Where is this all GOING??

[Dobie Ardmore]

you are welcome to your opinion, and I mine.
logged over two years flying now. With a 4 or 2K cropped image and a modified lens i can get close enough to anything that I need to film on an aerial platform. Beyond that a drone is not necessarily the correct tool. i could see it in some commercial inspection cases where flying close might be required but even then, a proper zoom capable payload would be a smarter and safer choice then flying in close with a UAV.

Obstacle avoidance is a nice feature, but, like AntiLock brakes and traction control on cars, it is not absolutely necessary and for most cases we've been doing fine without it for years. It does save some from crashing their cars when they get in over their heads though.

 

[pyrate]

Exactly, a good pilot can do fine without it.
I am on the fence, it is coming for solo, but I most likely will not adopt. I will be adding optical flow though, as a non GPS positioning option has appeal

 

[rickc]

Exactly, a good pilot can do fine without it.

I cry bullshit.

Easy to do is easy to say.

 

[pyrate]

or just cry, nothing to prove to people like you. Too many people out there doing it to waste my time.
Grab your DJI and its crutch sensors. Some folks prefer to craft their skill.

 

[RichWest]

Easy to do is easy to say.

I'd still like to see the images you posted, seems you need to make them not private....

 

[Dobie Ardmore]

Exactly, a good pilot can do fine without it.
I am on the fence, it is coming for solo, but I most likely will not adopt. I will be adding optical flow though, as a non GPS positioning option has appeal

I like all of those mods. In fact I enjoy the modding as much or more than flying. I have built a custom carbon fiber Armattan with gadgets and gadgets. One of the sensors I added is a ground proximity sonar unit. It keeps my low altitude constant. It is quite fun to come up on cars; it follows the curve of the car, up and over the trunk, the roof, down the hood and then the ground. It does keep one from colliding with the ground when flying low and fast. I considered optical flow but I don't need perfect drift control. But all of these tech features are cool to switch in and out.

 

[Briangailey]

Just havin' fun with ya.
You do seem to want a lot out of a multi rotor though.
There are some quads off the shelf that will do what you want but won't have all the features you want
What you want can be done with a custom build; if you can find someone proficient in engineering all your wish list things in. The items you want are available though: a multirotor powerful enough to lift a high res camera, obstacle avoidance, zoom lens and camera control, high resolution still camera, camera operator gimbal control via dedicated dual controllers (quad and camera), and even 3D dual camera/goggle feeds for depth perception. However, I don't know of any off the shelf manufacturer of ALL those things in one package.
It's out there though; just like the woman I described. She exists too. I know, I married her.

You sound lucky, very lucky, as far as finding a great womanand if you are as good to her, Soulmates for life. Congratulations. You have that one thing that all the money in the world can’t buy, a true life partner, for the rest of your life. You have my admiration, and I tip my hat to you.

 

[Dobie Ardmore]

You sound lucky, very lucky, as far as finding a great womanand if you are as good to her, Soulmates for life. Congratulations. You have that one thing that all the money in the world can’t buy, a true life partner, for the rest of your life. You have my admiration, and I tip my hat to you.

Thank you for that. I am indeed lucky. I treat her with the utmost regard and consideration, and she in turn gives me her respect and admiration. She tells me that I look like a movie star, and when I look at her beautiful face she takes my breath away. We fall asleep in each others arms and we wake up cuddling. Throughout the day we express our love for one another; it is truly astounding. I am constantly (well mostly lol) on my good behavior with her. If I ever see that my "mouth" is causing her grief, I shut the hell up. We both listen to each other and accommodate each other accordingly. I give her anything she wants, and she does not take advantage of that, which wants me to give her even more. God blessed me with my dream girl and I honor Him and her daily.

 

[jcar]

Just purchase a refurb Mavic or P4 pro for $799.00 and be done with it. Sell your Solo and call it a day. Buy Mavic Pro (Refurbished Unit)

 

[jcar]

Also, use your current Solo to mod to open Solo and have some fun with autonomous flight

 

[Lon Denard]

Also, use your current Solo to mod to open Solo and have some fun with autonomous flight

I think he said he's done modding... That's where I am as well and why I went to DJI for my daily flyer. I just got tired of putting in all this time and money and still having problems whose answers were...more time and money.

Besides, people kept trying to stop me from changing and they talked about the expense. Some one on this thread just talked about "hacking in" obstacle avoidance. What does that cost? Is it reliable? Nope. So there's some more wasted time and money. I got my last Solo setup super cheap and still had about $1000 invested by the time I installed all of the necessary mods (in my opinion) and could somewhat confidently fly. I still had an obsolete platform with an obsolete camera that couldn't do half of the things the $1000 Mavic can do.

This guy can get a Phantom 4 Pro for $1500 (less when they go on sale) and have a decent camera, 5 way obstacle avoidance, almost twice the flight time, over 4 times the range, optical and sonic positioning sensors, actual people answering the phone if you call, etc.

If you are into modding, programming, experimenting, etc the Solo is absolutely the best drone for you. If you want a drone that you can pull out of your bag and have in the air in a minute or that is 95% reliable and trouble free...not so much.

 

[SkyDoctor]

Every drone pilot ends up with DJI sooner or later. They're just the best in the business. I should've known that the Solo was doomed when in an interview, Colin Guinn was praising the phantom 3 whilst being paid to promote the Solo. In fact, he stated that he had bought the new phantom 3 and that it was a great quad.

P.S. This is from a guy that owns zero DJI product. I do have a first generation moded Solo and a Yuneec Typhoon H. I do think that this is my last dance with these also rans.

 

[RichWest]

Every drone pilot ends up with DJI sooner or later.

Then they leave them...lol.

 

[SkyDoctor]

Leave them? I'll bet good money that a nice portion of guys on this forum own at least one DJI product. They're not number one because they're not moving product. Furthermore, I'll bet anyone dollar to donut that the people on this forum trying to sell their Solo's; guest what manufactures quad they're looking to buy next?

 

[Lon Denard]

Then they leave them...lol.

I don't know Rich...a lot of you guys absolutely hate DJI for reasons that sometimes escape me. I went along for a long time and even bought a Karma (piece of junk) because I believed what you guys told me about how horrible DJI is. How much better the Solo was than "ANYTHING" that DJI makes. I know now that's just not true. I've heard guys here put down the Mavic and say the Solo is better for reason X,Y, or Z. Maybe, but up until recently, the Mavic was the LOWEST drone DJI made! An entry level piece with the model line going up from there. Now there's the Spark which still beats a stock Solo in several categories.

Have you seen the new camera for the Inspire 2? The capabilities off the Phantom 4 Pro? Are you saying that a Hero 4 is better? That a Solo is more stable or reliable? Hogwash!

 

[Lon Denard]

Leave them? I'll bet good money that a nice portion of guys on this forum own at least one DJI product. They're not number one because they're not moving product. Furthermore, I'll bet anyone dollar to donut that the people on this forum trying to sell their Solo's; guest what manufactures quad they're looking to buy next?

Yep! I see them on the DJI forums all the time.

 

[just_bruce]

I don't know why you seem surprised that folks on a 3DRpilots forum are huge fans of 3DR's flagship product, or that they have reasons (real and imagined) to dislike DJI products.

We get it. You had bad experiences. You like your Mavic. We get it. I personally would like it if every other post from you wasn't "Solo sucks".

 

[pyrate]

Every drone pilot ends up with DJI sooner or later. They're just the best in the business. I should've known that the Solo was doomed when in an interview, Colin Guinn was praising the phantom 3 whilst being paid to promote the Solo. In fact, he stated that he had bought the new phantom 3 and that it was a great quad.

P.S. This is from a guy that owns zero DJI product. I do have a first generation moded Solo and a Yuneec Typhoon H. I do think that this is my last dance with these also rans.

really?...... I don't own one, and never will. Some consumers actually put some integrity behind their purchases. DJI make fantastic cameras, drones not so much. As a videographer I would love to have DJI camera options. But I know a bit about their business practices, and would never give them a dime

 

[pyrate]

Leave them? I'll bet good money that a nice portion of guys on this forum own at least one DJI product. They're not number one because they're not moving product. Furthermore, I'll bet anyone dollar to donut that the people on this forum trying to sell their Solo's; guest what manufactures quad they're looking to buy next?

And most of them are clueless as to the company they are supporting

 

[SkyDoctor]

Apparently you guys see reality in a whole different way then the rest of us so let's agree to disagree gentlemen and move on.