I did a search after the last thread & it seems they’re discussed quite regularly on here. I love those drone shots you get on tv, & really fancy being nosy with a (proper £500+) drone, bit of urbex type of exploring (external) without the trespassing, but it seems it’s not all fun & games to be had. Not looking for any recommendations of a drone to buy (but not going to stop you either), more ppl experience of them, & what they do with them if they don’t end up being flash in the pan a fad (tbh would be interested to hear why you didn’t go further with them too). I’m aware trying to turn it into a job is more expensive, complicated & risky than you’d first think., so that not what I’m interested in but being able to shoot interest architecture or get a proper overview of old industrial sites interests me. M8 just bought a DJI Mavic, so will get to play with it soon (hopefully), but got a bit of spare cash, don’t need a new bike (the horror!) & am curious

I’d say have a play with a ~£20 toy drone.
See if you like enjoy it. Go from there.

There are multiple ways to go. Mavic might be good for getting video etc, but you might also enjoy the fun of wazzing about through trees in a FPV racer with goggles.

I’m drone curious too and eyeing up a DJI Spark – half the price of a Mavic and basically the same features but not quite as good quality camera and gimble but good enough unless you’re a pro. But even so it’s still a hell of expensive gadget that will probably be used for a while then put in the drawer never to see the light of day again.

Aye Its the spark rather than a mavic that’s tweaked my interest, as it seemingly a proper drone, rather than just a toy but will it actually be useful in UK weather conditions? (Wind obv not rain)

I love my Spark. I don’t use it all the time, in the same way I don’t use my ‘proper’ camera all the time, that’s worth similar or more. I think if you’re trying to justify buying one by imagining how often you’d use it’s not worth getting, the same as a GoPro. I use mine to add different perspective to home movies I make of the kids, and it does that perfectly. I had a Mavic briefly, and it’s superior in some ways, but for me it’s about the ‘presence’. The Mavic when unfolded and taking off is like any other drone, big and scary looking, I was scared of it and terrified if my kids were close, however the Spark looks like a toy. I’m sure it’d still do damage if you got close enough but it’s just not as menacing. As rules tighten up it’ll change how and where you can use it too, but I only use it in underpopulated areas to get landscape shots really. It’s nice to be able to just have it with you though, like a small camera, that flies. If you have any questions just PM me. This is an example of what I’ve used it for Spark flight

what they do with them if they don’t end up being flash in the pan a fad

partial guesses:

race them
do tricks
<insert other drone competition type stuff here>
mess about with drones with other drone owning types
film stuff
spend a ton of money on “essential upgrades” and spares

You don’t need to spend a lot of money to play about with a drone that has a camera on it.

Something like this Syma X5C-1 (£32) has a basic camera (or can be bought without) and will teach you the basics of flying a drone without all the auto assists.

https://www.banggood.com/Syma-X5C-Explorers-2_4G-4CH-RC-Quadcopter-Mode-2-With-Camera-p-913827.html?rmmds=category

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y93vzA-KRlM[/video]

Anyone jumping straight from nothing to a Mavic will have an expensive learning curve.

I’d second the idea of starting small and working your way up, though bear in mind that tiny little drones are actually much trickier to fly than their more cunningly featured brethren. A Spark or a Mavic will *almost* fly itself though I reckon having a decent grasp of flying technique could be invaluable when “almost” becomes “oh Crap the GPS has dropped and it’s heading towards that crowd of nuns!”.

I’ve flown a few low end ones for work and that Syma is not the worst starting point, though from what I remember it’s not as nice to fly as some of the more modern kit. We sell a couple around the £100 mark with altitude hold (which makes flying much more fun) and I *think* a couple with either GPS or FPV as well – personally I’d choose GPS at that level as cheap FPV tends to be pretty woeful.

Have a look at the lower end Hubsan stuff if you decide to get something just to play around and fly, they tend to be really nice to control and sensibly featured.

There’s pretty much nothing to touch the Spark and Mavic at the moment though as far as I can see. The Xiaomi drone looked promising but has ended up not that cheap and sparsely reviewed.

I have a spark.. Perfectly usable in wind up to 25 mph

Negative, and it’s a huge one is that whilst the hardware is awesome, the software is hopeless. Mine always loses connection, video feed, and the range even with the controller is about 100 yards rather than the advertised one mile

Tpbiker do you make sure you turn Bluetooth off? I get out to 250-300m with mine before signal starts to drop, and it’s virtually impossible to see by then anyway.

Is there such a thing as aerial Robot Wars yet?

Yeah Bluetooth off..

A couple of months ago I lost it mid flight when it lost connection and didn’t return to home as it’s meant to. I eventually found it in a field.

It keeps doing this, so I can’t fly over anything like water, trees etc etc in case it loses connection, runs out of power and lands where it’s hovering. nor let it leave my sight. Appreciate it should be kept in line of sight at all times, but fact is that it’s not working how it should.

Yeah, I’m suspicious of all the claims they make about the capability of the features, like the collision avoidance functionality which has been demonstrated on various YouTube vids to be limited and not quite working as it should so I thing the less you rely on these features the better. I’m sure these features work fine in perfect laboratory conditions, but the real world is not a laboratory.

I like the idea of the follow me mode but I’m sure my mental image of it following me on a flowy trail pulling off rad tricks with its camera capturing my awesomeness is just a fantasy and the resulting footage would be disappointing in terms of both the drones capabilities and my lack of actual awesomeness.

Interesting stuff any thoughts on the Parrot Bebop range I can pick one up for a couple of hundred euro.

To learn can you tether the thing to the ground ?

Mine always loses connection, video feed, and the range even with the controller is about 100 yards rather than the advertised one mile

Do you have the optional controller?

From memory the Spark has a pretty short range because it is reliant on your phones wifi. You need the controller to get long range capability.

GrahamS – Member

Mine always loses connection, video feed, and the range even with the controller is about 100 yards rather than the advertised one mile

Do you have the optional controller?

From memory the Spark has a pretty short range because it is reliant on your phones wifi. You need the controller to get long range capability.

Yeah I got the spark with controller and its perfect…love it and no range problems

My 3rd DJI drone and favourite!

Go for it.

We’ve got a DJI 4 pro plus and and Inspire Pro one.

The 4 pro + is fantastic. The quality at 100mbps is terrific.

We use them in film production. Had to tread carefully at first, with my drone being a p4p from Amazon warehouse. A like new model with decent discount.

I see ours as a tool but they are great fun to fly and I really enjoy planning shots.

It’s relatively easy to get impressive shots when correctly exposed and shots thought through.

The collision detection works very well on the new plus model.

Think about where you’re going to fly it. You need a load of space and ideally away from people.

Yes I have the optional controller..

The other thing I’ll add is that the active track mode is hopeless. I’ve yet to have it manage to track me for more than 30 yards, and again that is with the controller attached to get round the limitations of the homepoint.

I’m kinda hoping mine is broken and needs replacing, otherwise it’s not capable of doing most of what I bought it for I’m afraid.

Why not buy one on ‘shared’ basis.

Like people do with light aircraft

I was where you are last month. I was looking at the spark and a friend of my son has one who brought it over for a play, very very impressive.

But in the end I went for a mavic pro, after a shop round I paid £780 for it (new) which wasnt much more than a spark when you add a controller and the extra flight time did it for me.

As it’s only a month old we are still in the honeymoon period where is it used most days and we live rural so there is easy flying from the patio.

TBH I think it’s fantastic, incredibly stable and easy to fly even in the wind. Collision avoidance works very well, but it only does the front and the bottom so you need to be carful when using the tracking modes. Range is very good, if I fly it toward the village I can get it to my parents garden before the video starts to breakdown, it’s about a mile and there are plenty of trees and an old railway embankment in the way. If I go the other way, which is pretty well just fields, flying at 50m, it is still going well at over 2 Miles before my bottle goes.

The quality of the pictures and video is fantastic and I’m looking forward to taking it on days out and starting to get some proper pictures with it.

I’m kinda hoping mine is broken and needs replacing, otherwise it’s not capable of doing most of what I bought it for I’m afraid.

Does sound like it’s either broken or there is some kind of user error happening because I’ve seen reviews and videos of the Spark going a lot further out than 100 yards.

e.g. this guys takes it out to over 3/4 of a mile before it heads home. Search on YouTube for “Spark range test” to see other folk doing the same.

[video]https://youtu.be/2hYV8xfrWdU[/video]

If I go the other way, which is pretty well just fields, flying at 50m, it is still going well at over 2 Miles before my bottle goes.

Which is of course illegal. Shhhhhhhh!

I’ve had my spark out to about a mile with no issues ( Legally due to the country I was in )
No problem with signal strength from my controller. Using just a phone may be different.

My spark is my first drone. I thought it would be a pick up and fly arrangement but there is quite a bit of in-depth set up needed before you get it off the ground.

A great item to have in the toy box.

If you get a drone then be careful who you let pilot it.
This one hit the ground so hard that components came off the PCBs.

So much for collision avoidance. Been there….twice 😥

If you are after a cheapo one, I recently bought a “XS809HW” from TomTop which is quite good fun. Streams video (at low quality) to your phone or can record to an internal microsd. Might help learning to fly and getting used to it’s orientation etc.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1ELTZfT0XE[/video]

So much for collision avoidance.

Seems to work pretty well on the Mavic and Spark.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqSgcXYJc2I[/video]

Not sure the ground counts an obstacle though! 😆

I recently bought a “XS809HW”

That design looks strangely familiar! 😀

I was out for a walk in the woods today and found a Spark. Is there some way I can get it back to its owner using the serial number?
Did a quick google expecting the manufacturer to have a lost and found page, but didn’t find anything.