Image Quality: Phantom3 Vs. GoPro

RyanG · Jul 2, 2015

rrmccabe said:
Yes but you can buy the same lens for between $90 and $140. I bought the lens with the grommet from Peau productions for $140.

This is true. But from an economics standpoint what is more risky. Having a GoPro without a warranty or DJI camera that breaks when you sneeze on it !

I don't know much about the DJI and breakage, but I know I have had to send back (2) different Gopros within 7 months (a foggy haze on one, and then the spring inside the micro sd slot stopped working), so I hate to lose the warranty.

That being said, I also would rather just an attachment to get a NON fisheye, rather than changing out the lens.

Ryan G

Raybro · Jul 2, 2015

dmassphoto said:
Can you point me to the thread? I'm still searching with no joy so far. I really don't want to give the solo away, but it looks like the camera isn't up to snuff when it comes to stills. Plus I don't want to put in another $250 for a separate lens.

It's nothing in concrete and who knows when it would happen. Took this straight off the page:
Future expandability

Solo was built from the ground up to be future-proof. To accommodate future technologies and expansion options, we’ve included a gimbal bay, an accessory bay and easy-to-swap motor pods with integrated speed controllers. The gimbal bay enables other companies to make specific plug-and-play gimbals or imaging devices, providing these devices with the HD feed to Solo’s mobile app, full camera control and even access to Solo’s computing power. The accessory bay has similar functionality but is designed for accessories other than gimbal and imaging devices, such as an optical flow indoor flight stabilizer, ballistic parachute system, LED lighting system and many more. Finally, the swappable motor pods allow you to easily switch out motors in the field if necessary, and they also leave open the possibility for integrating upgraded propulsion systems for Solo in the future.
http://3drobotics.com/3dr-introduces-solo-worlds-first-smart-drone/

rrmccabe · Jul 2, 2015

RyanG said:
I don't know much about the DJI and breakage, but I know I have had to send back (2) different Gopros within 7 months (a foggy haze on one, and then the spring inside the micro sd slot stopped working), so I hate to lose the warranty.

That being said, I also would rather just an attachment to get a NON fisheye, rather than changing out the lens.

Ryan G

Yea I can understand that. But the Phantom cameras snap off with a hard landing. And to make it worse the gimbal and camera is one unit with no replaceable parts.

GhostMaster · Jul 2, 2015

rrmccabe said:
Yea I can understand that. But the Phantom cameras snap off with a hard landing. And to make it worse the gimbal and camera is one unit with no replaceable parts.

I think you dont have any experience with this type of sensitive products as a gimbal, first hard crash with the solo either and the gimbal will not be the same ever, a gimbal is a very sensitive device.

Both will break on a hard crash, not a hard landing, ive seen some P3 had hard landings and the gimbal survived...

So your point its not valid, like i said the solo would be much better if 3dr press GoPro to release a GoPro 4 Silver and Black with non fisheye lens, losing warranty its not an option for getting something the competition gets without losing the warranty and no mods needed and extra money to lens.

Accept or not this is the reality... and all this crashes just made people go away from the solo.

rrmccabe · Jul 2, 2015

My point is valid. because you can replace the camera or gimbal and you are not required to do both.

Anything will break on a hard crash. But the Phantom is a bad design and is easy to break. I am on my 3rd Phantom now. I totally enjoyed all three of them and really like my P3. But fact remains its a crappy design and could have been improved drastically with a plug in cable that you could replace.

And by the way I broke a V+ camera on a hard landing. No crash. Camera slid off, cable broke.

I agree with you about releasing a GoPro with no fisheye. I bet that is not far away

dmassphoto · Jul 2, 2015

Looking at this, it might be a solution. I don't know, though.

http://www.mcherderingphotography.com/ap-1.html

Raybro · Jul 2, 2015

Yes, very much so!

GhostMaster · Jul 2, 2015

rrmccabe said:
My point is valid. because you can replace the camera or gimbal and you are not required to do both.

Anything will break on a hard crash. But the Phantom is a bad design and is easy to break. I am on my 3rd Phantom now. I totally enjoyed all three of them and really like my P3. But fact remains its a crappy design and could have been improved drastically with a plug in cable that you could replace.

And by the way I broke a V+ camera on a hard landing. No crash. Camera slid off, cable broke.

I agree with you about releasing a GoPro with no fisheye. I bet that is not far away

Again not a very valid point... new gopro 4 black = ~500$

new p3 pro camera 4k and gimbal = 539$...

http://www.multicopterwarehouse.com/dji-p3-4k-camera

The advanced is cheaper...

GhostMaster · Jul 2, 2015

And if you need both on a Solo its 900$... P3 = 539$.

GhostMaster · Jul 2, 2015

Im not beeing negative but lets face the facts... Its cheaper yet to replace the P3 gimbal and camera unit than both gopro and gimbal and non fisheye lens (if you have them)...

GoodnNuff · Jul 2, 2015

GhostMaster said:
I think you dont have any experience with this type of sensitive products as a gimbal, first hard crash with the solo either and the gimbal will not be the same ever, a gimbal is a very sensitive device.

Both will break on a hard crash, not a hard landing, ive seen some P3 had hard landings and the gimbal survived...

So your point its not valid, like i said the solo would be much better if 3dr press GoPro to release a GoPro 4 Silver and Black with non fisheye lens, losing warranty its not an option for getting something the competition gets without losing the warranty and no mods needed and extra money to lens.

Accept or not this is the reality... and all this crashes just made people go away from the solo.

LOL, there isn't a gimbal out there as fragile as what DJI is using on their proprietary cameras. One little ribbon cable snap (and it does very often, just read any Phantom Vision forum!) and you have to replace the entire camera at $700 bucks. Ridiculous. And THAT is a reality.

At this point, any, and I mean ANY criticism of the Solo gimble is not valid as none of us know how well it will work or how durable and tough its construction will be.

GoodnNuff · Jul 2, 2015

GhostMaster said:
Again not a very valid point... new gopro 4 black = ~500$

new p3 pro camera 4k and gimbal = 539$...

http://www.multicopterwarehouse.com/dji-p3-4k-camera

The advanced is cheaper...

Fact: $10 cable on a DJI camera breaks, the repair bill is $539 since you have to buy the whole new unit to get the $10 cable...

And that is valid!

dmassphoto · Jul 2, 2015

GoodnNuff said:
LOL, there isn't a gimbal out there as fragile as what DJI is using on their proprietary cameras. One little ribbon cable snap (and it does very often, just read any Phantom Vision forum!) and you have to replace the entire camera at $700 bucks. Ridiculous. And THAT is a reality.

At this point, any, and I mean ANY criticism of the Solo gimble is not valid as none of us know how well it will work or how durable and tough its construction will be.

I thought all you had to do was replace the strap. I see them for sale all over Amazon.

GoodnNuff · Jul 2, 2015

dmassphoto said:
I thought all you had to do was replace the strap. I see them for sale all over Amazon.

Show me one please?

Lon Snyder · Jul 2, 2015

Example of GoPro with original Fisheye and with the Fisheye removed.

dmassphoto · Jul 2, 2015

GoodnNuff said:
Show me one please?

Correction, this one was for the P2. I'd imagine the P3 will have them out soon enough as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-R...29&sr=8-1&keywords=dji+phantom+3+ribbon+cable

GoodnNuff · Jul 2, 2015

dmassphoto said:
Correction, this one was for the P2. I'd imagine the P3 will have them out soon enough as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Replacement-R...29&sr=8-1&keywords=dji+phantom+3+ribbon+cable

I thought this is what you would post.

No, they have never came up with this cable replacement for any of the 3 different Vision models - you crash, break that ribbon, you must buy an entire camera to replace the cable.

It will be great if they make a replacement cable for the P3s, but the fact they have not done this for the same sort of gimble the Visons use, means I am not holding my breath.

dmassphoto · Jul 2, 2015

Lon Snyder said:
Example of GoPro with original Fisheye and with the Fisheye removed.

Looks good for that application. Did some testing last night on a few flag poles. They were horribly bowed outward. When I did the "remove fisheye" they were horribly bowed in. I'll do some more testing when the weather clears up, but the fisheye is only part of the problem. GoPro does not shoot stills in RAW/DNG formats. That's a huge bust for still takers. I can't find any info if they even plan on doing this in future upgrades.

I love the way Solo flies. I think it's the platform to beat for hobbyists and RC fliers. But it's useless for aerial photography if the camera doesn't do the job. That's not entirely 3DR's fault, but they need to give more latitude to different cameras if they want photographers on board.

GhostMaster · Jul 2, 2015

GoodnNuff said:
LOL, there isn't a gimbal out there as fragile as what DJI is using on their proprietary cameras. One little ribbon cable snap (and it does very often, just read any Phantom Vision forum!) and you have to replace the entire camera at $700 bucks. Ridiculous. And THAT is a reality.

At this point, any, and I mean ANY criticism of the Solo gimble is not valid as none of us know how well it will work or how durable and tough its construction will be.

Like i said, in a hard crash even if the solo gimbal survives will not be the same, its just a very sensitive device...

But stay with your opinion... After all the best aerial videos in this aircraft size i saw are from Phantoms and not 3DR ones... I think that says enough for now.

rrmccabe · Jul 2, 2015

GhostMaster said:
But stay with your opinion... After all the best aerial videos in this aircraft size i saw are from Phantoms and not 3DR ones... I think that says enough for now.

That is because there are no gimbal videos from the Solo yet

And I wanted to mention to you are comparing a GoPro price ($500) that is on the high end of the spectrum to the most discounted P3P camera online. I paid about $405 for a new Hero 4 black.

Now that said I love my P3P and I have yet to find anything the Solo does better. But IF the gimbal works I really think the GoPro will be a better platform.

But this topic is argued to no end on every forum that involves the Phantom and to be honest I don't consider myself knowledgeable enough to debate that.

As I said above, I do know for a fact that the DJI gimbal is a bad design. I have destroyed one camera from stupidity (new pilot) and one from a hard landing which really was not hard.

Not to mention when the Hero 5 comes out I can upgrade my setup easily. With the DJI program there is no upgrade paths.

Keep in mind I am a little tiffed with 3DR right now and in no way am I a fanboy and I love my P3. Just calling it like I see it.