A friendly Italian woman, probably in her mid-fifties, looked over my shoulder at the live feed from my mobile device and stopped dead in her tracks. Her transfixed gaze slowly lifted from the screen to meet my eyes and she said, “I was born in Florence and I’ve lived here all of my life, but I’ve never seen my city look as beautiful as this.” It was then that I noticed that her eyes were filled with tears. Smiling, wrapped up in the emotional moment and honestly becoming a bit teary eyed myself, I didn’t know what to say except, “thank you.”
This encounter was a turning point for me. I was already a huge fan and avid user of DJI Quadcopter / Drone technology (especially DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter), but these few simple words from a complete stranger solidified my perception of the sheer potential of personal aerial photography and videography devices. This statement may seem strange to some, but let’s dive into together as I share my perspective as photographer integrating these new tools for capturing the world.
Since I started traveling full-time as a photographer in 2009, I’ve consistently gone out of my way to find the most awesome vantage points possible for my photography. I’ve literally climbed mountains, paddled kayaks, ridden pack mules, contracted helicopters, you name it and I’ve done it. Whether it’s a 50 hour airline travel itinerary, a simple 25 meter rocky climb, or even multiple days sleeping in a car, or any number of other uncomfortable conditions for that matter, whatever it’s taken to get the shot I have considered well worth the effort. I often feel like most of my job is working to arrive in the best possible place to take a photo, because the location and framing of my subjects are the core of my unique style of travel photography.
At first this seems great. It means that you’re always a safe distance away, right? No, not exactly, because eventually you test the limits in order to get the perfect shot…
Let’s just say that learning to judge and compensate this optical depth perception issue is not without its casualties and flying in complex environments can be costly when you make a mistake. With my case in particular, a run-in with a tree, the cost of learning on the job was a new Gimbal and GoPro 4 Black. Thankfully the Phantom 2 itself came out with just a few minor scratches and still functions perfectly. Considering how mangled everything else was, that really speaks highly of the Phantom 2’s durability.
- Upgradable camera system since GoPro makes regular model updates
- Ability to use ProTune function to capture a higher bitrate for more control in post-processing
- The GoPro can be removed and used in other environments
- Flying blind can teach you a solid foundation of flying skills based on fully understanding your environment and real-time spatial relationships.
- The remote is smaller, more lightweight, and doesn’t have the bulky smart device attachment.
- You can add Lightbridge and have the same visual feedback as the Phantom 2 Vision+ with the GoPro but it’s a costly upgrade
- Flying without a first person view can be very difficult when you’re a beginner to cinematography techniques.
- GoPro Wifi upsets the flight controls and is only suitable for very short distances. This makes the built in GoPro video transmission useless when flying.
- Registering true depth can be very difficult without live visual feedback
- GoPro camera distortion which can be intense when shooting at ultra wide and wide settings. (Note that this can be corrected fairly easily in most editing packages)
- Cannot remotely trigger recording, still / video capture, or change settings during flight without returning the drone home.
| Color | White |
|---|---|
| Digital Zoom | 3x |
| Flash Memory Type | Micro SD;;; |
| Flash Type | None |
| Item Dimensions | 8 x 13 x 18 inches |
| Item Weight | 9.2 pounds |
| Lithium Battery Energy Content | 68.1 Watt Hours |
| Lithium Battery Voltage | 15.2 Volts |
| Lithium Battery Weight | 5.4 grams |
| Maximum Focal Length | 20 |
| Minimum Focal Length | 20 |
| Optical Sensor Technology | CMOS |
| Optical Zoom | 1x |
| Package Quantity | 1 |
| Shipping Weight | 9.25 pounds |
| Style Name | Quadcopter Only |
| UNSPSC Code | 45121516 |
| Video Capture Format | 4k, HD |
| Video Capture Resolution | other |
It’s still early, but my impressions are really quite gleaming for this little fella. My first few flights have been remarkably stable and intuitive. I’m new to flying, but the phantom 3 and the app are really great even if you’re a newbie.Here are my current thoughts and considerations:-Price point considering the gimbal and camera are excellent-Stability even in fair gusts of wind is better than i imagined-Gimbal is remarkable, the first flight it was wonky, but from then on its been great, can achieve ‘locked off’ type shots (crazy impressive)-Battery life is decent, same as other copters, get extra batteries!-Camera quality is on par with gopro, and nearly Zero distortion/fisheye effect-App is really great, a bit overwhelming at first, but once you digest it it’s great.-Complete control of the camera through the app and controller, LOVE this-Really wish it could become more compact for travel, needs its own carryon size case-Wish the charger was more like a dock.-Controller has to be recharged, wish it took AA batteries, but thus far it looks like the built in battery is huge and will last lots of hours.-My droid turbo runs the app like a champ, but really need a bigger tablet with a sunshadeI will update as i continue to fly, i am going all out with a log book of every flight and will be planning lots of visuals and hope to get FAA exemption as i’m a professional videographer and would love to use it commercially. Which is another bit of advice: to date you CANNOT use a copter for commercial purposes without FAA exemption. As a hobby under 400′ is OK in the USA, but still be safe and don’t go messing it up for the rest of us by flying over bridges and the white house, bad mojo.
K.Jackie
While this is not my first drone I ordered, it is the first to arrive (my others are Kickstarter and Indiegogo units, so they are in development).The features that sold me to buy a 3rd unit (!!) before having any was the camera (linear rather than curved field), 12MPix images 4K video, and other camera features (AE bracket, AE Lock etc.). And, the built-in long-range (1.2 miles) ability (some have reported up to 3 miles). I actually don’t intend to use it that far, being a chicken (Don’t want to lose it!)… but that means for a few hundred to 1000 feet, it should never lose connection.Unpacking was a drag – they put plastic sheeting over almost everything, even the props. It took some time to carefully cut it off. I guess they want it to arrive in pristine condition…
H.HaiThe next thing I did was download the app, at which point I discovered a message that I had to update the firmware. I downloaded it, read the instructions, but had some confusion about the sounds that would be generated to tell me the status of an update. Consequently, I sat there for 20 minutes waiting for it to complete, and finally gave up, only to discover it completed many minutes ago, I just did not understand the “D..D..D..D” and “DDD..D” terminology (that is their way of explaining “morse code” buzzing from the camera).You use the same download file to also update the transmitter, and then put it back in the Phantom to update the battery. Once that was done, I explored the interface and set about reading the manuals and getting ready for my “maiden flight.”The manual that shipped with my unit was fairly brief, but fortunately the app gives you access to a much more complete version (touch “help”).
Get it! You’ll love it. I’ve had multiple drones before the Phantom 3. This one takes the headache out of flying. The app is seamless with the drone and controller so you plug in, wait for it to warm up and go. I’ve been flying every morning since I received it. The app is great. Same app that the inspire uses but updated for the Phantom 3. It even comes with a flight simulator so you can practice flying while sitting in your living room. After the first flight I sold my Phantom 2. There’s no reason to fly with that one anymore. I chose to get the Professional instead of the Advanced because I run a production company (FitLife Productions) and we use the 4K footage for our shoots. The quality is awesome and you can get some really good looking shots. If you’re in the market for a DJI drone then this is the one!5 stars for Ease of Use5 stars for the Camera5 stars for a great product!
T.Nhu
The Phantom 3 Professional continues the proud tradition of DJI's Phantom series and brings several important innovations to the Phantom's rich feature set.
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