Dinosaur?

[D Greg]

Has anyone noticed there is very little Phantom activity on this forum compared to the Mavic forum? Are the Phantom flyers becoming dinosaurs?
I understand there are more Mavics out there than Phantoms, but there has to be a lot of Phantoms still flying.
I have a P4P and a Mavic Pro. Love both, but the Phantom is my go-to platform for the best photos. Mavic Pro is very close behind. Love its portability.
Any thoughts on this?

 

[Meta4]

Has anyone noticed there is very little Phantom activity on this forum compared to the Mavic forum?

DJI brought out the P4 pro over four years ago.
The V2.0 came out nearly two years later, but had no significant improvements.
That went out of production with no credible explanation, but was relaunched again a year ago.

DJI seems to have abandoned the development of the Phantom line and have concentrated on smaller models ever since.
They don't have much interest in developing better prosumer level camera drones.

 

[D Greg]

Yes, they have pretty much abandoned the Phantom, but it is still an extremely stable platform; and there has to be hundreds still out there...unless most have been miss-used or crashed.

 

[MapMaker53]

I think the commercial forum is still pretty active with the later Phantom models because the camera quality and reliability is very popular amongst the professional fliers. When it comes to recreational flying, probably not the drone of choice anymore -- especially when it comes to transportability.

 

[clackey]

Generally, hobbyists want to discuss their new toys soon after they purchase them. After a few months the excitement wears off and they no longer need much "help" with it from the community.

With no new phantoms and many new mavics over the last few years, our overall traffic has shifted significantly towards MP. We see the same decline on InspirePilots, SparkPilots, TelloPilots, etc..

C.

 

[quaddamage]

Newer drones are more convenient for hobbyists. Some professional areas (like infrared) also moved to Mavic 2.
I don't think there's RTK kit for Mavic 2, so this is still an area where Phantoms thrive; but RTK users typically don't socialize, they expect 1st party support.

So I don't think we'll get any more Phantoms. But the ones already on the market won't disappear either. While moving to new drones, most people sell old ones, and that keeps new blood coming. I don't think phantompilots is on a decline, I think we're after one, and now we've stabilized.

(though I am likely getting rid of my Ph3 Pro this year)

 

[Bone4Drone]

Has anyone noticed there is very little Phantom activity on this forum compared to the Mavic forum? Are the Phantom flyers becoming dinosaurs?
I understand there are more Mavics out there than Phantoms, but there has to be a lot of Phantoms still flying.
I have a P4P and a Mavic Pro. Love both, but the Phantom is my go-to platform for the best photos. Mavic Pro is very close behind. Love its portability.
Any thoughts on this?

P4P V2 flier here and I've never seen the drone yet that could get me to switch. And I have never had a portability issue, either. "To each their own" but if I get to where I can't lift my little quad out of my car, then I'd be too puny to lift a transmitter anyway & probably ready to fly paper airplanes in a nursing home.

 

[WV. Rootman]

I could phase this better, but people are lazy. People gravitate to the most convenient/easy way if it is near as good. Size has its advantages for an old fart. I can see it better and it handles nice. Maybe that's why older people drive the big cars, Cadillac, Lincoln. lol.

 

[Starz]

Everything went “mini”.
Sad.

 

[CactusJackSlade]

Everything went “mini”.
Sad.

I don't mind the downsizing... but I still want the QUALITY... which is why I think many of us are eager for the release of the Mavic 3. I reluctantly sold my trusty P4P when I got my MP2. The quality of the MP2 was good enough for the work I am doing and for me the portability is a big plus. I can't wait for them to come out with the Mavic Mini 3 or Mavic Air with a 1" sensor (LOL!!!)

 

[Starz]

The M2 pro and zoom are keepers. The Three Amigos aren’t leaving.
(P4P white,P4P black,and the V2)

 

[mskipper]

I have a P4Pv2 and Mavic Air. Love them both. I probably fly the Phantom more nowdays due to commercial work and the fact the perception of a larger drone is a more professional look.
The Mavic Air is a great backup but its portability is the winner in the recreational flying space.
I would like an infra red camera and a thermal but where do you stop and how much money can you spend.
It would be great if a stable platform like the P4 could interchange cameras to suit different applications without going to an inspire type craft (which i am not keen on at all due to the size, battery life and different weight class.)

 

[Cavepig7]

Speaking for myself, for the past several months, I simply haven't been flying much at all. Therefore, not much to talk about. I've taking my P4A out for maybe 3 times just in my yard. Yawn.

 

[Andy9]

Phantom flyers are generally more experienced and less problems because the last P4p is out before 4y now.
I'm very sad that DJI didn't continue with the Phantom series. It is unbelievable for me as it is still their's best drone.
Many words have been written about this and we came to a conclussion that if they add some big improvements in P5 it would become very close to the Inspire so generally this is a marketing issue.

 

[Bone4Drone]

Has anyone noticed there is very little Phantom activity on this forum compared to the Mavic forum? Are the Phantom flyers becoming dinosaurs?
I understand there are more Mavics out there than Phantoms, but there has to be a lot of Phantoms still flying.
I have a P4P and a Mavic Pro. Love both, but the Phantom is my go-to platform for the best photos. Mavic Pro is very close behind. Love its portability.
Any thoughts on this?

DJI just keeps making them smaller and smaller. I should probably hold out for when they come out with their "Micro-Mini-Mavic" perhaps the size of a sugar cube with a 10K camera the size of a grain of rice. That way, when I get tired of flying it outside, I can use the little gem to give myself a quick colonoscopy. Time and Technology marches on!

 

[MaxE1955!]

I have the Phantom 4 advanced and love this drone. I have the Mavic pro but prefer the Phantom due to its stability and handling. The image quality on the Phantom is on par or perhaps better than my Mavic. I’ve noticed the posts in the Phantom forum has slowed but attributed it to the winter weather. I hope the contributions pick up now that the weather and Corona virus is less prevalent!

 

[Meta4]

It would be great if a stable platform like the P4 could interchange cameras to suit different applications without going to an inspire type craft (which i am not keen on at all due to the size, battery life and different weight class.)

DJI have left that market niche for someone else to satisfy.
Look at the Xdynamics Evolve 2 which is about to be released for an Inspire competitor that's not much bigger than a Phantom.
It's what the Phantom 5 should have been.

 

[Sky Wombat]

I have a P3A (used in adverse weather conditions), P4P (used when heavier model needed such as strong winds) and M2P (convenience). So bottom line is P's are still out there and being used but not necessarily posted to forum.

 

[chascoadmin]

Has anyone noticed there is very little Phantom activity on this forum compared to the Mavic forum? Are the Phantom flyers becoming dinosaurs?
I understand there are more Mavics out there than Phantoms, but there has to be a lot of Phantoms still flying.
I have a P4P and a Mavic Pro. Love both, but the Phantom is my go-to platform for the best photos. Mavic Pro is very close behind. Love its portability.
Any thoughts on this?

The Phantoms are more popular commercially particularly in mapping because of the superiority of the camera over the Mavic. There's really nothing for any of those people in this forum and there are plenty of other forums like DroneDeploy or the Commercial Pilots forum for professional mapping. If I was just flying recreationally I would probably have a Mavic Air 2 myself, but for professional mapping they are junk... And for anyone who wants to speak up I'm not talking about just pretty 3D models.

 

[WV. Rootman]

DJI have left that market niche for someone else to satisfy.
Look at the Xdynamics Evolve 2 which is about to be released for an Inspire competitor that's not much bigger than a Phantom.
It's what the Phantom 5 should have been.

That is what we imagined the P5.
I like Xdynamics attitude. They warn you of a NFZ, but never take control of the drone. They never recored your video. Your work stays yours. It is heavier then the Phantom, changeable cameras and a 33 minute fly time. With the aerodynaics, motor placement, it should fly as a cadillac of drones. If I wasn't married, I'd buy one right now! ( I hope my wife doesn't see this post.)