I’m looking to scratch the drone itch and looking for recommendations. I appreciate there are tons of options at the 1k price range.. And lots of cheap ‘toys’. I’m looking for something in the in between category. Ie around the 500 quid mark.

Prerequisites are:

Able to fly outside on a standard Scottish day.. Ie cope with minor winds

Reasonable flight time. Around 25 min

Fpv.. This is a definite requirement

Easy to fly for a complete beginner

I’ve seen the parrot behop 2 which ticks all these boxes, but anything else worth considering? Phantom 3 well within budget, but it looks like the focus kit is another 350 quid.

Thanks

Dji spark with a 2nd battery.

That spark looks interesting. Just for clarity when I say fpv I don’t mean goggles. Just that I want to be able to see what the camera is showing live on my phone as fly it.

Do they all do this? *Ie would a phantom 3 have this functionality?

I’d go either DJI Mavic or Phantom 3/4.
They all do FPV via the tablet/phone screen, or via goggles with a 4 or Mavic (not sure about the 3) Don’t get the cheap 3, it’s only wifi (like the spark) so hasn’t the range of a 3 Advanced/Professional, 4 or Mavic.
I’ve had a 3A for about a year and it’s an amazing bit of kit.

Edit: and they’re all easy to fly.

We just sold a P4 for 650. So it may be possible to get close to your target price.

Just to dip my oar here. I’ve owned a Blade (Sport Quad)and a couple of P2’s with stand alone video transmitters. The Quadrotor and FPV market is moving faster than mountain bikes are at the moment. There are new Quads appearing regularly, all of them better than what was available only a few months ago. If you’re looking at spending a thousand pounds you’ve got a lot of choice. The back-up for DJI is good and parts easily available as I found out more than once 😀

What I’m trying to say is, buy something contemporary from a company with a bit of back-up. The other issue with a full sized multirotor is portability or the lack of thereof. The Phantom series is a highly capable unit but requires a full size backpack to transport any distance away from your vehicle. The Spark is small and portable but lacks range, duration and only hosts a two axis gimbal and limited resolution.

I’d recommend a Mavic. Might be stretching the budget a tad, but the quality will remain long after you’ve forgotten the price.

having a slight interest in these at the moment and being how spontaneous i am i might take the plunge. just to throw a spanner in here i have seen another brand ‘parrot’ with what look like good drones and features.

Lot’s of pro’s and con’s for different makes, and like MTB bikes, lots of fans for each. This has lots of info, but may take a while to read them all:
RC Groups

Sorry for the slight hijack but are any of the small, indoor ones, worth looking at for dipping one’s toe in the world of drone flying?

Ooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmm…..

so i had a look around. the parrot bebop 2 is a great deal. its compact, light , great features and run time. what i’m not liking is that there’s no sd card storage and i feel the camera quality will not be a good as a dji. you can get 3 batteries , a backpack, and a few spares for £600

to jump up a bit in price you have the dji phantom 3. its about £ 700 ish and that’s only 1 battery and the drone. you get what looks like a larger more solid product. it will record in 4k.

im stuck on what to choose. parrot has a massive sale on atm, but will i regret the camera and limited storage.

The phanotom 3 can be had for 450 quid. Yes the ramge is limited, but given its against the rules to fly it out of sight I’m pretty sure that 400 m will suffice

I’m stuck between that and the Spark. The spark looks to have lots of featuers I like the sound of, its compact, has follow me feature etc. It just doesn’t look to be as good as doing the standard drone stuff, ie flying about filming stuff..the 300gr wieght is also worrying ..in scotland it’ll get blow away!

Don’t get the cheap 3, it’s only wifi (like the spark)

The Spark has a radio controller (at extra cost) that ups the range to 1.2 miles.
Much further than that is well in breach of CAA law anyway.

Thread on the Spark from a couple of weeks ago.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/another-miniselfie-drone-dji-spark

My mate has a Mavic. It’s impressive, super stable in flight and really fast in sport mode.

He reckons the Spark would struggle in wind at altitude (mind you he flies up at the 400m ceiling). Also the Mavic is 4K and the Spark is 1080, which was s deal breaker for him.

Mind you the Mavic is twice the price.

a £450 p3 is only the 2.5 k version. as said above, maybe bite the bullet on a mavic and have no regrets after you get the use out of and forget what you paid.

Don’t forget you’ll need some form of display with DJI drones (at least the cheaper ones). This can be a phone or tablet (Apple or Android) that you may already have. I use a cheap Android tablet with my P3A but not all work.
If I was buying now, I’d get the Mavic. It looks as good as the P3 but much smaller.

Xiaomi Drone ? 🙂

https://www.banggood.com/Xiaomi-Mi-Drone-WIFI-FPV-With-4K-30fps-1080P-Camera-3-Axis-Gimbal-RC-Quadcopter-p-1057057.html

Xiaomi are a quality Chinese manufacturer and make some nice kit.

Will the spark be OK on anything but flat calm conditions?

Also the following mode looks awesome, but in reality how would it work in the areas I ride, specifically places with trees. Take a typical trail such as spooky woods at gt for example, I’m envisaging arriving at the bottom to find my drone nowhere in site having hit a tree and been run over by the following rider.

And lastly.. It says the speed reduces dramatically if you don’t have the controller. I’m not fast, but I think I’d need it to go above 15mph in following mode at least.

If it copes with the above however it looks like a winner!

I wouldn’t trust the follow me modes anywhere with trees. It’s done by analysing the image in real time, so needs a good image of the object it’s following, which isn’t easy.
The DJI Inspire is used to film WRC cars, they use two operators to get the good shots, one flying the drone, one controlling the camera. There’s a reason for this.

Yeah I doubt any drone is advanced enough to follow you through woods at speed while keeping a decent picture. That’s a lot to ask!

Don’t think you’ll get anything like 25 minutes from a Phantom, six or seven is more likely depending on how aggressively you fly it.

Don’t think you’ll get anything like 25 minutes from a Phantom, six or seven is more likely depending on how aggressively you fly it.

Not really. I easily get 15 minutes. I normally land at 40% battery left so if you push that 20 minutes is well within range.

I guess everything is a compromise. I used a phantom 2 vision and took it away with me on a work trip to Swaziland. Great fun and go footage that would have been impossible otherwise. I was very tempted to buy one but the sheer size completely put me off. Quite simply it does not matter how capable it is if it is still at home when you have an opportunity to use it. If these smaller generation are becoming more capable it would seem an no brainier for someone remotely outdoorsy wanting to capture outdoorsy stuff. How water resistant are they now?

If these smaller generation are becoming more capable it would seem an no brainier for someone remotely outdoorsy wanting to capture outdoorsy stuff. How water resistant are they now?

The Mavic seems to be as capable as the P3 (edit: even more) and packs pretty small.

Some people fly in the rain, but I don’t think it’s recommended.
Landing in the sea is almost always a write off.

Landing in the sea is almost always a write off.

Mmmm. salt water + electronics + large capacity batteries = not good!

There are some measures you can take to make them more water resistant though

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4z8QMgTEA4[/video]

Just received my Spark! It’s a seriously impressive bit of kit. I had a Mavic but it was so delicate, this seems far more robust, from the gimbal point of view. I got the spare battery and controller, but have only used the phone to control it so far. The pictures and video are super clear (enough for my home movies anyway) there have also been some youtube videos of it in reasonable winds too, so I’m confident it’ll handle those. it’s also tiny and light, which means I’ll notice it less. the whole lot fits in a spare Xposure light case I’ve got, so it’ll slot in a Camelbak perfectly.

Kongman. Can you post some videos.. Especially when in following mode when you get the chance.

Not in Edinburgh by any chance are you?

DC Rainmaker did a side-by-side test of Mavic vs Spark on a windy day. Looked like the Spark did okay considering its size.

[video]https://youtu.be/RCnJCMMk54Q[/video]

https://www.gumtree.com/p/camera-grips/dji-mavic-pro-/1250991320

https://www.gumtree.com/p/camera-grips/dji-spark-/1250997934

https://www.gumtree.com/p/camera-grips/dji-3/1251004794

same guy, dodgy?

best ive seen is £800 for a mavic combo, which of course was sold when i enquired.

If it sounds too good to be true…

I went with the spark..it was that or the standard phantom but the portability swayed it for me

I’ll write up a wee review once i’ve had a proper test, but first impressions are good. My main concern was that something so small could not possible stay in one place in the wind. Well its been howling all day today and it flies just fine in 25mph winds…absolutely staggering!

The other things I now realise is whilst it can be used just fine with just a phone as a controller to fly it into position to take a pic, it really does need the seperate controller to get the most out of it, and an extra battery, which brings the price up considerably. Dont even think the controller is actually available in the UK yet though.

Staggering little piece of kit however, and something that given the portability I think will get an awful ot of use.

I went with the spark..it was that or the standard phantom but the portability swayed it for me

I’ll write up a wee review once i’ve had a proper test, but first impressions are good. My main concern was that something so small could not possible stay in one place in the wind. Well its been howling all day today and it flies just fine in 25mph winds…absolutely staggering

Drums fingers impatiently on desk and waits 😀

I think itll be a few weeks before I can post any good footage of me on the bike..I get the impresson that the entire flight time at the moment would be taken up by trying to work out how to actually use it and point it in the diretion of the riders!!

Anyone based in Edinburgh considering buying one is free to get in touch and have a go however (in a wide open space with nothing to hit!). Apparently its got colision detection, but at 500 quid I’m not prepared to find out…

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eS0CO-yPmO4[/video]

me playing with the DJI Spark in the woods over the weekend for the first time.
[video]https://youtu.be/r6Jsf-YtZvA[/video]

Good job. What modes were you using?
I’ve been playing with mine today but still in beginner mode to get used to flying again. It’s been a while

Met a bloke up Cathkin Braes in Glasgow the other day flying a Mavic Pro. WANT. So many cool features.

Probably just as well I don’t have the disposable cash otherwise it’d be on its way to me already, hah!

me playing with the DJI Spark in the woods over the weekend for the first time.

Nice work – be interested to hear how you got some of those shots.