The Phantom 3 is DJI ’s aerial vision more fully realise : A midget quadcopter drone with a professional - grade camera , interminable configurability , substance abuser - favorable polish , and a terms tag that wo n’t require a raw credit card .
A few years ago only nerdy hobbyist demand to the sky with UAVs . But with its entry - stage Phantom drones , DJI has been gradually chipping out at the expert and financial barriers that keep normal folks out . The original Phantom was basically a flying weapons platform you could mount a GoPro on . Cool , but recess . It was n’t until thePhantom 2 Visionthat DJI started to get serious about outfitting its UAVs with its own tv camera . With these cameras , DJI also started develop a sophisticated app for monitoring the footage you were shooting and tweaking mount . With the Phantom 3 the app and camera get totally pressurize .
The Phantom 3 comes in two flavors : Phantom 3 Professional and Phantom 3 Advanced . The main difference here is the camera . The Professional version sprout 4 K footage at 30 fps , while the Advanced shoots at 1920 x 1080 resolution at up to 60 Federal Protective Service . The Professional costs $ 1250 , or $ 1350 packaged with an spare shelling . The Advanced costs just $ 1000 or $ 1100 with an excess stamp battery . ( bombardment life is place at about 23 minutes of flight of stairs time . )
Sure , the Phantom 3 models are n’t insanely cheap , especially equate to challenger like the Iris+ from 3DR , which cost just $ 750 . But DJI does a whole underworld of a lot to make their Phantom bloodline wedge - full of features that can make the extra toll worthwhile , especially for beginners . And the Phantom 3 has more of them than ever at a low-toned price .
DJI has dramatically improved its camera technology over the last few years . We started to see the fruit this a few month ago with the 4 chiliad photographic camera on the company’snew professional grade Inspire 1 droning . The Phantom 3 Professional has essentially the same television camera , except that unlike the Inspire 1 , you ca n’t remove it .
Bringing tv camera development in menage reserve DJI to redress for some of the GoPro ’s weakness when it comes to inject aeriform video . Most importantly , the Modern Phantoms shoot with a 94 degree field - of - panorama . The 170 - academic degree fisheye genus Lens on the GoPro is great if you ’re mounting it on a surfboard , and avowedly , it conquer dramatic footage from the sky . But if you desire to spud realistic , distortion - free video from a length , you ’re better service by a narrower field - of - view .
As before , the Phantom ’s flight and camera are master by an included remote and a phone or tablet that you append yourself . You control a volume of the flight and camera movements with the control while monitoring the footage and tweaking deeper preferences in the DJI app , which is available for Io and Android . But not all Android gimmick . At the Phantom 3 launch , the app will make for with the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note III , the Sony Xperia Z3 , as well as the Nexus 7 and Nexus 9 . wide compatibility is on the horizon so do n’t worry if your gimmick is n’t on the leaning yet .
Despite the similar control / roving equipment setup used before , DJI ’s made some crucial improvements to how the system puzzle out on the inside . On the Phantom 2 Vision models , the television from drone - to - headphone / tab was handled by the phone or tab . The distant only communicated to the drone ’s mechanical part . Now , the remote control both controls the flight of stairs and incur the video downlink from the the camera . That leave the radios of your mobile gadget innocent so that you’re able to livetream video as you ’re shooting it . Also , it ’s more reliable than Wi - Fi . You know Wi - Fi . It sucks .
Both the controller ’s functionality and the app are basically infinitely configurable to your personal preferences . For example , you’re able to change the speed at which the camera turn when you move it with the little jog wheel on the remote control . to boot , the camera functions can be controlled entirely manually , and you’re able to even tinker with o.k. points of double quality like bitrate in real time .
The final really important improvements are in the Phantom 3 ’s expanded satellite trailing and improved stabilization . Outside , DJI ’s UAVs use very precise satellite location to chase and brace their flight paths . In addition to GPS , the Phantom 3 also talks to the GLOSNASS web of satellites for even more reliableness and truth .
The Phantom 3 incorporate the ocular positioning system that gives the big Inspire 1 its uncanny stability . The optical position also mean that the Phantom 3 is probably the first professional - timber drone you could safely fly indoors . It does n’t need GPS to stay put . While we have n’t had the fortune to essay out the Phantom 3 much at all , the indoor flight is one feature I did see just yesterday in a tiny New York City hotel room . The drone floats perfectly still , and it almost feel safe even hum three feet away in close quarters . It ’s astonishing .
possibly the best part of all of these advanced features is that you’re able to turn them all off . For all the mundanity crammed into the Phantom 3 , DJI ’s prominent achievement is demystify UAV to a immense audience of the great unwashed . Beginner mode is always just a water faucet away .
plainly , we ’ve yet to really try out the Phantom 3 in the wild , but from afar it looks blind drunk . You ’ve no doubt noticed that hobby dawdler have been gaining pop momentum over the last few years . With the Phantom 3 , the market might just take off .
Drones
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