Quadcopters anyone?

I was going to go with the Mavic because what's not to love about the thing. I ended up getting the Phantom 4 for $899 new, simply because of the little better camera. I use it mostly for weddings so I wanted it to look a little better than the Mavic's camera. I'm loving how good the tracking works, this sucker was following us through the river hiking like a charm.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGODbaIryXY

 

What's the fly time on one of these? Great video too, I wish I had the money to drop on a phantom

 

Thanks, roughly 28 minutes

 

Nice. That makes me want one even more. My Syma X8G only gets about 10 mins. But for how cheap it was I'm not terribly upset. Maybe in a few months I'll drop the cash and scoop one

 

Are you using standard settings?

Try using 2k on "Art" setting with sharpness down to -1, contrast -3, and saturation -3. Will give a more cinematic feel and give you plenty of options in post. I used to use similar settings on the X3 and had great success with similar settings. The Mavic comes stock with too much contrast in stock settings. 4k is nice but only films at 24fps which is fine if you dial down your settings on stick and gimbal movement. 2.7k can film at 30fps and gives you some leeway if you happen to move a little to fast which results in shutter roll at 24fps.

 

That's the only reason i didn't go with the mavic. What settings are you all using on your phantoms for post production editing? If anyone doesnt use the standard auto.

 

I ordered a Phantom 3 last week!! Started with an early cheapy Syma and got addicted. Been wanting the P3 for a long time, and now that they're out of production, prices seem to have come down a bit. I will post up some photos/videos once I get the hang of it.

Do you guys know if USPS charges extra fees for shipping Lithium batteries? The vendor on Amazon tacked on an extra $67 to the advertised price (which also included free shipping), and when I questioned it they said it was due to the extra fees since the batteries are "hazmat". I looked as USPS website and all I saw were specifications for packaging and labeling, but no extra fees. They have a good reputation on Amazon and have been a vendor for 8 years. Thanks!!

 

No they don't. The vendor fucked you. For $67 it would have been worth the extra money for Amazon Prime. When I sold my Inspire they only put a sticker on the box and did not charge extra through UPS and cost me about $70 due to the size and weight not the batteries.

 

Crap. So essentially they advertised free shipping but charged shipping anyway. Might have to file a complaint through Amazon. Also, the day after I ordered I got a tracking number, but it has been stuck in the "in transit to carrier" for 10 days now. Supposed to receive shipment between 1/31-2/10.

 

All the more reason for Amazon Prime. FWIW the Inspire weighs almost twice as much as a Phantom all boxed up and only cost "me" $3 more for "me" to send it off.

 

Thanks for the info man, appreciate it.

 

Just noticed you said USPS. They "might" charge for batteries. Not sure. That's why I always use UPS to ship anything. It's usually cheaper also. Most of the things that are any larger size are shipped through UPS or FedEx through Amazon.

 

Mavic Pro will be here tomorrow. Unfortunately... I'll be on duty

 

Anyone tried to charge the Phantom battery with the Tacoma bed outlet? Will it charge fine?

 

I don't know why I wouldn't work but I never did with the Inspire since the batteries were $200 each and I didn't want to take a chance.

 

Yeah the Phantom's are $100 as well. That's why I want to charge it there when I'm out so I don't have to buy a couple more lol.

Maybe I can call support and ask them haha

 

How long is the charge time on the P4 batteries? I know the Inspire was around an hour from almost drained. Since the bed outlet isn't constant I don't know if that would make a difference but I wasn't willing to find out. I do believe they make a car charger (I think) and that might be a better solution as you can charge the battery while enroute to another location.

 

Takes a little over an hr to full charge. If I'm driving I can keep the outlet on and use it that way? The drone battery says max 100w. so I'm assuming it should work.

 

I've also heard to not charge the controller and the battery at the same time? That true?

 

Can't say with the P4. I did quite often with the Inspire