Dynaphos with 5 cameras and flight streaming for Nikolay Kalaydjiev's Guinness record attempt

Dynaphos monitored and filmed pilot Nikolay Kalaydjiev's Guinness record flight with five cameras - two on the ground and three in the plane. We also live-streamed the footage from his take-off almost until his landing in a special event on our Facebook page.

"We positioned the Panasonic HC-X2000 4K 3G and Blackmagic Studio Camera 4K Pro G2 video cameras on the ground with an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f4 IS PRO zoom lens. We recorded in the airplane with three GoPro action cameras Hero 8 and GoPro Hero 9 with Display Mod, and an Insta 360 X3, which can shoot in 360 degrees," explained Dynaphos manager Hristo Kabadaev and video and audio equipment manager Yulian Georgiev, who were the team on site.

The photos were taken with a Nikon Z6 II camera with a Nikkor 24-120mm f4 S lens. For ambient sound and atmosphere from Lesnovo airfield, where the flight took place as part of Inter Drone Expo, as well as for an interview with Nico after his landing, the small HOLLYLAND Lark M1 DUO wireless microphones were used. We also entrusted the communication between the plane and the ground to HOLLYLAND. For this, we used the HOLLYLAND COSMO C1 TX RX wireless video-audio transmission system.

And how was the real-time footage streamed? Via vMix with a laptop, switching between images: initially from 3 cameras - the two ground cameras and one GoPro in the plane, and until the end of the online broadcast - only from the ground cameras. The team set up the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Extreme ISO video mixer on a regular coffee table, on which they mounted stands and tripods for two control monitors to precisely track the plane in the air. 

"You can't use any automatic features because they lie" - this turned out to be one of the biggest challenges, the team shared. And further: "For this type of filming, where you must not lose sight of a moving object, maximum concentration is required at all times. Especially because the plane is a very small part of the frame - one-fiftieth to one-hundredth of it - and its color coincides with the background, with the sky, for most of the time."

Situations that could have caused an extreme reaction until the very end were related to the questions of whether the memory cards would suffice and if the batteries would last. All this - against the backdrop of uncertainty about how long the flight would actually last - whether the approximately 6 hours initially expected, according to the pilot's own calculations, would be less or more. 

The uncertainty was further intensified by the poor weather conditions. Due to low visibility, below 1000 meters, the start was postponed several times and was given at 12:58 instead of 10:00. Nikolay Kalaydjiev performed the 400 virages required by Guinness for the record in 2 hours and 21 minutes, significantly faster than his preliminary estimates. Thus, in 4 hours and 31 minutes, the 36-year-old pilot, a military aviator by profession, completed the symbolic 888 laps, while the record observers - European gliding champion and honored master of sports Tanya Obretenova and international gliding judge and national champion Prof. Dimo Zafirov - recorded 890. 

After sending the documents to Guinness, including the video recording, Nikolay Kalaydjiev expects to be told within 5 days whether his world record will be registered.

"But I know what I've done!" he stated.

The total video recording from our cameras is over 20 hours. The main Panasonic documented Niko's landing with his first words:

"I could have done more. I wanted to do 1001. I wanted to show that I am number 1!"

You can watch what else he said in our 5-minute video, where we collected moments from the start, the greeting to the official guests at the airport, among whom was the Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoicheva, the virages and the landing. The interview with the pilot is by journalist Ekaterina Kostova, who also handles the articles from our events and portraits in the blog and on Dynaphos' Facebook page.  

Expect more photos there. And if you are interested in the setup we used to witness Niko's record for Guinness, please come to our showroom at 90 "Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov" Blvd in Sofia to see, touch, and test it. You can ask questions, get answers, and of course, acquire it - as a set or individually, product by product according to your needs.