New to Quadcopters

[hdrider]

I bought a helicopter and jerry rigged my GoPro to it for pictures but it never has been just what I want. First off I'm not great at flying it but to me the helicopter is very sensitive to any wind.
I ran across a couple videos shot by a quad copter and it caught my interest. But I have a couple questions.
#1, is the quad copter bothered by wind as much as helicopters?
#2, is there a model that would be considered a good starter? I know that's a loaded question.
Thanks in advance.

 

[baker745]

I had a bad experience getting too much helicopter a few years ago. Crashed and burned, put them on the shelf and never touched them again. My wife bought me a phantom for Christmas. Looked at it for three days because I was scared of tearing it up. Once I tried it, I realized it is stupid simple. My ten year old daughter was taking off and landing it today, my 14yoa son has flown it more than me, my wife took off and flew it and she has never even touched a radio control before. I had the thing dancing all around our front yard tonight. In two days, we have run 10 full battery charges thru it and not a single mishap. It is really stupid simple. Grab a Phantom, it will be the best move you have made in RC!

 

[hdrider]

Thanks Baker745 for your comments. Would a beginner be better off with the Phantom or doing a Phantom2 non vision? I have a couple GoPro cameras already.
Are there noticeable differences in the flying of each? I wish there was someplace close I could at least see one but no luck. We are fulltime RVers and travel so maybe we will run across a place.
I just want to take pictures from the air of campgrounds we stay at mainly and maybe grow from there.

 

[baker745]

We jumped into the Phantom without doing a lot of research. In hindsight, I would have gone with the Phantom 2 w/o vision. I too have several gopros so I don't need the vision. For $200, It would have been worth the extra flight time. I will eventually get a 2, unless they come out with the 3 before I can save my pennies.

 

[Pull_Up]

#1, is the quad copter bothered by wind as much as helicopters?

Hello! The Phantom family are fitted with GPS receivers linked to their flight control hardware. If you have them in GPS mode they will hold station, hands off the sticks, to within about a 6ft radius horizontally, and about a 2ft zone vertically. This holds true in winds up to mid- to late-teens mph (although the horizon goes a bit off kilter on your stills/video as it leans in there to hold station!).

My seven year old son likes to manoeuvre my Phantom 2 Vision, but just one axis at a time at the moment until his skill and confidence levels increase - he can do this because the GPS and barometric altimeter hold the aircraft still in every other axis except the one he's moving it about it. It's great!

 

[Hiway]

So the sled is boring you bro?

I am guessin that "hd" stands for harley davidson? If'n you is a fellow knight of the open road, then my advice is the Phantom 2 (or 1.1.1 with dual batteries like folks do) as that vision camera seems crap to me. Gopros in hand already, you do not need to **** with that camera. Shop an aftermarket gimbal that is designed for the gopro and made for the Phantom (may want to sit tight for the initial reports on that 3 axis cm3000) and don't look back.

The Phantom was my first true aerial rig (I am an old ground r/c fan) and I was flying with confidence in 2 batteries (less than 20min)

Keep it on 2 and watch for the yardsharks! ....o~^o

 

[hdrider]

Not bored with the bike,,, in fact I wish we had it with. You see we sold our home and property 1.5 years ago and we are now traveling the US in our motorhome. And in doing so I love taking pictures of the great places we are seeing which has brought me through the journey of the helicopter and now brings me looking at the quadcopter world.
I guess I need to also check out the Gopro3 to see if it really is that much better than the Gopro2's that I have. Or is it just the weight that makes it that much better?
I have acquired most of the extras for the Gopro's I have like extended battery pack, Led screen, extra batteries ect. and I hate to start over with a 3.
But like mentioned I'm sure here is a gimbal that will hold the old Gopro. I mean heck,, I had my Gopro hanging under the Helicopter by a wire and a string set to take a picture every 3 seconds and sorted through them hoping for some good ones. I'm a old farm boy at heart LOL!! So almost anything would put me a step above what I have been doing.