Drone Pics

[mikef]

Byker28i said:

I think I also definitely need some sort of strobe light, twice this weekend had to use the return home as I lost it in the grey sky, not far away

I don't have experience with the base Mini 3, but my Mini 3 Pro has a TOW of 248g with EU-spec battery, card (and operator sticker).. The strobe lights I have looked at are 6g+, so would push it over the 249g limit. Even attaching an AirTag takes it over

[LimaDelta]

Byker28i said:

LimaDelta said:

A couple from my mini 3 to share

How do you find the 3? I quite fancy the upgrade at some point, because I'd really like the follow me.
I think I also definitely need some sort of strobe light, twice this weekend had to use the return home as I lost it in the grey sky, not far away

I've not used the follow function, I only hand fly it. I have a lot of mates who have the bigger Mavic drones who say they wished they'd gone for the smaller, cheaper, more portable option. It just means it's more likely to be brought with you and used, which I think is important for the non-professional user. My only complaint is the short battery life, but with multiple packs this is easily solved.

How are you losing yours? Do you not have a camera feed back to your controller?

[Byker28i]

mikef said:

Byker28i said:

I think I also definitely need some sort of strobe light, twice this weekend had to use the return home as I lost it in the grey sky, not far away

I don't have experience with the base Mini 3, but my Mini 3 Pro has a TOW of 248g with EU-spec battery, card (and operator sticker).. The strobe lights I have looked at are 6g+, so would push it over the 249g limit. Even attaching an AirTag takes it over

Doesn't the Pro 3 have lights built in? Thought the spec said it did

[Byker28i]

LimaDelta said:

Byker28i said:

LimaDelta said:

A couple from my mini 3 to share

How do you find the 3? I quite fancy the upgrade at some point, because I'd really like the follow me.
I think I also definitely need some sort of strobe light, twice this weekend had to use the return home as I lost it in the grey sky, not far away

I've not used the follow function, I only hand fly it. I have a lot of mates who have the bigger Mavic drones who say they wished they'd gone for the smaller, cheaper, more portable option. It just means it's more likely to be brought with you and used, which I think is important for the non-professional user. My only complaint is the short battery life, but with multiple packs this is easily solved.

How are you losing yours? Do you not have a camera feed back to your controller?

Yes, but grey drone in a grey sky, remembering you're supposed to keep it in sight I've tried a tred skin but didn't find it helped

TVR factory shot, I knew where it was but couldn't see it in the sky. I started to fly it back towards where I was using the camera, then got lazy and hit Come Home, then really lost it as it went high.

How long is battery, thought it was longer on the 3? I get about 20 mins per battery, which is usually enough considering I don't let it get far away.

It was fun using it to arrange cars for a photo this weekend. I could leave it in the hover, get the cars in and arranged in live time then shoot. I have the three pack and charger, but think one battery has died this weekend, wont charge past one flashing light. I might flatten it and try again.

[mikef]

Byker28i said:

Doesn't the Pro 3 have lights built in? Thought the spec said it did

Not that my eyesight could make out at flight height

[LimaDelta]

Byker28i said:

Yes, but grey drone in a grey sky, remembering you're supposed to keep it in sight I've tried a tred skin but didn't find it helped

TVR factory shot, I knew where it was but couldn't see it in the sky. I started to fly it back towards where I was using the camera, then got lazy and hit Come Home, then really lost it as it went high.

How long is battery, thought it was longer on the 3? I get about 20 mins per battery, which is usually enough considering I don't let it get far away.

It was fun using it to arrange cars for a photo this weekend. I could leave it in the hover, get the cars in and arranged in live time then shoot. I have the three pack and charger, but think one battery has died this weekend, wont charge past one flashing light. I might flatten it and try again.

20 mins seems about right for the battery. Fine for my use case though.

Regarding losing sight - yes, just use the transmitted image to fly it back to you. I've not had any problems doing it that way. Top tip - don't use the 'Home' button if you launch it from your boat. I've seen more than one lost that way.

[Byker28i]

mikef said:

Byker28i said:

Doesn't the Pro 3 have lights built in? Thought the spec said it did

Not that my eyesight could make out at flight height

Red Green lights on the legs to indicate sides, that turn off when video recording? Is that just good enough for night/low light flying then?
I can see them flashing on this video as it's powered on?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ki-sGmCQP8

[Byker28i]

OK might have fixed my lack of strobe issue.
I've bought one of these
https://store.flytron.com/collections/led-light-sy...

Seriously bright, flashed red and white, as far as I can measure, weighs 4grams only. USB rechargeable

[Byker28i]

Been in Canada in the Laurnetians, Ottawa etc. Took the drone and some opportunities to get the tree colours.

[dobbo_]

Lovely stuff and thanks for the strobe recommendation

[tight fart]

Hopefully this is the place to ask about buying my first drone.
DJI min3, would that still be considered a good first drone to buy, Costco have
them at £480 delivered. I’d like something that has a good follow me option and doesn’t rely
on my phone, apart from that not sure what must have specs to look for?

Edit to add collision avoidance

[a311]

tight fart said:

Hopefully this is the place to ask about buying my first drone.
DJI min3, would that still be considered a good first drone to buy, Costco have
them at £480 delivered. I’d like something that has a good follow me option and doesn’t rely
on my phone, apart from that not sure what must have specs to look for?

Edit to add collision avoidance

The mini 3 Pro is a good drone. Many go for something cheap that is difficult to fly and easy to crash. Take your fingers off the controls and it just comes to a complete stop and hovers. Cheaper drones don't have GPS so need constant user input.

The only thing I'd say as you mention it there is no upper collision avoidance so you've to be careful if flying under trees, enclosed spaces etc but it's difficult if not impossible to crash when collision avoidance is switched on. You can choose to either come to a stop or go around an object. Sport mode deactivates all collision avoidance.

Follow me isn't something I use regularly but it works fine. I tried to get it to follow my dog but didn't seek to want to find her as a subject.

I've got the RC with the built in screen as didn't want the faff of connecting a phone etc.

Other than that it depends what you want to use it for? Until the pro 4 came out its the best bang for your buck. Camera is good, intelligent batteries let you know how much flight time you've got.

For recreational use you really want to keep under 250g. It's impressive for the weight of it I've flew it in fairly high winds up mountains.

[Shnozz]

Interesting the mini 3 has follow me.

I have a mini and was disappointed it didn’t have that function as it was one I really wanted for car tracking footage.

[mikef]

I think follow me and some of the other features described above are only on the Mini 3 Pro, not the basic Mini 3

[dobbo_]

Correct, my mini 3 does not have follow me.

[tight fart]

Thanks for all the replies above, didn't occur to me there were different versions.

[slopes]

tight fart said:

Thanks for all the replies above, didn't occur to me there were different versions.

Same as the Mini2, you have the Mini 2 and Mini 2 SE.
Just as an aside, for those of us with the Mini 2, if you want follow me function then if you buy the Litchi app then it gives you that very function. Mind you, the way the legislation is going i don't think it will matter before too long especially now that Amazon have announced they are going to start trialling drone deliveries in the UK

[Byker28i]

slopes said:

tight fart said:

Thanks for all the replies above, didn't occur to me there were different versions.

Same as the Mini2, you have the Mini 2 and Mini 2 SE.
Just as an aside, for those of us with the Mini 2, if you want follow me function then if you buy the Litchi app then it gives you that very function. Mind you, the way the legislation is going i don't think it will matter before too long especially now that Amazon have announced they are going to start trialling drone deliveries in the UK

Looks interesting. £25 though, pitched about what people would pay?
Might be interesting for the follow me though

[Byker28i]

Niagra falls

[dobbo_]

Byker28i said:

Niagra falls

Amazing!