By Zer0
Most FPV videos start when the batteries get plugged in.
This one starts way before that.
I wanted to make something around the side of FPV that usually gets skipped over. Repairing drones after crashes, soldering at the table, packing gear into a bag, checking everything before heading to the field. The small routine every FPV pilot knows, but most people never really see.
That’s where the idea for “The Part Nobody Sees” came from.
I shot the whole thing on the Nikon ZR using the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S with a Helix variable ND filter, and it ended up being a really fun setup for this kind of project.
The 24-70 worked perfectly because the video needed a bit of everything. Wider shots for the environment, closer shots for details like soldering, plugging in electronics, tools on the table, and all the little moments in between. I never really felt limited by the lens while shooting.
A lot of the footage was handheld too, which helped the video feel more natural. I didn’t want it to look overly clean or commercial. FPV is messy sometimes. Props break, screws disappear, things stop working for no reason. Keeping a little movement in the footage matched that feeling better.
One thing I noticed while filming with the Nikon ZR is how easy it is to get footage that already feels cinematic straight out of the camera. The image has a very clean look, but it still keeps texture and atmosphere, especially in darker scenes. Shots around the workbench at night ended up looking exactly how they felt in real life.
The variable ND filter also made shooting a lot easier than I expected. We were constantly moving between indoors and outdoors, and being able to quickly adjust exposure without stopping every few minutes helped keep the flow going.
In the end, this video wasn’t really about flying.
It was about everything surrounding it.
The preparation, the repairs, the routine. The part of FPV that slowly becomes its own ritual over time.