DJI Phantom Drone Advice

[Brad_Ct]

I see that several of you on here have purchased one of the later versions of these and like others have been afraid that I will use this for awhile and it will end up like my remote controlled trucks sitting in a drawer. Since the prices have come down I really am considering buying one.

The new Phantom 3 has been released in three different versions, Standard, Advanced, and Professional. The only difference that I can see is the video resolution of the camera, 2.7k, 1080p, and 4k respectively.

From my research I can buy a standard for $800.00 and a advanced for $1000.00. The question is: Would it be worth spending an extra $200. for the higher video resolution?

 

[Morrowcat]

Are you really into editing and being a perfectionist on your videos?

 

[Bruce]

@Ronnie, I believe you have the most knowledge here!

 

[Julian]

And do you have a high powered PC for editing high res video?

 

[Brad_Ct]

And do you have a high powered PC for editing high res video?

Good question, never thought about that.

 

[Julian]

I shot the 242X videos with my Canan 70D in 1080P and it was 14 minutes long, I just bought a pretty high end Dell and it took 90 minutes to render the first version I did (It was rendered it in a lower resolution thinking uploading would be faster), then I rendered in the same resolution and it took 10 minutes or so, but uploading was a lot slower (no idea how long it took as I let it run over night!)

 

[Ronnie]

The big difference between the phantom 3 standard and the advance/professional is the first person viewing system. On the standard version you get the basic wifi system that was first introduced on the phantom 2 vision. Basically a wifi connection between the user's smart phone or tablet and the vision camera, the signal is boosted by a wifi extender mounted to the remote. Even with the extender the range is limited to around 1,000 feet which is more than enough for most people.

The advance/professional versions of the phantom 3 use DJI's proprietary FPV system known as Light Bridge. It utilizes a wired connection between the user's smart phone or tablet and the remote which contains the light bridge system. It is much more powerful than standard wifi and as a result the range is over 1.2 miles and the FPV resolution can be in HD and in almost real time (i.e., very little lag/latency). For reference, DJI offers a stand alone version of the Light Bridge system for about $1,200.

The only difference between the advance and professional is the camera. The professional has a 4K camera and everything I've read indicates that it is well worth the extra $200 the professional costs over the advance. I believe the standard and the advance share the same HD camera mounted a three axis gimbal. For me, the non-professional camera is fine. Recording in 4K eats storage space quickly, editing 4K video can take extra long, especially if you don't have what amounts to a super computer with a giant hard-drive. Also, I currently don't have anything that supports 4K and when I upload videos to youtube I usually reduce the resolution to make it less of a data hog for anyone who might view the video.

Given the above this is what I did most recently (after crashing my phantom 2 vision into the water). I got the phantom 3 advance ($1,000), the light bridge system not only extends the range it eliminates connection problems between the smart phone or tablet and the camera which I often experienced on the phantom 2. Also the DJI interface for light bridge is so much more advanced but also more intuitive than that of the Phantom 2 or Phantom 3 standard. If I was really into photography or videography I would have gone with the professional version but I'm not so I didn't.

I you are looking for a recommendation, I say get at least the advance version of the Phantom 3.

Other things to consider in regard to Phantom 3s:
1. It's never a bad thing to have at least two batteries (one primary and one spare) but they can be hard to stock up on at $150 each. The Phantom 2 batteries are not interchangeable with the Phantom 3 batteries.
2. Editing video can take a long time to do, especially if you don't have the knack for it. I've got it down to about 30 minutes of work to produce 1 minute of edited video.
3. If you want to add FPV goggles to the Advance or Professional versions and the goggles have and HDMI connection, an HDMI receiver upgrade or NVidia Shield tablet (with an HDMI port will be needed). This cost $100 and $300, respectively.
4. The googles have a price range of $300 to 800.

 

[Julian]

@Ronnie very helpful information!!! This is one of those luxury purchases I would really love to make...but worry it would just be another "Shelf Toy" after very few uses....or I'd crash it in the water...and it would become a workbench project...behind all the others...

 

[Volffas]

The big difference between the phantom 3 standard and the advance/professional is the first person viewing system. On the standard version you get the basic wifi system that was first introduced on the phantom 2 vision. Basically a wifi connection between the user's smart phone or tablet and the vision camera, the signal is boosted by a wifi extender mounted to the remote. Even with the extender the range is limited to around 1,000 feet which is more than enough for most people.

The advance/professional versions of the phantom 3 use DJI's proprietary FPV system known as Light Bridge. It utilizes a wired connection between the user's smart phone or tablet and the remote which contains the light bridge system. It is much more powerful than standard wifi and as a result the range is over 1.2 miles and the FPV resolution can be in HD and in almost real time (i.e., very little lag/latency). For reference, DJI offers a stand alone version of the Light Bridge system for about $1,200.

The only difference between the advance and professional is the camera. The professional has a 4K camera and everything I've read indicates that it is well worth the extra $200 the professional costs over the advance. I believe the standard and the advance share the same HD camera mounted a three axis gimbal. For me, the non-professional camera is fine. Recording in 4K eats storage space quickly, editing 4K video can take extra long, especially if you don't have what amounts to a super computer with a giant hard-drive. Also, I currently don't have anything that supports 4K and when I upload videos to youtube I usually reduce the resolution to make it less of a data hog for anyone who might view the video.

Given the above this is what I did most recently (after crashing my phantom 2 vision into the water). I got the phantom 3 advance ($1,000), the light bridge system not only extends the range it eliminates connection problems between the smart phone or tablet and the camera which I often experienced on the phantom 2. Also the DJI interface for light bridge is so much more advanced but also more intuitive than that of the Phantom 2 or Phantom 3 standard. If I was really into photography or videography I would have gone with the professional version but I'm not so I didn't.

I you are looking for a recommendation, I say get at least the advance version of the Phantom 3.

Other things to consider in regard to Phantom 3s:
1. It's never a bad thing to have at least two batteries (one primary and one spare) but they can be hard to stock up on at $150 each. The Phantom 2 batteries are not interchangeable with the Phantom 3 batteries.
2. Editing video can take a long time to do, especially if you don't have the knack for it. I've got it down to about 30 minutes of work to produce 1 minute of edited video.
3. If you want to add FPV goggles to the Advance or Professional versions and the goggles have and HDMI connection, an HDMI receiver upgrade or NVidia Shield tablet (with an HDMI port will be needed). This cost $100 and $300, respectively.
4. The googles have a price range of $300 to 800.

I came here to say this, but Ronnie said it much better than I could have.

I have researched the new Phantoms quite a bit, I agree with him, spend the extra $200 and get the Advanced. I don't see any need for the Professional unless you are trying to make a living flying it.

 

[Brad_Ct]

Thank you, that is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[Glassman]

I've had the Phantom 2 vision for a while now and I've gotten some great shots with it, but sometimes it's hard to choose between chasing the kids with the copter or on my dirt bike. I will probably end up getting one of those follow-me drones like the Iris+ , AirDog or Lily. That way we can all have fun while the drone does all the work!

 

[njmr2fan]

I think the Advanced is good enough, thats what im after at least. There are plenty of comparisons on the web who state that the advanced and pro version isn't a big enough difference to justify the cost.

 

[Ronnie]

Depending on your needs / intended uses, the phantom 2 vision may be enough. If I didn't crash and break mine I'd still be using it and would be over $1k better off for it. It's a great system for capturing close in footage while boating whether flying by line of sight or fpv. I've seen used ones with extras on my local Craig's list for $400, a drone based company nearby is selling used phantom 2 vision plus v3s for $650. If you are worried you won't get much use out of one or just want to reduce your buy-in costs I recommend that you consider getting a used one.

One big deficiency of the phantom series is that they are not water resistant. As soon as my air dog comes in/supposedly just after this boating season I intend to send the new phantom to have it waterproofed. FYI - I got an email from air dog yesterday indicating that the release timeline is still on track despite some technical issues. They are in the fcc approval process now.

Another deficiency is that neither the phantoms nor the airdog float, unlike the lily. However, the lily's ship date is even sketchier than the air dog. FYI - all I've received from them so far is a receipt, pics of their new San Francisco office and several employee profiles. No changes forward or backward on their tentative Feb. 2016 ship date.

If you want both of these features or just dont want to fly a radio controlled quad copter (technically it's not a drone unless it takes off, flys and lands on its own), consider waiting for the lily or lily like quad copters to be released. Not as fun as playing with something tomorrow, trust me, I know.

 

[Glassman]

@Ronnie said: "However, the lily's ship date is even sketchier than the air dog. FYI - all I've received from them so far is a receipt, pics of their new San Francisco office and several employee profiles. No changes forward or backward on their tentative Feb. 2016 ship date."

Oh my, that HAS to be comforting!!

I have YOU to thank for turning me on to all this Ronnie - so THANKS...I've had a blast so far, but I'm a skeered to fly it over water just yet

Not only that, with all the misinformation going around about quadcopters (drones -bad name) I'm hesitant to fly it around the neighborhood and usually reserve it for the wide open desert. I caught a glimpse of something on the news this morning as I was walking out the door - some guy detained over night over the use of a "Drone" - it showed a picture of a nice Inspire with dual controls and a hard carry case next to a black & white. I'll have to see if I can dig up the story...

 

[Glassman]

Hmmm, this looks like fun!

http://gizmodo.com/parrot-minidrone-hands-on-holy-shit-i-love-this-hydro-1713429435

 

[Volffas]

@Ronnie said: "However, the lily's ship date is even sketchier than the air dog. FYI - all I've received from them so far is a receipt, pics of their new San Francisco office and several employee profiles. No changes forward or backward on their tentative Feb. 2016 ship date."

Oh my, that HAS to be comforting!!

I have YOU to thank for turning me on to all this Ronnie - so THANKS...I've had a blast so far, but I'm a skeered to fly it over water just yet

Not only that, with all the misinformation going around about quadcopters (drones -bad name) I'm hesitant to fly it around the neighborhood and usually reserve it for the wide open desert. I caught a glimpse of something on the news this morning as I was walking out the door - some guy detained over night over the use of a "Drone" - it showed a picture of a nice Inspire with dual controls and a hard carry case next to a black & white. I'll have to see if I can dig up the story...

Maybe this is what you saw on the news today? http://abc7.com/news/drone-operator-taken-into-custody-after-close-call-with-lapd-helicopter/960511/

Goofballs like that guy are going to ruin the fun of these quadcopters for everyone.

 

[Ronnie]

@Glassman , uh? Sorry or your welcome, what is the appropriate response to getting you into an expensive (by some standards) and time consuming hobby?

@Volffas , agreed. They want attention not great footage. If you want great footage, watch the news, Law Enforcement and the News Stations gets great clips.

 

[biffdotorg]

For those that wanted to get started with a Phantom 3 Standard, DJI just announced a 13% discount on the Standard model. This drops them to $699 complete. That's what the Phantom 2 with gimbal is costing not including camera or Video transmitter equipment.

http://store.dji.com/phantom

So if you don't want to shell out the cash for an Advanced or Pro, but want to start playing, that's a good start for sure. I know I have near double that tied up in my Phantom 2 with Gimbal and GoPro, but it's also performing more at the level of the Advanced. It's technology and the price will always be a moving target that will always be dropping, or getting more for the same money.

Good luck!

 

[Ronnie]

If you don't want or need the extended radio range of the phantom 3 advance or professional $1,000 and $1,250, respectively, the phantom 3 standard is a great buy at $700. It has the same camera as the advanced so it can be upgraded from 1,080p to 2,700. This camera is supposed to eliminate the fish eye effect that the phantom 2s and gopro exhibited or still exhibit.

 

[Ronnie]

I'm happy to report that the follow me and point of interest functionality added to the phantom 3 advance work as advertised. If you are looking at getting into flying cameras but are on the fence as to what to get, i don't think you can go wrong with any dji phantom with a built in camera but the phantom 3 advance seems to hit the sweet spot for me where features and cost are concerned.