Why no waterproof version?

[ifsteve]

Anybody have some real insight on this? Splash Drone just isn't to a quality level yet where I am going to plunk down a bunch of money on a drone. But I am almost totally interested in flying over water and am just not going to buy any drone that isn't waterproof.

With all the advances the DJI is making and all the guys i see making videos over water why the heck don't they make a waterproof version????

 

[flpholt]

Anybody have some real insight on this? Splash Drone just isn't to a quality level yet where I am going to plunk down a bunch of money on a drone. But I am almost totally interested in flying over water and am just not going to buy any drone that isn't waterproof.

With all the advances the DJI is making and all the guys i see making videos over water why the heck don't they make a waterproof version????

just get a hexh20

 

[Meta4]

Anybody have some real insight on this? Splash Drone just isn't to a quality level yet where I am going to plunk down a bunch of money on a drone. But I am almost totally interested in flying over water and am just not going to buy any drone that isn't waterproof.

With all the advances the DJI is making and all the guys i see making videos over water why the heck don't they make a waterproof version????

The main reason is that you can't make a lightweight 3D gimbal and camera waterproof.
There are other problems with the motors and heat buildup in a sealed case/
Add to that the extra cost to develop a waterproof model and the very small number of potential buyers.
And if they did make a waterproof version, it would weigh significantly more and perform less well.

But as commercial airlines demonstrate every day, you don't need a waterproof aircraft to fly above water.
The Phantom is perfect for flying over water just as it is.
Mine does missions like this every week:

 

[ifsteve]

just get a hexh20

Simple. The QuadH20 STARTS at $2800.

 

[flpholt]

Simple. The QuadH20 STARTS at $2800.

but they are real nice

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Waterproof or one that swims? There's a BIG difference in trying to reduce casual water as in rain and trying to keep a quad afloat if it decides to go in the drink.

I see this request all the time on here and I always wonder what people are thinking. I fly over huge bodies of water often. It's a risk v. reward thing. I'm willing to take the risk because of the reward of the footage. It's part of flying RC in general. One I've accepted for 25 years.

That's why they call them flying machines and not submarines.

 

[ifsteve]

The main reason is that, you can't make a lightweight 3D gimbal and camera waterproof.
Add to that the extra cost to develop a waterproof model and the very small number of potential buyers.
And if they did make a waterproof version, it would weigh significantly more and perform less well.

But as commercial airlines demonstrate every day, you don't need a waterproof aircraft to fly above water.
The Phantom is perfect for flying over water just as it is.
Mine does missions like this every week:

1.You can't make a waterproof gimbal and camera housing thats lightweight? Maybe lightweight is relative. But Splash has it.
2. Perhaps "performance" is less but so much so that it no longer functions? I suspect many are willing to have a bit less performance for the ability to fly over water and with less risk.
3. Don't agree there isn't a market either. I know lots of guys who simply will not fork out well over $1K when it could end up in the drink. Sure they are flown over water all the time. That doesn't mean that there isn't a market for a waterproof DJI.

But perhaps they have done some market analysis and don't think the market is there? Could be but I am not buying one unless they come out with a waterproof version.

Thanks for the feedback y'all.

 

[ifsteve]

Waterproof or one that swims? There's a BIG difference in trying to reduce casual water as in rain and trying to keep a quad afloat if it decides to go in the drink.

I see this request all the time on here and I always wonder what people are thinking. I fly over huge bodies of water often. It's a risk v. reward thing. I'm willing to take the risk because of the reward of the footage. It's part of flying RC in general. One I've accepted for 25 years.

That's why they call them flying machines and not submarines.

If I have a faulty communication or pilot error I don't want my drone wrecked. You are spot on about risk vs reward. I am not going to risk that kind of money. Just not.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

If I have a faulty communication or pilot error I don't want my drone wrecked. You are spot on about risk vs reward. I am not going to risk that kind of money. Just not.

Then let me share something that you don't want to hear. This hobby is likely not for you. There are two kinds of flying aircraft when it comes to RC. Those that have crashed and those that are going to crash. Now that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but take it from a guy that's been around a long time and have picked up multiple giant scales and even a +$10k turbine in a 55 gallon garbage bag. They WILL go down. They all do if you fly them long enough. The difference between the turbine in the garbage bag and the Phantom in the drink is that you didn't have to clean the Phantom up from somebody's field. The salvage qualities are exactly the same.

I still can't get over how many quads manufacturers like DJI have replaced. If we called Horizon or Great Planes complaining about crashes and demanding replacements, they'd laugh us off the phone.

Like a lot of things in life, every game has its price to play. It is foolish to play a game you're unwilling to accept the risks and costs of. You wouldn't do it in anything else in life that you made that judgement of. This is no different.

That, or just don't fly over water. Oh. Keep a kitchen trash bag handy anyway.

 

[SoundByte]

Then let me share something that you don't want to hear. This hobby is likely not for you. There are two kinds of flying aircraft when it comes to RC. Those that have crashed and those that are going to crash. Now that's probably not what you wanted to hear, but take it from a guy that's been around a long time and have picked up multiple giant scales and even a +$10k turbine in a 55 gallon garbage bag. They WILL go down. They all do if you fly them long enough. The difference between the turbine in the garbage bag and the Phantom in the drink is that you didn't have to clean the Phantom up from somebody's field. The salvage qualities are exactly the same.

I still can't get over how many quads manufacturers like DJI have replaced. If we called Horizon or Great Planes complaining about crashes and demanding replacements, they'd laugh us off the phone.

Like a lot of things in life, every game has its price to play. It is foolish to play a game you're unwilling to accept the risks and costs of. You wouldn't do it in anything else in life that you made that judgement of. This is no different.

That, or just don't fly over water. Oh. Keep a kitchen trash bag handy anyway.

Well said, couldn't agree more! Don't bother playing the game, if your not prepared to win the prize.

 

[Meta4]

I know lots of guys who simply will not fork out well over $1K when it could end up in the drink.

The issue is a psychological one.
If your flying camera falls 100 feet the result is the same. It's not going to matter whether it falls onto water or land.
The good news is that flown properly, a Phantom is remarkably good at staying in the air.

 

[tcope]

Taking some of above and other things...

The entire drone, including the camera, gimbal, motors and battery would need to be water tight. The Lily is an "affordable" waterproof drone... but you can't remove the battery because of this. How many drones would DJI sell if you could only fly for 20 minutes and then you need to charge and wait an hour. Also, the price would really limit their sales. They would not sell many so the price would be much higher. Lastly, as mentioned above, if your waterproof drone falls 200' into the water it's about the same as hitting cement.Do you fly from a boat? If not you'd not get the drone back anyway.

Here is what you can do.... buy two drones (as this is what a waterproof version would cost) and simply put some floats on one. You are now set to fly over water.

 

[Reed L]

Taking some of above and other things...
The entire drone, including the camera, gimbal, motors and battery would need to be water tight. The Lily is an "affordable" waterproof drone... but you can't remove the battery because of this. How many drones would DJI sell if you could only fly for 20 minutes and then you need to charge and wait an hour. Also, the price would really limit their sales. They would not sell many so the price would be much higher. Lastly, as mentioned above, if your waterproof drone falls 200' into the water it's about the same as hitting cement.Do you fly from a boat? If not you'd not get the drone back anyway.
Here is what you can do.... buy two drones (as this is what a waterproof version would cost) and simply put some floats on one. You are now set to fly over water.

+1 ^ You can get a P3A for $600 so that's 4+ P3A's for the price of the quad H²o. I thought about going waterproof initially and I did consider an H²o, but I am either flying over water or filming underwater. Underwater lighting is a totally different ball game and taking pictures underwater takes a completely different lens that allows you to get really close to limit the distortion that water provides. I don't need a UAV to swim. You're spending a lot less money on a great UAV that flies perfectly. You can make floats if you want but if it goes down over water, even a water proof UAV will be hard to find if not just lost. It's best for every one to keep the 2 worlds separate as far as filming goes because a true underwater quad will weigh a whole lot more and then it will have an extremely short flight or swim because of the amount of lighting that it takes for that perfect shot.

 

[Adam Morrison]

A Phantom 3 or Phantom 4 plus a WaterStrider make a really nice water compatible solution. The combination is a great value for the money.

Check it out!

 

[flipper72]

i googled waterproof drone and there is two to check out, they are the mariner drone priced at $529 and the splash drone priced at $1299, now a p4 is about $1200 same as a splash drone and a p3a at approx $700 is similar to a mariner, i`m sure a waterproof version of a p4 or making a waterproof p5 wouldn`t raise prices that much, espically if it was designed to be waterproof to begin with.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

There are plenty of "Waterproof" drones out there. The problem is that you guys want the DJI video system to go with them. You're not going to get that for $1500 anytime soon. Why? Because there's TOO MUCH MONEY TO BE MADE from people willing to pay a helluva lot more for them when they happen. It will be a long time before this is a "$1500 product," gentlemen.

Lily's a nice little machine (will be), but she's not even in the same class as a Phantom, Yuneec, or a Blade camera equipped multi. She's not designed to be. She's an action camera that flies for the action camera folks. TOTALLY different marketing segment for the most part. There's some overlap but not a lot.

People who shoot video with an iPhone and people that shoot with a DSLR like I do are totally different markets. The low hanging fruit is where the money is right now. Why? There's more of them to begin with and secondarily, they ain't near as picky as we are. And, they have money to spend.

 

[phlyer]

I've flown the P4 back through several rainstorms when videoing rainbows (mostly over the sea) and it always comes back dry. I assume the downdraught from the props and the centrifugal force don't allow the raindrops to settle but I hope the curved design of the shell is sufficient to prevent any ingress of water into the electronics. So far - so good.

 

[voi9viper]

I have sunk a P4. As an old RC guy all I could say was, oops. Floats over water make sense, because it's just another anchor with the motors dead For safety sake I'm adding floats, as well as sealing the main case anyway. The camera will need to take it's chances but if it gets wet with salt water, rinse it really well with fresh water and don't turn the power back on until it's dry. You may get lucky, may not. The AquaH2O (4 rotor) is $899 for the shell. You could stuff the pantom stuff inside, or add a NAZA flight control. It will be expensive.

 

[ifsteve]

1. I could care less about the DJI video system. I am perfectly happy using my GoPro.
2. As for the comment on they all are going to crash sooner or later. I get that. Exactly why I want a waterproof drone. Near 100% of the flying I would do is over water. I get its likely to have a fly away, equipment failure, battery die, pilot error. So when the inevitable happens I want to have some chance that the thing isn't a total loss. A DJI landing on the water is most likely a total loss. Just not going to do that.

I appreciate all the replies. Guess I will just keep holding off until DJI pulls their head out and recognizes a need or Splash starts building something with more reliability. In the meantime I have boats to run and fish to catch!

 

[flpholt]

1. I could care less about the DJI video system. I am perfectly happy using my GoPro.
2. As for the comment on they all are going to crash sooner or later. I get that. Exactly why I want a waterproof drone. Near 100% of the flying I would do is over water. I get its likely to have a fly away, equipment failure, battery die, pilot error. So when the inevitable happens I want to have some chance that the thing isn't a total loss. A DJI landing on the water is most likely a total loss. Just not going to do that.

I appreciate all the replies. Guess I will just keep holding off until DJI pulls their head out and recognizes a need or Splash starts building something with more reliability. In the meantime I have boats to run and fish to catch!

I know someone selling hexh20 for $1500