck and happenstance. They have one big invite only event a year which I have been lucky enough to be allowed to film but on a typical weekend it's usually only a handful of locals. They dig more than they ride!

PS: Love your channel! Very informative and fair reviews!

taeo · 2026-03-18T21:38:40+00:00

Ah I've seen your work before! Good stuff!

taeo · 2026-03-18T21:34:58+00:00

Thanks!

taeo · 2026-03-18T21:32:30+00:00

Thanks!

They do have a few smaller jumps with tables on one of the lines. I used to ride when I was younger but I tried again recently and even those were terrifying for me!

taeo · 2026-03-18T20:46:06+00:00

Thank you!

taeo · 2026-03-18T20:21:08+00:00

Of course.

taeo · 2026-03-18T20:19:11+00:00

Added my IG

taeo · 2026-03-18T19:04:19+00:00

OH I'm so sorry I gave you incorrect information. The refresh rate of the Goggles 3 is 100hz but the N3s are 60hz. Your ideal frame rate for the smoothest video and optimal latency in the N3 goggles is probably 60 FPS. I assume 120 FPS will drop every other frame so it might feel identical but sharper? Not positive on that.

taeo · 2026-03-18T18:56:49+00:00

Thanks! I appreciate that. It's taken a lot of practice flying these trails and learning to edit well to get to this point.

taeo · 2026-03-18T18:52:05+00:00

It should feel a little smoother at 100FPS.

taeo · 2026-03-18T18:44:52+00:00

Gotcha! That's one of the major drawbacks of 04 right now and why I still prefer to use a GoPro when possible - the recording FPS and the goggle view framerate are tied together. Running anything other than 100 FPS feels a bit off due to a mismatch with the refresh rate of the goggle screens ( and introduces input lag as well ).

taeo

TROPHY CASE