Too **** slow and props in videos

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I am highly disappointed in my P4. I received it 2 days after the release date. Only having experience with my recent purchase of a P3 Standard, this was going to be a major upgrade for me. Bigger, stronger, faster, right? Not so much.

I love how fast the P3 is. The sound it makes when I stop it directly overhead is so cool. So, the P4 should be even more impressive. Sadly, it is not. I think the P4 is about half the speed of the P3 and the whoosh of stopping the bird just doesn't do it for me. I have not used sport mode yet as I am reticent to give up the stability of assisted flight. Maybe once I get a few more hours of flight experience, I can regain the thrill of speed.

The other issue that I had with the P3 was that the props and propeller guards were ending up in my flight videos. I tried to rectify this by removing the prop guards. This only made a slight difference. The props were still in my videos. I was excited when the DJI pre-release videos stated that the problem had been fixed by moving the prop platform higher. Unfortunately, when I had my maiden flight with the P4, this all turned out to be smoke and mirrors. The props clearly show up in my videos. The only usable videos will be those that are slow-speed or static.

I guess reality seldom lives up to the hype.
 
Thanks for the post. Still flying my P3S, waiting on Amazon to ship my P4 on April 1st.
I've been watching all the videos i could find since they announced the p4, so I remember the reference to raised motors improving photography. But they never claimed it eliminated props from view, to my knowledge. So many factors affect it, it's almost impossible in the phantom configuration.
One ray of hope, i watched several videos that said the best feature of the P4 was sport mode, crazy fast. Give it a try, and keep us posted. I'd like to know your thoughts.
 
The slower speed of the P4 helps to get better video in my opinion. If you want the speed switch it to Sport mode. You can also use the Atti mode and will be just as fast as the P3.
 
I am highly disappointed in my P4. I received it 2 days after the release date. Only having experience with my recent purchase of a P3 Standard, this was going to be a major upgrade for me. Bigger, stronger, faster, right? Not so much.

I love how fast the P3 is. The sound it makes when I stop it directly overhead is so cool. So, the P4 should be even more impressive. Sadly, it is not. I think the P4 is about half the speed of the P3 and the whoosh of stopping the bird just doesn't do it for me. I have not used sport mode yet as I am reticent to give up the stability of assisted flight. Maybe once I get a few more hours of flight experience, I can regain the thrill of speed.

The other issue that I had with the P3 was that the props and propeller guards were ending up in my flight videos. I tried to rectify this by removing the prop guards. This only made a slight difference. The props were still in my videos. I was excited when the DJI pre-release videos stated that the problem had been fixed by moving the prop platform higher. Unfortunately, when I had my maiden flight with the P4, this all turned out to be smoke and mirrors. The props clearly show up in my videos. The only usable videos will be those that are slow-speed or static.

I guess reality seldom lives up to the hype.

I'm not sure why you think "assisted flight" is disabled in sport mode. It's a GPS mode the same as P. The only differences are that the gains are adjusted to allow it to go faster and that obstacle sensing is turned off. P4 P-mode is slower than a P3 (max. 22 mph), while P4 S-mode is faster (45 mph).

There is not much you can do about the props if you want to go fast with the camera axis horizontal - the aircraft has to pitch to maintain airspeed. It should be better than the P3 at any given speed though. Angling the camera down slightly will take them out of view.
 
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I'm not sure why you think "assisted flight" is disabled in sport mode. It's a GPS mode the same as P. The only differences are that the gains are adjusted to allow it to go faster and that obstacle sensing is turned off. P4 P-mode is slower than a P3 (max. 22 mph), while P4 S-mode is faster (45 mph).

There is not much you can do about the props if you want to go fast with the camera axis horizontal - the aircraft has to pitch to maintain airspeed. It should be better than the P3 at any given speed though. Angling the camera down slightly will take them out of view.

P-mode with CA off on the P4 is faster than the P3P.
 
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I am highly disappointed in my P4. I received it 2 days after the release date. Only having experience with my recent purchase of a P3 Standard, this was going to be a major upgrade for me. Bigger, stronger, faster, right? Not so much.

I love how fast the P3 is. The sound it makes when I stop it directly overhead is so cool. So, the P4 should be even more impressive. Sadly, it is not. I think the P4 is about half the speed of the P3 and the whoosh of stopping the bird just doesn't do it for me. I have not used sport mode yet as I am reticent to give up the stability of assisted flight. Maybe once I get a few more hours of flight experience, I can regain the thrill of speed.

The other issue that I had with the P3 was that the props and propeller guards were ending up in my flight videos. I tried to rectify this by removing the prop guards. This only made a slight difference. The props were still in my videos. I was excited when the DJI pre-release videos stated that the problem had been fixed by moving the prop platform higher. Unfortunately, when I had my maiden flight with the P4, this all turned out to be smoke and mirrors. The props clearly show up in my videos. The only usable videos will be those that are slow-speed or static.

I guess reality seldom lives up to the hype.


Sorry I'm going to call complete ********. I've flown my P4 over 20 times already and in P-Mode with CA on there is no way your seeing props in your video. Unless your angling your camera above up beyond level. If you turn off CA and fly in P mode than yes there are times I get props in my video if I have camera level. Just a tiny down angle with avoid props in video with CA turned off in P mode.

But the way your saying the P4 is slower than your P3 means you are flying in P mode with CA turned on, in which case there is no way you have props in your video.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Can see props in my video quite often if flying full speed in P-mode, and especially with lens on the horizontal axle. If you test before accelerating and find a good tilt angle you won't see props.
 
Sorry I'm going to call complete ********. I've flown my P4 over 20 times already and in P-Mode with CA on there is no way your seeing props in your video. Unless your angling your camera above up beyond level. If you turn off CA and fly in P mode than yes there are times I get props in my video if I have camera level. Just a tiny down angle with avoid props in video with CA turned off in P mode.

I definitely get props in the video on the P4 in P mode with CA if I have the camera level. Angling down some will eliminate the problem, but it's definitely beyond "possible."
 
I definitely get props in the video on the P4 in P mode with CA if I have the camera level. Angling down some will eliminate the problem, but it's definitely beyond "possible."


Unless your getting a strong gust of wind forcing it to tilt a little extra. In P mode with CA on I have yet to see props and that's with full throttle.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
I have seen the props in P mode with CA, no wind.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Unless your getting a strong gust of wind forcing it to tilt a little extra. In P mode with CA on I have yet to see props and that's with full throttle.

The fact that you haven't doesn't mean that nobody else has. I was flying in relatively low wind and got them as I was cruising. I believe it happened in both directions, so definitely not wind gusts,
 
The fact that you haven't doesn't mean that nobody else has. I was flying in relatively low wind and got them as I was cruising. I believe it happened in both directions, so definitely not wind gusts,


Than I apologize if I have misinformed anyone. Just has been my experience. I will now try on my next flight to get props on the screen while in P mode with CA on. The only times I have seen. Props has been in P mode with CA off flying full throttle and of course in sport mode if you have the camera level the props get in almost the whole view.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Than I apologize if I have misinformed anyone. Just has been my experience. I will now try on my next flight to get props on the screen while in P mode with CA on. The only times I have seen. Props has been in P mode with CA off flying full throttle and of course in sport mode if you have the camera level the props get in almost the whole view.

I have never flown without CA on. I'd go make a demo video right now, but the house I'm staying at for Easter is in a No-Fly Zone!
 
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Move to 3:21, that's when I used sports mode till about 4:22. It's really agile and responsive... except if you are not careful about tilting your camera down a bit, you get props 100%...
 
Do you think all the different results could be people having adjusted the curves for acceleration? Maybe some people have it on for smoother acceleration?

Possibly, but mine is whatever the default is because I don't know what that is so I definitely haven't adjusted it.
 

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