Phantom 3 pro = call to reason

xahhax

Member
Today I received my Phantom 3 and did my first flights.

A bit about myself, I fly RC helicopters for years. I am a reasonable 3D pilot with thousands of flights.
My wife is a pro photographer, so using drones for taking pictures became kind of an obvious common interest.
But of course, my RC background would not let me think about buying a phantom. To me phantom = RTF = inconceivable. Using anything than my high end Futaba radio and trusting somebody with assembly, soldering etc was not an option.
So I started my drone journey with a F550 and a gopro. We took some good shots but it was a heavy pelican case to carry it around in airplanes, no option to remotely trigger stills or videos etc. Not ideal.
We also had a DJI S900/A2 with a Panasonic GH4 but there the pelican case option was not even considered and again no possibility to change camera settings remotely and yes, despite a great quality, in the end, it was quite a heavy logistic exercise to carry it around and boot it up for few shots.
Then a friend of mine gave me an Inspire 1 for a week-end and wow, this thing was super easy to get in the air, shoot, transport.
I did a bit of googling and realized that the Phantom 3 Pro had pretty much the same camera and was even smaller so I got a backback+second battery combo from DJI.COM and all I can say is wow, this thing is amazing.
We will carry it everywhere.
It's a bit like the question "What is the best camera" and the answer "the one you have with you when you need it" (and today that would be a smartphone for most people even DSLR owners...)
It is just so easy to set it up, fly, monitor the framing, land. Great flight time...you owners know the drill.
So yes, I knew how to fly those things from day 1- they are super easy vs. a 3D helicopter monster - but that background of mine set me a year back and quite some dollars instead of jumping straight to the most convenient and reasonable choice: the phantom. Granted the Phantom 2 and 3 are quite different things and the 3 did not exist at the time, but still...If you are even thinking about going down that route, get a phantom 3 first and see where it takes you..because you will take everywhere it is such a convenient bird.
 

Youngbill

New Member
You pretty much read my mind! I took a similar path, F550 & F450 with GoPros. It was always such a chore to lug the F550 and all the supporting equipment. There were many times I would just leave it at home and then wish I had it. I love the P3, even with its tilted horizon!
 

xahhax

Member
Yes I just wish i did not have to go through all this trouble. I keep flying the P3P, really impressed. Flight times are great, very stable on hover, image quality.
 

olof

Osprey
I have S800 with the Zenmuse, 3 years old. A F550 with a Alex... GoPro cam with a vid DL. And a F450 with the latest Zenmuse mini and GoPro. I shoot a lot as I have a video production company. And I fly RC for fun.

Anyway I have helped a lot of people fix their drones and I work with a local dealer, to build and train new pilots. So yesterday I helped a lady who just got a P3Pro and I was so impressed I just ordered one myself. Wow DJI has come a long way.

It will be here tomorrow, just in time for some foliage shooting here in NH.

I will post my impressions here later.
 

olof

Osprey
I have an S800 with a Zenmuse and a F550 and F450 with DJI vid DL and H3D Zenmuse as well as a few other aircraft that shoot video as well.

I bought this because I set one up for a client and could not believe how well it worked and the fantastic quality of the cam.

Here is a video from my first job with the P3P. Got another job to do tomorrow, I am bringing the S800 as well but I bet I wil primarily use the P3P, it is so nimble and quick to set up. Some of these shots will probably be part of a Doc we are making about the CSRR. A lot of CC is neede to match shots better, but this is very nice starting place. There are a couple shots from the FS7 (an $8,000.00 camera) with a $3,000.00 lens in here as well, but the shots match up quite well IMHO.

Great job DJI.

 

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