Hi all,

Hopefully i've put this in the correct forum, but i was wondering if people have experience of using Phantom 3 Adv and Phantom 2 with a Go Pro Hero 4 Black Edition and which combination they would choose.

I'm looking to make my first drone purchase and really can't decide between a Phantom 2 and use my Go Pro Hero 4 Black or get a Phantom 3 Adv.  I'm not intending on using the drone for professional purposes, i'm purely interested in the technology and hope to have some fun with the family.

The advantages of the Phantom 2 and the Go Pro would be the variety of camera settings plus the 4K capabilities, the few things that concern me are a) Phantom 2 must be older aircraft technology plus maybe the gimbal b) the wifi range i'd have on the camera from my iPad / iPhone when flying and recording.  However the plus side is the cost on the initial purchase as i already own the Go Pro.

The advantage of the Phantom 3 i could see, may be that a) the aircraft is newer technology and would have more stability perhaps b) the camera may have better range with the iPad / iPhone, but the obvious down side is the camera capabilites over the Go Pro.

So in a nutshell, i really have no idea what direction to go!

Thanks in advance

Gp

Hello Glen, in my personal opinion, Phantom 3 Advanced would be a better choice for beginners.

It has to be the Phantom 3 Advanced (or Pro, or perhaps P4 at some point). I never had a P2, but the range and capabilities of the P3A or 3Pro I would think put them in a different league.

Stability , range, quality of Lightbridge video feed (720p), 1080p & 2.7k to name but some. Plus the intelligent flight features.

Definitely the P3A.  I still have a P2 with GoPro 4 - the range for video is only about 800m or so, vs up to 5k for the lightbridge system in the P3A.  Also, the information you get on screen with the P3A is miles ahead.  

They actually both fly pretty similar, although the P3A specs show it has stronger motors, the difference is not noticeable.  

Now, if you want to talk P4 .... that's where its really fun!

Good luck with your choice.  

All of the above, but I love not having my footage look like a goldfish bowl. If they could just incorporate the gopro codec..

If it's a budget related question, the P2 with the GoPro will be just fine if you don't mind a shorter range. As you're stuck with VLOS in the UK anyway the range will be fine.

That said, the P3 offers a lot more in functionality. The video that comes straight out of the camera also has less distortion (although I found GoPro studio to be really good at correcting that so it's not a big deal to me).

If budget is not an issue at all then the P4 is even more stable than the P3 and makes things like orbiting moving subjects, something that's quite hard to do manually, super simple.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses which has prompted me to do a lot more reading on the options available......i can't believe i'm doing this but i'm actually considering the P4 now, i love the idea of some of those features, the tracking a moving subject, the obstacle avoidance system (i'll need it, never flown a drone before).  I read a great review over at The Verge

I'm going to take tonight to have a final think (this is a lot of money for an amateur who is slightly interested in photography)

Thanks again guys

Gp

Glen Palmer Posted at 2016-5-19 15:02
Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses which has prompted me to do a lot more reading on the options ava ...

If you're interested, we've got a couple of review and comparisons up as well. The best place to start, I think, is here. From there you can follow links to other articles as well.

Glen Palmer Posted at 2016-5-19 14:02
Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses which has prompted me to do a lot more reading on the options ava ...

Only thing I would say about P4 (which I have) is be aware that there are two outstanding issues regarding horizon tilt and vertical drop after a sudden stop, there are many references to these within the forum. The expectation is that these are firmware fixes. Neither of these was a show stopper for me as both can be 'worked around' at present (Either wait for fix or accept risk that your purchase will have these problems until fix released), all in all an excellent piece of technology full of features.

Aardvark Posted at 2016-5-20 03:45
Only thing I would say about P4 (which I have) is be aware that there are two outstanding issues r ...

Thanks for the info, hopefully they'll get those bugs ironed out soon.

phantom-four.co Posted at 2016-5-19 17:11
If you're interested, we've got a couple of review and comparisons up as well. The best place to s ...

Thanks for the link to your reviews, extremely helpful!!

Huge thanks for the advice in the article to get a cheap drone first to learn the basics of flying, just received the Syma X5C for £35 from Amazon this morning and i've managed to crash it countless times already

What a great and extremely valuable piece of advice, thank you.

Glen Palmer Posted at 2016-5-21 22:55
Thanks for the link to your reviews, extremely helpful!!

Huge thanks for the advice in the article ...

Although it's often suggested that a trainer drone is a good idea, no trainer drone will be as easy to fly as the Phantom 3.
New flyers are probably better off saving their money and spending the time and effort learning everything about the P3.

Glen Palmer Posted at 2016-5-21 14:55
Thanks for the link to your reviews, extremely helpful!!

Huge thanks for the advice in the article ...

Like Labroides already said, the Phantoms are easier to fly. However, if you ever experience a problem which causes you to have to fly manually you'll be very happy you had a starter drone.

And yes, you can learn to fly manually with any phantom as well but in reality, most people don't until it's too late because it's so easy to fly the phantom as is.

Besides, your Syma will still be fun to play with after you've upgraded to a Phantom. I know mine still regularly gets air time.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-5-21 15:43
Although it's often suggested that a trainer drone is a good idea, no trainer drone will be as easy ...

They might be but in my experience most never do because they enjoy "how easy it is to fly the P3". And as you can get something like a Hubsan for a Syma X5 for less than a 3rd of the price of a P4 battery you're hardly saving any money. However, you do become a more competent flyer really quickly.

phantom-four.co Posted at 2016-5-22 15:14
Like Labroides already said, the Phantoms are easier to fly. However, if you ever experience a pro ...

"However, if you ever experience a problem which causes you to have to fly manually you'll be very happy you had a starter drone."

But there is no way to fly a P3 or P4 "manually" so it's not a skill you'll ever be able to use of a P3 or P4.

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-5-22 08:20
"However, if you ever experience a problem which causes you to have to fly manually you'll be very ...

Flying in ATTI has prevented P3 flyaways for several people. If you can fly manual you can obviously fly ATTI as well as you have the additional advantage of altitude hold.