Looking to buy my first Phantom

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Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia
Ok I am looking at buying my first DJI. I have a little "toy" Syma X5SC which is my first quad but I want to upgrade to something with much better imaging capabilities...

I did consider DIY as I have a GoPro Hero 5, but after a bit of research, it appears with the change to USB-C it appears you can no longer use that port for video out for FPV like you could with the GoPro Hero 3 and 4...

I have a maximum budget of AU$900.

I was considering taking advantage of the current 20% off sales on eBay.

I could get:
Phantom 3 Standard: AU$559 - eBay
Phantom 3 Professional: AU$899 - Kogan

Or I could save a bit longer (and wait until they are back in stock) for the Phantom 4: AU$999 - sometimes on sale, usually AU$1299 - Kogan

I don't have a 4K display, but I think I might kick myself if I only go with a 2.7K drone? 2.7K would still give cropping/zooming options for 1080p output... just not as much as 4K...

I would love a Mavic Pro for the portability, but I can't see them coming down to my price range any time soon.

Now with the CASA rules of maintaining VLOS, how far does that actually work out to be? i.e does the extended range of the P4 vs the P3 Std actually matter or can you not use it that far away anyway?

Resale value seems to hold the second hand ones up close to new prices as well...

Are still photos equal across the P3 Std, P3 Pro, Spark and P4? I'm thinking the stills are the main thing I'd want to do anyway... the video is cool but the stills I can print and hang on the wall... I see the P4 does HDR, but it seems all the models do AEB in 3 or 5 shot, so HDR could be done in post anyway...

I have discovered the Phantom 3 SE which is 4K... it apparently is only sold to the Asian market, but you can get them on Aliexpress, Tomtop, and Gearbest for AU$678 (plus 7% Cashrewards so AU$630). It doesn't have Lightbridge like the Phantom 3 Standard, but it does have a range of 4km.

I guess part of me also thinks I'd be better to spend a little less on the drone and get a lower model and then afford to by extra batteries which will allow me to enjoy it for longer vs buying the maximum i can get for my money and only having the single battery...

I leaning towards the Phantom 3 Standard or the Phantom 3 SE, has anyone here used the Phantom 3 SE in Australia?

Is there any reason why I should not buy a Phantom 3 SE? (available from Aliexpress/Gearbest/Banggood). It appears to be similar to the old Phantom 3 4K which it appears is discontinued, and it has a couple of benefits over the Phantom 3 Standard being it shots 4K (so same camera as the Phantom 3 Professional) and has an extended range at 4km, also has vision positioning. I guess the main downside would be warranty would be a bit harder as I would have to send it back to the seller.

Any advice which way to go?
 
You take a drone,say 250 m up and 1000 m away and I bet you can't see it,add some white clouds and that distance is about half that.
 
You take a drone,say 250 m up and 1000 m away and I bet you can't see it,add some white clouds and that distance is about half that.
We are only allowed maximum height of 400ft/120m in Australia. But based on that the P3 Standard distance would be ok...

I read another post on the forum here saying that Litchi doesn't support the P3 SE as there is currently no DJI SDK for the SE version.

Hmm so now I am thinking I am leaning more towards the P3 Standard, which will leave me a bit extra to buy another battery or two, and a carry case.
 
I can ship there. It would be $475 total USD. Around $601 AUD
My bad, I messed that up. USPS Priority Mail international says $95 so it would be a total of $626 AUD. Sorry about that.
 
Phantom 3standard is Wi-Fi not lightbridge. In the city p3s does less then 1 km. I live in the country and it Will do 1 1/2 to 2 km. Phantom 's don't do as well at still photography as a SLR. They excel at video. Do to the learning curve , you most likely will crash at some time. Do to pilot error. I say live within your budget. Your call.
 
Hmm, for AU$815 I could get a Phantom 3 Pro refurb (just with the standard 1 battery and no bag), or I could get a Phantom 3 Standard with two extra batteries or an extra battery and the backpack and a few other accessories... Hmm... If money wasn't an object it would be an easy choice... but it is an issue so I have to make the most of it...

Any suggestions?
 
Phantom 3standard is Wi-Fi not lightbridge. In the city p3s does less then 1 km. I live in the country and it Will do 1 1/2 to 2 km. Phantom 's don't do as well at still photography as a SLR. They excel at video. Do to the learning curve , you most likely will crash at some time. Do to pilot error. I say live within your budget. Your call.
I don't expect it to be as good as an SLR, it can't as it only has a 1/2.3” sensor vs the large sensor in an SLR. But I am not interested in a large drone that would be required to carry and SLR... I want small and portable, hence why I sold my large full-frame DSLR kit and switched to a micro four thirds camera a few years ago plus it's purely a hobby. They do well in the regards to the fact that you can get a camera up in the air which I currently don't have the ability to do now, so any of them is going to be better than what I have now...
 
My 2 cents....just buy p3s first....train and practice well....as for photos and videos you can edit it nicely with apps and PC. Range wise no issue as too far is no good either....best to play around 1 to 2 km.
Get at least 3 battery for full fun.
Later when P5, Mavic2, sparkpro comes out, the price of others will drop....that is the best time to get better deals for 2nd quad.....just my personal opinion :)
Im with P3S and so far so good, superb value.
 
Ok, I have stumbled across a deal at the right time on Facebook...

I managed to get a Phantom 3 Professional with 2 x DJI batteries, 8 x Standard Props, AC Charger, 12V Car Charger, PolarPro ND and PL kit, Some spare vibration absorbing rubber balls and MultiProdigy Hard Case / Backpack. I am getting all that for AU$800 plus postage.

I am happy with this decision, this is a good deal, I get 2 batteries and all the other accessories for about the same price as I was going to spend on a P3Pro refurb by itself or a P3S with an extra battery and a case...
 
We are only allowed maximum height of 400ft/120m in Australia. But based on that the P3 Standard distance would be ok...
Sorry,that was a typo as it should of been 120m.I have mine set to 380 ft here in the US.
 

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