New SOLO

[SKP]

I'm a newbie and will have my very first Quad. Help me guys, have not ordered Gimbal since it is not available yet per local best buy. They said there's a Go Pro holder, but I think Selfie or any video options cannot be used?
Let me know.

 

[rrmccabe]

You can run video options but of course just cant tilt the camera. Cable cam and orbit works as guys have used it. Don't know about selfie. Try it out and let us know. I would think everything actually works as 3DR made no disclaimer when advertising the unit that you need a gimbal. Biggest issue is going to be crappy video.

 

[SKP]

It might be crappy, will let you know tomorrow.

 

[rrmccabe]

Based on all the video so far its not going to be good for sure. Need to stabilize the camera. Let us know how you like it.

 

[erikgraham]

Without the gimbal I would recommend cranking the performance sliders all the way to the left (softest). It helps a bit.

As long as you are just hovering or just flying forward/backward, or up/down its pretty smooth. Not "gimbal smooth," but good enough that with stabilization in a program like iMovie or Final Cut, you can get some passable footage.

Edit: updated.

 

[Dirby]

can u see what the camera is seeing with out the gimbal?

 

[erikgraham]

can u see what the camera is seeing with out the gimbal?

Yes. With or without the gimbal you see a "live-stream" of what the GoPro sees.

Without the gimbal you can kinda record video. What you are really doing is recording the live-stream as it was received by your iPad/Android tablet. Those videos just get saved to your photo library on your iPad/Android. They aren't great because the lifestream is lower resolution and a bit fuzzy.

With a gimbal, you can make the GoPro itself record the video (or take a photo). Its the same as pressing record on your GoPro. Everything get saved at full resolution and clarity to the SD card in your GoPro. The other thing you can do if you have a gimbal is change settings on the GoPro, for example change resolutions, turn spot meter on or off, that sort of thing.

If you don't have a gimbal and you want to record high quality video to your GoPro, you basically have to press record on the GoPro before you take off and record the entire flight.

 

[Droned]

Hi all,
New Solo owner here. I’ve flown quads before but nothing like the Solo. Question, what flight modes have you been assigning to your A & Buttons? I had to call 3DR for a minor issue the tech told me A=Fly, B=Stabilize.
I want to be sure I have a gps lock when flying, and will be in granny mode the first couple of flights. What do you suggest for those buttons and why? The manual really doesn’t go into details Pro’s & Cons of each flight mode, which is why I’d like to hear from the forum. Thanks!

 

[erikgraham]

I would program Manual to one of the buttons. That is "Stabilize" as we are used to calling it. It will keep your altitude for you, and keep the Solo level and stable, but it doesn't use GPS so you will have to deal with drift from wind, etc.

I prefer to fly in GPS assisted mode when possible, but sometimes you need to land or take off from a spot with bad GPS coverage. Its nice to be able to quickly switch over to Manual/Stabilize if you see the Solo drifting from bad GPS lock.