Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

sand_dune · 11 Sep 2016 at 20:05

Andybtsn said:
Hi guys,

I'm looking for my first drone, I'm willing to go second hand for a cheaper deal but I'm after one with 4K capabilities if possible. I do have a GoPro 3 if that would a cheaper option. What would you recommend? I'd use it mainly for pics/videos of the scenery around where I live. Thanks

There aren't many drones that can shoot 4K to choose from, as I have learned by researching over a day or two.

Phantoms 3 at about £700 give you a crisp smooth image when flying straight, although they are terrible for when you have to move camera around (pan or pitch). Maybe not all of them are terrible, but certainly of a guy who posts in this thread flying over a coastal castle or something.

Here's a drone for £290 (used to be cheaper with about 10% discount, now expired, http://www.banggood.com/JYU-Hornet-...h-12MP-HD-Camera-RC-Quadcopter-p-1025118.html
It has 4K which is very good for panning and pitching, but less crisp than the Phantoms and a bit less smooth. The drone itself is advanced, has all modern features.

There is a couple more drones, that have required characteristics, but their price is not far from the Phantoms, which makes them a bad buy.

I am also looking for a good camera drone, that doesn't break the bank. I've ordered my first ever drone just now, which is a starter "toy" drone, so I can first get experienced flying it without being afraid to crash.
I ordered Wltoys q303 -A it has everything for learning to fly and taking videos. Large size drone, FPV with monitor, good quality camera (low res HD), motorised gimbal, altitude hold function. And it has cheap replacement parts. For £85

sand_dune · 11 Sep 2016 at 20:15

I think in order to make good aerial movies you need a narrow angle camera. So avoid when drones produce cheap looking videos, as if a cheap gopro is strapped to them. From what I've seen Yuneec Typhoon drones have this problem. they are not a videographer's choice.

Tone1979 · 12 Sep 2016 at 09:23

I am still stunned with how good the Phantom 4 is... The quality is astonishing for the amount it costs....

Delvis · 12 Sep 2016 at 12:17

The phantoms pan movement while recording is as good as the operator makes it really. No video is going to look good panning and moving forward if you jolt the stock down

Andybtsn · 12 Sep 2016 at 13:00

sand_dune said:
There aren't many drones that can shoot 4K to choose from, as I have learned by researching over a day or two.

Phantoms 3 at about £700 give you a crisp smooth image when flying straight, although they are terrible for when you have to move camera around (pan or pitch). Maybe not all of them are terrible, but certainly of a guy who posts in this thread flying over a coastal castle or something.

Here's a drone for £290 (used to be cheaper with about 10% discount, now expired, http://www.banggood.com/JYU-Hornet-...h-12MP-HD-Camera-RC-Quadcopter-p-1025118.html
It has 4K which is very good for panning and pitching, but less crisp than the Phantoms and a bit less smooth. The drone itself is advanced, has all modern features.

There is a couple more drones, that have required characteristics, but their price is not far from the Phantoms, which makes them a bad buy.

I am also looking for a good camera drone, that doesn't break the bank. I've ordered my first ever drone just now, which is a starter "toy" drone, so I can first get experienced flying it without being afraid to crash.
I ordered Wltoys q303 -A it has everything for learning to fly and taking videos. Large size drone, FPV with monitor, good quality camera (low res HD), motorised gimbal, altitude hold function. And it has cheap replacement parts. For £85

Thanks. After further research 4k does appear out of my reach. 1080p would be sufficient for my needs. I'm not wanting to spend more than £300 ideally, I imagine eBay is my best bet.

The Hornet I did research a lot, it does seem ideal although apparently not the greatest for someone wanting pictures. It's also a shame it's not sold in the UK.

Delvis · 12 Sep 2016 at 13:04

Andybtsn said:
Thanks. After further research 4k does appear out of my reach. 1080p would be sufficient for my needs. I'm not wanting to spend more than £300 ideally, I imagine eBay is my best bet.

The Hornet I did research a lot, it does seem ideal although apparently not the greatest for someone wanting pictures. It's also a shame it's not sold in the UK.

Look for some local drone page on Facebook audio, often the odd one popping up

Andybtsn · 12 Sep 2016 at 14:47

Might just get one new now. The wife has given me the go ahead aka "do what you want"

IvanDobskey · 12 Sep 2016 at 15:36

Andybtsn said:
Might just get one new now. The wife has given me the go ahead aka "do what you want"

Do what you want usually means exactly the opposite in women speak

Andybtsn · 12 Sep 2016 at 15:53

IvanDobskey said:
Do what you want usually means exactly the opposite in women speak

I told her I'd quote her on it when she finds out the price!! She saw some of the vids and pics in this thread and was impressed, plus we live in Yorkshire, a drone is a must here

So the P3 Standard, best place to buy?!

opstrat · 12 Sep 2016 at 16:31

i got my p3 4k from jessops.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store...s/offers on drones/Show.html?homepagestatic02

took advantage of their 12 months interest free.

Draeger · 12 Sep 2016 at 17:12

sand_dune said:
Maybe not all of them are terrible, but certainly of a guy who posts in this thread flying over a coastal castle or something.

That would be me.

To be fair, the video footage in question, around the castle was taken on maybe my 7th or 8th flight and it was the first time I had flown over water so I was a bit nervous. The panning jerkiness is down to how smooth the pilot operates the controls, I've got better since then but it does take a bit of practice. The other thing you can do which I've only recently started playing about with is go into the DJI Go app and adjust the aircrafts Gain and Expo settings. The Expo settings in particular make a huge difference to panning smoothly, there are some excellent tutorial vids on YouTube on how to go about it. I've now got my rudder Expo set at 0.37 and the panning is now massively improved, smoothness wise.

I honestly don't think at the current time, the Phantom 3 in any form, can be beaten for value for money. The tech it packs even at P3 Standard level, is astounding. I would say though that if you can afford it, splash out on an Advanced or Pro rather than the Standard or 4K model. That way, you get DJI Lightbridge which is a huge improvement on the Standard or 4K's WiFi signal.

Or if you can REALLY splash out, grab a Phantom 4. As Tone1979 already mentioned, it's an amazing piece of tech for the money.

I bought my P3S from Clifton Cameras who were excellent to deal with and have a zero % interest deal going on too.

chrismscotland · 12 Sep 2016 at 21:06

sand_dune said:
I think in order to make good aerial movies you need a narrow angle camera. So avoid when drones produce cheap looking videos, as if a cheap gopro is strapped to them. From what I've seen Yuneec Typhoon drones have this problem. they are not a videographer's choice.

I have to be honest and say I've not noticed any issues with the video quality of the Yuneec Typhoon, a lot of it seems more to do with getting the right settings in the first place, its not a camera to just leave on the auto settings to get the best out of it.

Andybtsn · 13 Sep 2016 at 01:55

I went for the P3 advanced in the end. Can't wait for it to arrive. Off to the Lakes this weekend so some ideal photo opportunities.

spookywillow · 13 Sep 2016 at 17:28

Just a heads up for those after a tablet for your phantom. Nvidia have the shield k1 back in stock for £169, just ordered one and am going to return this Acer iconic 10. Can't see the screen at all outside, pretty bad backlight bleed and feels very cheap for a £180 tablet.

Draeger · 13 Sep 2016 at 18:07

Does the Shield have GPS built in? As far as I'm lead to believe, iPads, Air or Mini flavours will only allow 'Follow Me' functions to work if they are of a cellular type. Non cellular Apple devices will result in Follow Me not working.

Not sure if it's the same with Android devices. That said, the Shield is superbly fast and runs DJI Go incredibly well, so well worth a punt at £169 compared to an iPad Air, Air 2 or Mini 2 at a correspondingly higher price.

Draeger · 13 Sep 2016 at 18:18

Scratch that - works fine according to the guys over at PhantomPilots. Follow Me works well too, even if it's a bit gimmicky to begin with. Be sure to turn off USB Debugging in developer options and most suggest not updating the O/S to 6.0 as it's very buggy.

At £169 this has got to be a bargain for use with a Phantom.

Rilot · 13 Sep 2016 at 18:28

I have a Shield and it's the best of the Android tablets with the Phantom / Inspire but is utterly trounced by even an iPad 2 mini.
I was running an iPad Mini 2 but bought a Shield because of all the good press and people over on Phantom Pilots and Inspire Pilots saying how great it was with the Phantom. It's not. All Android tablets are junk with DJI Go due to DJI not supporting hardware accelerated decode on any Android device. The iPad Mini 2 by comparison is smooth as butter and never drops any frames. The Shield runs at around 1/2 the frame rate.
I went back to an iPad and now my 2-year-old has the Shield as his Youtube tablet.

Draeger · 13 Sep 2016 at 20:09

Rilot said:
I have a Shield and it's the best of the Android tablets with the Phantom / Inspire but is utterly trounced by even an iPad 2 mini.
I was running an iPad Mini 2 but bought a Shield because of all the good press and people over on Phantom Pilots and Inspire Pilots saying how great it was with the Phantom. It's not. All Android tablets are junk with DJI Go due to DJI not supporting hardware accelerated decode on any Android device. The iPad Mini 2 by comparison is smooth as butter and never drops any frames. The Shield runs at around 1/2 the frame rate.
I went back to an iPad and now my 2-year-old has the Shield as his Youtube tablet.

Disappointing to read that m8! Lots of folk praise them highly on the Phantom forums, maybe many of them haven't compared the performance to the iPad Mini 2 though? I dunno? Youtube videos I've watched of the K1 seem to suggest it performs very well and I like the idea of being able to plug Headplay goggles directly into it via HDMI. I have been toying with the idea of picking up a used iPad Mini 2 or iPad Air and using it solely as a dedicated DJI Go tablet. Spotted the Shield was going for £169 and thought I had found a bargain solution, but now after reading your post I'm not so sure!

I thought at £169 it was a no-brainer given a half decent used iPad Mini 2 or Air will rush you about £200-£250.

Delvis · 13 Sep 2016 at 20:23

The Android software is an afterthought from dji, I believe originally there wasn't even one available to use?

Rilot · 14 Sep 2016 at 09:51

I'd say that in isolation its acceptable to use but the iPads just perform so much better with DJI Go.
Plugging the Headplays in to the HDMI output exacerbates the frame rate drops and it's really not that immersive. I just plug the Headplays directly in to the transmitter's HDMI output and then run dual outs. Not sure you can do this with the Phantom though.