Yet another newbie?

[guardian87]

Hello all!

I hope that this is not a 100000000x repeating question
I am a total newbee in drone flying or any remote flying for that matter. I am now trying to do some research into what drone might be a "good fit" for someone like me.

Some requirements that I think are important

• I would like a little more flying time than the average 8 mins that I read about
• I want to be able to easily swap batteries
• First person view mode (can be optional as an addon later on, since i want to be able to fly withing visual range first)
• Some lights would be nice (just optical)
• Easy to find spareparts /extensions

I have some budget available, but of course I do think that it would be wise to start with a "normal" drone and not a golden one ;-)

All advises are very welcome!

Best regards

Guardian87

 

[Adimuzio513]

Pending on your budget there's a ton of options, you can get a 3dr iris setup with everything for Half what it was last year, without a gimbal or camera about 500 bucks, so equipped less than a grand and it's nice. There's also the dji offerings if your not worried much about support and the standard p3 is about 700 bucks all in up to 12 or 13 hundred for a pro.

Solo will be closer to two grand with gimbal and GoPro, unless you own one already, 1400 maybe a bit less for copter and gimbal. Solo and p3 are both easy enough to fly, solo can be upgraded where p3 pro will be cheaper now, but you'll need to buy a new one to upgrade in the future. There's a bunch of others, Yuneec makes some winners, if you give us a budget and what your planning to do with it you'll get a better list of what would be good for you.

This is 3dr forum so most including myself would go with solo or iris plus but you can also get a good p2 vision plus for 500 bucks or less used if your new and just want to get good video and some experience and not break the bank, until you decide if your in it long term. Good luck fly safe, I'll check back in later I'm headed to fly and go out to dinner, I'm sure there will be other post by the time I check in later. My first was a p2 with h3-3D gimbal and it was nice to start on, now I've upgraded to solo and love it, it's well ahead of my p2, but p3 is comparable to it, just without the computers that provide options in the future.

 

[Burkeam]

Phantom 3 pro is a higher end out of the box consumer drone. The next step up is the 3DR Solo which is now ready out of the box- had some launch issue and some that don't like it but have never heard why other then lack patents or preference for ?. If the budget allows for the $1,000 solo, $400 gimbal and then $ for GoPro 4 it is worth it.
Why?
1. EXCELLENT customer support
2. Open Source
3. Dual processors- one on the aircraft and another on the controller,
4. Integrated flight logs on both ends - really great to verify a aircraft issue or educating the pilot of learning mistakes.
5. Mod-able
6. Updates are applied with your cellphone - Never need to plug it into your PC
7. Excellent forum support and user groups.
8. Expandable - Has aux bay and electrical connector for future applications
9. Smart Shots that allow you to focus on the photo/video- Cable CAM, Orbit Mode, Follow me and Selfie
10. Customizable. It's pretty tame and safe out of the box but can have the flight parameters opened up for a hotter/quicker flight responses even an acro mode which can perform loops and barrel rolls.

Hope this helps

 

[Chuck]

Welcome, Guardian87. Solo is my 2nd venture into UAV flying, with my first being a DJI Phantom 2. This is my opinion, but the Solo would hands down be my choice for a first quad. Out of the box it is very easy to fly, and the gimbal and camera could always come as you can afford it, although the camera is what gives you your FPV. As was previously stated, the Solo can be upgraded in the future, where the DJI products with have to be upgraded out of pocket. You can spend a lot of enjoyable time just flying the Solo to learn how. But, I warn you, when to start flying the Solo, you will soon be trying to figure out how to buy the camera and gimbal.... Good luck, and safe flying with whatever you decide.

 

[Adimuzio513]

So so true chuck, after buying a copter without a gimbal or good camera you will be buying both soon, so allow for it in your budget. I thought at first I'd wait a while and be happy with the fat shark cam and goggles that came with my used p2, that lasted a week, then I ordered a h3-3D and a GoPro.

I agree with both these above posts, I just didn't want to be totally biased against other, cheaper options. As a first bird I was happy with p2 and I didn't crash, but am glad I started on it in case I would have. I'm very cautious as well and the money on either is a lot for me so I went slow and did everything I could to keep from destroying them it or my upgrade to solo now.

So if money's not tight your way better off with a solo long term, but if money is like mine was than there are cheaper alternatives that get pretty good video, even if their support is sad at best. If you plan to be into aerial photography long term you'll either spend more now on solo and upgrade later or end up spending less now then spending over again in a year or two if you plan to keep up with the technology. It's all down to budget really don't cheap out on off brand junk or you get what you pay for, but it's up to you if the premium for good to great is worth the price of admission.

To get a good copter equipped for good stable footage your looking at a minimum of 700 to 1000 bucks new with a gimbal and capable camera. Or go the route we are and spend now to save later and get some cool features, dji has decent copters and bad service at a good price, solo cost more but you get more from options now and future. You also get good US based service as well as an unmatched warranty Plus a 30 day money back gaurantee.

Pick your poison and have a great time, it's the most fun and most helpful community of people I've found in a long time, especially the folks here in these forums. Any questions fire away and somebody around here will almost always have an answer for ya. Good luck and let us know what you decide on.

 

[Raybro]

3DR or DJI.....I chose 3DR. I have a Phantom 2 and I do like it but for support 3DR beats them hands down. Also much better people on this forum that can provide lots of answers.
Had the Solo since June 25 and have not had a single problem with it. Got the gimbal a couple of weeks ago and have had the same experience. If you decide on the Solo, get an Android device as well.