DJI Phantom 4 Pro

[Rob Cantwell]

Anyone got any opinions on the new 1" 20 Mp Exmor R CMOS sensor on this? I was looking at the Mavic which is nice and portable, but the Phantom 4 Pro looks pretty good.

YouTube (Short URL)

[Victor Wilcox]

Wish I could say I've tried it, but not yet. Here are some good reviews:

DJI Phantom 4 Pro vs Mavic Pro vs Phantom 4: Image Quality Review - YouTube

DJI Phantom 4 Pro+ (w/Display) In-Depth Review —Â*Comparison to Mavic Pro and Phantom 4 [4K] - YouTube

[James R. Wilson Sr.]

I'm being coerced by a couple of very good clients who want me to have drone capability to augment my helicopter work. I'll have to confess to being very ambivalent for several reasons. First, DJI, while the obvious leader has such poor customer service......wait, no, you have to have customer service for it to be poor. I have a three year old P2 kit that has seen daylight a half dozen times due to it's unpredictability. I sold my brand new Ronin for a 2K loss because it would never balance with any camera, regardless of how many times I tried. So now I'm thinking about sending them 9 grand for an I2? Goes against my grain. A second reason is that when a drone launches, all I can see is liability. I know they are cool and getting more and more capable, but I have a hard time getting my errant P2 experiences out of my mind.

Ultimately, if I do it, I'll need an Inspire 2 5.2K, so I guess it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy a P4, fly it for a few months and upgrade. Maybe it makes more sense to see how reliable a Mavic Pro is and then, with a little more confidence, get the I2?

The P4 reviews are glowing, but once again it better be perfect out of the box because even DJI's dealers will tell you that your basically on your own once you own any DJI product. Heck of a way for the industry leader to behave.

[Bruce Dempsey]

I have a Phantom3 now and previously a Phantom1 (never needed any support)
The improvement is impossible to overstate
a P4 with the 1 inch sensor will give you giggles.

[James R. Wilson Sr.]

Good to know, thanks Bruce!

[Rob Cantwell]

I crashed my first one! but it still flew, the current one (P3P) is doing good with no big issues.
things don't always work the way they should, but I see that from a lot of systems and support or the lack of is a big problem especially with complex systems where there are so many variables as to what causes malfunctions etc.
The 1" sensor is attractive at the price point, cant see myself spending too much on these.

[James R. Wilson Sr.]

I'm finding that Bruce's assessment of the P4Pro is accurate, thanks Bruce! Very stable so far. Updates seem to come so fast and furiously that you are constantly bombarded by warning beeps and messages for calibrations and updates, but I guess that's good.

I've taken it out of beginner mode for a couple of flights now and it seems to do exactly what it's told. Cautiously optimistic at this point, about a dozen flights in.

My batteries will only charge to three light bars, no matter what I do, can't quite figure that out. All in all a much better experience than I had with my P2.

[James R. Wilson Sr.]

Here's a P4Pro update:

I did a pretty intricate series of flights for a client, they entailed flying low and high down a limestone creek, threading around low hanging branches and boughs. The client was beside himself with the footage.

I ran into a small problem when a battery began to go toes up early and the P4Pro began initiating a precautionary landing, which would have been in two feet of water. I attempted a hand capture that met with less success than I had hoped, leaving me with a shredded shirtsleeve and a series of pretty good prop bites on my forearm. Completely my fault, not the P4Pro's, it did exactly what it was supposed to do, I was the weak link.

Battery problem, charging to 45%, has been diagnosed, it's the DJI three bay charging dock. I charged each of my five batteries individually via the single cord charger and they all went to 100%.

[John McCully]

Originally Posted by Rob Cantwell

Anyone got any opinions on the new 1" 20 Mp Exmor R CMOS sensor on this?

Rob, I have a DJI Phantom 4 Pro Plus. Keep in mind that I am not a working professional these days and I purchased this thing just for fun, and fun it is a plenty. The image quality is more than satisfying and I am viewing both stills and 4k 60p footage on a recently purchased Dell 27" 4k monitor. Here is a Prt Scr of a photograph taken with the device.

http://johnmccully.com/wp-content/up...17/04/0103.jpg

It is extremely easy to fly however the rules and regulations regarding where and when one is permitted to operate it are limiting, at least here in New Zealand.

My opinion: for me the new 1" Exmor R CMOS sensor is more than adequate. I don't do a lot of post work.

I trust those comments are helpful.

Cheers.

[John McCully]

Perhaps it might be more helpful if I shoot a short 4k 60p clip and upload the original directly out of the camera, no re-compression, tomorrow hopefully.

Cheers...

[John McCully]

Here are a couple of clips that might be helpful. Do download the original rather than evaluate by playing on Vimeo.

Cheers.

DJI_0127 on Vimeo

DJI_0119 on Vimeo

[Dan Brockett]

The P4 Pro is by far the best non-professional drone on the market, I've seen some stunning footage from it, it has great features and a sophisticated camera for a consumer device. I've been contemplating buying one, was hot on the Mavic Pro but the P4 Pro is far superior for video work.

That said, every person in this forum should read about my colleague Slavik B's drone experience up in Oregon. You really, really need to become a Part 107 pilot if you want to use any footage in any of your projects. If you decide, as I am, that you don't want to become certified, you need to make sure that you hire drone pilots who are Part 107 certified or you risk huge fines and the hassles of investigation. And it won't be the FAA busting you, it will be local Part 107 pilots who want you to hire them, they will report you to the FAA. It's getting nasty, I have heard this from more than just Slavik, I've heard it from several colleagues here in LA too.

Read it, it's an eye opener Flying A Drone - Gear Dads