3DR Solo - Leaked Specs & Pics
- Thread starter Anon-e-mouse
- Start date
It will be interesting to see the pricing. This has to be attractive if you want to be able to upgrade the photographic element without replacing the whole drone, and they see their competition as being DJI. Would be good to see it coming in at 1000 dollars with gimbal and fpv.
Has anyone any experience with 3DR as a company?
Has anyone any experience with 3DR as a company?
As a company 3DR are top notch for customer service, to be fair, that's an understatement, they're World class. I'm from a DJI background but switched on the basis of the customer service alone, I think Phantom users especially get a really raw deal from DJI, especially in Europe. I'm in the UK, I had the UK's, I think actually the World's first Phantom flyaway (I posted on RC Groups at the time), I deserved at least a badge or a t-shirt for that accolade, LOL.
The Phantom 3 is great value for money, so it's not necessarily an easy choice between either, also I'd say there's a bigger learning curve with 3DR gear, not to simply fly, but to fully understand all you can do with the software, so it depends how open you are to learning.
There's a Facebook group here if you have questions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3DRSOLO
The Phantom 3 is great value for money, so it's not necessarily an easy choice between either, also I'd say there's a bigger learning curve with 3DR gear, not to simply fly, but to fully understand all you can do with the software, so it depends how open you are to learning.
There's a Facebook group here if you have questions: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3DRSOLO
Thats not bad i have to say, i did not expected that from 3DR. A HD video downlink, twin powered? Does that mean this thing has two flight controllers for redundancy ? Ok the controller looks not that good but the quad itself looks not bad. Storage room for things like parachute system also sounds nice. Gopro support is nice and to adjust gopro settings or start/stop record is unique. This thing would have conquered the market 6 months earlier. Now the Phantom3 is tough to beat but this quad is for all ppl who want gopro support, a thing DJI dropped. Its tough to decide between this and P3.
This Gopro quick release lever is a nice idea i have to say. Those brushless gimbal motors are insanely large compared to zenmuse
This Gopro quick release lever is a nice idea i have to say. Those brushless gimbal motors are insanely large compared to zenmuse
Any competitor that forces DJI to raise their game has got to be a good thing IMO
I have to second P13 above about 3DR as a company. I love my Phantom's but last December I decided to try an Iris+.
In January I had my first crash (human error of course) and posted for help on a popular user forum for Iris owners (kinda of like this site for Phantom owners). Everybody was really helpful, but what blew me away was that someone from 3DR support reached out and contacted me directly by email. Basically, they said "we heard you had a problem, can we help?"
Now I don't expect that to happen again. I guess I probably just caught the attention of one of their support techs and got lucky. None-the-less, when I needed help a few weeks later on compass calibration, I emailed them at 10pm and they got back to me by 10am the next morning.
You can even call them on the phone - though I've never tried.
I suppose that when 3DR gets bigger with more customers, customer support will suffer, but so far they've been awesome.
In January I had my first crash (human error of course) and posted for help on a popular user forum for Iris owners (kinda of like this site for Phantom owners). Everybody was really helpful, but what blew me away was that someone from 3DR support reached out and contacted me directly by email. Basically, they said "we heard you had a problem, can we help?"
Now I don't expect that to happen again. I guess I probably just caught the attention of one of their support techs and got lucky. None-the-less, when I needed help a few weeks later on compass calibration, I emailed them at 10pm and they got back to me by 10am the next morning.
You can even call them on the phone - though I've never tried.
I suppose that when 3DR gets bigger with more customers, customer support will suffer, but so far they've been awesome.
I've been pretty sceptical of 3DR's attempt to displace DJI, but there are 2 critical features here that might see them really take a good chunk of the market. The first is the integrated HD link, and the second is camera control of a third party camera.
DJI has locked people into their cameras even more with the Phantom 3, because they're pretty confident that they can produce something better than the GoPro 4, and they might be right, but action cams like theirs have terrible sensors, which means bad low light performance, bad stills and bad computer vision. These are 3 critical areas where a UAV that competes with the Phantom can take territory from them.
And if they can simply plug their new camera onto their existing platform, download some scripts or some firmware update and start shooting, then they're going to be much happier.
DJI has locked people into their cameras even more with the Phantom 3, because they're pretty confident that they can produce something better than the GoPro 4, and they might be right, but action cams like theirs have terrible sensors, which means bad low light performance, bad stills and bad computer vision. These are 3 critical areas where a UAV that competes with the Phantom can take territory from them.
And if they can simply plug their new camera onto their existing platform, download some scripts or some firmware update and start shooting, then they're going to be much happier.
no you cant do that because gopros or the P3 have the same sensor from sony. If you want a larger camera you will need a larger copter anyway. Im sure DJI will roll out a RTF copter similar to the inspire with a micro 4/3 camera in the future.
ianwood
Taco Wrangler
There's a lot here. If the gimbal is smooth, the vibration as little as possible and it flies as smoothly as the P2, I'll be getting one for sure.
That said BlackMagic just came out with a new micro 4/3 camera which could be a game changer as well. It's a real camera. Probably close in quality to the Panny GH4 but doesn't need an S900 sized spaceship to work. Could probably work on a small to mid-sized hex. Images will probably be stunning. It has a built-in S.BUS connection to be remote controlled. It's the first real camera designed for drone use.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicmicrocinemacamera
I am drooling over it.
That said BlackMagic just came out with a new micro 4/3 camera which could be a game changer as well. It's a real camera. Probably close in quality to the Panny GH4 but doesn't need an S900 sized spaceship to work. Could probably work on a small to mid-sized hex. Images will probably be stunning. It has a built-in S.BUS connection to be remote controlled. It's the first real camera designed for drone use.
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicmicrocinemacamera
I am drooling over it.
300 g + gimbal + lens is probably a bit much for a phantom to carry, but it just needs something a little more powerful. I'm in love too, 13 stops dynamic range !
see they used a dji phantom remote in one of their pics, I'm sure it's just for show but they didnt blur out the dji logo
I must admit, the 3dr seems stiff competition for the phantom. I like the fact that tech support is more friendly and overall better when their is a problem. I also like the fact that 3dr is using GOPRO cameras which i also use and love on my current phantom. The ballistic parachute is pretty neat as well as the live video feed to iPad and the fact you can start and stop the recording to the go pro while flying, the thermal camera built in is awesome along with sonar. What i also like is they support open source and the bay is left open for adapters to the drone. The color is bad *** as well... Again, Im a huge DJI fan I own 3 phantoms and love them all. I think competition is healthy in the drone market. Im super excited to see this platform in person. Im strongly considering this purchase, however Id like to hear about range and gimbal control things like that.. I tuned into the live DJI event and really appreciated watching the entire presentation.. Does anyone have a link regarding this drone, to share?
edit:
What is the back story on Colin leaving DJI and moving to this company? is this his own company? I remember him from the first "how to fly your phantom videos" ... anyone know the story on what happened between him and DJI?
edit:
What is the back story on Colin leaving DJI and moving to this company? is this his own company? I remember him from the first "how to fly your phantom videos" ... anyone know the story on what happened between him and DJI?
Last edited:
There were loads of court cases between Colin and dji over supplying dealers in USA, he's gone around a year or so and then shortly after 3dr snapped him up. The range on the solo is 800m. the gimbal is controlled from the tx.
3DR Solo - The Smart Drone:
3DR Solo - The Smart Drone:
What are you even talking about? I fly an NX-500 on my P2 ... that's a 400g camera, which does 4k, and 28mpx stills.
Meta4
Premium Pilot
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2014
- Messages
- 15,351
- Reaction score
- 9,293
Most people use a gimbal to have proper camera control so the copter has to deal with even more weight.
I use a gimbal too, and I have as much control as most people with Phantoms, since there's only 1 spare channel. I just don't have stabilised video when rolling and turning.
Wow I cannot believe it, so it's Colin going up against the empire! I have to see how this turns out. Nothing bad can come of this except better quads as the competition heats up
