Hey guys, like to introduce myself. My name is Anthony and I am 49and a father of 2. I started watching YouTube videos of quad copter and fell in love. I want to get into this hobby as I also have a big interest in photography. But being new I would like to know if the phantom 2 vision + v3 is a good bird to start with? Is it hard to fly? Is it easy to learn? What other items should I buy with the bird? Please let me know. Thank you.

Hi Anthony. The Phantom is very easy to fly in GPS mode. Much easier than a cheap Husban or Syma (which I would recommend learning on first). It is easy to fly but it is also easy to get into to trouble with if you get out of visual range with it and lose it's orientation. However, I think the Vision + has everything you need to get started. I have the Phantom 2 and opted to get a GoPro, some FPV equipment, mini IOSD, and ground station which ended up costing me more than if I would have purchased the Vision +. But again, I would say get a cheap one and practice with it before you put $1200 to $1300 in the air. Once you get comfortable with a cheap quad, the Phantom will be a breeze.

If you have never flown a quad, my recommendation would be to get something like a Hubsan X4 (around 40.00) and learn to fly that first.  It is completely manual, so if you can fly that, you will be able to fly the Phantom.  Having said that, the Phantom is relatively easy to fly, but again, if it is your first quad, I can almost guarantee you will crash and then be upset at your 1000.00 bird being broken.  Get the crashes out of the way on the Hubsan - easy to fix and cheap.  Another benefit of doing this will be your increased knowledge of how a quad responds as well as how to fly in manual which is ALWAYS a good thing to know.

As far as extras to buy:
Gimbal guard - Killer RC makes a great one and there are many others out there.  A matter of preference.
Carbon fiber guard - fits between the landing gear and helps protect the camera when landing on surfaces that are not ideal.
Prop guards - this one is a matter of taste and preference.  Some use them, some don't.  Some say they contribute to rotor wash and others disagree.  Again, read the forums and you will see the different opinions. (personally I don't use them)
Case - hard or soft, something to carry your quad and gear.  You will need one so might as well start with one.  Again, search the forums and you will find a few lengthy threads on cases where numerous examples of both hard and soft cases will be given.
Extra battery/batteries - one will not be enough.
Software for video editing - for free there is GoPro studio which can be downloaded from the GoPro site.  For pay there are many options.  I use Final Cut Pro (299.00) but there are numerous lesser expensive options and many options of various capability for free.
Go to Phantom Help and look over the list of MUST HAVES.  At the minimum I would get the tools specified as they are the exact ones needed to work on the quad. Also on his page you will find links to just about everything.

Chris
(@57 father of 2/grandfather of 3)

nrgwise@gmail.c Posted at 2015-4-6 22:55
If you have never flown a quad, my recommendation would be to get something like a Hubsan X4 (around ...

^^^^ What he said!^^^^

The only thing I'd add is to grab, read & understand the wonderful document from 'Fantomas'. It's a great supplement to the manual and made many things more 'understandable' for me.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mv8d1hohc3mceym/DJI%20Phantom%20Vision%20Summary%20Guide.pdf?dl=0
Cheers,
Ian

To Anthony, Welcome to the Phantom club, the Phantom is easy to learn to fly if the first few flights are low and close to you to learn what the sticks will do and how much pressure to put on them to make the Phantom do what you want.  I set mine in NAZA-M mode right from the start so I would have more options to recover.  I had a rubber band on the range extender bar and around both switches to keep them in the top position at first.  The S2 (left switch) you will have top - off, center - course lock and bottom - home lock.   Study course lock and home lock so you will know the difference.
The S1 (right switch will have at top position  GPS.  That will allow you to fly full control in GPS.  That means it will be stabilized in altitude, drift and yaw.  ATTI mode in center position,  altitude is controlled but drift with the wind.  Bottom position varies between same atti, or manual, meaning you have full control, and failsafe.
To Raybro,  getting disoriented and not knowing where your Phantom is pointed is a scary situation.  In NAZA-M mode you have S2 switch to put in home lock and just pull back the right stick and it will return to home point where you took off.  Just watch your radar to know when it is above you.  If you have S1 selected as failsafe, it will come home and land.  You can regain control by repositioning the switches to GPS or atti on the S1.  Be advised the home lock will bring it to 10 meters of home point position then revert to course lock.
For new flyers, it would be a good idea to have prop guards on it, They would protect the props and possible esc burnouts if it tipped over.  There are permanent and quick disconnect guards you can get.
NRGWISE and I_Anderson have excellent ideas also.

My preference for a smaller quad to learn on is the Syma X5c.  It looks like a smaller Phantom 2.  It is near indestructible and it so fun to fly.  It is $59 on Amazon.