Beginner question regarding best budget drone equipment

[lukas123]

Hello. I would like to get into drones and now been reading and learning a lot. My main plan is to get a drone and make cool videos and great pictures. I have initially thought of getting a mavic air 2, but then I found out that it is not compatible with FPV goggles which is a deal breaker for me.

I have started reading about custom built FPV drones and just use an external gopro camera for videos which sounds like a decent idea, however, I have some questions regarding selecting my parts. I would like to select some all round decent parts that would be compatible with most other parts.

1. In terms of radio, I am now mostly considering tango 2 or some radiomaster. I am slightly concerned about output power on tango 2 (just 250mw) (even though I do not know anything about mw, but I just now the more is better! . Whereas some other radios have much higher power output. Also, tango 2 is only compatible with crossfire. Are there any radios that are compatible with multiple protocols? Also, I am considering a DJI radio but I am concerned about the compatibility between other drones. Is DJI controller compatible with all the other drones?

2. In terms of FPV goggles, I am eventually planning to get a DJI FPV goggles and use their digital system. When looking at various FPV drone videos on youtube, I see people using analog and the quality of the preview is worse than 144p video, It is really hard for me to understand how can they fly and maneuvre so well with this horrible quality. For me it is hands down for the DJI digital system though is quite costly.

3. In terms of drone, I am planning to build my own drone and learn with it. Eventually maybe I will buy a dji drone because I am scared to break it since I do not have much experience with drones yet.



Please any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

[old man mavic]

@lukas123 hi my friend maybe you would get more advice on the Drone Racing Pilots forum
scroll down to see it at the bottom of the page

 

[lukas123]

Thanks. Il post there

 

[Saladshooter]

Hello. I would like to get into drones and now been reading and learning a lot. My main plan is to get a drone and make cool videos and great pictures. I have initially thought of getting a mavic air 2, but then I found out that it is not compatible with FPV goggles which is a deal breaker for me.

I have started reading about custom built FPV drones and just use an external gopro camera for videos which sounds like a decent idea, however, I have some questions regarding selecting my parts. I would like to select some all round decent parts that would be compatible with most other parts.

1. In terms of radio, I am now mostly considering tango 2 or some radiomaster. I am slightly concerned about output power on tango 2 (just 250mw) (even though I do not know anything about mw, but I just now the more is better! . Whereas some other radios have much higher power output. Also, tango 2 is only compatible with crossfire. Are there any radios that are compatible with multiple protocols? Also, I am considering a DJI radio but I am concerned about the compatibility between other drones. Is DJI controller compatible with all the other drones?

2. In terms of FPV goggles, I am eventually planning to get a DJI FPV goggles and use their digital system. When looking at various FPV drone videos on youtube, I see people using analog and the quality of the preview is worse than 144p video, It is really hard for me to understand how can they fly and maneuvre so well with this horrible quality. For me it is hands down for the DJI digital system though is quite costly.

3. In terms of drone, I am planning to build my own drone and learn with it. Eventually maybe I will buy a dji drone because I am scared to break it since I do not have much experience with drones yet.



Please any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance.

An original Mavic Mini would be a good start for you if you are making videos as true FPV Drones and Camera Drones are really a different thing. The Mini can be purchased for about $300 with controller and 3 batteries if you look hard enough for a lightly used one. You just need a cheap pair of VR goggles ($10 - $60 generally) and a third party app for your phone, like Litchi, Maven or DroneVR. DroneVR is especially cool as it has a fighter pilot style HUD. This system will use your phone as the display.

The Mini I provides good stable flight and produces great video and camera images..... what it won't do is produce the speed for racing, and it is not designed for tricks, just good flying. These latter items are really for a true FPV drone....but most FPV drones are harder to fly and generally don't produce the same quality of video because they don't employ a gimbal to stabilize the footage.

I recommend learning to to fly well without googles first.

 

[lukas123]

Thanks for the answer. Is dji mini compatible with various FPV goggles such as new dji FPV goggles? Also, I am slightly worried about the repairs of dji products if I accidentally break something. Where I live, we have a few dji retaillers but I do not think they handle the repairs. In case of repairs, maybe I will need to send my drone somewhere else which will be complicated.

 

[DoomMeister]

What is your definition of cool videos, smooth cinematic vistas or in cockpit loops, punch outs, and weaving through obstacles?

I ask because learning to fly with each one are two diametrically opposite modes of flight. If you are after the FPV style you have a path of learning to fly in acro mode before you even start to worry about taking video. For FPV style you will likely be building your own to make to make buying parts more affordable. You will crash a lot until you gain the hand/eye coordination.

 

[lukas123]

Smooth cinematic vistas, taking videos of the rivers, forests, hills would more accurately describe what I am looking for.

 

[DoomMeister]

Not sure what your budget is, but would suggest sticking with DJI. Probably the best for finding something in your budget range and capturing the video you envision. You may find that limiting yourself to goggles for video feed may be a detriment. The most important thing for your videos will be having the best sensor you can afford and the computer power to process the video clips.

 

[Macinfo]

Smooth cinematic vistas, taking videos of the rivers, forests, hills would more accurately describe what I am looking for.

If your looking to take the kind of drone video/photos you described here, you would probably not want an FPV Drone, nor would you want to use googles as I don't see them as an advantage for this kind of flying, and they can be expensive, adding the the cost of your setup.

If you've never flown before, I like others would suggest a DJI Mini 2, or perhaps the first version the Mavic Mini, which you can probably find used as some people are of course selling to upgrade to the Mini 2 or a Mavic Air 2. The older Mini is limited to 2K video and the new Mini 2 does 4K video.

However if your testing the waters, you may want to look for a Mini to save some $$ and see if its something you really wind up liking. Many people wind up buying an expensive drone and then find actual flying either harder than they like, or they crash or lose their drone somehow early on and interest fades instantly.

There are of course many drones out there, other then DJI, some of them are cheaper, but the experience could be lacking because of poor flight software , poor camera results, or just hard to fly.. Its a great hobby, but there is a learning curve..

Do some searches on YouTube for Mavic Mini, DJI Mini 2, and beginner videos, they go through setup, how the software works, mistakes to avoid, etc, after watching several or more of those, you'll have a better idea of what getting a drone entails.

 

[Skybuyer]

Thanks for the answer. Is dji mini compatible with various FPV goggles such as new dji FPV goggles? Also, I am slightly worried about the repairs of dji products if I accidentally break something. Where I live, we have a few dji retaillers but I do not think they handle the repairs. In case of repairs, maybe I will need to send my drone somewhere else which will be complicated.

You have to understand that using FPV goggles with a Mini or any DJI drone that doesn't support their goggles is pretty much a hack.

I think it is important for you to understand the difference between *general* FPV flying and what DJI offers in terms of "budget" drones. DJI is coming out with an FPV setup which is closer to what you're looking for, but it won't be in the budget category.

To better describe most DJI drones, they are flying cameras. Sure, they're fun to fly, and you can get great images and video, even with a Mini 1. But you won't be able to do tricks with them like FPV drones. You can't do flips and the pitch on DJI drones is limited, so dive bomb and other stuff like that isn't going to happen until you get into DJI's FPV drone, or as you've been advised earlier, racing drones.

One word of caution when you have narrowed down your finalists: Buy only drones or equipment that can be fixed when you crash. And you WILL crash. A lot of the cheaper Chinese drones are just that, cheap Chinese drones. They're cheap, but you have to send them back to China to be fixed. About $60 shipping from the midwest and a month each way. Trust me on that. Do your homework in that regard. There are many FPV drones out there with replacement parts and even DIY kits. I don't think they're in the "cheap" category either, but I think you'll end up with a better drone and one that has readily available spare parts.