Torn on buying a Standard or Advanced... New pilot

Id only buy the standard if you were on a budget, I was on a budget so I got the standard. It's still a good bird to fly, its just not got the range that people want to fly at. But I can't really fault anything else on it.
 
Black friday deals on the Standard, 4k and Pro, ****. Advanced is probably the sweet spot. I assume the pro is overkill if my main goal is still photos?

no not at all overkill!
it is only a few dollars more than advanced and has a few other pluses

Interesting thanks. These seem to be a decent deal from Canada as they include duty and taxes. Anyone else had good experiences with refurb?

all 6 of my phantoms have been refurbed/open box
never an issue (other than dji FW) and still flying the p3p after a year now!
 
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Great to hear. One more question, I plan on using this over the ocean extensively. I see a lot of posts on here that make me think that is crazy, but is it really? If it's at altitude on a calm day, how is that any worse if it falls in the ocean than if it falls 300m onto rocks? I would never have it out over water under 50% battery just to be safe.
 
I've flown my P3 1400m out over water and didn't even think twice about it. Just make sure you're at a decent altitude so that you don't slam in to a wave.
 
Great to hear. One more question, I plan on using this over the ocean extensively. I see a lot of posts on here that make me think that is crazy, but is it really? If it's at altitude on a calm day, how is that any worse if it falls in the ocean than if it falls 300m onto rocks? I would never have it out over water under 50% battery just to be safe.

you are right
300 foot down to water or rocks = dead phantom
It doesn't know or care what it is flying above...

also why I never bothered with any trackers so many spend money on..
I would put the money towards the next one vs finding a crashed one....

good luck and have fun flying!
 
...
also why I never bothered with any trackers so many spend money on..

I would put the money towards the next one vs finding a crashed one....

...
Lost mine on a mission crashing into a tree at full speed over a mile away and 100 ft high. Found it. Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost it again when it dropped unexpectedly (15 ft / sec) into very thick woods about a quarter mile away. Found it, Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost it again hitting a high tree - fell 100 ft. very close to home point. Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost it again when a prop spun off at 400 feet height two and a half miles away. Found it. Fixed it. And it's still flying today - over 600 miles total distance and still going strong!

...
 
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Lost one on a mission crashing into a tree at full speed over a mile away and 100 ft high. Found it. Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost one when it dropped unexpectedly (15 ft / sec) into very thick woods about a quarter mile away. Found it, Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost one hitting a high tree - fell 100 ft. very close to home point. Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost one when a prop spun off at 400 feet height two and a half miles away. Found it. Fixed it. It flew again.

...

wow you have great luck for sure...

they are tougher than they appear , I will agree

I have hit a coconut tee at almost full speed behind me at 40 to 50 ft up.
dropped like a rock, picked it up , brushed off the bark and leaves
and away it it went .... no issues at all
 
Lost mine on a mission crashing into a tree at full speed over a mile away and 100 ft high. Found it. Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost it again when it dropped unexpectedly (15 ft / sec) into very thick woods about a quarter mile away. Found it, Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost it again hitting a high tree - fell 100 ft. very close to home point. Fixed it. It flew again.

Lost it again when a prop spun off at 400 feet height two and a half miles away. Found it. Fixed it. And it's still flying today - over 600 miles total distance and still going strong!

...
How did the prop come off? From not tightening it down? I've heard a rumor that these props dont last as long because their all plastic as apposed to the old metal hubed ones.
 
The composite hub is an improvement over the older style metal hubs. Theoretically the threads could strip out easier but what's more of a risk is the props spinning off. Metal on metal spins off easier than composite on metal. DJI changed the hubs to composite when they noticed the Inspire props spinning off due to active braking.

I can't say for sure why they spun off. It was a very windy day. Wind was around 19 mph and I was flying straight into it. The props were 9450s with the composite hub. I blame myself since I didn't snug them up prior to flight.
 
I can't say for sure. It was a very windy day. Wind was around 19 mph and I was flying straight into it. The props were 9450s with the plastic hub. I blame myself since I didn't snug them up prior to flight.
I do notice that the longer you use the props the more looser they get as apposed to newer props that you can't spin on as much as the ones i've used a while. I wonder if after so many flights the threads in the prop become worn out and no good. Just a theory I haven't flown my P3 that long, almost 3 weeks of flying it almost every day but nothing long term to know for sure.
 
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That's seems to be a valid theory. I still have two of those four props (one missing, one broke) and just now checked the threads visually and also screwed them on nice and tight.

They are solid. I can see nothing worn on them visually and they feel rock solid when I tighten them. So I still think one spun off from the high gusty wind.

Also, reading this site, there are not a lot of complaints about props getting stripped out. There have been threads about props spinning off though.

So I don't have any evidence or reason to believe that the threads stripped.

Thanks for your comment though.
 
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I'm a long time hobbyist landscape photographer who just got a itch to get into aerial photography to spice things up a bit.

I'm looking at buying a phantom as they seem like a solid photography platform, but I really can't figure out if its worth pushing my budget (and angering my wife) to get the P3A or if I should get the nice P3S package on amazon that comes with lots of accessories for much less than the advanced drone alone.

I will be using this mostly for coastal photography, often over water, in very rural areas with little or no wifi interference. With some parabolic reflectors could I get respectable wifi range on a standard in these conditions?

The idea of flying 1-3km with the advanced fascinates me, as I could fly it from my deck at home and explore a lot of coastal coves and islands. Do you need perfect line of sight for Lightbridge to work properly?

Any advice on if I might regret getting the standard instead of going right to the advanced? Thanks for any input.
I've got just what your looking for. I'm selling my Phantom 3 professional with less then 30 hours of flying time. This is one of four drones for me. It comes with the works, drone and paraphernalia, Microraptor hard carry case, extra battery and Nvidia Shield android tablet. No crashes or mishap in ment condition. All you need to do is charge the batteries and fly. My selling price $900.00 plus shipping. If you're interested e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll send you photos.
The tablet alone was $300.00. It's the deal of a lifetime.
 

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