Just got a P3S - still relevant? I think so!

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Hi,

Just wanted to say a quick 'hi' to everyone. I'm a DJI Spark and Mavic Air owner who was always fascinated (years ago) for some reason by the Phantom 3. Even tho I have 2 nice DJI drones, my mind couldn't escape the Phantom 3...and so I finally got a Phantom 3 standard. Have to be honest- I wasn't expecting much having a Mavic Air and Spark...but WOW. This quad is much smoother than the Air and Spark in controlling and smoothness of flight! It's a joy to fly. Range? Sure, a *small* issue. But the camera is still very nice, imho. I did some quick 2.7k video that, with small post production, is great! Also, I shot some stills in .jpg RAW. After color adjustments and grading, the pics look great!

That and the idea of many upgrades available...I think this P3S will be an awesome journey.

Sorry for the overzealousness, but I'm just a bit surprised by it is all. Can't wait to get more into it!

Scott
 
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I don't know about the Spark, but the Air, Pro, and Phantom 4 are all much smoother than the P3S. You can definitely tell the age of the craft when you fly it.
 
Yip amazement of my p3s to me,when it 2019 that will make 3 years and sure it still be strong then,but wait till you get the p4,the whole game changes ,anyway enjoy
 
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Hmmm... agree. But even when you slow the YAW and other movements in the DJI GO 4 app, the Mavic Air and Spark still seem "twitchy" to me. The P3S out of the box just seems smoother.

The tech on the Mavic Air is way beyond P3S and I get that. Maybe I'm a little too much reveling in "the underdog" mentality...I always felt the P3S was considered "meh" since day one. I don't think it is. That's all. Carry on.
 
Hmmm... agree. But even when you slow the YAW and other movements in the DJI GO 4 app, the Mavic Air and Spark still seem "twitchy" to me. The P3S out of the box just seems smoother.

The tech on the Mavic Air is way beyond P3S and I get that. Maybe I'm a little too much reveling in "the underdog" mentality...I always felt the P3S was considered "meh" since day one. I don't think it is. That's all. Carry on.
The P3 is still a very solid and reliable AC. I love mine :)
 
Shuggins I have p3a I love it
What upgrades r u talking about
Thanks Jim
 
Hi Jim,

P3A....excellent! I saw one for sale here, but it got snatched up quick. I don't see P3A's locally very often. I see standard and professional models often though.

I would upgrade to *try* to make my P3S to get as close to P3A as I could. I really wanna do it only cause I like to tinker. Kinda like getting a "project car" and fixing it up.

Two things right off the cuff:

1. The default phone holder on P3S is pretty bad. You can easily find upgraded phone/tablet holders for P3S on Amazon for around $15.

2. Also, itelite, 4hawks, ArgTek (Blue Proton), or the parabolic things for extending the range on the P3S. The range is pretty dismal on the P3S. Also, Magic Power especially made (for free) for P3S looks pretty promising: Phantom 3 standard magic power mod. I am not super glad to open up the controller, but I will if I think one of the kits will help the range and video feed out.

For you....none of those not needed. P3A already has the very nice phone/tablet holder. You (like the P3P) have Lightbridge technology so you probably don't need range extenders. You already have everything i would want on your drone. I'm stuck with fighting bad WIFI! I'll get it tho....

Since the P3S doesn't have as many sensors as P3P or P3A, the battery life might be 2 minutes or so longer on mine (so I've read).
 
Hi,

Just wanted to say a quick 'hi' to everyone. I'm a DJI Spark and Mavic Air owner who was always fascinated (years ago) for some reason by the Phantom 3. Even tho I have 2 nice DJI drones, my mind couldn't escape the Phantom 3...and so I finally got a Phantom 3 standard. Have to be honest- I wasn't expecting much having a Mavic Air and Spark...but WOW. This quad is much smoother than the Air and Spark in controlling and smoothness of flight! It's a joy to fly. Range? Sure, a *small* issue. But the camera is still very nice, imho. I did some quick 2.7k video that, with small post production, is great! Also, I shot some stills in .jpg RAW. After color adjustments and grading, the pics look great!

That and the idea of many upgrades available...I think this P3S will be an awesome journey.

Sorry for the overzealousness, but I'm just a bit surprised by it is all. Can't wait to get more into it!

Scott
I have a Mavic Pro Platinum, Spark and Tello. But I still miss my Phantom 3 Standard. It was, as you say, smooth, took great photos on AUTO mode and was so easy to fly. It will always be a favorite of mine. If I still had it I would fly it often.
 
I have a Phantom 3 Advance and love it. Have had it for 3 years now with no problems at all. Range is good and it is very smooth. I know the 4 is newer technology but I just cant see the up grade until something happens to my Advance. Oh and of course I have my Spark also. To much fun.
 
Hi,

Just wanted to say a quick 'hi' to everyone. I'm a DJI Spark and Mavic Air owner who was always fascinated (years ago) for some reason by the Phantom 3. Even tho I have 2 nice DJI drones, my mind couldn't escape the Phantom 3...and so I finally got a Phantom 3 standard. Have to be honest- I wasn't expecting much having a Mavic Air and Spark...but WOW. This quad is much smoother than the Air and Spark in controlling and smoothness of flight! It's a joy to fly. Range? Sure, a *small* issue. But the camera is still very nice, imho. I did some quick 2.7k video that, with small post production, is great! Also, I shot some stills in .jpg RAW. After color adjustments and grading, the pics look great!

That and the idea of many upgrades available...I think this P3S will be an awesome journey.

Sorry for the overzealousness, but I'm just a bit surprised by it is all. Can't wait to get more into it!

Scott
My P3S is my "go-to" for every day flying for fun. I will never part with it.
 
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For a while I have had a P4P and my trusty P3S as a backup. Recently upgraded to the v2.0 and thought to sell the standard. But I decided it is just too good to get rid of for a measly $250-300 I might get out of it. I agree - It is really pretty capable, easy, and trustworthy (so long as you don't need to go far). Has it always shot in RAW?? I need to dust it off and have another look...
 
My P3S was my first DJI Drone after learning on a Syma X8G for a year prior. The P3S has been rock solid. After flying for a while with the DJI GO app, I bought and installed Litchi and suddenly I had many of the features that were standard on more expensive drones like the P4. More recently I have been using it with AutoPilot for Follow Missions. Third party flight apps like Litchi and AutoPilot have definitely increased the functionality of the P3S and have given it a longer life than it may have otherwise had with just the GO app.

Just a few days ago I completed the tablet mount mod on my P3S controller so that I have a more stable holder for when I am doing Follow missions and am moving around.

I also find that my P3S has been rock solid for winter flying, so long as I take necessary precautions like warming batteries beforehand, etc. In cold temps my P3S gimbal and camera have worked flawlessly, whereas my Spark gimbal glitches (pitch control either doesn't work or becomes jerky and less responsive). Coldest flight last winter was -23ºC and this winter I plan on doing much more cold weather flights.

So, is the P3S still relevant? Hell, Yes!

Chris
 
> course I have my Spark also. To much fun.

Way too much fun! I have one also.

>So, is the P3S still relevant? Hell, Yes!

Yep! I think so too. Now I'm dealing with range / fpv (video stability) issues. I have range and fpv working a little better, just trying to squeeze that little bit more out of it. I am also dealing with Jello Effect. Yuck. I have written down a big list of things to try to get that resolved after doing research. Still, very glad I got a P3S!
 
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