Drones for around £500?
Discussion
Simple question as above! 
From my initial research it's hard to see much past DJI, but there seems to be quite a gap below the Mini 3 Pro, and that's a bit over budget.
I've also never really come across a market for anything before which seems quite so dominated by a single player. It seems odd that there isn't more competition?
From my initial research it's hard to see much past DJI, but there seems to be quite a gap below the Mini 3 Pro, and that's a bit over budget.
I've also never really come across a market for anything before which seems quite so dominated by a single player. It seems odd that there isn't more competition?
DJI do have the market pretty well cornered. There isn’t really any viable competition.
They produce so many of them they can afford r&d that others only dream of…
In that budget just go buy a mini 2…. Either new or used. It was/is a very capable drone.
Don’t forget to do the registration nonsense on the caa website
They produce so many of them they can afford r&d that others only dream of…
In that budget just go buy a mini 2…. Either new or used. It was/is a very capable drone.
Don’t forget to do the registration nonsense on the caa website
tegwin said:
DJI do have the market pretty well cornered. There isn’t really any viable competition.
They produce so many of them they can afford r&d that others only dream of…
In that budget just go buy a mini 2…. Either new or used. It was/is a very capable drone.
Don’t forget to do the registration nonsense on the caa website
Thanks, and yes, I've seen the CAA stuff! They produce so many of them they can afford r&d that others only dream of…
In that budget just go buy a mini 2…. Either new or used. It was/is a very capable drone.
Don’t forget to do the registration nonsense on the caa website
https://streamable.com/y7i2dh
https://streamable.com/debcvz
https://streamable.com/t1ktwj
https://streamable.com/debcvz
https://streamable.com/t1ktwj
Edited by AshyS4 on Monday 18th December 11:12
Edited by AshyS4 on Monday 18th December 11:15
AshyS4 said:
I got a Mini 3 From costco back in September for £400 - absolutely cracking deal. Its currently 479 at the moment there
I know its not the Pro but neither am I
Took it to Fuertaventura in October and got some cracking vids and pictures
Will try and get some uploaded.
Those look good, thanks! I know its not the Pro but neither am I
Took it to Fuertaventura in October and got some cracking vids and pictures
Will try and get some uploaded.
s off so I can actually fly it!!!
I still haven't had a chance to try the drone out, but I have been getting it all set up ready to go, and in the process was able to confirm that my new drone has been flown for a grand total of 13 minutes and 1.32km!
I paid £440 for it, and the cheapest I can find brand new is £709. Seems like a cracking bargain to me!
I paid £440 for it, and the cheapest I can find brand new is £709. Seems like a cracking bargain to me!
Wacky Racer said:
Never had one, but I'd be worried about it crashing, losing all that money, or worse hitting a car or falling on someone's head, until I got the hang of it.
I did have a worry about that, so one of the reasons I went for the Mini 3 Pro rather than just the Mini 3 was the inclusion of collision avoidance sensors! They only do forwards, backwards and downwards, so not quite up there with the bigger, more expensive ones that also track sideways, but still a lot better than nothing, and it means I can also use it for automated tracking if I want to follow my dog running around a meadow or whatever.
There's a lot of info in this really detailed review. about how it works.
It also has a "return to base" feature to get it back to you if you lose sight of it (easily done considering it's tiny and you can legally fly it up to 120m (iirc) vertically and its horizontal range is literally thousands of metres), plus one really handy tip I got was "if you think you're going to crash it, just take your hands off the controls", as if you do that, rather than plummeting to ground, it'll just revert to a steady hover.
Kermit power said:
Wacky Racer said:
Never had one, but I'd be worried about it crashing, losing all that money, or worse hitting a car or falling on someone's head, until I got the hang of it.
I did have a worry about that, so one of the reasons I went for the Mini 3 Pro rather than just the Mini 3 was the inclusion of collision avoidance sensors! They only do forwards, backwards and downwards, so not quite up there with the bigger, more expensive ones that also track sideways, but still a lot better than nothing, and it means I can also use it for automated tracking if I want to follow my dog running around a meadow or whatever.
There's a lot of info in this really detailed review. about how it works.
It also has a "return to base" feature to get it back to you if you lose sight of it (easily done considering it's tiny and you can legally fly it up to 120m (iirc) vertically and its horizontal range is literally thousands of metres), plus one really handy tip I got was "if you think you're going to crash it, just take your hands off the controls", as if you do that, rather than plummeting to ground, it'll just revert to a steady hover.
First proper flights today, got about 45-50 mins of flight time in, I have two batteries. Definitely going to buy another spare. Really enjoyed it and as I was watching my footage through the screen it looked fantastic. Once viewing on my laptop, it was certainly more 'jerky' than I thought. Still, first time out with a drone, so I'm sure it'll get better. Did have the confidence to fly quite a way out over some water and back.
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