It would be helpful to know more about your objective.
1. What is your experience with Radio Control models and multi-rotor helicopters?
2. What is your experience with photography?
3. Stills, Video, or both?
4. Professional or fun?
As Chris suggested, the "Getting Started" tab provides a lot of information about Arducopter and APM. After that, read the threads in the forum and the Wiki.
If you want to lift a point and shoot or a GoProHD, you can do so with a relatively inexpensive Quad.
If you want to lift a professional still or video camera, you will need a Hex or Octa capable of lifting 3-6 pounds, depending upon the weight of the camera. It is not cheap to build one of these as you will want to use the highest quality motors, ESC, and batteries because when one of these falls out of the sky, it can be quite expensive and it is nearly impossible to obtain insurance that will replace broken equipment.
I know of several people who have had their DIY Octa fall out of the sky into the water and the replacement cost was $8-10K when you consider the camera & gimbal. Many of these crashes were due to brownouts caused by a poorly designed power distribution grid. Another acquaintance dropped a $150K turbine collective pitch heli with a $20K camera into the ocean.
I have been a cinematographer and professional photographer for many years but I am just getting into AP. I will be happy to answer those questions I can answer.
Replies
Jose:
It would be helpful to know more about your objective.
1. What is your experience with Radio Control models and multi-rotor helicopters?
2. What is your experience with photography?
3. Stills, Video, or both?
4. Professional or fun?
As Chris suggested, the "Getting Started" tab provides a lot of information about Arducopter and APM. After that, read the threads in the forum and the Wiki.
If you want to lift a point and shoot or a GoProHD, you can do so with a relatively inexpensive Quad.
If you want to lift a professional still or video camera, you will need a Hex or Octa capable of lifting 3-6 pounds, depending upon the weight of the camera. It is not cheap to build one of these as you will want to use the highest quality motors, ESC, and batteries because when one of these falls out of the sky, it can be quite expensive and it is nearly impossible to obtain insurance that will replace broken equipment.
I know of several people who have had their DIY Octa fall out of the sky into the water and the replacement cost was $8-10K when you consider the camera & gimbal. Many of these crashes were due to brownouts caused by a poorly designed power distribution grid. Another acquaintance dropped a $150K turbine collective pitch heli with a $20K camera into the ocean.
I have been a cinematographer and professional photographer for many years but I am just getting into AP. I will be happy to answer those questions I can answer.
How about the "Getting Started" tab right at the top of this page?