Hands on experience Phantom 3 - 4K plus Inside the hood Pictures

[Phantom751874]

Since we have Tahoe/Blade keeping an eye on this thread...
This has been asked before and the answer has been ambiguous...
Do we void warranty if you pop the hood off the P3 to do a regular inspect?

I dunno what DJi will say or what their official stance is but in most states, probably all, DJi wouldn't be
able to refuse warranty service for popping the top off and looking around.

 

[dirkclod]

lol.View attachment 17529

..Really

 

[Apparition]

I dunno what DJi will say or what their official stance is but in most states, probably all, DJi wouldn't be
able to refuse warranty service for popping the top off and looking around.

Assuming it was legal to aquire, maybe. However if this wasn't that persons to sell to Mohan then it's essentially stolen property and they have zero responsibility towards him. Regardless let's carry on with the discussion of the features and benefits of the P3.

 

[Phantom751874]

Sure each person has to do what is right for them.

In my mind this is major leap from the previous generation.

1. Price point and convenience - I have built 3 phantoms with Lightbridge each and Go Pro cameras - spent over GBP 2000 each. Modified each Go Pro myself with all the stress of taking it apart. Have to go through annoying routine of starting Phantom first, then pressing on the go pro fighting with the gimbal and pressing record. Once I finish record got to remove the cable on the side and retrieve memory card. I have 2 go Pro's with faulty ports due to the constant unplugging. On the P3 I can hit record, change to still on the remote and when I take the card out I don't have to mess around with cables. Hey wait I can upload the video and photos straight from the tablet to the cloud.. The price of all this - a tad over GBP 1200

Is the Gimbal fragile - yes it is but if you drop it what do you expect? I have a gimbal guard and it does a good job. 85 flights and no problems on PV2+

2. All the technology has been squeezed into a phantom. I can re-use my carry case, Ipads / Nvidia Shields and memory cards. No I can't use the battery and chargers.. hey but I can use the props. I don't have to carry the nicer Inspire if I want a quick blast. While I am flying I can get 2 miles of uninterrupted video without having to buy cumbersome aerials, amps and tripods. I can fly for about 20 minutes. Numerous technology is assisting me. If I want to fly indoors without GPS I can. If I want to fly outdoors I have 16-18 satellites to guide me. If I can't be bothered to land I can press a button and ask it to land. If don't want to fly it back and bored I just press a button on the remote. All the camera controls of record, take a snapshot and pan camera are on the simple hand controller. I can reset the gimbal with another push of a button.

3. The Pilot software is a joy to use now. It tells me exactly how I flew the bird, every stick movement, the flight path, the mistakes made. In time people will develop more apps using the SDK like there is dozens of apps coming for the Phantom 2. I look forward to the creative people out there who will exploit the hardware.

Now will I go and sell all my Phantom 2's and the Inspire gear in a mad dash? . Hell no - I have spent countless hours building them up. But I will also support DJI in their quest to be at the forefront of technology by spending my money on their product so they can go on and develop the product .People keep mentioning how great the Go Pro cameras are.. I love the Go Pro but in the past 3 years Go Pro have done nothing to make the camera easier to use on a drone platform.

They have not in mind given any assistance to make the camera work on a platform such as the phantom by adding extra menus such as turn off mic option, start recording on movement etc... They continue to make cameras generation after generation and improving capture rates etc but they are not interested in fine tuning it to the UAV market. Maybe they have their own version of UAV coming out. When I complained that the ports both USB and HDMI failed on 2 cameras- they told me that the ports are not designed for what I was doing. Told me that USB cannot support video out. HDMI is only for video out but not to be plugged in and out. When I told I needed to disconnect HDMI cable to get to memory card they sounded puzzled. But when the port fails I have apparently misused it. Come on is that for real? Cannot send it back for repair under warranty.

So unless somebody else out there comes out with something better in 2015 and not 2016 or 2017 I am sticking to DJI for the moment as they have got products rolling out of production shortly that does a pretty good job of combining several different technologies.

PS the dampers are the soft white. I am pretty certain if I change them around to the hard black the jello will reduce. I got mad jello on my Go Pro's before I swapped them around after changing lenses to 5.4mm

I vote leave Mohan alone. He's just offered up a glowing review of the P3. Why hang him out to dry, because he popped the top off and took some pictures?
Seems a bit counterintuitive on DJi's part. Lets smear the guy who just offered this glowing review of our P3.

I don't buy the "my parts look different than your parts" reason. Easy explanation from DJi "it was a pre-production unit", done.
How'd he get the unit? Does it really matter and if it does he's under no obligation to cooperate. DJi needs to figure out where the P3 came from. Do they honestly think
all those pre-prod units won't eventually be sold? One of you mentioned in the RCGroups thread that you fellas don't have to give your pre-prod P3's back to DJi.

 

[Woods]

Sorry we cant be everywhere.. My main site is RCG and now Inspire pilots.. If I'm needed here I will try better to be here. To be honest I have been working with more of the pro gear over the past year, s1000, s900, a2 and Zen gimbal systems.

"We can't be everywhere"
What you mean is you will only be where DJI's interests rest.
I love this unit, and what DJI has made. I will buy a P3.
However,
DJI has demonstrated very clearly they really place customer satisfaction and post sale support pretty low on pretty low priority.
I know no units are perfect, but you still should have been around when so many of us struggled with our units.
That said, this new one looks pretty awesome. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[Phantom751874]

Assuming it was legal to aquire, maybe. However if this wasn't that persons to sell to Mohan then it's essentially stolen property and they have zero responsibility towards him. Regardless let's carry on with the discussion of the features and benefits of the P3.

I meant in general, not for Mohan specifically as I thought the question meant warranty service in general.

 

[blade strike]

Mohan will be taken care of no matter what the outcome.. He wasn't the one that did something wrong.

And once again apologize for jumping the gun Mohan..

 

[manofword]

I've read every post in this thread and with the DJI guys here, would just like to vent that I completely lost a "tricked out P2" all DJI equip except Immersion tx & GoPro Hero 4 to a failed RTH. Never saw it again after switching the RTH toggle. Took that one on the chin and purchased a new one. Flew it a number of times & even searched for my old one with it. I had no problems and put a GPS tracker on it this time.....just in case. Good thing because during a routine flight, it went crazy out of control and crashed. I'm just glad it didn't go into a residential area or crash on a road. The crash ripped out the compass, destroyed my Tx and broke the gimbal plate. I was able to recover it due to the Trackimo. It survived and has been in the air since but vibrates a little "wonky" in the air. I've been totally afraid to fly very far since and I am really hoping that the P3 is more reliable. I never just "take off" w/o all the preflight stuff. DJI authorized a return/repair w/the caveat that it "may or may not" be a warranty issue and I would then have to pay for repair. How are they going to be able to tell what happened? It was only about 800' away on return when it failed. Had plenty of battery etc. Anyway, this should probably be in another thread but I'm really pinning my hopes on a better, more reliable kit. After reading all of this, I REALLY hope the P3 will be it. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, because I'm a little skittish & will probably wait until some reviews come in. I'm not a noob. I started w/FC40. went to P2,(3) P2V+. I won't buy another one if the P3 doesn't work........(I don't think) LOL

 

[Phantom751874]

Mohan will be taken care of no matter what the outcome.. He wasn't the one that did something wrong.

And once again apologize for jumping the gun Mohan..

Cool deal.

Can't wait for my P3P!

 

[Mako79]

Mohan will be taken care of no matter what the outcome.. He wasn't the one that did something wrong.

And once again apologize for jumping the gun Mohan..

I've seen those movies... Mohan will be "taken care of", *wink *wink *nudge *nudge. Don't jump the "gun" guys. ☺

 

[Greyfox51]

Having flown a P2V since last July, the upgrade to the Phantom 3 is a major upgrade for me. I viewed with envy the stabilized videos being submitted for appraisal by guys like Dirk, and many others, who had gone down the Rotorpixel gimbal route and I was within an ace of doing exactly that myself.

Then came the rumor that there was something in the air, that the recently released Inspire wasn't the only offering to come out of the DJI stable, and that there was another unit in development; a smaller, cheaper unit, but also incorporating some amazing technology. So, difficult though it was, I decided to wait and see if the rumor was true. It was, and I am glad that I did.

I live in an area of great scenic beauty, sparsely populated, and with great ambient light. It is the perfect flying environment and the coming opportunity to fully exploit it, not just with a gimbal stabilized unit, but also one with Lightbridge technology as well, is really more than I could ever have hoped for. Compared to the P2V ( which will continue to have its uses) the P3 is a huge step up and I can hardly wait to get my hands on it.

I include a screenshot from the film I took on Saturday. My horribly slow Broadband connection pretty much exempts me from sharing anything larger.

 

[mohan]

OK I took a small break after the 'Tornado of acitivity' yesterday

I am hoping this thread will serve to be a useful source of information for potential P3 customers and also allay any fears for those who are undecided. I am going to do start a FAQ style summary - please feel free to add any Q / A you think are relevant

Range
2 miles minimum

Battery life
18-20 minutes in 30mph rough winds - this is as rough as you want possibly want to fly the aircraft
Proves how tough this aircraft really is.
23 minutes in gentle flight

Battery
4480mah 15.2V battery (68W) - I will be intending to do a 5%-100% charge time to report the charge cycle from start to finish of a depleted battery

Charging
The charging unit of the Professional has extra capacity - will this charge a battery faster than the regular or will the extra capacity allow remote and aircraft battery to charged together at the same time. I believe the Intelligent battery circuitry decides charging rate. I don't have a regular charger of an Advanced to compare.

Memory cards
I have tried a 64GB Sandisk memory card - it works well.I will buy a 128GB to see if it works for higher capacity.

4K footage consumes 7360K a second
Will try other resolutions to see how it compares
Max file size on card is 4GB -it will split files during a typical flight

Photos - approx 5000K per photo



Props
New hub - the P3 Props look similar to the P2 props from the top. Turn them around and you will notice that there is no metal surround on the thread. Do not use P2 props on P3.

Carry Case
For all intents and purposes the P3 will fit in a P2 case. There are subtle differences - I have no problem fitting the aircraft in all the P2 carry cases I have with me.

Remote
Very similar remote to the Inspire1 remote. All White instead of Silver and White of the Inspire1. No Landing gear slider switch on the return to home button. Hold the H button down - it will start beeping and flashing to initiate a RTH.

Holder can accommodate Tablet size of 6 3/4 inches / 17cms max width - accommodates- Ipad mini 2 / Nvidia shield/ Nexus 2013 and works well. Clever design enables smaller devices to be clamped

Left shoulder has Gimbal control, switch for PAF (Unclear if IOC will be implemented) and record button
Right shoulder - Jog wheel for moving between recorded footage
Play button
Single silver button ? function
C1 and C2 rear buttons that can be programmed
Sticks can have their length adjusted
My Inspire1 remote will pair with the P3 - I have not tried to pair a P3 remote with an Inspire1!

Video downlink
720p high quality - no notable lag. Works best on the newer tablets - Ipad mini 2/ Mini 3, Nvidia Shield etc Very stable - in my opinion better than my Lightbridge units.

GPS
Acquires a fix very quickly - I have seen at times 16 satellites on the screen.

Indoor flying
Yes the system works and makes it possible to fly indoors. Not sure if would take my hands off but maintains height and does not drift.

Auto landing
Works really well.

Auto take off
Not tested yet

 

[borgqueenx]

Thanks mohan, i think you mean the professional charger here.
Also 30mph? Gusts? Or was that really the wind? How did the P3 handle that? Wow thats quite some wind.

And maybe if you have time can you tell me how good signal penetration is? If you fly for like half a mile and then behind some trees...can it go through them at half a mile for a bit more or will the image distort and start lagging?

 

[amitregev]

Still has the same wiring coming down from the upper shell GPS unit down to the board... all they need to do is pinout the wiring and make another adapter harness to make it plug and play like all the others... should be a no brainer.

Using the GPS is definitely an option, but we usually prefer CAN-BUS port for the added data. Although it isn't marked like on the Phantom 2 series, CAN-BUS data is still available on the P3 (much like the Inspire 1, which we already have a working version for it locally). We will post more updates about our support for both the Inspire 1 and Phantom 3 in the next few days.

 

[leekiya]

Thanks mohan, its been very interesting to read everything you have shared with us all this past week or so, you have taken a lot of your time to share the things you have learnt with us and i thank you for it. Im sure more interesting things will pop up on this thread along the way.

 

[Fourblade]

I didn't realise the photos of inside would upset so many, who took them over to rcgroups and posted them on there. tut tut tut tut.

Tut Tut?

I posted the photos on RCGroups after getting permission from Mohan to do so. If you saw the post over there you would see the post is fully credited to him as he requested.

The main reason for doing so was to gather expert opinion from the legion of technical experts and DJI guys over there and reassure myself (as well as others) whether things look good under the hood and how the future looks - as I've pre-ordered one!

Seeing that the general feeling is positive with PCB integration and seemingly beefier components it has probably done more good than harm (in swaying those on the fence to now pull the trigger and buy one) - have you seen how many views those photos have got on RCGroups?

You yourself have written many many posts asking for advice and opinion and some of the answers have been based on information written elsewhere - you probably loved seeing inside the P3 as well?

You really don't think this kind of information should stay in one small corner of the net do you?
Especially as I asked permission from the OP in the first place....

Don't jump to conclusions and don't shoot the messenger!!

 

[TonG]

OK I took a small break after the 'Tornado of acitivity' yesterday
Photos - approx 5000K per photo

Are these compressed DNG because the camera delivers 12Mb?
Can you take some long exposure photographs, up to 2 seconds or so because I'm very curious if the P3 has the same fabulous stability as the Inspire1.
I tend to do a lot of low light photography.


By the way if I were you I should not go to china anymore! They will put you in jail for at least 27 years because of leaking industrial secrets...

Ton

 

[mohan]

Are these compressed DNG because the camera delivers 12Mb?
Can you take some long exposure photographs, up to 2 seconds or so because I'm very curious if the P3 has the same fabulous stability as the Inspire1.
I tend to do a lot of low light photography.


By the way if I were you I should not go to china anymore! They will put you in jail for at least 27 years because of leaking industrial secrets...

Ton

Will do.. I will need to wait until it is dark and do this for you

 

[Greyfox51]

Hi Greyfox,

I like to chase boats, and as you can see on my video I have to break off my attack due to the short range of my P2V+V3.

Nice steady images. I'm envious.

 

[mohan]

Thanks mohan, i think you mean the professional charger here.
Also 30mph? Gusts? Or was that really the wind? How did the P3 handle that? Wow thats quite some wind.

And maybe if you have time can you tell me how good signal penetration is? If you fly for like half a mile and then behind some trees...can it go through them at half a mile for a bit more or will the image distort and start lagging?

Yes it was one of those windy days. I have generally avoided flying the phantom when the wind is anything more than 20mph gusts. This experience has given me added confidence and I flew a P2 in 22mph gusts yesterday.