I purchased a Skydio 2 primarily for use in the forests and mountains around here. I thought the aerial perspective and low level tracking would both add something unique to the videos. I wanted an autonomous drone, one that flew itself. And for flying in the woods, I needed good obstacle avoidance, and Skydio 2 currently has the best, although it is not foolproof.
The basic package comes with only the drone. It is controlled with an app on your phone. I also got the sports kit, which also includes the Beacon, two extra batteries, and a 128mb SD card. The Beacon is small but powerful, and adds GPS tracking to greatly extend the visual tracking of the Skydio's camera. Later, I added the Controller. It has joysticks and a paddle for additional camera manipulation. The Controller is suited to advanced cinematography but has some unique capabilities for cycling videos.
The Skydio user manuals are the best way for learning how to operate these drones, but I thought it might be useful to others here to see someone learning from scratch how to use one with a trike. The two short videos below show my initial attempts at basic flying skills. First one is a case takeoff and landing, with a 250 foot climb in between. The second shows a hand launch and catch, with motion tracking at both low (3 feet) and high levels. (The Skydio 2 can "follow" you from behind, in front, and from six different side angles.) For these two intro videos, I have included screen recording of what you see on the phone.
