DJI Phantom Drone Advice

[Julian]

Wow....that follow me function is cool!

 

[Gym]

Must be a problem with all those little cars. They're all driving on the wrong side of the road.

 

[Brad_Ct]

I just ordered the advanced model, after seeing the follow me function I had to have one.

 

[njmr2fan]

Group buy?

 

[OCMD]

@Julian what specs are your laptop? No way anything should take 90 minutes to render. Wow. My old I3 with vista would not take that long. Something's wrong somewhere!

 

[Julian]

@Julian what specs are your laptop? No way anything should take 90 minutes to render. Wow. My old I3 with vista would not take that long. Something's wrong somewhere!

I think it had to do with the end resolution I had chosen as when I rendered it in the same resolution is was WAY faster. I did this on a 6 month old Dell XPS 8700SE that I bought specifically for video editing and some gaming....should be well powered to handle it!!

 

[OCMD]

There should be no issue with processing video with y our laptop. The only thing that will bog it down is when your hard drive starts filling up. Just make sure when you are done video editing, dump the video clips to an external hard drive. What editing software do you use? You always want to render in the highest quality.

 

[Julian]

I was using Corel Video Studio Pro X (forget the version number)

 

[biffdotorg]

I think it had to do with the end resolution I had chosen as when I rendered it in the same resolution is was WAY faster. I did this on a 6 month old Dell XPS 8700SE that I bought specifically for video editing and some gaming....should be well powered to handle it!!

I think you are on to something there as well. I shoot everything in 1080/60fps. Unless I want to spend a ton of time, I am editing in Movie maker for Windows or iMovie on the iPad and output to 1080. Then I upload that video to YouTube at 1080 as well. Nothing should take very long to process. There is more processing on YouTubes part before it is ready to be published than on my end. And the quality has remained while streaming.

I don't use the auto upload buttons in my editing software though to go to my YouTube channel. They like to drop my resolution to keep the file size smaller. I upload them manually within chrome and have good luck that way.

Good luck!

 

[njmr2fan]

I wish I made things easy on myself and just went online and bought a Phantom 3 this summer at launch. But then I just start reading and researching and waiting for new things to hit the market.... No wonder it took me 2 1/2 years to get a new cellphone...

I cant pull the trigger on a phantom because of this. I keep getting sucked back in...

 

[Ronnie]

I saw the solo and iris brand quad copters at frys electronics yesterday. I looked more closely at the solo. It has many of the same functions as a phantom 3. However, it's a completely al carte machine and the out the door price for the copter and the gimbal is $1,400 ($1,000 for the copter and $400 for the gimbal) before taxes or the value of the required gopro, currently another $400 (recall the basic gopro 4 can't be removed from its case so it won't work on the solo, at least not from what I've seen). Compare these costs to that of the phantom 2 or 3 series which range from $800 ton$1,200 but include a completely integrated system (I.e., copter, gimbal and camera) and it is a no brainer, at least for me financially.

 

[njmr2fan]

I have a GoPro3+Black, so thats why I keep looking at 3DR. Yuneec has some cool stuff coming as well after their partnership with Intel. They keep saying they're going to turn the drone market upside down...


http://linuxgizmos.com/intel-invests-60-million-in-drone-venture/

 

[Julian]

I have a GoPro3+Black, so thats why I keep looking at 3DR. Yuneec has some cool stuff coming as well after their partnership with Intel. They keep saying they're going to turn the drone market upside down...


http://linuxgizmos.com/intel-invests-60-million-in-drone-venture/

I like the addition of a hand grip for the camera/gimbal! Adds more utility to the HW! The VTOL machine is cool too!

 

[robert843]

Well I found a DJI phantom 3 standard under the tree this year. After reading this I'm wondering if I should't exchange it for an advanced? I think it will be more than a $200 upgrade for me as believe it was bought when they where on special for $499 plus a $100 target gift card was used that I got for buying an apple watch on black friday plus the 5% discount for using a red card. Is it worth the $620 upgrade as Target doesn't carry the advanced so I would have to get it elseware? I'm not sure how much I will use it also kind of wondering if I should keep this one and use it till it takes a spill in the drink then upgrade as @Ronnie did as I'm sure this or any other type of accident is bound to happen with my first drone.

 

[Julian]

Wow....tough choice....I just got a cheap entry level drone for $85 to see if I'd use it for much. So I understand what you mean when you wonder if you'd use it or not. Great price on the standard! If I were you, I'd use the one you got and see how much you use it. Then upgrade if you feel you need the Pro options.

 

[robert843]

@Julian i decided to keep it apparently Target messed something up when the person who got it for me bought it and in the end they paid under $300 for it so an upgraded at the price difference isn't something I'm interested in. When the bought it target didn't charge them the correct amount and when the called Target and debated with them for over an hour Target gave them $300 worth of gift cards and a discount so its not worth exchanging. I did use it today and it's range and wifi feed to my phone seemed good so I see no real need to up grade at this time but still think once I crash and break it that I may but as easy as it is to fly it may be awhile till that happens. The craziest part is how smooth the picture is. It's better then me holding a gopro by hand.

 

[Ronnie]

@robert843 , sounds like your friend got a great deal on the phantom 3 standard which is as good or better as the phantom 2+ version 3. Excellent heli even with out the light bridge system that extends the video feed.

You should love it, most people don't need the extended range. If you are still leaning to fly/ maintain orientation consider removing the camera for the first few flights. Otherwise remember altitude is your friend. If all else fails let go of the sticks and let the heli stabilize itself (assuming you are in the correct flight mode) while you plan out your next move/ how to get the heli back.

I'm looking forward to seeing Your resulting footage.

 

[Ronnie]

@robert843 , the faa requires all owners of drones weighing over 1 pound to register with them. I think they just want to know who to call if your heli downs a plane or crashes causing damage or injury. Stay away from airports, fires and no fly zones and you should be ok. Register before February and the $5 fee is waived.

Here is alone to the site.

Reminds me that I need to renew my a a insurance of the year.

https://registermyuas.faa.gov

 

[ChrisM]

There's a second difference between the Advanced and Professional, the charging wattage, and charging times. Not substantial, but with the short (23min) flight time, I'm sure the gain on the Professional charging time is a plus. Alternately DJI states that the camera system is not removable on either the Advanced, or professional.

 

[Ronnie]

The pro will charge almost twice as fast but it's the upgraded camera that sets the pro apart from advance model. Unless you have a 4k TV or monitor and / or a computer that can display or process such footage its probably not worth the $260 to $560 price premium over the advance or standard versions.

The cameras are all remove able across the phantom 3 model line but the light bridge system of the advance and professional is not compatible with third party cameras like the gopro. From what I've read the advanced flight modes like follow me and circle a point of interest are also not available on the standard model but for $699 the standard is a hell of a great deal especially considering that the phantom 2 version 3 that the phantom 3 standard replaces used to cost $1,259 just over a year ago.

If I got a p3 standard for $300 my only regret would be not buying at least two of them.