$800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to fly

[lukeglazebrook]

I have been having a great time flying my new vision+ must have had about 10+ flights so far without incident thankfully. However I recently stubbled across a few posts that suggest a replacement camera would be $800+ dollars and since I live in rip-off Britain that would almost certainly mean £500 which i insane considering the entire Vision plus cost £915.

Please someone re-assure me that crash damage with regards to the camera will cost a lot less than this

 

[MikesTooLz]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

The gimbal/camera units are not yet available for purchase from DJI or Dealers. No official price has been given by DJI. Anything you buy now will be from some person who bought a P2V+ and has taken it apart and selling parts.



well lets look at it this way.


How much for a GoPro3 black? - $399
How much for an older H3-3D 3-Axis gimal for a Phantom 2? $379

Total: $778 (Plus Tax)


I'm hoping they will be able to keep the price lower however who knows what the price will be.

 

[lukeglazebrook]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

The gimbal/camera units are not yet available for purchase from DJI or Dealers. No official price has been given by DJI. Anything you buy now will be from some person who bought a P2V+ and has taken it apart and selling parts.



well lets look at it this way.


How much for a GoPro3 black? - $399
How much for an older H3-3D 3-Axis gimal for a Phantom 2? $379

Total: $778 (Plus Tax)


I'm hoping they will be able to keep the price lower however who knows what the price will be.

What have I got myself into I hope someone comes out with a camera guard/protector at least. And I hope they done simply sell the camera as an entire unit

 

[lukeglazebrook]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

To add to the above I would imagine a GoPro is a lot more rugged/crash resistant

 

[borgqueenx]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

yeah i'm also looking for how to protect the gimbal/camera...Does it get damaged by impact from/on the landing gear or because it gets smashed on the ground itself?

 

[lukeglazebrook]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

yeah i'm also looking for how to protect the gimbal/camera...Does it get damaged by impact from/on the landing gear or because it gets smashed on the ground itself?

I already have a white acrylic GPS mounting plate which seems to add strength to the lasting gear area. I am hoping that is protects it to a degree but would prefer enhanced protection from a dedicated guard.

 

[lukeglazebrook]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

I'm currently using this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251522929647?ss ... 1439.l2649

Think I will try to move it forward to enhance protection

 

[borgqueenx]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

I'm currently using this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251522929647?ss ... 1439.l2649

Think I will try to move it forward to enhance protection

Seems like a good addition to buy, thanks.

 

[MikesTooLz]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

I think the weakness is how fragile the gimbal/camera system is, not the landing gear.

There have been reports of P2V+'s being shipped in protected padded case's and having broken gimbal just from the plastic gimbal lock not being in place.

 

[Doono]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

The gimbal/camera units are not yet available for purchase from DJI or Dealers. No official price has been given by DJI. Anything you buy now will be from some person who bought a P2V+ and has taken it apart and selling parts.



well lets look at it this way.


How much for a GoPro3 black? - $399
How much for an older H3-3D 3-Axis gimal for a Phantom 2? $379

Total: $778 (Plus Tax)


I'm hoping they will be able to keep the price lower however who knows what the price will be.

What have I got myself into I hope someone comes out with a camera guard/protector at least. And I hope they done simply sell the camera as an entire unit

I suggested we look at ways to add protection a while back, the silence was deafening. The GPS mount mentioned, and three horizontal white strips of stiff plastic on the two sides would afford at least a bit more protection. I think I have learnt from passed mistakes, and I no longer even come close to crashing. I guess that's the ultimate protection.

 

[RedRyderMedia]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

The gimbal/camera units are not yet available for purchase from DJI or Dealers. No official price has been given by DJI. Anything you buy now will be from some person who bought a P2V+ and has taken it apart and selling parts.



well lets look at it this way.


How much for a GoPro3 black? - $399
How much for an older H3-3D 3-Axis gimal for a Phantom 2? $379

Total: $778 (Plus Tax)


I'm hoping they will be able to keep the price lower however who knows what the price will be.

Mike, I think this is a good analysis, except a GoPro 3 Black is a much more versatile camera than the P2V+......I don't know enough about the H3-3D gimbal to make a comparison. Another issue is volume. The GoPro should have much higher volume because it penetrates a much larger market. But if the camera/gimbal combination on the P2V+ isn't cheaper than the GoPro/gimbal combination, I would think DJI will have a much more difficult time selling the P2V+.

 

[MikesTooLz]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

I suggested we look at ways to add protection a while back, the silence was deafening. The GPS mount mentioned, and three horizontal white strips of stiff plastic on the two sides would afford at least a bit more protection. I think I have learnt from passed mistakes, and I no longer even come close to crashing. I guess that's the ultimate protection.

Thats the key right their, If you fly in an open area and stay away from things like tree's its pretty darn hard to crash.

Hopefully my two year record with zero crash's will continue.

 

[Phantom_Menace66]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

yeah i'm also looking for how to protect the gimbal/camera...Does it get damaged by impact from/on the landing gear or because it gets smashed on the ground itself?

Landing gear collapses then the next thing to hit the ground is the gimbal/camera. As you can see in the photo, both legs bent at roughly the same place, offering little or no protection

 

[MikesTooLz]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

yeah i'm also looking for how to protect the gimbal/camera...Does it get damaged by impact from/on the landing gear or because it gets smashed on the ground itself?

Landing gear collapses then the next thing to hit the ground is the gimbal/camera. As you can see in the photo, both legs bent at roughly the same place, offering little or no protection

The impact that bent the landing gear like that I'm sure had enough force to break the gimbal even if the gimbal was not struck by anything. The gimbal is extremely fragile, thats why you have to put the plastic gimbal lock on it when transporting it in your case, so it does not break just from the movements of you carrying it around even if you put it inside a well padded/protective carrying case.

 

[Phantom_Menace66]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

yeah i'm also looking for how to protect the gimbal/camera...Does it get damaged by impact from/on the landing gear or because it gets smashed on the ground itself?

Landing gear collapses then the next thing to hit the ground is the gimbal/camera. As you can see in the photo, both legs bent at roughly the same place, offering little or no protection

The impact that bent the landing gear like that I'm sure had enough force to break the gimbal even if the gimbal was not struck by anything. The gimbal is extremely fragile, thats why you have to put the plastic gimbal lock on it when transporting it in your case, so it does not break just from the movements of you carrying it around even if you put it inside a well padded/protective carrying case.

It fell from 53ft onto the ground. from that height it was probably doing 60mph when it hit the ground, even in free fall. A drop from 2ft would damage it I think

 

[Flying Cephlopod]

Re: $800 for a replacement camera seriously! I am scared to

The GoPro camera is immensely more versatile than the proprietary Vision cameras. You can use the GoPro for other purposes when you are not using it on the quadcopter.

I must say that (knock on wood) my GoPro cameras have been very very rugged--I have three GoPro cameras. (Actually, I have had five--two of which were buggy and I no longer have those.) Just yesterday, I accidentally dropped a GoPro (which was out of its housing) about 5 feet (1.5 meters?) onto some hard concrete. The back door sprung off; the battery fell out; the memory card slipped out. Result: I put all the pieces back together and the GoPro started right up. This is not the first time that the camera has been dropped!

If I should need to replace a GoPro, that's a simple task--and it need not be the $400 Hero3+ Black Edition.