Remove camera as a beginner

msinger · Dec 1, 2016

Adjday said:
What about downloading a sim

There is a flight simulator in DJI GO.

Paulie1340 · Dec 15, 2016

Maybe I'm sufferring from "analysis paralysis" here.

It sounded like good advice to remove the camera from my new P3S... I mean, why risk more than I really have to in my early flights. I watched a few videos on YouTube on how to do it. Followed them to a point. Turns out MY P3S wiring between the bird and the camera is totally different from any video instructions that I can find. My unit was just delivered yesterday so it most likely has the latest wiring plan and only the older wiring plans are documented on YouTube.

Has anyone removed the camera from a brand new unit?

outdoorslife308 · Dec 15, 2016

Why remove the camera at all?

Mark The Droner · Dec 15, 2016

Skip to 1:30

Fred Guernsey · Dec 15, 2016

I'm a relative newbie and the advice these guys give is fantastic
It's amazing that with practice your eyes come off the drone (still in line of sight) but it's the camera you begin to use. Confidence takes time; and even now I practice in a mates large field at least once every few flights to get a good grip of all the controls and different flight modes you can use; POI etc

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Paulie1340 · Dec 16, 2016

outdoorslife308 said:
Why remove the camera at all?

Outdoorslife, don't ask me...(or were you telling me) ask the Mark the Droner he's really high on the idea.

My question was... has anyone removed the camera from a brand new P3S (December 2016 issue)

msinger · Dec 16, 2016

Paulie1340 said:
My question was... has anyone removed the camera from a brand new P3S (December 2016 issue)

This is not a great idea. If you break something in the process, it will not be covered under warranty. Save yourself a lot of hassle and go practice in a large open area that is clear of all obstacles.

happydays · Dec 16, 2016

The best bit about flying these yokes for me is the ability to see the what camera sees. As soon as I have done the safety checks and am happy that all is fine, I gain height quickly to clear any obstructions and then it's eyes to the screen straight away. So easy to fly when you can see what it is looking at. However, I understand that it can be hard to do, especially when a newbie.

Paulie1340 · Dec 16, 2016

So I abandoned the idea of taking the camera off.

Yeah, I'm rolling the dice a bit but since I am an experienced RC pilot(fixed wing) I see this as way easier to learn.

Quadcopter speeds are a mere fraction of the speed of RC planes
The P3S will stop moving if I want to take a mental breather and think about what to do next, planes will not, the stress continues until you either panic and crash or land it successfully.
The concept of reversed controls when the unit is flying toward me is not foreigh to me as you can't fly an RC plane without dealing with it on day one.

So... much easier to control the chaos.

Mark The Droner · Dec 16, 2016

Paulie1340 said:
Outdoorslife, don't ask me...(or were you telling me) ask the Mark the Droner he's really high on the idea.

I'm not really high on the idea. I just think it's worthy of consideration - IF it can be done relatively easily and IF it can be done without trashing the warranty. I didn't do it myself - partly because I was too anxious to fly! As it turned out, my P2V dropped like a stone from about 15' high after five secs of flight due to a bad battery in the retail box. My luck. No damage to the camera and just a scrape on the gimbal ribbon cable, but then again, the P2V gimbal is built like a German Tiger tank.

I also think it's a good idea to learn to fly the first week or two without the flight app so you can concentrate on flying and not on whatever is going on with your monitor. Yes, of course you can stop and hover whenever you want to look at your monitor but that breaks your concentration while you're learning the controls.

MHO (and not a strong one). That and a dime won't even get you a cup of coffee or a phone call in 2016 / 2017.

Oso · Dec 16, 2016

Paulie1340 said:
Maybe I'm sufferring from "analysis paralysis" here.

It sounded like good advice to remove the camera from my new P3S... I mean, why risk more than I really have to in my early flights. I watched a few videos on YouTube on how to do it. Followed them to a point. Turns out MY P3S wiring between the bird and the camera is totally different from any video instructions that I can find. My unit was just delivered yesterday so it most likely has the latest wiring plan and only the older wiring plans are documented on YouTube.

Has anyone removed the camera from a brand new unit?

Thanks very much for bringing this up. For future readers of this thread, the P3S has completely different wiring with regard to gimbal removal, and the advice that it's easy to remove the gimbal was for P3P/P3A only. The OP was asking about a P3P. It's not as easy for a P3S, so the advice would have been different.

This is a great example of why there are separate forums for Pro/Advanced and for Standard/4k. Yes there are similarities between the platforms, but there are also significant differences that warrant separate discussion groups. It's too easy for readers, especially new pilots, to not realize that what may be sound advice for a P3P/P3A may be different for a P3S and vice versa.

Alex Baxter · Dec 17, 2016

happydays said:
The best bit about flying these yokes for me is the ability to see the what camera sees. As soon as I have done the safety checks and am happy that all is fine, I gain height quickly to clear any obstructions and then it's eyes to the screen straight away. So easy to fly when you can see what it is looking at. However, I understand that it can be hard to do, especially when a newbie.

You'll have to explain 'yokes' to the non Irish contingent, they will be thinking horse collars and eggs.

.

Paulie1340 · Dec 17, 2016

Alex Baxter said:
You'll have to explain 'yokes' to the non Irish contingent, they will be thinking horse collars and eggs..

Does "Yokes" have something to do with "Bob being my Uncle? Just kidding. What the heck is "yokes"

happydays · Dec 18, 2016

Paulie1340 said:
Does "Yokes" have something to do with "Bob being my Uncle? Just kidding. What the heck is "yokes"

A yoke is an Irish word for "a thing".

topilot · Jun 29, 2017

Mark The Droner said:
Skip to 1:30

I am a newbie and thought this was a great training video. I like the idea of removing the camera for the first few training flights. I also think the idea of flying without using the app and monitor is also very good.

Meta4 · Jun 29, 2017

topilot said:
I am a newbie and thought this was a great training video. I like the idea of removing the camera for the first few training flights.

It's a really bad idea.
Go back and read post #5 to see why: Remove camera as a beginner

A much better idea is to read the manual and then do your flying in a large open area well away from trees, buildings and other obstacles.
If there's nothing to hit, it's really hard to get into trouble.