If there was a viable, affordable alternative to DJI drones, especially if entirely made in your country, inc chips, & boards etc. would you ...

[Yorkshire_Pud]

jump ship

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Nope, there are other companies and they struggle to just exist. Evo makes valid attempts but fails at the simple stuff , like Customer Support there overwhelmed with issues.

I Started with the small UK company called Swell Pro , lot of potential but just ran out of funds, technology and creativity. I think many companies got very scared of new drone regulations and just bailed at that time , not knowing how big an enterprise it would still be ..

Now if a new company was called MUSK a Teer Drones came out , with some auto charging when landing on the top of the Tesla , i might be interested , but Mars came first , so will see .

Phantomrain.org
Gear to Fly in the Rain < Land on the Water ,

 

[Ben_McPhee]

DJI's biggest weakness to me is that they've failed to build an ecosystem from all the products they make.

I own a:
- DJI Ronin-S (Likely to upgrade to the RS3 soonish).
- DJI Osmo Mobile
- DJI Osmo Action Camera
- And have owned a Mavic Air 2, and will likely buy a Mavic 3 Pro soon.

But there's literally no reason for me to be brand loyal. I could replace any one of those products with a competitors superior product, and all of the rest of those DJI items continue to work perfectly. I'm not missing out on a thing. They make everything, but their ecosystem is relatively weak.

Meanwhile... I'm NEVER buying an Android phone because I'm balls deep in the Apple Ecosystem. And I'll never buy a PC as my main computer, because my MacBook Pro talks so well to my iPhone, and my airpods work perfectly with those, plus my apple watch.

I stuck with Canon for a LONG time even when Sony and Nikon were releasing better cameras because I had Canon glass.

My point is... DJI drones might be the "best", but they're replaceable. Just as Gopro's were replaceable by every action cam that came after them, even though they continue to (arguably) be the best action cam available. Yet I bought my Osmo Action when it literally seemed to me to be superior to the GoPro 7 that was out at the time. One comparatively weak camera cost GoPro a customer.

That said... would I buy a competitors drone? Honestly... unlikely*.
I'd like to say I'd "buy local" if some Aussie startup was doing everything here, but it'd also have to be the best product.

DJI has it's issues, but they do most things very well, and have a proven track record. Even GoPro at the height of their power, and before DJI was as unchallenged as they are today couldn't compete.

And there's just so much tech in a drone we forget about. It's not just the camera, or the way the drone flies. It's also the transmission system so you can see what the drone is doing. That's SO impressive.

I know some other drone makers are doing good things though, but... it would take something revolutionary for me (specifically in the camera department) to get me to switch.
Very few startups could compete, and if a real competitor emerges, I wouldn't be suprised if it came out of left field, like Tesla (who know Autonomy) or Sony (who know cameras and actually do make drones and other consumer electronics).

Or my actual tip...
Apple/Google/Microsoft or a spinoff - because they all make consumer electronics including incredible cameras, do mapping, are involved with autonomous vehicles, and have VR/AR headsets already or in development, and all have ecosystems which could be leveraged to CRUSH DJI, and have billions to play with).

But there's room for improvement from DJI or a competitor, so I put a little * next to my answer.
If a company launches a drone that's clearly superior in the camera department, (Not just "specs", but real world results from the sensor) and the drone itself (including it's software) is incredibly easy, and fun to use, while also featuring professional modes that make it a real tool for a pro... I'll be paying attention. And if I don't quite love their first attempt, I'll possibly try their second generation product.

The other thing is... give me an FPV drone that can also fly like a Mavic when needed, and has an incredible camera, and I'm in! (DJI's FPV just fell short because the camera was sub par. And as an FPV drone, it wasn't perfect either, but it'd have been fine for me I think. Just stick the Mavic 3 Pro or Air 2S camera on there and I'm sold).

 

[Phantomrain.org]

@Ben_McPhee Loyalty , because they have no true Echo System does make sense but , when the SC started to get all the drones to work with it I was hooked, and got the Alien Dual controller with it and WOW .

Now the Pro RC has that chance of becoming a Controller that will increase in Value again.
That is a little bit of an Echo System to keep us going with DJI, but I do get tired of holding my breath.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[lensimages]

If the end product , the image and video, the flying experience and the quality of the build were equal or better , flight time similar then yes I would consider purchasing a U.K. built drone, but unfortunately I cannot see it happening ever, so it’s DJI for me at the moment, cheers Len

 

[old man mavic]

haven't voted but i agree with @lensimages post #5 ,not to long ago i purchased a Hubsan Mini se ,mainly because of the price compared to DJI Mini 2, it is basically a MINI clone and the fly more combo came in at under £350 including delivery ,it flew very well had a amazing flight time ,and was great value for money ,and then DJI released the Mini 3 pro ,and it was such an improvement from what had come before,so knowing that i didnt really have room for 3 mini drones in my collection ,i passed the hubsan onto a good friend and flying buddy ,he loves it and the drone is getting used ,its a real shame that there are not any hobby type drones produced in the UK ,although there are some home bred commercial variants I believe

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

build an ecosystem fro

I have no idea what you mean by that.
Re real cameras and glass, I think that is why many people stick with one manufacturer and one reason why I liked the 4/3s idea.

 

[Ben_McPhee]

@Ben_McPhee Loyalty , because they have no true Echo System does make sense but , when the SC started to get all the drones to work with it I was hooked, and got the Alien Dual controller with it and WOW .

Now the Pro RC has that chance of becoming a Controller that will increase in Value again.
That is a little bit of an Echo System to keep us going with DJI, but I do get tired of holding my breath.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

Do you think the Pro RC will though? They already used to make one and it doesn't support any drones from recent times.

Currently it only supports the Mavic 3 and Cine, and apparently now the Air2S. But not the Mini 3, and it's not backwards compatible with anything that came before it either.

And as Ocusync 4, 5 and 6 come out, how do they plan to support that with a controller that only has Occusync 3+?

To be honest... $1529 (Aussie price) for that controller is obscene. If it's still supporting new drones in 3 years, I'll be very surprised.

Perhaps if it was the one remote for almost every drone they made and the Occusync could be updated in the future to keep it current, it might make sense, but for now, it just seems like a very expensive "nice to have" that will be replaced in the near future. DJI doesn't support legacy items as well as they should.

 

[old man mavic]

@Yorkshire_Pud ,my take on the use of the term ecosystem in his post ,is the ability of all of the components ,to interact with each other with one operating system

 

[Ben_McPhee]

I have no idea what you mean by that.
Re real cameras and glass, I think that is why many people stick with one manufacturer and one reason why I liked the 4/3s idea.

Did you read past that line? First 3rd of my reply was my explanation.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

@Yorkshire_Pud ,my take on the use of the term ecosystem in his post ,is the ability of all of the components ,to interact with each other with one operating system

Ahh thanks, but in what way could they usefully interact? I had to google them (Ronin & Oslo) to see what they were....lol

 

[Ben_McPhee]

@Yorkshire_Pud ,my take on the use of the term ecosystem in his post ,is the ability of all of the components ,to interact with each other with one operating system

Exactly, but not just interact. Each item should unlock some potential for at least one of the others. And if you ever try to leave, it should be a tough choice because you'd be making your whole setup a little less smooth.

Not saying I WANT that. I'm glad that I can choose between a GoPro or an Osmo Action and am not stuck with DJI if there's something better out there.

That's why Apple especially is so huge, but it's true of the most successful companies. If you buy in to more stuff, you have a better experience as a whole.

But with DJI, even though they lead in most of the categories where I bought their product over a competitors, all it would take would be for someone to do a better job (Just like they did to GoPro), and I can replace that one item without damaging my overall experience.

If DJI wants to insure themselves, they should make it so it'd be a stupid decision for me to even consider another drone maker because I wouldn't be getting the most out of my other DJI gear. (Hope they don't figure that out though. )

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Did you read past that line? First 3rd of my reply was my explanation.

Not really, I had no idea what you were talking so the first three 'paragraphs' meant nothing too me.
I understood the remainder .... I think...But don't see how one could deduce their relevance to "ecosystem" if one did not understand the context of "ecosystem".


Edit. Anyway it seems Old Man Mavic has explained the meaning.

 

[old man mavic]

@Yorshire_Pud ,i notice that you have edited your post #7 my answer was to the original post
which just said quote I have no idea what you mean by that

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

@Yorshire_Pud ,i notice that you have edited your post #7 my answer was to the original post
which just said quote I have no idea what you mean by that

Yes I make a lot of typos, and added the bit about camera lenses and 4/3s as those thoughts came to mind a bit later.
I did understand you were replying to the original post and thank you for that.

 

[Ben_McPhee]

Ahh thanks, but in what way could they usefully interact? I had to google them to see what they were....lol

Well, that's up to them.

Not everything can or will work together obviously. But for example...

- One App that can be used to control all of them. (Would save me having/learning multiple apps).

- The RC Pro controller should work on ALL drones (including old ones. Currently it's just 3). If they did that, why would I ever want to buy another drone that couldn't use it?

- The screen on that could be used to run the apps and I could control my gimbal and other cameras from it if I ever didn't have my phone.

- Ronin Gimbals can be controlled with "game controllers", so any DJI drone remote should be able to be used as one to turn it into a "remote head" (controlled/moved with the sticks.

- Going further, if the controllers had "motion sensors" and "Gyros" inside, they could be used as a motion controller (similar to how it works when paired with a phone).

- Footage taken on any DJI camera could be wirelessly imported into an editing app on the RC Pro controller (which is essentially a tablet), and then exported from there directly to socials.

Just things like that. (I need to get hired by these people! I just made them billionaires).

 

[Ben_McPhee]

Not really, I had no idea what you were talking so the first three 'paragraphs' meant nothing too me.
I understood the remainder .... I think...But don't see how one could deduce their relevance to "ecosystem" if one did not understand the context of "ecosystem".

Sorry. "Ecosystem" in this sense is just what it's kind of referred to when a company makes multiple products that work together.

Best example I can think of is Apple.

Having a Mac is cool. Having an iPad is cool. Having an iPhone is cool.

You don't need all 3, but if you have 2 or more, any note you write on one will appear on the other 2 automatically so it'll just be ready to work on there.

And if your friends also have Macs, you can send them an iMessage inside of a text message, which is better in many ways.

But if someone has an android phone, or if your computer is a PC, you don't get the full benefit of "the Apple Ecoysystem".

So in DJI's case... like I've been saying... there's no real reason with any of the products I listed to NOT look at the other companies offerings. If I decide that an Autel drone is best, or a GoPro camera, or a Zyung Gimble... that's fine. I'm not going to regret that decision.

 

[old man mavic]

@Ben_McPhee , DJI have never been really interested in cross device integration ,just look at batteries as an example ,they like to produce a specific product with its own set of addons and
operating systems ,and i dont think that is going to change any time soon
but maybe in the current world financial climate ,they will start to give more scope to individual components, to work on several different models

 

[Ben_McPhee]

@Ben_McPhee , DJI have never been really interested in cross device integration ,just look at batteries as an example ,they like to produce a specific product with its own set of addons and
operating systems ,and i dont think that is going to change any time soon
but maybe in the current world financial climate ,they will start to give more scope to individual components, to work on several different models

I sort of understand drone batteries because they form part of the airframe. It'd be hard (near impossible) to make an Air 2S battery work on a Mavic Pro.

But there's lots of things that could carry over between generations (the bags if the drones are the same size etc).

And I just think there's lots of little ways that if I bought that RC Pro controller, I could make that into an incredibly important anchor piece to use with other DJI products. (If you didn't see it, have a look at my post #16).

I mean... I could see how it would make sense to not charge $1529 for it, but to almost bundle that thing with every drone. Or at least the same one that comes with the Mini 3 Pro. (Same things basically). I'm sure my economics don't quite check out, but I would't be surprised if it was part of a pretty successful strategy to keep people buying all things DJI and not shopping around.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

just look at batteries as an example ,

the cynic in me wonders if that practice is so a new set of everything has to be bought for everything. lol