Which drone

markyboy.1967 said:
Thinking of trying my hand with my first drone.Im a total beginner at this type of thing but for now I'm looking at the DJI Phantom 3 Pro and the DJI Mavic Pro. Which would you suggest for a beginner, an why would you pick one over the other. Cheers...
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The Phantom 3 is very easy to fly, never tried the Mavic Pro.

Don't know if this suits you, I have no affiliation whatsoever with these Chinese crowd, but I'm told they are very reliable, and hope they are, as mine is on its way.


They will pay VAT and Duty so there are no hidden charges when it arrives.

DJI Phantom 3 SE Wifi FPV RC Quadcopter
https://www.tomtop.com/rc-quadcopter...-rm7920us.html

The difference between this and the Phantom 3 Standard?

  • 4K Camera
  • Improved 720p, 30 fps Wi-Fi live view
  • 4000m (4km) (12000 ft) RC Range
  • Vision Positioning System

If you register with topcashback.co.uk you also get about £29 back so you pretty much get a Phantom 3 Pro (or close) for about £380

Again don't shoot the messenger, but the price is very good.
 
markyboy.1967 said:
Thinking of trying my hand with my first drone.Im a total beginner at this type of thing but for now I'm looking at the DJI Phantom 3 Pro and the DJI Mavic Pro. Which would you suggest for a beginner, an why would you pick one over the other. Cheers...
Click to expand...

I've just gone trough this and gone for the mavic pro as my first drone. Amazing bit of kit. I got the " fly more" pack for extra batteries and spare rotors. Main reason is a couple of friends have the same, finding it fantastic and getting very good results.
 
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I've got the P3 Advanced and my son has the Mavic Pro, he flew my Phantom this weekend. The P3A and P3P are very similar, I think the camera spec is the only difference, my camera is 2.7K rather than 4K. The P3 Standard has a number of spec differences, including especially an inferior flight range. He thought my Phantom was more stable in flight, faster and easier to see than his Mavic, but the Mavic size and portability were a big plus for his image and video captures during travels in his adopted country of Australia, despite the extra cost of the Mavic. Really the decision might come down to considering is the portability worth the additional outlay?
 
Zimmer said:
The Phantom 3 is very easy to fly, never tried the Mavic Pro.

Don't know if this suits you, I have no affiliation whatsoever with these Chinese crowd, but I'm told they are very reliable, and hope they are, as mine is on its way.


They will pay VAT and Duty so there are no hidden charges when it arrives.

DJI Phantom 3 SE Wifi FPV RC Quadcopter
https://www.tomtop.com/rc-quadcopter...-rm7920us.html

The difference between this and the Phantom 3 Standard?

  • 4K Camera
  • Improved 720p, 30 fps Wi-Fi live view
  • 4000m (4km) (12000 ft) RC Range
  • Vision Positioning System

If you register with topcashback.co.uk you also get about £29 back so you pretty much get a Phantom 3 Pro (or close) for about £380

Again don't shoot the messenger, but the price is very good.
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So what's the difference between this and the pro model? Never heard if this conpany so will do some searching.
 
Mavic Pro is a fantastic bit of kit, it's everything the P3P is in a smaller package, which, if you're like me, size matters. My mavic comes everywhere with me, it takes seconds to get it set up for flight (unlike the P3), and i just know, if i had the P3, it'd stay at home most times.

The spark only shoots in 1080p, it's more of a fun drone, you wouldn't use it for serious photography.
 
I think the mavic is a game changer simply for its portability. The drone and the controller fold up and can fit in a messenger bag easily. With the phantoms there's no such luck. A large carry case is needed - which for me meant it just stayed at home.
 
I have the Phantom 3 but since getting the Mavic late last year only used it once and it feels (and is) two generations behind.
Almost everything about Mavic is better - but above all the compactness and quick set up time.

Phantom 3 is very capable - just clumsy
P4 Pro as best camera from DJI until you go much more expensive.
But again it's quite BIG.

The Spark rightly has some fans, photo and video from it are surprisingly good and the gimbal looks to be a more robust design.
Range and flight time are significantly less though.
 
Out of your options and considering a drone as photographic/video platform rather than a conventional RC model I would go Mavic for the following reasons,

Drones have very wide angle lenses and it's difficult to judge distance with the display, and if you are not used to it difficult to judge distance by eye. The Mavic has sensors that will stop you flying into trees and buildings, the Phantom 3 doesn't. I have a Phantom 4 pro with the same sensors as the Mavic and I would have crashed it a couple of times without the sensors.

The portability of the Mavic is amazing when compared to the Phantom.

Also the Mavic batteries are much cheaper, you can never have enough batteries.

The Mavic image quality is better and they are much quieter and less intrusive than the Phantom.
 
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I've owned the P3, P4 and Mavic. Unless you must have the best image quality (in which case get the P4Pro) then the Mavic's portability is impossible to beat. Put simply, I take the Mavic on a regular walk/hike whereas I only took the P3/P4 if it was a dedicated drone day.
 
The Mavic Pro will be much easier to carry so I'd tend towards this. I got a Phantom 4 through my work and love it especially for video (I don't think the stills are amazing even with the 20mp camera), but carrying it far is very difficult in addition to a full frame camera so it often gets left behind. A Mavic would be much better to to travel and hike with
 
Slightly tongue in cheek-a reaper or a predator?, preferably with Hellfire Missiles
 
Scirocco_09 said:
I got a Phantom 4 through my work and love it especially for video (I don't think the stills are amazing even with the 20mp camera)
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I agree with this I have been a bit underwhelmed by the phantom 4 pro stills. I now tend to just shoot video and find the stills extracted from the 4k video can be processed into nicer images. This still is from a 4k video

p2396490682-6.jpg
 
ah5168 said:
I agree with this I have been a bit underwhelmed by the phantom 4 pro stills. I now tend to just shoot video and find the stills extracted from the 4k video can be processed into nicer images. This still is from a 4k video

p2396490682-6.jpg
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That's a worry. I wanted to pick a drone up for some stills action in the Alps this September and P4P was a strong contender until this point.

What else would you recommend (used is OK) for the very best stills before the prices get totally ridiculous. It would be nice to get at least M43 camera up.

edit: let's say I want to get images that print at A2 with some PP, and if necessary and possible I can put up with bracketing.
 
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There's a P3Advanced for sale in my local CEX for £525.

Thought that was good until I found out you can buy them new for £629
 
The Advanced takes reasonable RAW files and up to 2.7K video.

Mavic all the way in my opinion, it's at the sweet spot for everything just now.
It's a fast moving market though and by Christmas something better will come along.
Mavic 2 will happen sooner or later with a bit better camera but you won't be able to hack it ridiculously easily like the present version.

Anyone thinking about buying Mavic now should install an older app e.g. Android 4.0.3 apk and not update anything until you understand why. :muted: :muted:
 
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Indeed, but it's all about compromise.
It costs a lot more to put a 'good' camera in the air, but smartphones take quite good stills now and you can match that.

34280226151_c8db7b0852_o.jpg
 
Is £1099 (mavic pro new) a good compromise to put smartphone sensor in the air and be unable to take photos at the dSLR quality you are used to? Not for me I guess. Sure, this will serve very well for a quick blog application or video, surveillance uses, etc like the posts above demonstrate.
 
I know it seems that way but you're looking at an Inspire, or something in that price bracket.
This is a fast moving market and by the time you have a decent kit with case, 3 or more batteries and other bits like filters there will be something new that makes what you bought outdated.

But the worst thing about even Phantom sized drones is the suitcase-like thing you need to carry it.
This really cannot be over emphasised.
It is also quite a decision to actually stop and set it up.
With Mavic (or Spark) you are up in the air in literally a minute.
- and back down again too before an Inspire has even lumbered off the ground.

Then the noise.... Phantoms and larger are much louder than Mavic.
I can hear my P3 Pro about a mile away and it is intrusive.
This will annoy people and scare livestock or wildlife.
The Mavic far less so, it even seems to have a less aggressive tone - probably due to slimmer arms I suspect.
 
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4wd said:
I know it seems that way but you're looking at an Inspire, or something in that price bracket.
This is a fast moving market and by the time you have a decent kit with case, 3 or more batteries and other bits like filters there will be something new that makes what you bought outdated.

But the worst thing about even Phantom sized drones is the suitcase-like thing you need to carry it.
This really cannot be over emphasised.
It is also quite a decision to actually stop and set it up.
With Mavic (or Spark) you are up in the air in literally a minute.
- and back down again too before an Inspire has even lumbered off the ground.

Then the noise.... Phantoms and larger are much louder than Mavic.
I can hear my P3 Pro about a mile away and it is intrusive.
This will annoy people and scare livestock or wildlife.
The Mavic far less so, it even seems to have a less aggressive tone - probably due to slimmer arms I suspect.
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You have a point. Phantoms do make a horrible horrible noise. In many cases it could prevent you from flying in a more populated environment for a list of reasons. It would be interesting to see some RAW files particularly in more challenging conditions.

Portability is perhaps less of an issue if you just pull one out of your large estate boot and get it into the air at the layby, presuming you can transport it safely fully set up. It should be able to fly wherever you want by itself?!

I am starting to look at S series. Price is obviously higher so I will need to think this through all the way past full license and integrating into my commercial work.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
....for some stills action in the Alps this September
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An alternative would be to take your DSLR for a trip in a helicopter. Quite expensive, less so if you split the trip with others. This was you get the best quality for the mountains and can benefit from the local knowledge of the pilots.
 
Hi mark I see one of these guys in action today our company had employed a firm with one to film the shipping line and cranes doing some heavy lifts they also had one as big as a coffee table ?the footage was brilliant
DJI Inspire 1 PRO Black Quadcopter w/ Zemuse X5 Camera & 3-Axis Gimbal
 
I think the Phantom 4 Pro has the edge if you want a good compromise of price, image quality, flight time and portability. The Mavic is probably the best alternative if you want good portability and can compromise a bit on image quality.
 
Great bit of kit isn't it @gremlin16. I love my mavic, can't wait to get it to NZ, i can then sell my images without a license :D
 
I am genuinely impressed with it so far @wez130 . I'm taking it nice and steady and am currently getting to grips with it over a very remote part of Scotland.

Basic mistakes I have made so far are, flying with gimbal clamp on (once), flying with the grey protective cover on (three times) and getting slightly tangled in long grass from an over ambitious take off spot.

I've covered over 50km with it this week :)
 
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