How are you finding the P4P in general?

DroningOnAndOn · Jun 13, 2017

I'm looking at picking up a P4Pro and I've done a bit of reading and seen a fair few threads about strange issues.

Gimbal doing odd things, still the dreaded tilted horizon, craft drifting unusually etc

Anything 'worrying'?

I'll be using it for work and need a reliable unit. I don't need it to fly 5km away but want the connection to be fairly solid within a kilometre. I will likely be using it with an iPhone 7+ or an iPad Air 2 with the latest version of iOS.

I've owned a P3P for some time and it's been very solid but doesn't take great stills which is one of the main reasons I'm looking at the P4P. That and the greater power to make smooth turns etc compared to the P3P which is a bit finicky in this dept.

Any feedback would be great!

Meta4 · Jun 14, 2017

P4p? Outstanding

John Locke · Jun 14, 2017

DroningOnAndOn said:
I've owned a P3P for some time and it's been very solid but doesn't take great stills which is one of the main reasons I'm looking at the P4P. That and the greater power to make smooth turns etc compared to the P3P which is a bit finicky in this dept.

I have a great P3P, a P4, a Mavic, and now the P4P. The P4P has worked fairly well but the chances of you getting a good one on the first try are 50-50, IMHO, maybe even less. My P4P is 3wks old and I'm now noticing the gimbal squeals and vibrates when in I'm in a hover sitting still, no wind. It doesn't happen all the time, only occasionally. Taking photos is impossible during the vibration, they are blurred, but I can never tell if it's vibrating when it's flying more than 100' away from me. The vibration is hard to detect in the iPad because it's so subtle, but in 1080 video during post edit it shows up as a slight shimmy in videos, or maybe better described as a ripple, left to right, but only occasionally, not always. I thought I got lucky and found a good P4P because it doesn't do the gimble flip very much, and flew pretty good, pretty far. But it appears I'll have to send it into DJI. Best Buy won't exchange it, they've become non-competitive with Amazon and B&H who still offer a 30 day refund or exchange. I think all P4P's cannot record 4K @ 60FPS (as advertised) without >15 video glitches in each flight, so that's a given. 4K @ 30FPS is OK, and 1080 @ 60FPS is OK too.

So.... good luck. Just assume you'll have to trade it in a few times to find a good one. DJI's quality control is lacking. I can guarantee they don't test each drone they build because they have too many hardware issues. The more and more they push the technology the more problems they introduce it seems. This P4P shimmy/ripple isn't something I've read about from others, but I have heard others talk about a gimbal squeal, which is what creates the shimmy IMO. Fortunately I have 3 other drones to keep me occupied while I wait for the P4P to get fixed.

As for the smooth turns and yawing, it's about the same as the P3P IMO. This is something I struggle with too, lowering EXPOs, slowing yaw rate, etc. Disabling the "gimble follow" setting helps too. It's difficult to get an absolute smooth and consistent turn or yaw sometimes, which is the attraction for me to pop for an Inspire 2. At least camera pans should be smooth and consistent using the 360 gimbal during a hover.

rrreed · Jun 14, 2017

just my thoughts - I researched a few months and settled with the P4P. It was delivered and it took me another 3 weeks before flying just to make sure I was doing it right and in control. I did the firmware updates and have logged about 3 hours of fly time over a week period. Did another update and since then I have been ground and unable to recover. The update caused my video feed to be garbled, gimble never zero's, connection between craft and radio keeps disconnecting - anyway I have spent the last week trying to recover. I have not contacted DJI for support because I have also learned not to expect help from DJI. Just one person's experience - seems there are many happy users out there - sadly I just ain't one

DroningOnAndOn · Jun 14, 2017

Yikes! That is two less than positive responses out of three! Thanks guys for replying.

My P3P was going great and there was a firmware update that in all honesty bricked my camera. Perfectly working Phantom one week, DJI Go updated and the next week whilst the P3P worked fine, the camera no longer functioned simply being boxed away in it's hardshell like normal between the two flights. No drops, crashes, issues etc and it cost me $450 plus shipping as there is only a 6month warranty on the camera. Was less than happy about that TBBH but I need a P4P for potential work. Unfortunately there is nothing comparable so I'm probably going to have to roll the dice. No doubt, the P4P+ or P5 will be released in 4 weeks time! Ha!

GadgetGuy · Jun 15, 2017

rrreed said:
just my thoughts - I researched a few months and settled with the P4P. It was delivered and it took me another 3 weeks before flying just to make sure I was doing it right and in control. I did the firmware updates and have logged about 3 hours of fly time over a week period. Did another update and since then I have been ground and unable to recover. The update caused my video feed to be garbled, gimble never zero's, connection between craft and radio keeps disconnecting - anyway I have spent the last week trying to recover. I have not contacted DJI for support because I have also learned not to expect help from DJI. Just one person's experience - seems there are many happy users out there - sadly I just ain't one

Please downgrade the firmware using the Assistant 2 software to the version that last worked for you. I just did. Happy camper now!

rrreed · Jun 15, 2017

GadgetGuy said:
Please downgrade the firmware using the Assistant 2 software to the version that last worked for you. I just did. Happy camper now!

Assist 2 does not show FW levels any more when I connect the RC to my desktop via USB cable

John Locke · Jun 15, 2017

GadgetGuy said:
Please downgrade the firmware using the Assistant 2 software to the version that last worked for you. I just did. Happy camper now!

Hey, you don't camp! Come clean.

shockwave199 · Jun 15, 2017

I got mine from dronenerds last week and I can attest to it being fresh inventory with a good fresh firmware on it right out of the box - 1.3.0509. I've held tight and not updated to this latest firmware yet. The bird is excellent. Dronenerds is an enterprise dji dealer and they are great, even having a repair department. Plus it's in Florida so I saved the tax being in NY. I wouldn't worry too much about getting a lemon. It happens but more often than not it's best buy and amazon that seems to be a common denominator for lemons. Personally I would steer clear of best buy for this.

The camera is superb. The bird is better behaved than the P3 series and the battery is an excellent improvement as well. No more fear of flying a 50% battery a few hours later, unlike the P3 with propulsion warnings and whatnot. The system just works. I use an air 2 as well - all good. The air 2 is a great tablet for this. About the only pain is dealing with 4k. It's cumbersome and adds time to the process but you absolutely need to shoot 4k for the highest quality. Down res to 1080 looks great too.

I spent months contemplating the p4p or the I2. My P3 still works awesome but the camera cannot compare. There's really no going back from this camera. Buy it, you'll love it. My first couple of test videos. Great bird.

GadgetGuy · Jun 15, 2017

rrreed said:
Assist 2 does not show FW levels any more when I connect the RC to my desktop via USB cable

Bummer! I was very happy mine did!

GadgetGuy · Jun 15, 2017

John Locke said:
Hey, you don't camp! Come clean.

Busted!

Much happier pilot, then!

Finally got my original firmware back, that DJI upgraded during my camera replacement, despite my explicit admonitions not to upgrade the FW! They can't read!