New guy with questions on Phantom variants looking to buy.

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This will be my first flying RC vehicle although I have a Hubsan X4 inbound for training purposes prior to even opening the Phantom up. The short story is my use will be recreational video with a significant interest in FPV and then potential for future commercial use when regulations and such are set up for such use.

Here's my breakdown for my options:
Phantom v1.1.1 that I got brand new for a stellar price of $362 - I would then need to add a gimbal and fatshark for about $650 more although could do that in steps. Batteries would be added at $25-50 dollars each for 2 so another 100. total would be around $1200

Phantom 2 I pre-ordered after LOTS of reading forums both here and elsewhere discussing the upgrades already installed on the phantom 2 with Zenmuse gimbal for another $190. This way at $869 plus fat shark I'm at $1040.

Sell the v1.1.1, cancel the P2 and just order the P2V and knock out all of the decision making and spare part buying along with no need to hunt down a Hero3 which adds about $350 to each of the other 2 prices and gets me a second battery.

I really want to keep it under $1500 but figure I will update in steps as I want to make sure my piloting skills improve first before I mess with cameras or FPV.

Then the other question is for that much money am I simply in the F450 or F550 territory with the ability to update to a larger gimbal down the road to make it a useful tool for video surveillance/videography/aerial photography?

Recently I though maybe I should just stick with the v1.1.1 and do no gimbal or fatshark upgrades, when I'm a good pilot then sell it and upgrade to an F550 with gimbals/cam/FPV.

Obviously the costs in this hobby just spiral up but I want to make an informed initial purchase that will allow me to grow on a very capable platform and I feel while the P2V makes the most initial sense I feel like it limits me too much and I'd have to sell it to change machines to grow.
 
Re: New guy with questions on Phantom variants looking to bu

Doctorsti said:
Recently I though maybe I should just stick with the v1.1.1 and do no gimbal or fatshark upgrades, when I'm a good pilot then sell it and upgrade to an F550 with gimbals/cam/FPV.

That's exactly what I did, and for exactly those reasons (although I'm keeping the Phantom for now, as a backup and just for fun). I've used the Phantom to get me through a lot of the learning curve in general, and now I'm assembling a F550 for the real missions. I did test some FPV and gimbal options on the Phantom that will end up getting used on my 550 at times, but I decided to save the heavy lifting (pun intended) for the new rig.

When I decided on that several weeks ago, I immediately stopped the flow of spending that was going to the Phantom and redirected it 100% to acquiring parts for the 550. After a month, I've got most of them here now, and about 60% through the build. I also picked components that could easily be transferred to another airframe (i.e. Tarot 680/690) if/when I need a little more than the 550 airframe can handle.
 
Re: New guy with questions on Phantom variants looking to bu

I would stick with the 1.1.1 and learn to fly . You can get a gimbal and FPV cheaper than $600 and the batteries well under a $100 hobby king for the batteries I just got 2 for around $30 shipped 2200 /25c
 
Re: New guy with questions on Phantom variants looking to bu

750r said:
I would stick with the 1.1.1 and learn to fly . You can get a gimbal and FPV cheaper than $600 and the batteries well under a $100 hobby king for the batteries I just got 2 for around $30 shipped 2200 /25c
On the v1.1.1 wouldn't I need the upgraded board to even run a gimbal as well as do some soldering. I thought there was another reason that going with a P2 gave more out of the box options without having to upgrade things.

I am also really searching hard for info on the motors of the P2 vs P1. The DJI literature stated someplace "upgraded motors" and the horizontal velocity is documented at 15m/s as compared to 10m/s on the P1. Funny how it says 15m/s but in parenthesis it says "not recommended."

I guess with the P1 I could always do the moon gel thing under the mount for the go pro and get some practice with video capture.

I think it's just the "gotta have the newest" bug biting me. I really don't like to by old tech as even the new tech is outdated sooooo fast anymore. I know that is a never ending cycle, "waiting for the newest" but since the P2 just came out I feel like DJI will be committed to updating it and providing new options for it and will start phasing out the P1. I don't know if I am on a 1 year or 3 year plan with keeping the Phantom before wanting to go octo.
 

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