I bought my Vision plus at the end of May.  Mid August, Inoticed that the horizontal actions of the craft was not being dampened by thegimbal and notified DJI on Aug 28.  I was instructed to send it to a repaircenter in Miami.  I sent it in the case I had bought because theinstructions said that the original packaging was insufficient.  It cost$156 to send it to Miami.  When it was returned, I was told that thegimbal and camera had been replaced, but nothing, absolutely nothing hadchanged.  The footage was still absolutely unusable.    I notified DJI and they instructed me to send it to theirCalifornia Service center.  They would pay for the shipping.  Just afew days later, it was returned after I had been told that it had beenrecalibrated.  I was also lectured about making sure to follow the proper proceduresbefore flight.  Of course, I had been meticulous about preflight proceduresand I had never ever had any sort of mishap, not even a rough landing.   The results of their "repair" can been seen here: I contacted DJI again.  As usual, their telephone peopleare great.  They will work with you and do everything they can to help. So after a little efort, DJI again paid for the shipping.  YesterdayI got a "Congratulations" letter saying that my craft will go intothe cache and it would be 4 to 6 weeks before it would be serviced.  Thatwould make it out of service from mid August to mid December, a total of 4months.  And of course, at this point I have absolutely no faith that itwill be repaired.   I have also noticed that the two times I got the drone back, theplastic gimbal lock had become dislodged and the gimbal was flopping around inthe case.  So apparently the drone was not even packed properly when itwas sent back to me.     I work for a small city that needed a drone for generalphotography for their small P.E.G. television station and general communitydevelopment surveys.  This was in July while my drone was still workingperfectly.  I recommended the Vision +.  I have been the operator forthe city and that Vision + is still working perfectly.  Now they and someother local governments are asking my advice on buying a much larger systemthat can lift a DSLR for Emergency Management.  So what do I tell them?  I have worked in National and International television for 35years.  This is my website: www.dunhamproductions.com.  Every pieceof gear that I have ever bought has been treated with kid gloves and the fewtimes I have had any problems, the companies (Mostly Panasonic and Sony) havestepped up and either replaced the product or fixed it.  So I'm not usedto this kind of service and honestly don't even know how to react to this.  Ialso bought the domain flying-camera.net but have never developed the site inthat I no longer own a flying camera.  UPS and DJI have been the owners ofmy flying camera and I have absolutely no faith that after waiting six weeksthat the drone will be repaired and I can expect another lecture on the care ofthe drone.  As far as giving my advise to the cities as to what drone theyshould buy for SAR and Emergency management applications:  Would anyonereading this recommend DJI?  Does anyone believe that I should have towait another 6 weeks when the chances of the drone ever being repaired,considering the past two attempts are zero?   Absolutelydespicable service.  

I have evaluated the DJI Phantom vision + for such SAR applications and I could not put my name to it when it came to my recommendation.  

I have and am using other technologies and still have the Phantom which has undergone some specific modifications to still pursue the SAR requirements.

I think the Phantom is a great machine, but as you have seen, the support isn't up to spec and when your lifesaving equipment needs service or manufacturer input, its not going to be a quick resolve.

I looked at using 3 units , 1 as spare at all times, but with the requirements of quick deployment, weatherproofing, buoyancy and lifting capacity its just not up to the job at present.

Its sold as a Flying camera, yet I need a ribbon cable to repair the camera unit, this is seriously like trying to find a gold at the end of the rainbow..  they don't/wont sell it as spare parts.......
Even with the modified camera units and other equipment available, if you cant fix the original equipment easily, its just not viable.

There's a lot of other options for the SAR requirements and as such I have recommended those I feel to be a plausible unit, Strangely, DJI is still involved and still providing the same service......


As for the Phantom, its an on-going project that has great potential, but its not ready to go without some serious modification's.

Hi Jack, sorry for the inconvenience. Our NA support center would contact you soon.

If you want to contact me, fine.  
I just want it fixed or replaced. So far, I have no reason to believe either will happen.  

  

mixstreme Posted at 2014-11-4 23:41
I have evaluated the DJI Phantom vision + for such SAR applications and I could not put my name to i ...

I would love to talk to you about this.  I think that DJI has an incredible product when it is working, but if it stops working . . .  well you know.  

I am being pressured about making a recommendation about the SAR drone.  The problem is that they want to upgrade the vision+ to a 6 or 8 prop that can be used for higher quality video for the station, but also be able to use it for Emergency Management.   Could you go to my website, listed in the original post and drop me an email.  I would greatly appreciate it.    .  

jack we are looking into your RMA in LA to see if we can expedite this for you.  If you are looking for a platform for a DSLR, I would recommend the S900 with a Zen gimbal.  I have the S900 and a S1000 and the S900 is more transportable for EMS use.  Depending on your time frame you may want to look at the introduction of our Inspire 1 that will occur on November 12th.  Here is the teaser on youtube.  



We will get back to you shortly on your Phantom Vision +.