Drone Advice

[ShadowWolf810]

So I'm looking into buying a drone for film work. I'd be using the drone for a documentary shoot in Guatemala, along with other work afterward I'm sure, so picture quality does actually matter. It would be my first drone, so easy operation is a plus, although I'm the type to practice a ton before trying anything remotely risky with it. I really don't know much about the different skews, am looking for advice.

 

From what I've heard the DJI Phantom 4 Pro has made some huge leaps in performance over the Phantom 3 Pro, so I'm wondering if the extra price would be worth the increase in picture quality, and extra sensors for safer flying.

 

I've looked on Craigslist in my area and there are some fully kitted out options, multiple batteries, hard cases, basically all the accessories.

 

Phantom 3 Advanced 2 Batteries and accessories - $500

Phantom 3 Pro with 6 Batteries and accessories - $800

Phantom 4 Pro 4 Batteries with accessories -  $1900

Phantom Inspire 1 2 Batteries with accessories - $2000

 

What do we think? Cheaper the better, or spend more now to get the best performance. 

[yathis]

Read up on the city bylaws, cities are cracking down on drones.

Maybe buy a helicopter or plane instead.

[Hackentosher]

If you're doing film work, get the Inspire if you can afford it. Otherwise, get the pro 4, can't afford that, get the mavic, can't get that get the phantom 3.

[ShadowWolf810]

6 minutes ago, yathis said:

Read up on the city bylaws, cities are cracking down on drones.

Maybe buy a helicopter or plane instead.

Interesting, something I'll have to look into

[ShadowWolf810]

12 minutes ago, Hackentosher said:

If you're doing film work, get the Inspire if you can afford it. Otherwise, get the pro 4, can't afford that, get the mavic, can't get that get the phantom 3.

So I just found an Inspire 1 for $1200, they say its got very little flight time and no hard landings or crashes... Seems a bit cheap. I don't know if its an Inspire 1 V2 or not, and can't find prices for an Inspire 1 V1 on DJI website, but maybe that's a better choice?

 

DJI Also has a 10% discount code for people with a University email address so I could get some accessories and whatnot there 

[Hackentosher]

11 hours ago, ShadowWolf810 said:

So I just found an Inspire 1 for $1200, they say its got very little flight time and no hard landings or crashes... Seems a bit cheap. I don't know if its an Inspire 1 V2 or not, and can't find prices for an Inspire 1 V1 on DJI website, but maybe that's a better choice?

 

DJI Also has a 10% discount code for people with a University email address so I could get some accessories and whatnot there 

A new inspire 1 V2 is 2000, see if you can find one on Craigslist so you can check it out.  https://m.dji.com/category/inspire-1

[ShadowWolf810]

On 3/17/2017 at 10:07 AM, Hackentosher said:

A new inspire 1 V2 is 2000, see if you can find one on Craigslist so you can check it out.  https://m.dji.com/category/inspire-1

Yeah so the inspire 1 on Craigslist that I was looking at was $1200 for all the original parts. I asked him if it was a V1 or V2 and he said that the only difference he knew of between them was a bracket that would allow you to mount the newer gimbal/camera systems, but he said he believed it was the latest version of it. 

 

The issue is just thats a huge investment for something I'm not sure I'd use often. Like possibly on that film I'd use it, and possibly could get other work but it also could just end up sitting in my closet. I wanna spend the money for the professional grade one so I'm not itching to upgrade, but I also don't want to waste that much money on something I may not use enough. 

[Hackentosher]

2 hours ago, ShadowWolf810 said:

Yeah so the inspire 1 on Craigslist that I was looking at was $1200 for all the original parts. I asked him if it was a V1 or V2 and he said that the only difference he knew of between them was a bracket that would allow you to mount the newer gimbal/camera systems, but he said he believed it was the latest version of it. 

 

The issue is just thats a huge investment for something I'm not sure I'd use often. Like possibly on that film I'd use it, and possibly could get other work but it also could just end up sitting in my closet. I wanna spend the money for the professional grade one so I'm not itching to upgrade, but I also don't want to waste that much money on something I may not use enough. 

Hmm, well if you're not sure you're going to use it much, maybe get a phantom 3 that can do 4k.

[ShadowWolf810]

Hmmmm there's a Phantom 3 Advanced for sale on craigslist with a full kit for 500 bucks. Looks as though it shoots 2.7k. That seems like the most sensible option for me I think, its just hard to fight the urge to get the biggest one you can afford that has all the bells and whistles and newest features and best camera, etc. @Hackentosher