Am I Just Atypical ?

[donniew]

1. I love my P2V
2. I am fairly happy with the camera
3. I have had no issues with flight performance
4. The batteries work as expected
5. Never had any type of fly-away scenario (fingers crossed, knocking on wood, etc)
6. Tech support responded to me appropriately

... now all this said, I've only had the P2V about a month and probably about 20 flights. Just curious - perhaps the site here is just heavy on the "squeaky wheel" side for obvious reasons ? Thx.

 

[LeoS]

*raises hand*

Same here, except I've never had the 'pleasure' of needing #6.
The camera is actually better than I expected, cause I didn't expect much in the first place.. (it's a frickin webcam :mrgreen: )

 

[Shrimpfarmer]

*raises hand*

Same here, except I've never had the 'pleasure' of needing #6.
The camera is actually better than I expected, cause I didn't expect much in the first place.. (it's a frickin webcam :mrgreen: )

I have to raise my hand also. I am switching to a P2 but I still think the P2V is an awesome machine. I also have never tried nos 6

 

[drjay32]

You are only atypical in the sense that most people without issues don't post in online forums!

If aliens came to Earth and only had online forums to learn about the various products/technology we've created, they'd think we were a bunch of imbeciles who couldn't produce anything that worked!

I've had my P2V since early December and the only issues I've had with it I can chalk up to operator error.

 

[Pull_Up]

Well if you are, so am I. Had mine since 1st November...

1. Me too;
2. Me too, but I do now have gimbal-envy and am watching the third-party 2-axis models with a lot of interest;
3. Me neither. My tx range doesn't seem to be as far as some can get but 1000ft in any direction (inc up) is as far as I can see it anyway;
4. Mine too, and I have the early version data pins...
5. I had a bucking bronco ride once when I calibrated the compass in a stupid place - totally my fault and lesson learnt. Hand caught it after having to fly it nose-in (thank you Hubsan X4!).
6. Only time I had an issue my dealer came back to me with a suggested fix direct from his DJI rep - 24 hours turnaround. Not all dealers are equal, not all have allocated DJI technical reps they have a direct line to...

If people love something and have had flawless performance they are far less likely to just come on a forum and say so. However, if you have had the opposite experience then you tend to come here and either complain or seek help. Peoples issues are real, it's just a very skewed sample on here and other forums to be able to fairly judge the true extent of issues across the whole "fleet".

 

[ladykate]

Mannnnn.... you guys are just weird. Don't you know you are supposed to log in here and knock the P2V?

I keep looking at them with lust - it is such an easy solution. The vibration/jumpy issue that many complain about can be seen in a lot of posted videos but some videos are excellent.

Also, I was just informed that the iOSD is backorder from most places so, even if I wanted to build up my P2, I would have to wait quite a while. One supplier is saying until after the Chinese New Year.

 

[Pull_Up]

Then there's the two third-party gimbals coming on stream soon - expensive and not quite so expensive (another one in development spotted in the last 24 hours, too). Plus the ground station firmware which should be here before the end of February (allegedly) to allow for autonomous flying whilst filming with said gimbal...

I know people have had their issues, but when taken in the round what the technology is able to do (and about to be able to do) is pretty remarkable. The fact people are talking about warranty issues and customer service as if it was the same class of product as a washing machine or DVD player is a bit odd. I'm not defending DJI's (lack of) responsiveness here (other than to add that they do seem to have listened a bit and now added live customer support numbers in all key geographies) but we are talking about rather amazing flying devices, really.

Oh, and sorry about all the parentheses. It's my punctuation mark of the day (until 00:00 GMT).

 

[LeoS]

And with the thread name like this, we're sure not to skew the current sentiments against the Phantom Vision :mrgreen:

@ladykate: go for it

 

[disjecta]

Yes, I concur with everything in the first post. I am very very happy with my P2V. Everything works as expected and the camera update went fine too.

 

[jwuman]

Concur with all points on original post, i havent used #6...i did have a fly away after about 20 flights because i was calibrating incorrectly and on the back of my tailgate to boot, lucky recovery and no damage... so other than my ineptness, i have been very pleased with the PV2 performance...the camera images are what i expected when i bought it, I weighed the PH2 as a first buy for me, but quickly realized the expense of the Gopro + fat shark + iOSD and it being my first jump from RC airplanes to mult-rotor; the PV2 was the best option for the money and the learning curve. I have taken some very nice pictures and videos that once rendered, edited and photo-shopped come out pretty nice....at least for my use.... The camera will eventually be updated or a third party camera update will be likely, plug and play with gimble, but for now I will hone my flying skills and continue to become a better pilot....this forum is a good tool to do just that with really good points of view and info,,,,I am looking at other platforms for my next purchase//// hoping to carry a larger camera/gimble system.

 

[donniew]

The time I contacted support was in regard to the camera spontaneously refusing to take pictures or record video ... ended-up being something weird with the smartphone app. I uninstalled/reinstalled the app, and no issues since. The physical button on the camera always worked. Now I always just shut down the smartphone when I complete a flight session ... I think it had something to do with leaving the app running in the background between flight sessions - just a hunch.

Would love to understand more about this 'ground station' stuff. I'm a newb and haven't done all the research yet.

 

[donniew]

One other thing, since all my flights have been in roughly the same geographic area, I stopped doing compass calibrations every, single time (which the training videos clearly seem to instruct). I've had no issues either before or after that, but figured it might be a good idea to stop tempting fate with needless compass calibrations - Ha Ha.

 

[jwuman]

also,

i have yet to update the camera with the latest update.

not sure i want to since it works fine, does anyone know if there is an issue if i dont update right now.

 

[gunslinger]

The only real problem I've had so far was caused by cockpit error. My only concern stems from a few updates that weren't ready for prime time... :shock:

 

[pault]

Every time I fly (most days, weather permitting), I am always amazed how well my PV2 behaves. It is just so incredibly easy to fly yet offers plenty of challenges when it comes to improving filming technique such as slow panning whilst turning.

I just can not get over my disappointment with the camera. I am sure if I had not expected more then I would be happy but I now want the 'sharp' that I thought I was going to get. I knew it would not be dslr quality but at least be better than my 8 year old point & shoot. My dealer has been very understanding and I am awaiting a replacement camera as I have seen several examples of stills that are better than mine can produce. The new camera has not yet arrived in the UK as far as I understand so if there has been any improvement that comes from better QC I am hoping I will get it. If it is not then I am going to join the P2 defectors .

 

[Seahorse]

All less number 6. Had it for just over a week. Calibrated first flight, seeing as I currently only fly locally seems no point doing the compass dance at all.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[themosttoys]

The P2V easily exceeded my initial expectations. Of course I want more, but that is not any fault of the P2V.

Being someone that has owned many RC toys / vehicles, the P2V's (NAZA like) flight controls and characteristics are nothing less than amazing (as I read in one forum "I'm pretty sure I could teach my dog to fly this thing"). In addition to that, it is surprisingly resilient. I can't count how many airplanes and helicopter crashes I've had over the years resulting in total loss or at the very least many hours of repair (often on maiden flights). I've had a few unfortunate incidents with my P2V, some might call these incidents "fly aways" or "death spirals", but I call them GUI (Gross User Incompetence) errors. Seems to me that people forget that gravity is a B!@#h and "what goes up, must come down". One such incident resulting in a direct fall from over 100 feet to pavement, other than reattaching camera, memory card, battery and replacing all four props, the P2V was flying again in less than five minutes. The same crash would have been the end of most other RC aircraft or costing $100's or $1000's (and many hours of effort) to repair.

Even the range is pretty amazing, yes I want more (and have modified to achieve more), but that does not make the stock range any less impressive.

As for the camera (seems to be the brunt of most complaints), for a camera that FLIES it's pretty **** good (IMHO). I do wish there were a 2D gimbal option that cost less than buying an entire Phantom kit, or that it were easier to add a gimbal (with 7th channel tilt.) But for what it is (especially with the flight time), I have few complaints. BTW, speaking of flight time, for those moving over to the P2 and gopro (or Sony). After adding the gimbal, camera, FPV, iOSD, ask them what their flight time is. Apple to apples it will be 4+ (gopro), 5+ (Sony) minutes shorter (MINIMUM). Argue all you want, but that is the simple facts of fighting gravity. BTW, that is a fair tradeoff, just important to know that there are tradeoffs. In my world, some days that 5 minutes would not make any difference, but on others it may mean not making it home.

 

[nwillitts]

i am very pleased,just not with the weather.

 

[Scottrod]

I agree! I'm very happy with all performance from my P2V.

 

[EyeUpHigh]

For the most part I'm in the "happy owner" camp as well. Flights have always been stable and easy to control, battery life has been excellent and my camera seems to be better than most. I did send mine back to DroneFly for repair (that all-too common "drifting left" syndrome) and they either made modifications or the drone finally got a good calibration because it's now going in the direction that I point it

Dronefly support left a bit to be desired but I can cut them some slack because I have a feeling they didn't ever expect to sell this many drones - or have this many come back for rework... (Actually, I was afraid they were going to replace rather than repair my Vision which says a lot about my overall satisfaction compared to what seems to be the norm with soft cameras, flyaways, battery issues etc)

I do think the motorized camera leveling mount (I refuse to call that sad little geared thing a gimbal) is the weak point of the drone which is why I've got a Dronexpert gimbal on order. My camera does have a case of the droops and I'd make more of an issue of it if I didn't know I'd be binning the geared mount in a few weeks. Most people complain that DJI oversold the camera's quality but it's really pretty good (not great but hey, it's not a Canon 5D, is it?) but I think most of the sample video from any of their promotional videos shows an exaggerated stability that could lead to unrealistic expectations about the quality of the video the Vision can produce.