Hey, Drone people!

so the DJI app literally locks you out? not just a warning that you can close out? I live within that 5 mile range of an airport. I’ve been flying my Bebop 2 around my neighborhood for over a year, I keep it safe and limit my max height within my app

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there are multiple “safety zones” the closer you get to an airport. There are restricted zones that you can ask DJI for permission to fly in and then there are absolute “no fly zones” unless you clear with Air Traffic and are a licensed drone pilot and even then you are limited to a certain amount of time. I live 5 miles away from an airport and the 5 block radius around my house is “safe” to fly in but i still get force landed via DJI GPS when it screws up. Google this, it is a huge pain in peoples asses.

check here to see if it will affect you

https://www.dji.com/flysafe/geo-map

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I wouldn’t bother with the Parrot stuff, they are sort of in between cheap China drones and DJI stuff. I would strongly recommend a Mavic or Phantom used. The quality and camera is great and you can do some decent camera work.

You can do a DIY build but it won’t really be any cheaper once you factor goggles and radio and batteries. You will be missing follow mode too so you can only follow others. It is indeed heaps more fun though.

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Check this out: https://www.lily.camera

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what about this?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/promo/gopro-karma-hero

you get the drone. a gimbal and a go pro.

No. No and hell no on the Karma. You can get that gimbal as a stand-alone. I have that and it’s pretty good. That drone is heavy. Has zero crash sensors which is stupid at that price point. That controller has disconnect issues. The GPS on that drone is also spotty so chance of lost drone are higher.

I’m not sure if an update fixed it, but their controllers were freezing up and required a reboot that took a long time. Which is scary when your drone is slowly flying away.

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Good to know. I guess the dji spark is the winning contender.

Well today I learned that I may never get a DJI due to my home city being close to John Wayne airport. If their app locks me out I don’t see a point. Maybe I can just use the hand gestures without the app.

Oh man. What if you use the controller and not the app?

To use the controller you have to run the app

I’ve been lurking the idea to own a mavic pro drone since it came out to the market, I even pre-order it, however after seeing all those poor guys loosing their drones or crashing them because of the crappy/buggy app or pilot errors, I decided I better build another electric longboard, those things give me more satisfaction.

However, once in a while reconsider the Mavic when I say much those amazing footages people upload on youtube

I currently sit on a phantom p4 along with a mavic pro. Activetrack-Followme is decent but it has troubles keeping up and tracking in higher speeds, especially when I turn around as Im a pretty small object compared to a car. It works tho just gotta keep an eye on it. Think wish fixed their coupon flaw else a mavic pro fly more kit was like 600 bucks from there. And spark like 300 tops…

The drone as GPS so I’m not sure what restiriction is on that. But obviously phone and app makes it easier to see what’s being filmed. Need more research

Seriously? That really sucks now

I should jave know you guys would be Drone experts too lol. I have a DJI Phantom Pro 3 that I never use. I read the follow me mode only goes 10mph and you have to have the giant remote with you. Is that true? That doesnt really work for esk8 unless I put the controller in my backpack right?

I’ve been in the drone Industry for over 4 years, specifically drone racing. But I’m pretty knowledgeable with the AP/AV (aerial photography/aerial cinematography) side of it.

The Spark is the most ideal of what you are looking for. I’d stay away from beebop as they are not that reliable and doesn’t have the features near what DJI drones have.

The biggest issues I have with DJI though are the MANY updates and restriction features they have that will keep your DJI grounded when in an area that DJI knows or thinks is unsafe to fly. So keep that in mind when buying a DJI.

For wanting an aerial video to follow you as you ride is best in the wide open areas (like country side). In metro city areas it will be hit or miss if DJI will fly or not, depending on fly-zones and no fly- zones.

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