(Tech note: The video in this post was shot on the 5D mark II. Disclosure: The link below is an affiliate link, which means I get a % of the sales. YAY)
For Christmas Bonny and I got Ken (Bonny’s dad) an RC Helicopter. It is a pretty popular one, the E-Flite Blade CX 2. It had crashed a few times and still holds up… well… after some replacement parts too.
If you are looking for RC helicopters this one is really good, but be ready to spend a little bit of money on some extra parts. So far we have gone through 4 bottom blades, 2 top blades, 2 main rotor head (more on this below), 2 left skids, and 1 main rotor gear.
One thing I wish the hobby store would have told us was that they sell an aluminum replacement main rotor head. We broke two then while in the store to buy a third the sales guy happened to give us an aluminum one. So… if you buy this helicopter you should definitely get a bunch of blades, the aluminum rotor head, and some extra everythings.
Ugh. I wish I hadn’t watched this. Now I want one. $180 is a bit steep … going to have to work really hard on not buying it. Oh brother. I wanted to stop buying ’stuff’. (if I buy one I’ll use your link – yay!)
Dude I wish I had been there to see the fun! Looks like a lot more fun than just going straight up and down in the patio!
@Chris, Do be careful!!! It is addicting and once you buys it you can’t not buy replacement parts!!! I’d say once you can say “Yeah I can just burn this $400 and it won’t mean anything to me” then go for it. Well…. hhhmmm…. Actually if you can say “Yeah I can burn $400 and have TONS of fun for HOURS!!!” then go for it!!!
@Vu, Yes. Much more fun. Even though I was too chicken to fly it it was fun to be here Filming it… wait it is not filming… it is videoing??? Maybe Digitaling??? Digitally recording it? 5D mark II’n it… there that is it.
Yeah, the CX2 is pretty fragile. You can get a simulator online if you want to learn how to fly it without burning through 100 bucks. I have the MCX (Mini CX2) and that thing is damn near indestructible!
@Tom, The simulator looked pretty cool (I used it in the shop) so yeah, I think I’ll get one of those.
Hey Lan,
Thats pretty cool.
Did you get hit by it at the end?
Quality from the 5D Mark II looks great. Thats the first “action”/”moving around” stuff i’ve seen. Looks quite hard to do on the move focus!
I just took my 1Ds Mark II out and tried to walk around the studio on manual focus keeping shot as well focused as possible.
I now have a bruise on my leg and broken flash head – luckily a cheap one… but consider it lesson learnt this end!
“That was a crash!” – Funniest line in the whole thing…
I firmly believe ignorance is bliss so I will be refraining from showing this video to my kids unless I want to ruin their day.
@Paul Smart, I didn’t get hit. The 5D Mark II is very hard to use handheld in video mode. I think an external monitor and a tripod will make it much better. But it is nice to be able to get full HD video any time I’m shooting!
@Darlene, Oh no! It is the harsh reality!!!
Ugh, this seems fun… now I want one too!
Get one! They are sooooooo fun.
Wow …had I known we would have had more to talk about. I have this Heli (and a bunch more). This is my one NON computer hobby.
@Ellis, Isn’t it fun!!!
Yes … very much. GOOD call on the aluminum parts.
You might also like the Walkera 5#10. It’s ALL aluminum. The radio isn’t nearly as good as the Blade CX2 though and you’ll have to mail order parts. Other than that … this is a very addicting (and expensive) hobby.
@Ellis, It does get very expensive. I think we have spent double the cost of the helicopter in replacement parts. I’ll check out the Walkera.