Viewing Angle Video

RH009 · Jun 4, 2022

So, @Chaosrider@brilliantfrogs got me thinking about the different viewing angles we FPV pilots can fly at. He's starting out in Manual Mode flying at -20° viewing angle, which I think threw a few of us for a loop... a NEGATIVE viewing angle to fly FPV, why would you do that? In all my FPV flights, I've never attempted to fly with a negative view angle, and wondered what it would be like. Would you even be able to fly the drone, while looking down? How hard would it be to control? Would it be harder or easier to hover? Hmmm, how about we just test the different angles and see, that seems like a good idea.

So I went out and did 7 loops around a field, flying from -30° to +30° and every 10° in between. Now, I'm no expert FPV pilot, and I still count myself as a young (old) padawan when it comes to FPV, but I was fairly surprised by the results. At -30°, it felt almost impossible to fly and felt like to gain any speed, I was looking straight at the ground. However, at -20° it was actually quite easy to fly, although a lot slower than I'm used to and no real good view of the horizon. I think the easiest viewing angle to hover at was -10°, with a decent view of the horizon and ground. Took me a moment to get my bearings, but then the hover was fairly easy.

With all that said, even though a neutral or positive viewing angle is the norm, I don't think there is a 'right' way to fly FPV, when it comes to angles. The viewing angle is all depended on what the individual pilot wants to get out of the experience. If you want to putter around and fly cautiously, than a negative viewing angle will work just fine. If you want speed and want to zoom around at over 70mphs, than a negative viewing angle just isn't going to cut it. Although I initially thought flying at a negative viewing angle was ridiculous, I have come to realize that it's not and is a perfectly acceptable way to fly, based on what the pilot wants.

Anyhow, thought I'd share my experience with you and have a video below of the different viewing angles. There are chapters in the description if you want to skip to a particular angle to watch. My apologies on the telemetry overlay, it is a little bit off, but close enough. It was late and I was angrily watching poor Tampa Bay lose to New York. Any feedback, thoughts or discussion are welcome.

Chaosrider@brilliantfrogs · Jun 11, 2022

What an excellent demo vid! Well organized, well flown, and well labeled.

What SW do you use to get that cool data display ribbon on the bottom of the screen??

RH009 said:
He's starting out in Manual Mode flying at -20° viewing angle, which I think threw a few of us for a loop... a NEGATIVE viewing angle to fly FPV, why would you do that?

I actually started out adjusting the camera angle all the time to get the view that I liked. Eventually, something an OP said made me realize that if I kept the camera at a fixed angle, I could use it as an attitude indicator, and I started doing that.

I started with -20º based on a dim impression that that's where I spent most of my time, and a strong preference not to have my screen filled with empty sky. As I started flying faster, I gradually moved the angle up, to the point where I've no settled on +10º, which is working well.

RH009 said:
I think the easiest viewing angle to hover at was -10°, with a decent view of the horizon and ground. Took me a moment to get my bearings, but then the hover was fairly easy.

Now, just to avoid confusing people, we should clarify that, despite the video evidence to the contrary, you never actually hovered in Manual mode, because everyone knows that's impossible...

;-)

RH009 said:
Although I initially thought flying at a negative viewing angle was ridiculous, I have come to realize that it's not and is a perfectly acceptable way to fly, based on what the pilot wants.

Frequently in life, not just in droning, the reason that something has always been done a certain way, is simply that it's always been done that way...

Ringing the bell on existing paradigms is one of my best skills!

bluesgeek · Jun 11, 2022

Camera angle, altitude, and speed are the variables to consider in arriving at your desired framing.

I don’t think you’d find a negative tilt effective or pleasing for low altitude skimming, and it would be risky for most flying where you aren’t at a height sufficient to clear obstacles outside of your FOV.

I tend to shoot for the horizon to be at the top 1/3 line of the frame, if I want to include it (unless I’m going for a look-down framing)

I usually fly at 10° — rarely lower than 0° (slow flight speed / indoor work) or higher than 20°).

Watching skilled FPV pilots flying slow with a highish (25-45°) uptilt is an interesting look-up framing aesthetic.

Thanks for the post and the video!

Made2Phly · Jun 12, 2022

RH009 said:
So, @Chaosrider@brilliantfrogs got me thinking about the different viewing angles we FPV pilots can fly at. He's starting out in Manual Mode flying at -20° viewing angle, which I think threw a few of us for a loop... a NEGATIVE viewing angle to fly FPV, why would you do that? In all my FPV flights, I've never attempted to fly with a negative view angle, and wondered what it would be like. Would you even be able to fly the drone, while looking down? How hard would it be to control? Would it be harder or easier to hover? Hmmm, how about we just test the different angles and see, that seems like a good idea.

So I went out and did 7 loops around a field, flying from -30° to +30° and every 10° in between. Now, I'm no expert FPV pilot, and I still count myself as a young (old) padawan when it comes to FPV, but I was fairly surprised by the results. At -30°, it felt almost impossible to fly and felt like to gain any speed, I was looking straight at the ground. However, at -20° it was actually quite easy to fly, although a lot slower than I'm used to and no real good view of the horizon. I think the easiest viewing angle to hover at was -10°, with a decent view of the horizon and ground. Took me a moment to get my bearings, but then the hover was fairly easy.

With all that said, even though a neutral or positive viewing angle is the norm, I don't think there is a 'right' way to fly FPV, when it comes to angles. The viewing angle is all depended on what the individual pilot wants to get out of the experience. If you want to putter around and fly cautiously, than a negative viewing angle will work just fine. If you want speed and want to zoom around at over 70mphs, than a negative viewing angle just isn't going to cut it. Although I initially thought flying at a negative viewing angle was ridiculous, I have come to realize that it's not and is a perfectly acceptable way to fly, based on what the pilot wants.

Anyhow, thought I'd share my experience with you and have a video below of the different viewing angles. There are chapters in the description if you want to skip to a particular angle to watch. My apologies on the telemetry overlay, it is a little bit off, but close enough. It was late and I was angrily watching poor Tampa Bay lose to New York. Any feedback, thoughts or discussion are welcome.

How does one get the pitch and other parameters in yellow at the bottom to display ? Or is this not a DJI FPV ?

RH009 · Jun 12, 2022

Made2Phly said:
How does one get the pitch and other parameters in yellow at the bottom to display ? Or is this not a DJI FPV ?

It's a 3rd party program called Telemetry Overlay, but it's not free. There's also another program called Dashware that is free, but no longer supported. I got it to work a few times, but ended up getting errors whenever I tried to modify the gauges to my liking, so I gave up on it and spent the $ on Telemetry Overlay.