Is the plus battery worth the extra hoops and regulations you jump through?

[shadow3467]

Just curious what other peoples thoughts are

It adds like 12 min extra flight time? Is that very noticeable? Is it worth the headache and having to obey other regulations you wouldnt have to otherwise?

As a drone above 250g you would no longer be able to fly during night time, would have to stay further away from airports etc and large parts of the city here in Toronto become no fly zones where you could fly there with a 250g no problem

 

[old man mavic]

@shadow3467 ,personally its not worth the hassle,its easier just to do what i did and purchase an extra battery ,i now have 4 for each of my drones ,so i have plenty of flight time ,and all the benefits that a sub 250g drone gives me in the UK

 

[mobilehomer]

That is one that only you can answer. Is the extra flight time valuable enough to you?

 

[Saladshooter]

I think its totally worth the hassle depending on the filming. Keep both regular and plus batteries for the proper situation.

An example is that I film people including myself flyfishing. I often position the drone in the air and just leave it locked on an individual. It takes some time to get worthwhile footage (fish caught, beautiful casting) and its inconvenient at the least to stop what I am doing from the middle of the river bring the drone down and change batteries.

A second situation is filming hyperlapse. The longer I can keep the drone in the air the better. I will edit for length later but good light and footage is lost when I have to land.

 

[Flashheart]

IMO, it is definitely worth it, but only when the price is right.
I was going to wait until the demand had died down for the extended batteries.
Yesterday, I managed to source 2x Mini 3 Plus 3850mAh batteries for £180 delivered, so I took the plunge and purchased two.

 

[Dale D]

I think its totally worth the hassle depending on the filming. Keep both regular and plus batteries for the proper situation.

An example is that I film people including myself flyfishing. I often position the drone in the air and just leave it locked on an individual. It takes some time to get worthwhile footage (fish caught, beautiful casting) and its inconvenient at the least to stop what I am doing from the middle of the river bring the drone down and change batteries.

A second situation is filming hyperlapse. The longer I can keep the drone in the air the better. I will edit for length later but good light and footage is lost when I have to land.

Aside from the battery issue is that getting in and out of the middle of the river with my fly rod is work enough and I could not imagine also trying to hold on to the drone and controller at the same time as I navigate the swirling waters around my knees. See the attachments of my latest fishing outing in Montana.

 

[spsphotos]

Not sure about Canadian regulations, but in the U.S. all that is not a problem anymore.

 

[YVRGUY]

Just curious what other peoples thoughts are

It adds like 12 min extra flight time? Is that very noticeable? Is it worth the headache and having to obey other regulations you wouldnt have to otherwise?

As a drone above 250g you would no longer be able to fly during night time, would have to stay further away from airports etc and large parts of the city here in Toronto become no fly zones where you could fly there with a 250g no problem

Simply, buy a fourth battery , stay under 249 g, and avoid the headache

 

[RobW01]

Just curious what other peoples thoughts are

It adds like 12 min extra flight time? Is that very noticeable? Is it worth the headache and having to obey other regulations you wouldnt have to otherwise?

As a drone above 250g you would no longer be able to fly during night time, would have to stay further away from airports etc and large parts of the city here in Toronto become no fly zones where you could fly there with a 250g no problem

Sub 250g is likely to become the go to category for most recreational users and even for some professional uses in areas where a larger drone attracts more restrictions or penalties. My understanding is that DJI will not all the extended battery in Europe, although anyone who really wants it could probably get round that problem. Personally, I’d rather buy an extra regular battery or two. I don’t often fly for more than 25 minutes without coming in to change battery and card and sometimes more often to adjust my variable ND filter.

 

[Rondal]

For an extra $50 I decided to go for the larger battery combo kit. I've had times when the extra few minutes might have got that perfect photo.

 

[Robert Prior]

Depends on where in Canada you want to fly.

I bought a couple of plus batteries, as I already have a Basic sRPAS Certificate, and the extra $5 registration was really nothing. So when I'm travelling places that I usually take my Mavic 2 Pro I have the option of the Mini 3 Pro with plus batteries instead, for some extra flight time and (more significantly to me) power for wind resistance.

For in-town use I'll stick to the standard batteries, so no legal worries about control zones and proximity to people.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Its $5 and 2 minutes of your time to just register it, so there is virtually no disadvantage. As of March this year you no longer need to de-register it when using the 249g setup, so it couldn't be easier to cover all your bases.

It's great to have both options - use the larger batteries anywhere that you can fly a drone over 250g for better flight time and wind resistance, and use the 249g setup everywhere else.

 

[smfry60]

Just curious what other peoples thoughts are

It adds like 12 min extra flight time? Is that very noticeable? Is it worth the headache and having to obey other regulations you wouldnt have to otherwise?

As a drone above 250g you would no longer be able to fly during night time, would have to stay further away from airports etc and large parts of the city here in Toronto become no fly zones where you could fly there with a 250g no problem

Simple Question Simple Answer.. HELL YAAA

 

[Chaosrider]

Just curious what other peoples thoughts are

It adds like 12 min extra flight time? Is that very noticeable? Is it worth the headache and having to obey other regulations you wouldnt have to otherwise?

As a drone above 250g you would no longer be able to fly during night time, would have to stay further away from airports etc and large parts of the city here in Toronto become no fly zones where you could fly there with a 250g no problem

In the USA, it's a no-brainer...the Big Battery it is!

 

[alfo2010]

I have the Mini 3 Pro and two other larger drones. I have been flying for four years now and have never been questioned about having a pilot’s licence or any other thing by anyone and I fly at least three days a week, I’m retired. I doubt that anyone is going to ask you what size of battery you are using as they most likely don’t know there are two different size batteries for the Mini 3 Pro. In Canada the DOT has the exclusive jurisdiction to police drone pilots and their activities, in some instances that authority can be delegated. If you do something stupid like flying in a in a restricted no fly zone someone like the police may pay you a visit if they can find you. I play by the rules other than this rule about under 250g. I have one regular battery and three + batteries, I fly with the larger batteries all the time for the extra flight time. I think that there is to much paranoia about the battery issue.

 

[CanadaDrone]

I have the Mini 3 Pro and two other larger drones. I have been flying for four years now and have never been questioned about having a pilot’s licence or any other thing by anyone and I fly at least three days a week, I’m retired. I doubt that anyone is going to ask you what size of battery you are using as they most likely don’t know there are two different size batteries for the Mini 3 Pro. In Canada the DOT has the exclusive jurisdiction to police drone pilots and their activities, in some instances that authority can be delegated. If you do something stupid like flying in a in a restricted no fly zone someone like the police may pay you a visit if they can find you. I play by the rules other than this rule about under 250g. I have one regular battery and three + batteries, I fly with the larger batteries all the time for the extra flight time. I think that there is to much paranoia about the battery issue.

Law enforcement doesn't need to know anything about the drone or the different battery options, they just need a scale

FWIW I've never been bothered either but I take comfort in knowing I am not exposed to the huge fines, and I also avoid situations where I am likely to get a visit from law enforcement anyway. Even if you're totally within your rights, if you catch someone on a bad day they can still make your life miserable if you have to go to court and prove your innocence.

 

[EliteBleader]

@shadow3467 ,personally its not worth the hassle,its easier just to do what i did and purchase an extra battery ,i now have 4 for each of my drones ,so i have plenty of flight time ,and all the benefits that a sub 250g drone gives me in the UK

I agree with you I find it more convenient to land, put another battery in, and then take off.

 

[Flashheart]

adjust my variable ND filter.

Do you have a VND for the M3P? If you do, can you link to it please? I can’t find a VND for the M3P for love nor money.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Do you have a VND for the M3P? If you do, can you link to it please? I can’t find a VND for the M3P for love nor money.

I wouldn't suggest using a VND, but if you can find one it's up to you obviously. They are far more useful on a traditional camera where you can simply reach forward and adjust the value but even then they come with many caveats. On a drone, you still have to land the drone to change the ND value, saving you probably no more than 10-20 seconds compared to just swapping to a different ND filter which IMO is not at all worth it given the disadvantages.

VNDs aren't actual neutral density filters in the way most people think of NDs - they are two polarizers stacked on top of each other, and even very expensive ones made for full frame cameras have trouble with brightness uniformity across the frame. Depending on how they're made, they of course come with many of the same disadvantages of using polarizers on a drone, for example your desired ND setting might create undesirable polarizing effects and your footage will change as your angle to the sun changes. Furthermore, if you wish to have full control over the polarizing effect, you cannot stack an additional polarizer on top of a VND because then you will then have 3 polarizers with very unpredictable results and horrible vignetting.

Many of them also introduce worse color casts than regular NDs, made even worse by the fact that they change with the effect strength. Also if you don't have them set properly, they will put a big black "X" across the frame. Yet another disadvantage is the fact that you are now stacking 2 additional pieces of glass onto the original lens, which means flare performance will be worse and vignetting will be worse. All of these problems are exaggerated on wide angle lenses, which of course is what most drones have. Good VNDs in the "traditional" photography world are extremely expensive and still don't do a very good job of mitigating the issues.

Unless you are very opposed to it, I would just buy a good set of regular NDs and carry on.

 

[Droning on and on...]

It's very handy for Hyperlapses.