DJI may have a REAL problem on their hands

[Sasquatch]

I am anxiously awaiting reviews from any Phantom pilots here and who have purchased and flown the tali H500. There hasn't been much yet in the way of actual reviews from flyers but, then again, I'm not all over the UAV forums either. I'm eager to hear what people have to say about this bird's performance.

 

[midwestjeff]

I am anxiously awaiting reviews from any Phantom pilots here and who have purchased and flown the tali H500. There hasn't been much yet in the way of actual reviews from flyers but, then again, I'm not all over the UAV forums either. I'm eager to hear what people have to say about this bird's performance.

I have both right now and can say the Tali H500 is not a replacement for the Vision+. The Tali is an incredible machine and a blast to fly, but it takes much more skill to fly and is not a machine you want to fly out of sight with. I am currently using the equipped ilook+ and that camera is much better than the Vision+ in terms of color and smoothness, less artifacts. My plan is to upgrade to the Gopro Hero 4 when that come out since you can use either one.

My opinion..

Phantom Vision+ = Fun, super easy to fly and great for everyday hobby use
Tali H500- Professional Rig, requiring more user input and control, but better shots, no landing gear in the way, and very customizable for the future.

 

[evonbart2]

Regardless whether it's this Tali or something else.... DJI is getting their *** chewed on by other manufacturers and the winner will be the one who puts out an as good or better product, but provides BETTER support than DJI. If DJI just quit unleashing firmware updates without first rigorously testing them, they would be lightyears ahead of their competition, but I'm sick of my flying cameras (I own a P2 and P2V+) being grounded because I can't fly it for fear of unexplainable problems a firmware update caused.

DJI itself is going to crater due to it's own bad management. Sad, but that's how it's looking.

 

[Sasquatch]

Awesome and thank you Midwest for your honest and pragmatic opinion about this new bird! Speaking for myself, I do appreciate your honest view and perspective about the pros and cons of the tali H500. I will keep what you've said in mind.

 

[pyrophantom]

There are more reviews from the guys on RC groups who are very experienced flyers and they say the same, great aircraft but needs a firmware update to amend some of the flight settings, but they give it a green light all round.

 

[Sasquatch]

Thanks as well, Evon and Pyro...all thoughts and opinions much appreciated.


Evon, I'm a little bit jaded like you as well. DJI needs to up their game more and if they want to be long term players in the mainstream UAV industry. Things are changing so fast and customers are fickle (myself included). Some of us want a product that will function as advertised and has decent consumer support & service....not much to ask. I've done 70% of my homework on the Phantom, but there are still many issues they (DJI) haven''t addressed and/or continue to overlook.

 

[JWarren]

So which Quad/Hex maker has better support than DJI?

 

[JWarren]

the Tali H500 is not a replacement for the Vision+. The Tali is an incredible machine and a blast to fly, but it takes much more skill to fly and is not a machine you want to fly out of sight with.

For over $2000.00 and can't fly out of sight? Sounds kind of like breaking news to me. :roll:

 

[cougar]

the Tali H500 is not a replacement for the Vision+. The Tali is an incredible machine and a blast to fly, but it takes much more skill to fly and is not a machine you want to fly out of sight with.

For over $2000.00 and can't fly out of sight? Sounds kind of like breaking news to me. :roll:

This is not intended to fly out of sight, it is for video & Photo. H500 can carry different cameras and different Gimbals will be available.

 

[varmint]

the Tali H500 is not a replacement for the Vision+. The Tali is an incredible machine and a blast to fly, but it takes much more skill to fly and is not a machine you want to fly out of sight with.

For over $2000.00 and can't fly out of sight? Sounds kind of like breaking news to me. :roll:

Of course you can fly out of sight, RTL works perfectly and I've done it myself. It's more a question of is is prudent to fly a 2kg lawn mower out of sight with a $2000 bill and a [insert 6 figures here] liability attached to it.

I should also add that "out of sight" is a lot farther for this [black edition] thing than it is for a white phantom at 2/3 the size.

 

[midwestjeff]

the Tali H500 is not a replacement for the Vision+. The Tali is an incredible machine and a blast to fly, but it takes much more skill to fly and is not a machine you want to fly out of sight with.

For over $2000.00 and can't fly out of sight? Sounds kind of like breaking news to me. :roll:

Out of sight is much harder when flying something twice the size and black, in my case. It doesnt get lost in the clouds like the Vision+ does. Another big difference is instead of instantly getting a black lost connection screen, you get a few static lines on the screen but you can still see what you are doing, which gives you warning to the end of the range. There are also options on easily increasing the FPV range if you so desire, but like I said, this machine is not one you would want to fly out of sight and is meant for filming, pure and simple.

Also Walkera has been great with customer support, I wake up to emails from Linda a Walkera post-sales rep and will just ask how things are going! I am def impressed! The GPS accuracy is also much better. It will always land within a foot of where it took off..

 

[Tails_Up]

JWarren, had to smile at that one. I don't know anything about DJI other than they make a nice product. They also offer a repair service and from what I read, are pretty generous on warranty repair. When someone sends back a crashed bird, they could be real a$$holes - try getting warranty coverage for a dropped iPhone. But from all I see, they're doing pretty well and trying to work with us. As far as updates, consider how other companies do it. they COULD require us to pay a yearly fee or charge per update (look at Garmin or TomTom) but they're cranking this out to all owners for free.

This is not an inexpensive hobby. I've already replaced one broken Vision Plus with a new one, the first one lasted about three weeks before I did something dumb. Before that, I beat a Vision to death just learning how to fly the darn thing. If I was asked for advice, I'd say buy a Vision first - much more durable than the Plus's gimbal. After 6 months or so, move up to a Plus. There's a lot of learning to do.

I have learned to treat it almost like a real aircraft - check everything before you leave the ground. Don't push your skills too far. For me, a big lesson was learning NOT to 'show off' my new toy to friends and bystanders. When there's people around it's easy to jump ahead, take off too soon or just not pay attention. I know, it's great to hear the oohs and ahhs. But they're taking your attention away, and you're not a 747 driver with 20,000 flight hours. I saw a video a while back where a guy was taping himself while learning to fly his Phantom. At a critical point, he TURNED AROUND to adjust the camera... and it flew away. I'm guessing he didn't wait to get a GPS lock before taking off - which is not hard to do in the beginning when you've got lots to concentrate on. I did it.

I think anyone who claims to be a veteran flyer most likely has a trail of broken machines behind them.

 

[varmint]

Also Walkera has been great with customer support, I wake up to emails from Linda a Walkera post-sales rep and will just ask how things are going! I am def impressed! The GPS accuracy is also much better. It will always land within a foot of where it took off..

I noticed that too, it's pretty impressive considering the GPS is also inside the main body like on a Phantom. Locks are also pretty much instant for me, although I wait a couple of minutes before taking off anyway.

 

[Dirty Bird]

The Tali is an incredible machine and a blast to fly, but it takes much more skill to fly and is not a machine you want to fly out of sight with.

Jeff I am curious why you say the H500 is not something you want to fly out of sight. Why?

 

[JWarren]

FWIW, I read they have a hard time reaching 1000ft before LOS. I just read it, so I have no first hand knowledge.

 

[Dirty Bird]

FWIW, I read they have a hard time reaching 1000ft before LOS. I just read it, so I have no first hand knowledge.

That is disappointing if true, but not surprising. I was curious what sort of FVP range one might expect with the transmitter integrated into the camera.

 

[pyrophantom]

Seen these boys ?

 

[Meta4]

No-one has - still waiting for Align to release them.
But they look great.
Have they dropped the M460?
That's the one I was hanging out for.

 

[varmint]

FWIW, I read they have a hard time reaching 1000ft before LOS. I just read it, so I have no first hand knowledge.

That is disappointing if true, but not surprising. I was curious what sort of FVP range one might expect with the transmitter integrated into the camera.

The integrated VTX on that iLook is a 200mw job. I typically get about a KM out of it with the stock antennas, which are LHCP mushrooms - not bad at all really, and about as far as I've wanted to go so far. However it's trivial to attach a third-party VTX like the Immersion 600mw, and that's what I plan to do when the H4 comes out. I believe people get pretty ridiculous ranges with those.

I think what was said earlier about the fact that the video doesn't just freeze is an important point too; With the digital signal it's pretty much all or nothing, but with analog you've got some feedback about how well your signal is doing. I just prefer it, along with the constant high frame rate, to the 15FPS and sudden dropouts I need to contend with on my Phantom. I've never been able to successfully get any distance at 640/30FPS over wifi, but admittedly I don't have any antenna mods on it either.

 

[pyrophantom]

Might be guessing but most people who will buy a Tali are probably GoPro owners at the very least and who will simply use that setup with immersion 600mW but as has already been said it is not a sporty nimble fly like a bat out of hell aircraft, its meant to offer a stable platform for filming and stills. Thats my interest in it anyway, and they are going to offer other gimbals to take larger cameras so it can only be better.

And I have a P2V and a plus and whilst I have no use now for my P2V w Rotorpixel Gimbal (and will be selling it), I am considering all my options at the moment for a stable video platform and leave the plus taking stills in RAW.