Upgrade from a Phantom1 advice for me?

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I am interested in getting a newer Phantom model. I have the original Phantom 1 and have modified it abit. I have installed a DJI ZENMUSE H3-2D along with a DJI NAZA M V2. I also have a fatshark FPV antennae wired in and use a GoPro Hero3+ with leg extensions.

Is it worth taking some of these upgrades and installing them on a Phantom 2? I am mostly interested in longer battery time and much smoother panning (panning down). The speed of the pan is very bad with my current setup and does not seem able to be changed. Its fast and looks 'jerky'. Will i need a newer Zenmuse or can i reuse what I have?

Also, I am still kind of confused too between the pros and cons of the Phantom 2 versus the Phantom2 Vision +. (GoPro or built-in camera?) for my needs.

I use the phantom for landscape photography and videography for architecture.

Thanks for any and all advice and direction!
 
By the way, i have no problem updating my gopro to the Hero 4 if that is better than the Vision...
 
I would start fresh as the H3-2D is obsolete. If you are into aerial videography, you will notice the missing yaw dimension. Also the H3-2D has compatibility issues with the newer upgraded tilt-dial remote.

I went best of both worlds and did a hybrid Vision plus with H33D Gopro using the DJI App as FPV.

If you want to hear about my life story read on. If not here is the solution.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre ... 15&page=25

I've owned 2 phantom 2s - The vision plus ver 2 (non upgrade) and the P2 Ver2 (upgrade) with H33D/Gopro3/Black Pearl/AVL58/Mini IOSD. The reason why I have 2 was that I was not happy with the video quality on the Vision plus. At the time of purchase, I was told if you didn't own a gopro, get the vision plus. What a mistake. The only acceptable quality was 720@60fps, which was equivalent to the gopro2. I don't do many photos because the Vision Plus FPV on the app would freeze, and you would need to fly back blind to reset. I was also too afraid to fly because of the flimsy design of the gimbal and camera. I hand caught from day 1 knowing that the camera can pop out of the magnetically held pressed fit shaft. This can cause tilt issues and possibly torn ribbon cable. The camera/gimbal is about $500-800 to replace and has a very limited purpose - it only works with the phantom vision plus and does 2 things - aerial photos and aerial video.

I wanted a gopro on the vision plus but there was only talks of the wiring schematics at that time.

I moved on and cross-upgraded to the P2 version with H33d and Gopro 3+. Loved it. It had better range, probably twice the range of the vision plus. I could also detach the gopro and use it for other purposes. You will lose to ability to control the camera settings and take photo mid flight. You can overcome that by using the Gopros simulatenous vids+stills option.
I had draw backs though, I was missing the 2 way coms that allow for dynamic home point/Ground station/Radar/etc that was offered by the DJI App. I felt insecure every time I lost visual sight of the phantom. Maybe I was used to the app and not used to the HUD on the IOSD. I found it hard spot/track the phantom with the IOSD. You also needed to make sure your dedicated FPV device was charged and working. Take off also took longer as you needed screw on anttenas, mount the FPV and power on the gopro.

Solution was found a month after my cross-upgrade. I ended up selling the P2 V2 with the FPV gear and sold my fragile Vision Plus camera. This funded for the H3-3d and the $10 Part-3 cable pack to do the simple conversion. The conversion was all plug and play and the only problem was the jello. This was fixed by lowering the Pitch and Roll gains to 90 or using stiffer dampeners. The only thing I lost from the conversion was the range. Fortunately I don't do distance flights and I always try to maintain visual sight.

I feel more free and comfortable now knowing that I am no longer locked to the Fragile-low resolution Vision Plus camera and the DJI app uses DHP so the phantom goes where go.

That's my 2cents..

Edit: And H4-3d is out to suit the Gopro4 - unless you need 4k@30fps or 1080@120fps, I don't think there is a need to upgrade to the Gopro3+. And judging by DJI and the business model of reusing parts, I think the H4-3D is a rebalanced H3-3D.
 
Thanks for report. My gimbal is less than a year old! Maybe i can sell the whole Phantom 1 kit and then upgrade. Man how things change fast.
 

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