We gave a professional drone operator a new Moto X. This was the 4K goodness that happened next.

We’ve always loved the fact that our users can use their Moto X (2nd Gen.) to capture memories in Ultra HD (4K). But how could we take a step further and capture some sweet footage? Attach the phone to a drone, of course. Professional drone operator Glenn McKenna took the new Moto X out for a drive. Don’t try this at home, kids!

It’s not often that you have the chance to shoot ultra HD on a phone.

We recently had a chance to fly our aerial rig in San Francisco using the new, lightweight Moto X. Moto X (2nd Gen.) can shoot 4K video, a super high resolution format. It’s usually used for big screens, super sharp TVs, or in filmmaking when you want vibrant images with a lot of flexibility to edit.



We were really pleased with the 4K video from Moto X. The phone’s auto-exposure and auto-focus came in handy as we flew the drone to focus on light and dark areas.

We were able to edit some of the footage on a 1080 (2K) timeline and have quite a bit of wiggle room to crop the video without losing any quality. We could shoot pretty wide and still focus in on the exact images we wanted.

And since the phone weighs 1/10th of what we usually fly, our flight time was more than five times longer than with our typical DSLR camera that only shoots 1080p footage. We’d definitely recommend it for anyone who wants the ability to shoot 4K video from a device that fits in your pocket.

All in all, we captured some stunning extended footage using this lightweight phone. We were able to weave it into this video using exceptional amount of control and versatility with the ability to shoot 4K video!

Check out some of the behind-the-scenes shots from the drone shoot:

Guest post by Glenn McKenna, Drone Operator, Float Deck Films