Which Phantom?

[willstatt]

Hi to everyone.

I've just joined the forum.. I'm about to purchase a phantom but not sure which model to go for? I have a gopro, so my inclination is to go for a phantom 2 and then just add a zenmuse 3d gimbal and use my camera.

Or should I lash out a bit more and go for Vision 2 + ?

For those on here with experience.... which will give the best results?

Also... I really like the look of the 'pilots eye view from the quadcopter.... (on an ipad or phone) is that possible with both options. also the ground station flight planning... is that possible with both?

Sorry for so many questions, and any guidance much appreciated.

Thanks

Will

 

[Mako79]

I own both. The p2 h33d gopro 3+be is my recent addition.
I bought the vision + thinking it was complete package.
If you own a gopro and willing to learn, get the p2 gopro combo. Its a seperate system meaning that you have more options when something goes wrong. The achillies heel of the vision is the camera and the cables that control it. Firstly, the camera quality is no where as near as the gopro. 720 at 60fps is the sweet spot. Every other setting is unusable. Also, the camera is mounted on a press shaft arm which needs resetting if you have a nasty bump. Secondly, the flex ribbon cable. Its prone to tearing from the whiplash bump landings etc. My biggest gripe is that the camera cant be used for anything else. Its permanently fixed to the phantom.

Mind you.. the vision plus has its advantages with the 2 way communications. You can make changes to the phantom literally on the fly. You can stop start recording, change camera settings and take photos whenever where ever. The 2 way coms enables dynamic home point which means it can do follow me provided your device has gps and it stays 10m away from you.

Other advantages are- follow it on radar, hear battery alarms, set autopilot way point flying, reject return to home. Im sure adding a btu will enable some of those functions.

They are 2 different machines.

 

[Hughie]

I recently bought a P2 and was stuck on the same question. I was kind of seduced by the out of the box FPV of the Vision+, and as one supplier pointed out, for the price, you cant get anything anywhere to match that level of functionality. It seems nice. One problem with the Vision+ is that the gimbal likes flying but it's not too keen on landing. If you hit the ground hard enough for it to take a knock it will break. There are a couple of failure modes which are fixable (more make-do-and-mend than fixable perhaps) but basically if you need to replace it you are looking at hundreds of pounds/dollars. You can't easily change the gimbal to a better model either, and you cant change the camera.

On the other hand the P2 is much more pluggable. To get the same level of functionality you will likely end up spending more (you need to supply your own GoPro 3,3+ or 4 and gimbal for a start) but you will have a better quality gimbal and will be able to swap things yourself.

Another way of looking at it, is that you can buy TVs with a settop box and DVD player all built in. They are good value compared to buying three separate boxes, but if the DVD or the settop box dies the whole thing is useless.

So it depends what you want. And I really understand the attraction of the Vision+, but on practical grounds, my own choice was P2 H3-3D GoPro.