About to purchase a Phantom.. which one for me?

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Hello everyone, I currently own a GoPro Hero 3 black plus so I decided to rule our the phantom vision but still considered the vision plus.. interested in hearing what people think.. Im leaning towards the standard phantom 2 with a gimbal ( which one? ) and some sort of fpv gear. Im 19 years old and love film making, so that is really my number one objective; video quality and stability.

So my main questions are:

1) What advantages does the vision Plus have over a Phantom 2 with a GoPro?
2) Should I buy a phantom used of of craigslist? Used off of the ebay or amazon? Or new out of the box
3) If I get a phantom 2 standard I would like to get some sort of fpv gear, goggles maybe, and a A/V transmission setup that is good for the 1000m, with cost being the number one factor - looking for all options here
4) Lastly, what is this new 'V2" upgrade to rotors, motors, etc. Is it worth it?

Thanks in advance for any input, its very appreciated and im just looking to make a good decision before this kind of investment!
 
Maybe I'm being a little facetious --- but can a 19 y/o really afford this rather expensive Phantom hobby?

I can remember being a 19 yo dude a long time ago (I'm 45 now) and it seemed like I barely had enough cash to buy a CD (yeah we bought CDs back then) or even a six-pack of cold ones. You must have a really good job at your age, or maybe maxing out the credit cards?

I would avoid buying used Phantoms on Ebay or Craigs --- most likely crashed birds (multiple times) and they are looking for suckers to bait.
 
MadMitch88 said:
Maybe I'm being a little facetious --- but can a 19 y/o really afford this rather expensive Phantom hobby?

I can remember being a 19 yo dude a long time ago (I'm 45 now) and it seemed like I barely had enough cash to buy a CD (yeah we bought CDs back then) or even a six-pack of cold ones. You must have a really good job at your age, or maybe maxing out the credit cards?

I would avoid buying used Phantoms on Ebay or Craigs --- most likely crashed birds (multiple times) and they are looking for suckers to bait.


Thanks for the response, and yeah as you assumed I have a pretty flexible lifestlye as a 19 yr old, really good job right now so its not much to budget out. About ebay and craigslist thats kind of what i figured.. not to budge but do you know much on FPV equipment? The good and bad? Trying to weigh out pros and cons between which packages to get ! :?
 
not everyone on ebay / craigslist is looking for sucker to bait. there are good ones out there too and i wouldn't have an issue buying a used one as long as all is disclosed.

my 2c

i also sent you a PM about some other details, FPV and such
 
I think you should wait about 2-3 more weeks to see how the Christmas season product line turns out. (including the V2 and inspire and whatever else)

A lot of people are always on an upgrade cycle so they are always selling their existing fleet as well. You have to use your judgement when using Ebay and CL but this product group probably has fewer scammers than cars - and tons of people don't have any problems buying cars on Ebay/CL. I was actually thinking about listing my P2 for sale on Craigslist to see if I get any offers. Whatever I get for it will just go for a Phantom 2v2/Inspire/whatever...
 
TigardMikeR said:
Thanks for the response, and yeah as you assumed I have a pretty flexible lifestlye as a 19 yr old, really good job right now so its not much to budget out. About ebay and craigslist thats kind of what i figured.. not to budge but do you know much on FPV equipment? The good and bad? Trying to weigh out pros and cons between which packages to get ! :?

Well I got the P2V+ so I'm stuck with the camera that comes with it --- but I did go crazy on the booster amps and antennas from nice guy Tony over at FPVLR.com --- spent about $500 at his website so he can prolly take a nice vacation with his wife from my spending habits alone. :mrgreen:

The good news is that I can fly my Phantom out to around 2.5 miles and almost hit 3 on a good day with all those extra mods --- so it's money well spent if you are a long distance nutjob like me.

:p
 
one thing to add. buying from Amazon will get you a better return policy..mine had a fly away and hit water..killed it. i called dji and they said go buy a new one. amazon gave me my money back after i told them it had a good g.p.s. lock when it took off.
i would buy a new p-2 with the new rechargeable transmitter etc. and a zenmuse gimbal. the vision plus does good stills but the camera seems to be quite fragile.
also,buy a cheap drone to practice with first if you have not already.
 
I have both the Vision plus and the Phantom 2 brand new in fact. I started with the vision plus and still love it, ease of use, tie in with your iPhone or iPad, or Android devise makes it simple to set up and be flying rather quickly. The vision plus has a good camera on it, nothing wrong by any means, but given you already have the Go Pro, you're probably right to lean more toward the Phantom 2. It will end up costing you probably more, once you get a gimbal you want the H3 - 3D, a monitor and the hardware to send the signal from the drone down to your controller. So it might make sense to look for a used Phantom 2 especially after Wednesday with the new Inspire is announced. I have a Hero 4 and the video and photos from it are spectacular and I know that the Hero 3+ is still a great camera. I'm actually thinking of getting one as a backup to my 4.

But I would agree with those others who have said to wait a bit, the Inspire is coming out on Wednesday Nov. 12, and it looks to open up an entire new kind of flying experience, it will probably have a built in 4K camera, so that may rule it out for you, but its only a few days away, so hang on for a bit.

Either way, enjoy whatever drone you get, I've only been flying for a few months and love it every time I take out one of my drones. Best of luck to you!
 
thumpinhard said:
one thing to add. buying from Amazon will get you a better return policy..mine had a fly away and hit water..killed it. i called dji and they said go buy a new one. amazon gave me my money back after i told them it had a good g.p.s. lock when it took off.

Amazon and B&H Photo are well-known for giving full refunds on Phantoms that have gone awry and crashed/flown away. There are many stories about them doing this, and it's awesome.

If I was buying a new one today, those are the only 2 online vendors I would consider!
 
I almost bought a V2 Plus. But I like having a go pro I can do other things with as well. From what I understand the h33d gimbal is better, the go pro takes better video. I like my FPV screen better than using my phone. I like that parts are upgradable separate too. For example the GP4 is out.
 
Phantom 2 with Hd-3D is $829 vision + is $1149 the difference in price comes real close to buying an FPV system I'd go that route. But consider the vision+ also has in flight camera controls where as the gopro will not. I agree with everyone else though, don't do anything till we see what Wednesday brings!!
 
MadMitch88 said:
TigardMikeR said:
Thanks for the response, and yeah as you assumed I have a pretty flexible lifestlye as a 19 yr old, really good job right now so its not much to budget out. About ebay and craigslist thats kind of what i figured.. not to budge but do you know much on FPV equipment? The good and bad? Trying to weigh out pros and cons between which packages to get ! :?

Well I got the P2V+ so I'm stuck with the camera that comes with it --- but I did go crazy on the booster amps and antennas from nice guy Tony over at FPVLR.com --- spent about $500 at his website so he can prolly take a nice vacation with his wife from my spending habits alone. :mrgreen:

The good news is that I can fly my Phantom out to around 2.5 miles and almost hit 3 on a good day with all those extra mods --- so it's money well spent if you are a long distance nutjob like me.

:p

I am interested in doing boost mods like yourself, can you tell me about your setup? Thanks.
 
vander said:
I have both the Vision plus and the Phantom 2 brand new in fact. I started with the vision plus and still love it, ease of use, tie in with your iPhone or iPad, or Android devise makes it simple to set up and be flying rather quickly. The vision plus has a good camera on it, nothing wrong by any means, but given you already have the Go Pro, you're probably right to lean more toward the Phantom 2. It will end up costing you probably more, once you get a gimbal you want the H3 - 3D, a monitor and the hardware to send the signal from the drone down to your controller. So it might make sense to look for a used Phantom 2 especially after Wednesday with the new Inspire is announced. I have a Hero 4 and the video and photos from it are spectacular and I know that the Hero 3+ is still a great camera. I'm actually thinking of getting one as a backup to my 4.

But I would agree with those others who have said to wait a bit, the Inspire is coming out on Wednesday Nov. 12, and it looks to open up an entire new kind of flying experience, it will probably have a built in 4K camera, so that may rule it out for you, but its only a few days away, so hang on for a bit.

Either way, enjoy whatever drone you get, I've only been flying for a few months and love it every time I take out one of my drones. Best of luck to you!

Thanks for your response! As of now im definitely leaning towards the phantom 2 with gimbal as I plan to get the Hero 4 very soon. Im sure the new Inspire will be quite beyond my price range of about $1400. With a 600mw transmitter and a full gopro gimbal setup, how will my flight time be affected?
 
thumpinhard said:
one thing to add. buying from Amazon will get you a better return policy..mine had a fly away and hit water..killed it. i called dji and they said go buy a new one. amazon gave me my money back after i told them it had a good g.p.s. lock when it took off.
i would buy a new p-2 with the new rechargeable transmitter etc. and a zenmuse gimbal. the vision plus does good stills but the camera seems to be quite fragile.
also,buy a cheap drone to practice with first if you have not already.

Thanks Thumpin, im planning to get the new phantom 2 V2!
 
aggiesrwe03 said:
Phantom 2 with Hd-3D is $829 vision + is $1149 the difference in price comes real close to buying an FPV system I'd go that route. But consider the vision+ also has in flight camera controls where as the gopro will not. I agree with everyone else though, don't do anything till we see what Wednesday brings!!

It was my understanding that the new "V2" phantom 2 has a rotational controller for the gimbal, does it not?
 
Not sure about the phantom 2, but the vision plus does, yes. What I mean is on the vision plus you can control the camera in flight (shutter control, white balance, picture size, video width, etc.). With the gopro you will not be able to, you'll hit the record button take off, and that's it you're recording everything without the ability to change things until you land.
 
aggiesrwe03 said:
Not sure about the phantom 2, but the vision plus does, yes. What I mean is on the vision plus you can control the camera in flight (shutter control, white balance, picture size, video width, etc.). With the gopro you will not be able to, you'll hit the record button take off, and that's it you're recording everything without the ability to change things until you land.

Ahh I see. Thanks. Also, did some research and yes the V2 on the base phantom does have a tilt control for the Gimbal.
 

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