I have seen a lot of videos where people catch there Phantoms rather than land them? I personally land mine back where I started for a nice smooth touchdown. I cant understand the benefit of catching it with propellors running? My thought is that the drone will sense its not where it wants to be and start fighting your grip and possibly end up in a tangle of all sorts.

What do others here do and why?

I have heard the same thing before.. not sure why people do it. Unless you are on a boat in choppy water or are on unlevel ground.. see no reason to do this

We are hand catching in situations where landing could damage the craft or camera (steep rocky ground, sandy beaches, snow, muddy fields, high brush country, and gusty winds). There are risks in doing it, so personally I use the method about 1/3 of the time depending upon where I am flying.
Once you have sufficient flight experience, it is easy to learn, but must be done correctly and with other persons or pets at a safe distance. Have a look at my post on this thread for a simple description of the method: Hand catch and VPS
Good flying!

normally i land it , i just do a hand catch when is some water in the floor   or grass,  rocks  or if there is not a flat surface

Flat, dry, level, no sand = land on ground.

All other conditions = hand catch.

I had catch 100% of the time.  Many of us have been hand catching before DJI introduced VPS.

I enjoying landing my craft. I can understand the need to hand launch and land in some terrains. Definitely a useful,skill to have. I will practice when I get my shoulder support for the record ;) til then I land on the ground and only fly where there is suitably  level ground to do so.  

I hand catch so that the prop wash doesn't kick up dirt and moisture onto the camera lens as it nears the ground.  I take off from my backpack or an inverted 5 gallon bucket for the same reason.  

I hand catch all of the time and I always wear safety glasses and something on my head.  It's safer for the Phantom to take off from the ground and to land in your hand.

I hand catch 100% of the time.

I have started hand launching too in certain circumstances. I take off from snowy mountains a lot in the winter and there is simply no stable, flat, snow-free sites nearby. It's simpler than I thought.

My P3P has never landed.  I 100% hand catch.  When I first got the P2V+ I landed on my case for the first 15 or 20 flights.  Then one time it landed and right before I shut it off it 'hopped' off the case, snapped two props.  Since then I hand catch all the time.

The quad does not fight or try to get away from you at all.  It just stops moving and you use the other hand to hold down the stick and it shuts off.  There have been a lot of discussion on the forums about this.  Some always do, some sometimes do, some never do and there are just as many opinions which is the right/best way to bring in your quad.  My best advice to you or anyone is - Do what you feel comfortable with and what works for you.  What someone else does shouldn't really concern you as obviously they are doing what they feel comfortable with.

I do have a system/technique for hand catching.  Well, at least a loose set of criteria so to speak.  1)Always wait until the quad is in a steady hover. 2)Hover should be above your head so you have to reach up to get it, not out.  (this makes sure all body parts are below the props while spinning) 3)Always shut off motors before lowering quad/arm.

" My thought is that the drone will sense its not where it wants to be and start fighting your grip and possibly end up in a tangle of all sorts."

It's a simple matter of just holding it in place while you shut the motors off.
You'd quickly find out it's not going to work if you try pulling the  Phantom from where it's hovering.

New question for those that hand catch, especially those of you that hand-catch because you don't like the ground it would land on:

How do you take off?

Not A Speck Of  Posted at 2016-3-2 20:15
New question for those that hand catch, especially those of you that hand-catch because you don't li ...

I take off from the top of my case 100% of the time.  If I am using the backpack, I take off from the top of the backpack when lying flat.  But I also have a piece of cardboard in the pack so I can make the quad lie level if needed.

Catching always results in a smooth, clean landing.  Landing on grass or gravel or any less-than-pristine surface can blow debris into the case/motors/gimbal/etc.  Plus there is always the possibility of tipping over.  So to me there are more advantages to hand-catching.

I usually land mine unless the ground is wet or the area is full of obstacles. Then I'll catch it by hand.

Not A Speck Of  Posted at 2016-3-3 02:15
New question for those that hand catch, especially those of you that hand-catch because you don't li ...

I use a small hard foam DIY take off & landing pad (37 cm diameter) that clips on the outside of my backpack. This keeps the lens clean on take offs.
Good flying!

Not A Speck Of  Posted at 2016-3-3 02:15
New question for those that hand catch, especially those of you that hand-catch because you don't li ...

While I always hand catch, I would normally take off from a stable base.

However, the other day I was back country skiing and I had the drone take off from the back of my backpack (laying facedown in the deep powder). I started the motors up alright, but just as I pushed up on the left stick to take off, it lost balance and toppled into the snow. No damage, but it was covered in snow, so I brushed it off and put it away. Dried it well over night and haven't had any issues.

I took it out again for a back country adventure and rather than trying the backpack routine again, I tried hand take-off.

Holding the vertical part of the leg in my right hand (camera facing away from me and propellers well away from me)), I used my outstretched right  thumb to bring the sticks down and in to bring the motors to a start.

Then i outstretched my arm, slowly pushed up on the left lever and once I felt the drone lifting up, simply let go.

Simple enough that I will be doing this from now on in this scenario (snow, mud, uneven ground etc).

Just be careful.

alpinekiwi Posted at 2016-3-3 03:08
While I always hand catch, I would normally take off from a stable base.

However, the other day  ...

So it's possible to actually take off by hand as well. Interesting.

Thanks to you (and others) for the responses.
Chris

I catch most of the time.  Go here and watch the video.  Start at 5:41.  You can see the wind blustering.  I was letting my buddy get some air time.  Told him he needed to land.  Quick wind shift just as he touched down and over it went.

Two broken and one chipped prop.  Replaced them and flew more that day.

I normally bring it down to a few feet, let it hover and carefully catch it on the landing gear.

mikeon Posted at 2016-3-2 11:06
I hand catch so that the prop wash doesn't kick up dirt and moisture onto the camera lens as it near ...

I do the same thing for the same reasons.

I hand caught my P3 today for the first time because I was on snow & it was dancing in the wind a bit.  Now I'm converted.

Thats what happened to me too. Tried it once, now I do it all the time.

If the ground is flat and clear enough to land, it's probably hard too (concrete or alike), enough to damage the camera lens or gimbal if i don't land smoothly enough.
If the ground is not flat i have to hand catch anyway.
If the ground is flat, but it's full of particles (dirt, grass, sand, etc) i better do hand catch to avoid dirt in the gimbal motors or something hitting the camera lens.

So, I don't really see the benefit of landing...

Yup it depends on the surface.