Helicopters/drones for filming

SAMI

Formerly Beardy McGee
Location
SLC, UT
I was coming to this thread to ask if anyone has experience with the DJI Mavic Pro, so it's cool to see you've got the rig that I'm interested in Greg.

Does this rig lend itself to being a decent beginner setup? Being so compact and feature rich puts this at the top of my list.

Worth the $$$? What did you pay for yours?
 

spencurai

Purple Burglar Alarm
Location
WVC,UT
I've been loving mine! Getting some awesome shots!

My advice to anyone wanting a drone...if you can't afford the distinct probability that your drone will crash and disappear then don't buy one. You WILL crash it, it will happen. If you can deal with that, then get one! The only reason it's worth the money to me is that I am one of the few people that make money with drones. Were I a hobbyist, I would go buy something for my 4x4 or a really nice gun! lol

Mavic in the air.jpgchalk creek screen grab.jpg
 

Skylinerider

Wandering the desert
Location
Ephraim
I was coming to this thread to ask if anyone has experience with the DJI Mavic Pro, so it's cool to see you've got the rig that I'm interested in Greg.

Does this rig lend itself to being a decent beginner setup? Being so compact and feature rich puts this at the top of my list.

Worth the $$$? What did you pay for yours?

They are going for 1k. and there is about a month and a half wait right now from what I'm finding. I wouldn't get an expensive drone as your first one. Buy a cheaper one and practice. They will crash, sometimes because of your own dumb ass and sometimes because things just happen and it's no one's fault.
 

rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
They are going for 1k. and there is about a month and a half wait right now from what I'm finding. I wouldn't get an expensive drone as your first one. Buy a cheaper one and practice. They will crash, sometimes because of your own dumb ass and sometimes because things just happen and it's no one's fault.

The Apple Store in Farmington Station had a couple for sell the other day
 

rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
I've been loving mine! Getting some awesome shots!

My advice to anyone wanting a drone...if you can't afford the distinct probability that your drone will crash and disappear then don't buy one. You WILL crash it, it will happen. If you can deal with that, then get one! The only reason it's worth the money to me is that I am one of the few people that make money with drones. Were I a hobbyist, I would go buy something for my 4x4 or a really nice gun! lol


Nah, just go buy one. They really are that cool. Find a used one on KSL I should have bought one much earlier. I can't wait to get it out on our adventures this next year. I already know a Mavik will be in my hands sooner than later. Just getting my flying skills honed in. I never plan on charging for it. It's just for fun
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
I was coming to this thread to ask if anyone has experience with the DJI Mavic Pro, so it's cool to see you've got the rig that I'm interested in Greg.

Does this rig lend itself to being a decent beginner setup? Being so compact and feature rich puts this at the top of my list.

Worth the $$$? What did you pay for yours?

Lots of great advice above, I agree with much if it.

It's easy to fly as a beginner, but there is a LOT to flying these things. I started out with a used Phantom 2 and thought it was a great way to learn, I had a couple experiences that made me thinking I had completely lost it. There was one point that I was sure I was ready to walk away from flying a drone and was dealing with the fact that I just lost $400, I thought it crashed into a very tall group of trees a half mile away from me. Somehow it landed itself in the middle of the highway after some sort of battery failure.... I was running a aftermarket Chinese battery and I'm sure that caused that issue.

Spence is right, if you're flying one of these you WILL eventually crash it and may loose it.... it's something you have to understand and be alright with the possibility. With my Phantom, I have had 2 crashes that were all my fault and 1 crash and the incident above that were due to aftermarket batteries. I have spent more on repairs than I bought the Phantom 2 for. :eek:

I bought my Mavic directly from DJI, I bought the Fly More package (leather carrier, 2 more batteries, car charger, extra props) and paid for the replacement insurance if I wreck this one and the total was around $1400. You can buy a Mavic with 1 battery and wall charger for $1000.

The Mavic has so many features and automated flight modes, it practically flies itself. The app and features are a LOT to figure out, I'm still learning how to get the best out of this new one. I only have about an hour flight time with it, but we're in California for the Holidays and it's warm enough that I think I'll get quite a bit of flying in. From what I've seen the Mavic is way more stable and precise to fly than the older models and with all the sensors, flight modes and information on controller and app it's a massive step up in technology.

Hope that helps! Keep us posted on what you end up with Jason!
 

TRD270

Emptying Pockets Again
Supporting Member
Location
SaSaSandy
So I got a little micro quadcopter for christmas, and i'm surprised how fun the little guy is. If you are looking for a cheap drone to learn how to fly this thing is actually surprisingly stable. I do have a bunch of hours flying heli's around from the first crap that was a pain to fly to a more recent micro copter. That being said this has 3 speed settings for getting used to flying and headless mode.

https://gpx.com/products/dr176.html

Can be found for as cheap as $20 and certainly will get you familiarized with controls. Had some pretty good crashes as it tends to get sucked into the ceiling when you get to close. But its holding up well.

Flight time 5-8 min, charge time 45ish min
 

neagtea

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Location
farmington
Well I have been wanting a drone for a year or so but not got serious about it. I flew my buddies dji4 in Belize and was a little nervous needless to say. Well santa dropped off a phantom 4 with a few extra goodies, now comes the learning curve. Hopefully vids or pics soon.
Growing up well before the gaming era I am sure my curve will be a little steeper.
Russ it looks like we are pretty close by your pic.
 

rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
Well I have been wanting a drone for a year or so but not got serious about it. I flew my buddies dji4 in Belize and was a little nervous needless to say. Well santa dropped off a phantom 4 with a few extra goodies, now comes the learning curve. Hopefully vids or pics soon.
Growing up well before the gaming era I am sure my curve will be a little steeper.
Russ it looks like we are pretty close by your pic.

I'm excited you got visited by Santa. I am really close to you. Give me a call 801-twozeroone-58nineone and lets get it out and fly it. We could do it today if you wanted to. There is a church right by my house that I fly my planes at as well as my drone sometimes too. Its a great place for you to mess around with it. You will be surprised how fast you will become comfortable. My friend has the 4 and I have flown it several times.
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Here's my latest effort, from last night...

[video=youtube;iPKyNIzSYSM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPKyNIzSYSM&t=29s[/video]

I flew out the furthest I've yet gone... 4,500 feet away! It was incredible to be out in the wide open space, overlooking the Colorado river... all kinds of room to fly and real neat to see the canyons and hiking trails near by. That one overhanging alcove has a hiking trail down to the river, I never knew how scenic it was before and now want to go hike it!
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
And a little commercial project I did this morning.... :freak:


[video=youtube;pHsCOPmSKAw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHsCOPmSKAw[/video]
 

Jesser04

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville Utah
My half brother came to town last week with his mavic needless to say I can't get it out of my head. Pretty sure I'm gonna pull the trigger on one is there any reason to not get the mavic besides dji's aweful customer service? I went and flew Russell's but after flying the mavic it's hard to compare with the sportiness of the mavic. I know a few of you guys own the mavic what's your opinions on it?
 

Jesser04

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville Utah
My half brother came to town last week with his mavic needless to say I can't get it out of my head. Pretty sure I'm gonna pull the trigger on one is there any reason to not get the mavic besides dji's aweful customer service? I went and flew Russell's but after flying the mavic it's hard to compare with the sportiness of the mavic. I know a few of you guys own the mavic what's your opinions on it?
You guys took to long...
 

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spencurai

Purple Burglar Alarm
Location
WVC,UT
You guys took to long...

you made the correct choice...DJI is so far ahead of any other drone manufacturer that it's not funny. I'm waiting for someone to put the screws to DJI but everything else is just junk in comparison in every way. DJI has better tech, aircraft and batteries. Literally nothing else comes close. There is a reason that just about every other drone manufacturer is having financial problems because they can't keep up on the innovation curve. My prediction is that DJI is going to have a hard time dealing with its own success once the market saturates and sales slack.
 
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