If you want to appreciate your Mavic more, go fly a Phantom 3 Standard!

[Former Member]

For the past 3 years, the Mavic has been my weapon of choice, and more recently, the M2 series. I cut my teeth on Phantoms, and honestly, I dont miss Phantoms too much. I decided to take a Phantom 3 Standard up for a fun flight today, and it was like flying a Trex heli compared to flying a Mavic. It drifted, swayed with the wind, was slow, and landed "approximately" where I took off from. I exhaled deeply upon landing.

That being said, if you have a relic Phantom sitting around, there is absolutely no reason to sell it as long as it still flies well and the battery has been maintained. Flying a P3S is like driving a car with no power steering or brakes, and a standard transmission. It will help you hone your Mavic skillset, and appreciate your newer drones that much more. The P3S camera is good enough for a photography hack like me!

 

[Mr. Salty]

I cut my teeth on the Phantom 3 Standard. I still miss it sometimes.

Yeah, there was nothing precision about the landing, that's for sure, and no obstacle avoidance. Range was decent after I installed an aftermarket antenna, but obviously OcuSync 2 is a big improvement.

But I found it handled the wind quite well, and it was reasonably fast. Once I had it up to 45 mph with a tail wind. In fact, I think the larger surface area of the props helped it deal with wind quite well.

My only real complaint was how finicky it could be to get the controller and the Phantom 3 to link up.

 

[Northern_Bob]

Interesting observations, thanks.
I remember driving cars with no power steering but manual? I still drive a stick and joke that having never owned an automatic I don’t know how. Actually I do but my left foot twitches like crazy trying to find something to do.
NB

 

[Former Member]

My only real complaint was how finicky it could be to get the controller and the Phantom 3 to link up.

Oh yeah, that took me 10 minutes this morning. Some things never change.

 

[Former Member]

Once I had it up to 45 mph with a tail wind.

I dont think this one could go that fast unless it was inside a tornado.

 

[Rumbaar]

Yeah, I've got a PH3 Adv ... the STD were always a strange inclusion by DJI and not sure why anyone would have gotten one.

 

[Former Member]

Yeah, I've got a PH3 Adv ... the STD were always a strange inclusion by DJI and not sure why anyone would have gotten one.

The answer was as easy then as it is now. Price.

If an owner didnt want to spend $999 on a P3P, the P3S was a good alternate if all you needed was 1080 2.7k.

 

[Rumbaar]

The answer was as easy then as it is now. Price.

If an owner didnt want to spend $999 on a P3P, the P3S was a good alternate if all you needed was 1080.

Yeah it's a shame that the model didn't offer the true benefits of a DJI drone, and it's capabilities. But yeah, got more punished back then for the cheaper model.

 

[kndll]

The answer was as easy then as it is now. Price.

If an owner didnt want to spend $999 on a P3P, the P3S was a good alternate if all you needed was 1080.

camera on the P3S is 2.7 k , handles wind well , range is the limiting factor

 

[Mr. Salty]

Yeah it's a shame that the model didn't offer the true benefits of a DJI drone, and it's capabilities.

The P3S offered the “true benefits” of a DJI drone, minus some of the range.

I bought mine on Black Friday for $350. With the addition of an aftermarket antenna I was regularly able to surpass 9,000 feet. And it had a decent 2.7k camera.

And I got to learn to fly without the stress that comes with dipping your toes into a new hobby by dropping a thousand dollars.

 

[charliesRig]

I few a Phantom 3 Once and it sir....... Is no Mavic Pro.!
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.........................That being said if it wasn't for that Phontom 3 I believe I would not own My Mavic
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R.I.P. Bro
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....cR
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[WobblingWillie]

I still have mine and I love that thing! The only time I've ever had a connection problem was the last time I connected to it. I had been flying my M2Z with Crystalsky prior and when I started up the P3S I forgot to log in to the WiFi with my phone. Haha! It took a minute to remember to do that. I'm still on the original props, even thought they DO have some walnut tree limb stains on them from an Atti incident long ago.

 

[Former Member]

I still have mine and I love that thing! The only time I've ever had a connection problem was the last time I connected to it. I had been flying my M2Z with Crystalsky prior and when I started up the P3S I forgot to log in to the WiFi with my phone. Haha! It took a minute to remember to do that. I'm still on the original props, even thought they DO have some walnut tree limb stains on them from an Atti incident long ago.

View attachment 68531

She's a beauty!

 

[LenSavage]

I fly the Mavic Pro and the Phantom 3 4K (a limited production model).
The Mavic has all of the obvious advantages - however, the Phantom 4K camera is better.
It has a larger lens and sensor, it produces a larger (wide angle) relative image and it is far superior in low light conditions.
I still use both, depending upon the situation. Once you produce hours of video, a drone becomes just a means of positioning and moving your camera.
This demo reel was shot with both the Mavic and the Phantom alternately. The last 2 shots would not have been as good with the Mavic - not sorry.
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Len Savage - Pegasus Aerial Images (.com)
San Diego and Hollywood

 

[Former Member]

Once you produce hours of video, a drone becomes just a means of positioning and moving your camera.

Great point! Some people could get better images with a Tello than I could get with my M2P. It all depends on the photographers skills and techniques in shooting and post production.

 

[charliesRig]

Great point! Some people could get better images with a Tello than I could get with my M2P. It all depends on the photographers skills and techniques in shooting and post production.

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I will requote this Because it is soooo true.!
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....cR
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[Northern_Bob]

Yep, but hard to get across to people. High end photographic gear doesn’t make you a great photo/cinema photographer. It just makes it easier for a skilled photographer to get the shots needed.

Give a pro a pinhole camera and he/she will produce striking images most of the time. They will know the limitations of the equipment and work around them or incorporate the “flaws” into the work.
NB