Tips for Newbies ......

This my sound stupid but remember to press RECORD before starting your phantom ive lost some great flights where i have been taking care about doing all my pre flight checks etc then really concentrating on getting some lovely footage only to discover at the end of it stupidly forgeting to press the record button...doh!! im sure im not the only one?!!
 
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Keep a flight log of some type for every flight. Yes, the P3 and app record flight data but there is more to a flight log, at least for me. I prefer a written log but there are software-based log apps available.
 
Quite a bit of you have flown all the Phantoms and now have the P3s. Would you care to offer up some of the Items you find will work with the P3s? I have seen Back Packs that cross fit but not to much more. Any Transmitter Tables? Launch pads? basically anything that made life easier with your past Phantoms that will easily work with the P3s.


Despite being intended for the Inspire 1, you might enjoy this video from the MythBusters dude...

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After owning four phantoms, I've never had a crash. Knock on wood. But here are the tricks. I don't recommend anything less than full throttle on any phantom up to at a meter or two. Learn to hand catch at just above head level and always *** of phantom to your face. This takes away issues such as heavy wind when landing. So, learn to hand catch. Keep return to home set at at least 30 meters. Don't be afraid of flying high at over 50 meters. Crashes happen to people filming trees or their house. Much less to folks doing the high and far thing. You have systems there to aid you in high and far so use them. For the close in, stone throw away flying, get a cheap quad cause they are cheap. Be careful on days where GPS lock is harder to come by. My only two fly always weren't really fly always. They were GPS losses mixed with fpv loss where I couldn't see it and it thought home were some place else. So, GPS is hard to come by, leave flying for another day. Perhaps one with less solar activity. But last but not least, buy a Hubsan H107L or equivalent like blade nano. Fly it in the house. Get good at it. Then get better at it. Get confident with it because those two little guys are far more effective than any gimbal protection device you can find. If you are here in this forum then it means you either have a phantom or want one. In that case, you either have a mini quad or should buy one NOW before you even switch on a phantom. Unless you have boatloads or airborne rc experience like a lot of us who remember the days of buying the helicopter for x amount of money then have the same x amount for spares.
 
This my sound stupid but remember to press RECORD before starting your phantom ive lost some great flights where i have been taking care about doing all my pre flight checks etc then really concentrating on getting some lovely footage only to discover at the end of it stupidly forgeting to press the record button...doh!! im sure im not the only one?!!

If you do this, just repower the craft and it should write the heard to the last video. If not I have tools to fix the corrupted file :)
 
Practice flying in ATTI mode until you have it down and do not need GPS! Learn how to navigate using just the radar function because determining orientation at a distance is difficult. Finally, practice avoidance techniques so they become instant and require no thinking. One of my practice routines was to send my P2+ out some distance, rotate it randomly, then fly it back to me without a mistake....practice!
 
Good thread. Question - what are the best camera settings for ISO, Shutter, & EV? I'm not a camera nut so I really don't know how to adjust these. I like things that are automatic.:D
 
Might have already been posted but we are all ambassadors to this hobby and be courteous to others and when approached try to educate the public in a good way ....it's important or we'll be bumping into each other out in the desert ....... :)
 
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Good thread. Question - what are the best camera settings for ISO, Shutter, & EV? I'm not a camera nut so I really don't know how to adjust these. I like things that are automatic.:D

There isn't one specific setting which is the best as it all depends on what you are filming/photographing. I am more into my photography so will try and explain in simple terms what each one does and how they relate to each other. maybe somebody else can give some advice on the video settings.

ISO relates to how sensitive the sensor is to light, in photographic mode ISO 100 is the least sensitive and ISO 1600 the most sensitive.

Shutter is how long the shutter stays open when you push the shutter button, the P3 has a range of 8s to 1/8000s.

EV is the abbreviation for "Exposure Value".

So in basic terms if its sunny/bright you would use ISO 100 and if it was overcast/darker you may use ISO 400, but one thing to consider is that the higher the ISO level the more noise/grain you will get in the image, so as a rule of thumb I try and use ISO 100 where possible and adjust the shutter speed to get the right exposure. You will notice that as you change the shutter speed the EV will also change, when EV is at 0 that should give you the correct exposure based on the selected ISO and shutter speed, however some have noted that the P3 can over expose slightly so maybe adjust the shutter until the EV shows between 0 and -1. Now if you were shooting at night the slowest shutter speed available is 8s which is pretty long and unless the camera is extremely still will cause the image to be blurred or if you have elements in the shot that are moving they will also become blurred lines or streaks across the picture, which in some cases may be the desired look you are after, an example of this would be car lights forming light trails. Now to reduce the shutter speed and get the correct exposure you will need to raise the ISO to make the sensor more sensitive to the light, but remember we don't want to max this out if possible, so you would have to try various combinations of the 2 until you achieve the desired effect you are after. When you are in Auto mode the only value you can change is EV, so if the image looks too bright and you are losing detail in the hi lights reduce EV and if the image looks too dark increase the EV.

My advice would be don't just take 1 picture of a particular scene, as even if you think you have got the shot, when you get it on a larger screen you may find its not quite as sharp as you would like, so take plenty of pictures using different values.

Hope this helps.
 
Do I remember correctly that there is a bracketing mode on the P3 camera?
 
You are correct, everything is done through the pilot app now. Makes it much easier.

When changing settings on Pilot App does it need to be connected to the powered on remote? And does the P3 need to be on as well?
 
Takeoff ...... don't baby it up ..... its more like at least half throttle til your 5-8' up ..... I've seen (me) more than one first flight crash during first takeoff .... There is an auto takeoff on the P3 but have not used it yet .....m

Auto takeoff is pretty cool.
 
Thanks for the great advice. I'm an experienced Rc heli pilot but the phantom three will be my first quad and I took your advice and ordered the little H107 to fly first. Would rather not destroy my phantom.

Having the toy X5C saved my butt last night when I had a compass error right after liftoff and the wind was carrying the P3 toward my roof. Was able to maneuver and gain height quickly.
 
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After owning four phantoms, I've never had a crash. Knock on wood. But here are the tricks. I don't recommend anything less than full throttle on any phantom up to at a meter or two. Learn to hand catch at just above head level and always *** of phantom to your face. This takes away issues such as heavy wind when landing. So, learn to hand catch. Keep return to home set at at least 30 meters. Don't be afraid of flying high at over 50 meters. Crashes happen to people filming trees or their house. Much less to folks doing the high and far thing. You have systems there to aid you in high and far so use them. For the close in, stone throw away flying, get a cheap quad cause they are cheap. Be careful on days where GPS lock is harder to come by. My only two fly always weren't really fly always. They were GPS losses mixed with fpv loss where I couldn't see it and it thought home were some place else. So, GPS is hard to come by, leave flying for another day. Perhaps one with less solar activity. But last but not least, buy a Hubsan H107L or equivalent like blade nano. Fly it in the house. Get good at it. Then get better at it. Get confident with it because those two little guys are far more effective than any gimbal protection device you can find. If you are here in this forum then it means you either have a phantom or want one. In that case, you either have a mini quad or should buy one NOW before you even switch on a phantom. Unless you have boatloads or airborne rc experience like a lot of us who remember the days of buying the helicopter for x amount of money then have the same x amount for spares.
Thanks for the great advice night. I'm an experienced Rc heli pilot but the phantom three will be my first quad and I took your advice and ordered the little H107 to fly first. Would rather not destroy my phantom.
 
Keep a flight log of some type for every flight. Yes, the P3 and app record flight data but there is more to a flight log, at least for me. I prefer a written log but there are software-based log apps available.
What else do you like to add to your flight log?
 
i see a lot people talk about hand catch for landing. Is there any reason to not use the autoland function?
 
Apparently, if you read the spec, and also a burst mode. I've not managed to find them yet but will look into it further this weekend.

In photo mode, press and hold down the shutter button in the app. A semi-circle will appear that allows selection of burst mode, AEB, time-lapse. It may still only be possible to do the AEB with the shutter button on the app vs the controller. Haven't checked that with the latest app/firmware release.
 
Here's a tip for newbies: The tops of the control sticks can be lengthened -- the upper halves are adjustable like screws. If you move them out a bit, you can make more precise maneuvers.

Also, haven't been back to my Phantom to try this yet, but apparently to access bracketed exposures, time-lapse, or burst shooting, you press the shutter button on the screen for 3+ seconds and the additional options will pop up.

Auto takeoff works very well. I've taken to use it, particularly when flying from my slightly titled driveway, which it adjusts well for. I'd occasionally tip when landing my Phantom 1 so I moved to hand-catching, but the control is so precise on the P3 that I've enjoyed bringing it down to very gentle landings manually.

{Edit: Hah, Quadpilot posted the photo stuff just before I did!}
 

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