Recommendation for a noob

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pbasinger

New Member
Hey

I'm interesting in getting a quad or hexcopter for shooting aerial video footage. Very basic stuff for personal biking, skiing and general outdoor videos.

Right now the options are pretty overwhelming and when I look on some of the site selling multirotors it's difficult for someone with my limited (as in no) experience to figure out what is what and what parts are included with different products.

I'm looking for something under $1000 that will be capable of taking good footage. I'm OK being locked into the use of a Go Pro or similar size camera, but it would be nice to have the option to go a little bigger if in fact something exists in this price range.

The DJI Phantom has a lot of appeal because it comes ready to go and seems reasonably priced for an entry level multirotor that I could add a $150 gimbal to and get pretty good footage, but what else is out there comparable that I should consider?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Pete
 

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ProPilotWannaBe

Member
Depends on what are talking about when you say "under $1000". If you're including gimbal and batteries and transmitters and groundstations, it's not easily going to happen, and especially if you're wanting room for growth.

In the vicinity of the Phantom you have the F450 and the F550. You can get the F450 with controller, flight computer, motors, etc., but no gimbal for under $1000 (see http://1uas.com/Multicopter/DJI-F450/F450-NAZA-7C). But the gimbal is another $400-$600, depending on what brand you buy, and you're not going to be carrying much more than a GoPro with an F450. If you truly want room to grow in the future, an F550 would almost be required, but now you're well over $1000 (see http://1uas.com/Unmanned-Aerial-Sys...imbal-Futaba-8J-Lipo-For-Semi-Professional-AP). Again, I'm talking total package with the multirotor, flight computer, receiver, transmitter, motors, ESCs, a battery. And you'll see that these packages don't even get into the video transmitter and ground monitors, etc.

I'm not trying to scare you away. We all love the idea of people getting interested in this new realm of aerial photography/video. But to start to be able to do even basic videos with GoPro, more budget would be needed, especially if you're thinking a platform you can grow.

But maybe you start with a basic Phantom or F450 and skip the gimbal/camera part and learn to fly first with one of those, then add the gimbal, followed by video downlink and ground station.
And yes, there are plenty of less expensive alternatives out there beyond what I'm discussing, but they would require more hands-on build-it-yourself and piecing it together component by component.

Hope that gives you some ideas, and I do hope you go for it and jump into this new fun stuff of aerial video!
 

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HoverRound

Member
ProPilotWannaBe said:
And yes, there are plenty of less expensive alternatives out there beyond what I'm discussing, but they would require more hands-on build-it-yourself and piecing it together component by component.

Hope that gives you some ideas, and I do hope you go for it and jump into this new fun stuff of aerial video!
Click to expand...

Is it possible that you could go into more detail about the hands-on build-it-yourself and piecing it together component by component option for those who have the skill to build one? If say the OP wanted to stay under his $1000 limit and build something that was full featured, room to grow, dependable, and readily available, what could you suggest? Maybe give an idea of a typical build and then highlight areas where improvements could be made and capabilities could be extended.

Thanks.
 

FlyGirl

FlyGirl

Member
HoverRound said:
Is it possible that you could go into more detail about the hands-on build-it-yourself and piecing it together component by component option for those who have the skill to build one? If say the OP wanted to stay under his $1000 limit and build something that was full featured, room to grow, dependable, and readily available, what could you suggest? Maybe give an idea of a typical build and then highlight areas where improvements could be made and capabilities could be extended.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Might be worthwhile to peruse this thread which is a group build..... http://www.multirotorforums.com/showthread.php?14280-Group-Build

To the OP, I had never built one either and ordered a DJI 450 Flame Wheel ARF kit, added a NAZA M Lite with GPS. I built it really with no problems and when I did have a question I asked here and on other forums as well as searching using Google. The info is out there.... Now I have a camera with no gimbal on it (yet) and it now has FPV and OSD on it as well. Many many flights in the last 4 months on it, no wrecks (I had RC helicopter and airplane experience) and really no issues. Guess my point is, if I can do it, anyone can.... :)
 

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ProPilotWannaBe

Member
HoverRound said:
Is it possible that you could go into more detail about the hands-on build-it-yourself and piecing it together component by component option for those who have the skill to build one? If say the OP wanted to stay under his $1000 limit and build something that was full featured, room to grow, dependable, and readily available, what could you suggest? Maybe give an idea of a typical build and then highlight areas where improvements could be made and capabilities could be extended.
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HoverRound, in case you were wondering, the price difference wasn't you building it yourself versus someone else building it. Of the Ready-to-fly kits I listed above, if you were to buy the components individually and build it yourself, you would only be saving about 5% of the cost. The cost mostly come from buy companies that are well established such as Futaba, Spectrum, DJI, Hoverfly, etc.

So when I was talking about the less expensive alternatives I was talking more about non-major-brand stuff. And sadly I can't speak from personal experience in this regard. It typically requires a lot of time and effort to find the equivalent components, and do the studies to confirm that xyz component is compatible with this other component, or that it's the best fit, etc. I personally felt more comfortable picking well known components (like the DJI Naza and Wookong, Futaba 8FG, and F450/F550 frames) which translates to costing a bit more. But throughout this forum you will find many people who have listed their bill of materials and did the studies to determine if they were a good fit. What you won't see is the time it took to make the list, and even less so, the amount of time it took to build, calibrate, and fine-tune their setup.

But HobbyKing would be a place to start. They sell all kinds of simple hand controllers/transmitters with compatible receivers so you don't have to spend on a Futaba or Spectrum; they have some basic flight computers that can do some of the same stuff a Naza would do; they have plenty of ESC and motor selections.

So the do-it-yourself part is always a fun part. As FlyGirl pointed out, there is a group build thread on this forum and I would recommend working through that thread. You'd learn a lot going through the process. By building it yourself you will know your MR inside and out and will be able to troubleshoot it a lot easier. However, that group build is based on the F450 frame with Naza and GPS... basically the name-brand stuff I was talking about, though I'm sure not everyone is using the exact same component.
 

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pbasinger

New Member
I appreciate all the information. I have not seen the F450 before.
As HoverRound mentioned it would be nice to find an explicit step-by-step, but I gather that information is more or less out there it just requires some research.
I need to spend more time searching this forum.

At this point I’m tempted to get a Phantom and a gimbal on Ebay for $150 which will keep it under $700 and give me a place from which to start. I understand the tradeoff is that this doesn’t give me much opportunity to grow in terms of the copter itself, but it seems like a fairly inexpensive way to enter into this realm and possibly get some OK footage.
 

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ProPilotWannaBe

Member
pbasinger said:
As HoverRound mentioned it would be nice to find an explicit step-by-step, but I gather that information is more or less out there it just requires some research.
I need to spend more time searching this forum.
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Yes, a lot of information, and good stuff on this forum. Check the group build mentioned above and that should help. I also used to spend a lot of time looking at the Ready-To-Fly systems that were out there, where a company did the research and selected the components. So I would look at the specs of what they built, then would mimick their build.

pbasinger said:
At this point I’m tempted to get a Phantom and a gimbal on Ebay for $150 which will keep it under $700 and give me a place from which to start. I understand the tradeoff is that this doesn’t give me much opportunity to grow in terms of the copter itself, but it seems like a fairly inexpensive way to enter into this realm and possibly get some OK footage.
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Yes, that sounds like a good approach. Good luck, and above all, HAVE FUN!
 

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Lodds

Member
Just a quick question from one newbie to another why do you not go for the Phantom vision? it appears that as a starter machine it has everything you need. It is what I am looking at as a first quad.

Tony
 

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ProPilotWannaBe

Member
Lodds said:
Just a quick question from one newbie to another why do you not go for the Phantom vision? it appears that as a starter machine it has everything you need. It is what I am looking at as a first quad.
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Purely as a starter and beginner entry only choice, its a good choice. But it isn't going to get you far in the aerial photography business. Even the GoPro is considered an entry level camera, and the Phantom Vision camera has even less capabilities than the GoPro, not to mention being limited to the transmission range of the wifi.
So I do agree its a nice easy starter machine, one that you can learn on, as well as do a few easy jobs on a smaller scale.
 


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Julius Jackson

Member
ProPilotWannaBe said:
Purely as a starter and beginner entry only choice, its a good choice. But it isn't going to get you far in the aerial photography business. Even the GoPro is considered an entry level camera, and the Phantom Vision camera has even less capabilities than the GoPro, not to mention being limited to the transmission range of the wifi.
So I do agree its a nice easy starter machine, one that you can learn on, as well as do a few easy jobs on a smaller scale.
Click to expand...

what level camera is used for the higher end jobs? mark III?
 

T

tstrike

pendejo grande
Julius Jackson said:
what level camera is used for the higher end jobs? mark III?
Click to expand...
at the minimum. Most guys shoot for a rig that could potentially carry the red epic, although now with the black magic pocket pool camera, some of the big rigs are overkill. The phantom vision is a perfect starter rig for someone who just wants to get into the hobby and maybe film his personal exploits. If it had been around 2 years ago when I was first getting into quads I would have gone that route.
 

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Julius Jackson

Member
tstrike said:
at the minimum. Most guys shoot for a rig that could potentially carry the red epic, although now with the black magic pocket pool camera, some of the big rigs are overkill. The phantom vision is a perfect starter rig for someone who just wants to get into the hobby and maybe film his personal exploits. If it had been around 2 years ago when I was first getting into quads I would have gone that route.
Click to expand...

holy smokes. $50k for the red magic! thats...not cheap.
 

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ProPilotWannaBe

Member
Lodds said:
Thanks for the info. Is there a better all inclusive choice for the money I do already have a Spektrum DX6i controller
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Well, any "all inclusive" selection is going to come with it's own controller by definition. What you can do is find sellers that have Ready-To-Fly packages and they will build it for you. The cost tends to be minimal. For example, here's a RTF F450: http://1uas.com/Unmanned-Aerial-Systems/F450-NAZA-7C That one doesn't come with the gimbal, but 1UAS also has other RTF kits with gimbal. You would talk with them and tell them you already have a DX6i and see if they would lower the costs and build an F450 around your transmitter.
 

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pbasinger

New Member
Had my first flight today with the Phantom and it was pretty cool. More fun than I had expected. A few more flights and I'll have to get the camera thing figured out.
 


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pbasinger

New Member
Thanks again for the information. After about a year with the Phantom I'm ready to move up a little, but I'm just keeping my eye out for things under or around $1000. Having the ability to preprogram waypoints or have the copter follow a subject would really be sweet.


Here is some video I took behind my house a few days ago. Overall the quality is pretty good considering what I'm working with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfDkpEwGNNo
 

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