Getting a Drone

So my loving wife has finally caved in and is allowing me to get a Drone. I'm currently stuck on which one I want either the DJI P3 pro or the Yuneec Typhoon Q500 both shoot video in 4k . I am curious if anyone here has a drone and knows anything about these, I know I could go big and get the Inspire or the Mavic but both are above my budget. What are your takes on this?

 

My old boss bought a DJI a few years ago for scouting fields, he seems to like it.

 

Here at the shop we have a DJI Phantom 2. Its a neat drone that gives you the basics but definitely takes some practice or some knowledge of how to fly.

I have the Yuneec Typhoon. It flys SUPER nice and everything is integrated. The Yuneec is much slower than the DJI too, so I wouldn't recommend the Yuneec if you are trying to do motorsports filming and such.

 

I've owned and built several drones over the past five years. I have had everything from a simple quad setup to a massive custom heavy lift hexacopter. The software on these is always advancing and updating. I would suggest DJI for a few reasons. The parts are easily available and so are software upgrades. I suggest you look into the new phantom 4. There are lots of great deals on various websites that you can get the carrying case, spare batteries, the quad itself and remote for a very good price. They are very easy to fly as long as you pay attention to what the operating system is able to do. Make sure you have a return to home feature. This allows you to hit a button and the drone will fly back to where you took off automatically. Also you need to register it with with ffa for $5. There are a lot of legal restrictions now day on them. The phantom 4 also allows you to start recording video or pics all while in flight and see the video on your screen while doing so. The inspire is cool but the phantom 4 is a great platform. Sometimes having a lot more features is just having one more thing that can go wrong.

Features or things to look for on a drone:
1. How long is the flight time?
2. Cost of batteries?
3. Are parts cheap and readily available?
4. Is the camera fixed or can it be changed?
5. Does it have return to home?
6. Does it have way points? (enables you to set exact points to fly to autonomously )
7. Are software upgrades free?
8. Warranty?
9. Quality of the gimbal is very important. The gimbal holds the camera and should make the video very steady without the picture being shaky.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I've been in to RCs my whole life.

 

Here is a good link on a review of the phantom 4. It also explains what's different on it versus the phantom 3's.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qHmOVShIspc

 

Most controllers will allow you to fly 1.5-3 miles out. This means it's like a spec from line of sight. That's why most people have goggles or a screen to have FPV(first person view). This means you can fly far away because your seeing the view from a cockpit perspective. Legally your not allowed to film other people or over other people's property while filming. There are restrictions on how high you can fly as well. I wouldn't fly my drone over someone property. Flying around anything like an airport, stadium or military base is asking to get your butt in jail.

 

https://www.faa.gov/uas/

https://youtu.be/GEpWBE5GdiM

 

Buddy of mine and the guy who built my house both have a phantom 3. They're badass and shoot unbelievable photos. There are lots of photos from them in my home building thread if you want to see them.

 

Watch this video if you want to see the difference between the phantom 3 and 4. Both are good platforms but the 4 has a little better video stability and other features.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yqa-gcGxNTM

 

I guarantee if i see one flying over my home I'm shooting it down.

 

Bah yer in AZ nothing to worry about. Besides I only like spying on the Government...

 

So I found a guy on craigslist who is selling a typhoon Q500 4k for 775. This bundle includes a pelican case spare props and 2 spare batteries. I do like the Yuneec for their controller over the DJI. I don't want to add more apps to my phone. Yeah I know the Yuneec is slower but I have been told you can actually adjust the flight patterns in the firmware. Im not entirely sure what I would do with yet other than taking pictures and videos of around the town and out in the mountains. Not planning to be paid yet but eventually I would like to move in that direction which would require me getting a commercial license.

 

I fly Yuneec. ^Thats too much money for used.

 

I think @Delmarva has experience with drones and the different types

 

My suggestions when looking for a drone are ask yourself what your going to use if for. If it's just to capture video or pics for fun then you don't need to spend a fortune on it. There are some great platforms now ready to go for around $1,000-$2,000. It's easy to spend a lot of money in anything Rc if you want to. I have meet one guy with a Yuneec and he was happy with it but I personally have not flown one. I would suggest watching videos of the drone on YouTube in flight and compare how stable the video footage is. Some drone gimbal mounts are not as good as others. I personally lean toward DJI because they have such a huge market in the industry that they spend a lot on research and development and the parts are easily available. I personally would keep a eye on eBay or Craigslist for a full package deal used. I see drones sell after being only a few months old for a 1/4 to 1/2 of the new price. Also some people like quadcopter (four blades) and some like hexacopter (six blades). You may also want to check out mini race drones. They are extremely small, cheap parts, acrobatic and a lot of fun. There not for high video footage but a lot of fun to fly with others.

Mini race drone sample pic.


If you want to become familiar with the controls of a drone I would look into the Blade Nano QX. It's $60-$70 and you can fly it inside your home and crash it over and over and it will be fine. The blades are also not dangerous if they hit you. Once you can fly this you can easily fly a bigger drone since they have stability controls built in the software. Plus a smaller platform moves quicker which will also make flying the bigger drone easier.
Blade Nano QX

 

use this one for work a few times it was cool as F$#$...

the bad..... the price at the time we used it it was 25 grand for this F$#ker.

 

That's a bad ass fully autonomous drone system! The technology on this stuff quickly advances and so the prices drop as new stuff comes out. I almost spent 9k on a special heavy lift octocopter designed to lift my SLR camera. Now the newer and smaller platforms for 2k will do more for a fraction of the price.

 

it is... you can watch the whole flight before take off. from alt. to speed to heading. i have yet to see parrot(sense fly) or anyone else come up with a cheaper system.

9k holy crap man... but like the saying goes to have to pay to play.

I will get a racing drone soon. something to do when im traveling, like i dont travel enough now.

 

I was looking at spending the money for a platform for a movie company who wanted me to operate a camera for business. The cost up front and risk wasn't worth it for me to invest. Plus the restrictions by the FAA and government in the future looked like like it would be a headache.

 

i dont blame you... someone told me you will need a pilots lic. and have to file a flight plan for your drone over 400 ft.

 

Phantom 3 here. Great fun. Over the weekend, I took some videos of my children sled riding.

I suspect that tough drone regulations are coming though. Looking at some asshat videos posted on youtube, it seems inevitable.

If this is your first drone, don't get one that's too expensive that you are afraid to fly.

 

Guy at work got one....only about 200 bucks...1st flight it just got a mind of its own just flew off into the sunset never to be seen or found again. He wasn't happy!!

 

You can also put your contact info & reward info on the drone. This may help you get it back. If your flying somewhere illegal and you crash or lose it people will know who to look for.

 

Let me ask you this... in what scenario would you take a quadcopter over 400'?

 

Got to get that great shot man with fish eye lens you know that with 8k camera.

Then you have FPV drones some people can't tell the difference between 100 ft and 600 ft in the air. All about the view you can see.

 

I'm getting a DJI Mavic, hopefully get it in February. Can't wait!

 

I've owned 4 DJI drones. I have had the Phantom 3 Pro, Inspire Pro, Phantom 4 Pro, and the Mavic. I would reccommend the Mavic any day. So much easier to transport and the video is awesome.... I would love to answer any questions that you may have. They are all good. I passed on the Yuneec because it doesnt have the live feed like DJI and the camera doesnt seem to be as good.

 

If that's your thought process, I recommend not buying a drone and doing the industry a favor by figuring out a new hobby OR you could educate yourself a bit more about current regulations, advisory circulars and best practices.

Good luck.