Phantom 3 Pro for sports & fun

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I'm a tech geek at heart, but with my current fast paced life I don't have too much free time to mess with stuff. I also like to do a lot of 'extreme' sports. I was thinking about getting the Phantom 3 pro to play around with and to record things like wakeboarding.

I had a couple things I wanted to clear up before I buy it.

1. How easy it to learn to fly proficiently and get decent footage (with minimal editing). I'd love to spend a bunch of time messing with it, but I just know I won't be able to dedicate as much time as I would like.

2. What are your opinions on using it to record wakeboarding on the lake? The boat is going ~25mph so it should be able to keep up easily, however I'm really worried about the fact that its over water. Anything happens and its going straight down into the water!

3. I've watched a ton of youtube videos of the drone recording. It seems like a lot of the videos have some SERIOUS choppiness. The resolution is great but it's almost hurts the eyes to watch the videos. It's most definitely not my computer as its very powerful. I thought it might be youtube, but doing a quick google search brings up a lot of old threads. It seems like many people had this issue and it was mostly associated with the 4k recording. Has this been solved since then?

4. Money is not really an issue, but at the same time I don't like to spend more than I have to on toys. I was thinking about going the craigslist route, but since I don't have any experience with drones I have been hesitant. I don't know what to look for in a 'bad' drone. I could probably save $300+ or so by getting ones with alot of extra goodies already. Do you recommend I just buy new for the warranty though?

Thanks!
 
I'm a tech geek at heart, but with my current fast paced life I don't have too much free time to mess with stuff. I also like to do a lot of 'extreme' sports. I was thinking about getting the Phantom 3 pro to play around with and to record things like wakeboarding.

I had a couple things I wanted to clear up before I buy it.

1. How easy it to learn to fly proficiently and get decent footage (with minimal editing). I'd love to spend a bunch of time messing with it, but I just know I won't be able to dedicate as much time as I would like.

2. What are your opinions on using it to record wakeboarding on the lake? The boat is going ~25mph so it should be able to keep up easily, however I'm really worried about the fact that its over water. Anything happens and its going straight down into the water!

3. I've watched a ton of youtube videos of the drone recording. It seems like a lot of the videos have some SERIOUS choppiness. The resolution is great but it's almost hurts the eyes to watch the videos. It's most definitely not my computer as its very powerful. I thought it might be youtube, but doing a quick google search brings up a lot of old threads. It seems like many people had this issue and it was mostly associated with the 4k recording. Has this been solved since then?

4. Money is not really an issue, but at the same time I don't like to spend more than I have to on toys. I was thinking about going the craigslist route, but since I don't have any experience with drones I have been hesitant. I don't know what to look for in a 'bad' drone. I could probably save $300+ or so by getting ones with alot of extra goodies already. Do you recommend I just buy new for the warranty though?

Thanks!

1. This depends on your ability to learn the hand eye coordination needed to fly good enough. It also depends on your good judgement of when to fly, and when not to fly. In general though, they are easy to fly if you fly in open spaces.
2. Wakeboading capture was one of the most fun to do. You can see my Big River wakeboard capture here. You need to learn to fly backwards, makes for a cool effect. Yes, the P3P is fast enough. As for worrying, yes, everyone worries. You'll get over it. If cost is no option, just buy another one! Otherwise, install "GetterBack" on the craft so it can be retrieved, and buy insurance if you're really worried. There's also some pontoons you can install in lieu of GetterBack.
3. The jerkiness of video is primarily when panning left or right in bright sunlight. This can be minimized by using an ND16 or ND32 neutral density filter screwed onto the front of the camera, which slows down the shutter speed to minimize the jerkiness with bright sunlight shots. It's not just 4K, it's 1080 also. If you want to minimize your time in editing, don't bother with 4K, but DO BUY the P3P, for other reasons. You'll need to learn to edit video, but to minimize the learning curve and the editing time, I use Pinnacle Studio 19 for PCs to edit my videos. Most of my 15min flights can be edited down to 4min YouTube videos with music added in about an hour, after you learn the basics of the software. There is free online video training for 60 days after purchase from Pinnacle.
4. Buy a new one from AcesDeals.biz. Make sure Peter commits to shipping you the P3P WITH THE NEW MOTORS. Buy 2 extra batteries, and buy a good backpack for traveling on airlines, I suggest the Fearless P3 backpack. Also buy a Marco Polo tracking beacon, or Trackimo (trackimo needs cellular coverage to work, monthly fee). This is in case you lose it from pilot error, you'll be able to find it. Print your ph# on each battery + $50 reward statement, so when someone removes the battery they will know how to reach you to return it to collect a $50 reward.

To use the ND filters you have to remove the existing lens clear filter on the camera. Some folks have had a problem removing this, but be assured it will come off if done right. You might need to use one of those rubber jar opener straps, or a very big rubber band to get a good enough grip.
 
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1. This depends on your ability to learn the hand eye coordination needed to fly good enough. It also depends on your good judgement of when to fly, and when not to fly. In general though, they are easy to fly if you fly in open spaces.
2. Wakeboading capture was one of the most fun to do. You can see my summer wakeboard capture here. You need to learn to fly backwards, makes for a cool effect. Yes, the P3P is fast enough. As for worrying, yes, everyone worries. You'll get over it. If cost is no option, just buy another one! Otherwise, install "GetterBack" on the drone to the craft can be retrieved, and buy insurance if you're really worried. There's also some pontoons you can install in lieu of GetterBack.
3. The jerkiness of video is primarily when panning left of right in bright sunlight. This can be minimized by using an ND16 or ND32 neutral density filter screwed onto the front of the camera, which slows down the shutter speed to minimize the jerkiness you have seen. It's not just 4K, it's 1080 also. If you want to minimize your time in editing, don't bother with 4K, but DO BUY the P3P, for other reasons. You'll need to learn to edit video, but to minizing the learning curve and the editing time, I use Pinnacle Studio 19. Most of my 15min flights can be edited down to 4min YouTube videos with music added in about an hour, after you learn the basics of the software. There is free online video training for 60 days after purchase from Pinnacle.
4. Buy a new one from AcesDeals.biz. Make sure Peter commits to shipping you the P3P WITH THE NEW MOTORS. Buy 2 extra batteries, and buy a good backpack for traveling on airlines, I suggest the Fearless P3 backpack. Also buy a Marco Polo tracking beacon, or Trackimo (trackimo needs cellular coverage to work, monthly fee). This is in case you lose it from pilot error, you'll be able to find it. Print your ph# on each battery + $50 reward statement, so when someone removes the battery they will know how to reach you to return it to collect a $50 reward.

To use the ND filters you have to remove the existing lens clear filter on the camera. Some folks have had a problem removing this, but be assured it will come off if done right. You might need to use one of those rubber jar opener straps, or a very big rubber band to get a good enough grip.
John,

Thanks for the reply! I generally have good hand eye coordination so I should be pretty good then.

I think maybe I should have qualified the 'money isn't an issue statement'. I didn't mean it in the sense of me spending trust fund money and I can buy a fleet of drones for every time I dunk one. haha, I meant that I'm ok with spending a couple hundred more if its worth buying new, without to much of a sweat.

The Getterback looks nifty, but I'm not sure how much it would help me. The lake is 80-120ft deep. So it wouldn't reach the surface at all places. Also the lake is pretty big and can get wavy, so it might be hard to spot the small thing. Lastly, If the device is submerged so far under I would think thats already a huge problem as I'm guessing most of the electronics will be friend and useless. So I think a pantoon type solution would be best.
 
Will my Galaxy note 5 work or do you guys really recommend buying an iPad for it? I see the Note 4 on the list of compatible devices so I'm guessing note 5 works too. Does it work ok or is it alot better on a big iPad or Android tab?

Thanks
 
John,

Thanks for the reply! I generally have good hand eye coordination so I should be pretty good then.

I think maybe I should have qualified the 'money isn't an issue statement'. I didn't mean it in the sense of me spending trust fund money and I can buy a fleet of drones for every time I dunk one. haha, I meant that I'm ok with spending a couple hundred more if its worth buying new, without to much of a sweat.

The Getterback looks nifty, but I'm not sure how much it would help me. The lake is 80-120ft deep. So it wouldn't reach the surface at all places. Also the lake is pretty big and can get wavy, so it might be hard to spot the small thing. Lastly, If the device is submerged so far under I would think thats already a huge problem as I'm guessing most of the electronics will be friend and useless. So I think a pantoon type solution would be best.
In your case it appears you need the pontoon option, but select the pontoons that don't show up in the camera view, some of them are too big. You are correct, if the drone is waterlogged, it's unlikely salvageable, hence you need to buy the no fault insurance "when you buy" that some dealers offer for a couple hundred dollars. You must buy the drone and insurance together from the dealer.
 
Will my Galaxy note 5 work or do you guys really recommend buying an iPad for it? I see the Note 4 on the list of compatible devices so I'm guessing note 5 works too. Does it work ok or is it alot better on a big iPad or Android tab?

Thanks
I recommend you try the Note 5, it should work to get you going enough to practice flying and build your confidence. If you have video latency issues, read up on this forum about Android/Google services setup for Go. After you get familiar with the craft and assuming you don't crash in the first month, you will quickly want a bigger screen, such as iPad Mini or iPad Air. If you can afford the Air with cellular, it's the best IMHO, providing a mat finish screen and huge viewing area. Most will agree it's the best birds eye view possible that can clip to your controller.
 
I recommend you try the Note 5, it should work to get you going enough to practice flying and build your confidence. If you have video latency issues, read up on this forum about Android/Google services setup for Go. After you get familiar with the craft and assuming you don't crash in the first month, you will quickly want a bigger screen, such as iPad Mini or iPad Air. If you can afford the Air with cellular, it's the best IMHO, providing a mat finish screen and huge viewing area. Most will agree it's the best birds eye view possible that can clip to your controller.
OK cool. So as far as video editing goes, do you recommend the Pinnacle software specifically?

I have the Adobe CS6 suite for work, so that includes Premier and After Effects even... I know how to do the basics on it but everything takes so long since I rarely have to use it.
 
If you have Premier already just go with that. It's one of the top of the line video editing packages.
 
It really does not matter if you crash in water or on land. A crash will most likely mean a new P3P. And a lot of the time over land you will not find it either to retrieve the video.

I always prefer a nice flat surface with no visual obstructions and no people or buildings. That is what a lake is.

I see the P3P as really cheap and expendable. I have flown my $9,000.00 S800 with Zenmuse and $2,000.00 cam over water lots of times. Never had a problem over water or land.

I would simply budget a replacement as part of the package. That is how I view my P3P, dirt cheap for the quality. Nice thing you only buy the replacement if and when you loose the first one. If you loose it OK. If not you are ahead of the game.

I train pilots for all kinds of RC aircraft and I would say it takes about 100 hrs flying to become really proficient. You are most likely to crash in the first 10 hrs. You gain enough skills to be dangerous in 20 hrs but by a hundred you are usually pretty good.

First learn to fly in Atti, forget all the GPS and return to home stuff. Learn to fly, before you even start to think about what you are shooting.

And it would be a good idea to buy a cheaper MR to start, just to learn on. They can be less than $100 including remote. No cam of course. Learn to fly tail in and nose in (everything is backwards) go out and fly from a boat fast once you are competent on land. It is serious fun and needs a lot of practice to become good.

Have fun and fly safe...
 
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is really fun! just be sure depend of the phantom u want! the 3 version pro and advance have some crack problem so be sure u get the October version of them couse the version before is will crack! but if u any way get the old versión And u cant do nothing about it! i recomend u buy motor reensforsmens on eBay and is problem fix it! work for me so! [emoji4]
ImageUploadedByPhantomPilots - DJI Phantom Forum1447294431.579193.jpg
 
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So it sounds like its important to get the one with the new motors (to prevent cracking?)
 
So it sounds like its important to get the one with the new motors (to prevent cracking?)
No it's not important. People with old shells like myself haven't had any cracks and people with the new shells have reported cracks.
 
Getterback says it can float up to 10 lbs, so should be able to use in deep water as well. I am considering it for flights over the ocean. Slightly worried it may deploy in flight and cause a crash, but that maybe an irrational fear...

Woah, I didn't realize it holds 10lb and the Phantom only weights 2.5. Thats not bad at all. Even if its just a fail safe..... It's a pretty cheap thing to buy.
 
Woah, I didn't realize it holds 10lb and the Phantom only weights 2.5. Thats not bad at all. Even if its just a fail safe..... It's a pretty cheap thing to buy.


I messed this up, the test line holds 10 lbs but will not float 10 lbs. it appears the line has to be long enough for phantom to sit on the bottom...
 

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