Is not that making a living out of aerial recording is not a use- I actually consider it the ultimate use of a P4.But recording aerial shots to increase a youtube audience is not my type, so i wouldnt be looking forward to hear about either.


I wonder what kind of ordinary use a P4 owner got to make, in the daily living.


I'll start: I had a squeaky chimney turbine, which I decided to employ the P4 to inspect, before going up to the roof. Wasnt a great help though, but having the P4 around made it an easy job starter.
How about you?

What about just having fun flying and taking amazing pictures wherever you take your Phantom? For me, that is enough.

While I have used my drones to inspect some of my neighbors gutters. My main use is enjoyment.

fivetonine Posted at 2017-3-6 12:22
What about just having fun flying and taking amazing pictures wherever you take your Phantom? For me, that is enough.

Of course, I agree. But the P4 gives you another perspective, so other options.

I've used my P4 to inspect the tiles on my roof, and also to try to see why my pergola is leaking when it rains heavily (the pergola sheeting was overlapping my guttering too much).

Punchbuggy Posted at 2017-3-6 12:27
Of course, I agree. But the P4 gives you another perspective, so other options.

I've used my P4 to inspect the tiles on my roof, and also to try to see why my pergola is leaking when it rains heavily (the pergola sheeting was overlapping my guttering too much).

Sure you could inspect roofs and buildings. Always better than going up there yourself. But due to the wide angle lens, how precise can you be?

I use both the P4 and the Inspire in my work as a Remote Pilot for a major U.S. television network news organization. We generally use the Inspire for major projects, and always use it when we are going on the air live during a show. But the P4 comes in very handy for smaller b-roll only shoots. It is quicker to get up in the air, get the shot, and move on. The quality of the camera is a little bit lacking, but our editors know how to process the imagery for the best look. We're news, not feature film production, so the technical standards are a different. Getting the shot takes priority. No doubt that as sUAS camera technology improves, the P4 will fall out of favor. But at the moment, it serves a valuable purpose.

I also fly my personal P4 on the weekends - for fun and also to log flight time.

Inspected my roof. Saves time and money plus proof shots for insurance co.

I have noticed on flights over home that my Solar Heating panels are in need of a clean. Plenty of hot water now but will have to address that before winter..

Cabansail Posted at 2017-3-6 12:48
I have noticed on flights over home that my Solar Heating panels are in need of a clean. Plenty of hot water now but will have to address that before winter..

Now you have to figure out how to put a scrub brush on the bottom of your drone.

Enjoyment with the P4 and some utility...mapping my yard/land and neighbors and dropping into dronedeploy for data to use for planning, build a dock, fill in low areas, etc. Snap pics for friends in real estate for free. Hook up friends businesses with pics and video for marketing...I am a full time UAS pilot for a large company, but fly the p4 for fun and free for friends.

Focus4 Posted at 2017-3-6 12:52
Now you have to figure out how to put a scrub brush on the bottom of your drone.

Haha! Perhaps just a high pressure hose would do? But you'd need the strength of the Inspire for that... ;-)

Think it needs to Inspire  me to get up there with a bucket of soapy water and a hose.

to find where is my cat hiding in the roof, over extend my fishing line, check the traffic in front of my complex, etc.... of course having fun every week end.

Maybe you should ask this question. "Why did I buy a $1400 drone"?

It allows me to carry on with my photography now I can no longer hold a proper camera. I am now getting a new lease of life and new creative experiences with my P3Pro. Exercising my brain by learning how to fly it well is important too.

Для початку це тренування та релаксація, потім окуляри та FPV - польоти

MJLSTUDIOS Posted at 2017-3-7 01:58
Maybe you should ask this question. "Why did I buy a $1400 drone"?

There are plenty of uses in agriculture, I will admit to not perfecting most of them yet but it is fun trying.

1) Monitoring water points, I have tank gauges fitted and can see them from the Phantom and more importantly in summer I can see if stock are all milling around the trough or there is a large wet area around the tank and/or trough signifying a problem that needs fixing pronto.

2) Finding stock in timbered paddocks, sometimes a person on a quad can search a paddock for ages looking for stragglers, the Phantom can (usually) find them quickly and the OP can guide the quad via UHF radio.

3) Monitoring pest animals. A mob of wild pigs is much easier to track down when the Phantom can help the shooter in a thick crop and can even encourage pigs to move in the right direction for an easier shot.

4) Mustering. Some OPs have mustered cattle and sheep with Phantoms, personally I have had little success with that so far but there is potential.

5) Finding and monitoring a fire, this is hopefully a rare purpose but I expect invaluable when it is needed especially in thickly timbered country.

6) Checking for fence and infrastructure damage after a storm. Hope I don't have to do this too often either but it certainly speeds up the process and repairs can be prioritized and started straight away.

There would be plenty more variations from this half dozen but there is certainly enough there to call my P4 a work tool for the Tax man, he doesn't need to know its a lot of fun as well!! Now if only I could reliably have a 5km range in timbered country, maybe a Inspire controller is the next move, then some antenna mods or just go to a P5 instead.

I used it to help find my neighbors child one time at a park in my apartment complex.. Got there faster than everyone else going on foot looking.. Even exited the DJI go app for a second to message them where she  was at.. On the way I passed by the apartment pool and made sure they weren't in the pool and caught a resident jumping from the roof into the pool.. When I did get to the park, there was a mother there with her baby who was all smiles about the drone and pointed it out to her baby while she tried to take a picture - the baby started to wave and fell forward while mom wasn't watching.. Almost felt guilty about that haha..

I use my  Phantom to search in the open desert and mountains for interesting sites to investigate.  I love to use my metal detector to search for relics.  Once I used my Phantom to find my dog in the open desert.  He wandered away from me in an upwind direction.  He could not hear me calling him back.  I sent the drone up to have a look from altitude.  I found him playing around out of sight just over a small hill .  I let him play around for a while.  He finally came back on his own.  I also wrote a book about old military airplane crash site in California.  I use the drone to fly slowly across the desert floor at very low altitude, maybe 10 feet or lower, to look for small pieces of scattered debris that would indicate a new site.  Sometimes I just fly for fun and practice.

MJLSTUDIOS Posted at 2017-3-7 01:58
Maybe you should ask this question. "Why did I buy a $1400 drone"?

you can do it yourself.maybe you should pay attention  to the subject and avoid hijacking it.

New to drones i found a new use for it today...  To increase my heart rate when i thought i had lost it 1/2 mile out up at 200 feet lost sight of it , think i will rename it Boomarang panic over it came back..

I have used my Phantom 4 to blow loose leaves from out of the valleys on my roof.  It is much easier than climbing up there with a broom and a lot more fun!
Also, it can be a useful inspection tool for ham radio antennas and towers.  An inspection can be made up close plus you have a video record of the inspection.
Thanks,
Jim
WA5TEF

MJLSTUDIOS Posted at 2017-3-7 01:58
Maybe you should ask this question. "Why did I buy a $1400 drone"?

Hi. I actually don't think that'd be useful. Apart from the obvious fun-element, the P4/P is almost a tool looking for an application. For example, I bought my P4 merely to have some fun with a quad, but then saw the quality of the videos so progressed into that - and I've since bought the P4P to develop my skills there further. I've also since used my P4 to inspect my roof (as I mentioned earlier), but I'd never even thought of that prior to buying it. Quamera's response is another good example of what you could come up with after-the-fact.

Punchbuggy Posted at 2017-3-7 15:58
Hi. I actually don't think that'd be useful. Apart from the obvious fun-element, the P4/P is almost a tool looking for an application. For example, I bought my P4 merely to have some fun with a quad, but then saw the quality of the videos so progressed into that - and I've since bought the P4P to develop my skills there further. I've also since used my P4 to inspect my roof (as I mentioned earlier), but I'd never even thought of that prior to buying it. Quamera's response is another good example of what you could come up with after-the-fact.

however pricey, is a toy. why spending? maybe because is nobody's business on how one spends the earnings. adults tend to get practical with their toys, that's the reason for this thread. adults play, enjoy then find a use. simple as that.

I have flown over many areas from my childhood. The new perspective that the drone gives me is awesome never knew what really was around me.

Fun

Here's a good way to use your drone..

I have done a fair bit of mapping with my P4.
I could not get the desired GSD (accuracy) with any of the apps ( Litchi, Drone Deploy, Maps !ade Easy etc..)
I worked out what i wanted, and flew manually and played with camera settings, and manual photo triggering, and I actually got some impressive results!
As a survey pilot, flying much bigger and more expensive equipment, this is a handy tool for simple, dangerous and small jobs where i don't need super hight accuracy.