Beginner's drone - used options

[Gad-Westy]

I quite fancy dipping my toe in the world of drones. Mainly for stills but I'm interested in messing around with the video stuff too. Maybe a bit of car tracking etc.

I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of one and I am a more than a little concerned about not crashing it! And I want to minimise any license requirements.

This has lead me towards the DJI mini options. Secondhand as I might just decide it's not for me and move it on again. For the same reason, I want to keep the budget as low as practical to get something suitable. Thinking somewhere in the £250-500 sort of ball park. Sub 250g to minimise on paperwork. I believe I'd just need to register it?

I have to admit I'm a bit baffled by the DJI range but I think the sub 250g offerings are:

Mini
Mini 2
Mini 3
Mini 4
Mini Pro 3
Mini Pro 4

Looks like I'd want a 'fly more' kit with any of those options. That might rule the pro ones out but having some a little reading trying to understand the difference it seems those to might be more idiot proof that the others which might have persuaded me to the up the budget.

But I guess really, I could do with someone just telling me where I should point the credit card and why as my head is frazzled by it!

[joropug]

I had a mini 2 and upgrades to a mini pro 4.

Correct you want the fly more kit you'll often waste a battery trying to work out what shots you want.

I have 3 batteries and take a decent fast anker power bank out with me which can charge them up really quickly after use.

Mini pro 4 is superior obviously but a lot more. I use portrait mode a lot on the pro 4 which isn't on the mini 2, for posting to social media this is great as most people view in portrait.

Crash sensors allow for advanced tracking , can follow a car easily and spin around it etc without touching the controller.

I crashed my mini 2 a few times into branches and even a building whoops.... pro 4 I had auto following me on a bike between trees the other day! Miles better if you see yourself using it.

Mini 2 fly more for sub £250 will do a great job though and you can probably sell it easily after if you upgrade

[Freakuk]

Gad-Westy said:

I quite fancy dipping my toe in the world of drones. Mainly for stills but I'm interested in messing around with the video stuff too. Maybe a bit of car tracking etc.

I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of one and I am a more than a little concerned about not crashing it! And I want to minimise any license requirements.

This has lead me towards the DJI mini options. Secondhand as I might just decide it's not for me and move it on again. For the same reason, I want to keep the budget as low as practical to get something suitable. Thinking somewhere in the £250-500 sort of ball park. Sub 250g to minimise on paperwork. I believe I'd just need to register it?

I have to admit I'm a bit baffled by the DJI range but I think the sub 250g offerings are:

Mini
Mini 2
Mini 3
Mini 4
Mini Pro 3
Mini Pro 4

Looks like I'd want a 'fly more' kit with any of those options. That might rule the pro ones out but having some a little reading trying to understand the difference it seems those to might be more idiot proof that the others which might have persuaded me to the up the budget.

But I guess really, I could do with someone just telling me where I should point the credit card and why as my head is frazzled by it!

I can probably help with some of your questions.

Pro models will probably have better sensors and a few more bells & whistles, i.e. proximity sensors, range etc and would certainly be where I'd be spending my money.

As such I have a MP3 and I'll be honest I barely use it other than holidays and maybe a few days out here and there, so you'll probably be in the same boat as me in usage after the initial new toy syndrome has worn off.

Flymore kit gives you a controller with screen (and more importantly range), plus a 2nd battery and charging dock, batteries probably last 20-25 mins on later drones, you have to give yourself enough time to fly back and land in that time also. It's always good to have lots of batteries, they're not cheap though.

Also, you will need decent/fast SD cards, not sure what the max size is, you would need to check on DJI's site, but it may be prudent to have several smaller ones than 1 huge one.

The MP3 has front/rear collision/proximity sensors only, the MP4 had left/right also, but to be honest if you are in wide open spaces you don't need this functionality. I don't think the non-pro version have this, or some certainly won't.

Tracking should be available on all of your list (I think), but they'll only track up to around 30mph and again, this is where the collision sensors may be useful.

Keeping under 250g you just need to register annually with the CAA.

Probably worth trawling YT and looking at reviews for the above and see what suits your use cases.

[littleredrooster]

Before buying, do what I *didn't* and have a look here and see if you can fly locally.

I bought a Mini 2SE and then found that I was inside - and pretty much surrounded by - No-Fly zones. Couldn't even do a test flight from a local field! I've had it over a year and it's still in its box!

From your previous posts, I guess you live further North than me (Thirsk), so may be clear of the airfields, but close to large areas of No-Fly in the North Pennines. Lots of the pretty bits around Teesdale and the Durham moors are verboten.

[Gad-Westy]

Thanks folks. Been doing a bit of reading up on these options this afternoon and have very much taken the advice above on board too. I think, being sensible a good entry point seems to be the Mini 2. I hadn't picked up that there were also some SE models to chuck in the mix but seems that they don't offer raw photos options so have ruled those out. The Mini 2 seems to do enough for me to see how I get on without any major limitations. That said, if a Mini 3 happens to pop up at a good price, the portrait mode for photos could be handy. Not a deal breaker.

littleredrooster said:

Before buying, do what I *didn't* and have a look here and see if you can fly locally.

I bought a Mini 2SE and then found that I was inside - and pretty much surrounded by - No-Fly zones. Couldn't even do a test flight from a local field! I've had it over a year and it's still in its box!

From your previous posts, I guess you live further North than me (Thirsk), so may be clear of the airfields, but close to large areas of No-Fly in the North Pennines. Lots of the pretty bits around Teesdale and the Durham moors are verboten.

Thanks for this. Handy site. Yeah, you're in the right area. Weardale/Teesdale etc. Funnily enough where I live is also right on the edge of a no fly zone. Looks like I could fly in the back garden but not the front! And as you say, some local roads that might have made interesting filming locations are off limits. Not the end of the world for me but well worth knowing about. Asking this for a friend of course, but do the drones still fly in these areas or do they know where they can and can't go? i.e. can you physically fly them where you shouldn't? I'm partly curious as a couple of years ago, my friend flew his Mavic something or other around here without issue and we were both oblivious to the restricted flying area.

[Freakuk]

Gad-Westy said:

Thanks for this. Handy site. Yeah, you're in the right area. Weardale/Teesdale etc. Funnily enough where I live is also right on the edge of a no fly zone. Looks like I could fly in the back garden but not the front! And as you say, some local roads that might have made interesting filming locations are off limits. Not the end of the world for me but well worth knowing about. Asking this for a friend of course, but do the drones still fly in these areas or do they know where they can and can't go? i.e. can you physically fly them where you shouldn't? I'm partly curious as a couple of years ago, my friend flew his Mavic something or other around here without issue and we were both oblivious to the restricted flying area.

No fly zones (NFZ's) are strictly enforced through the software, they get regular updates also. For example a mile or so away from me is a small army barracks, I was flying in that general direction to look at something else that was closer, but suddenly my drone would not move any further forward and displayed a message stating NFZ. Likewise on holiday I couldn't even take off as unbeknown to me there was a small airfield close by even though I didn't see a single plane the whole time I was there.

You can apply to have the NFZ lifted for your drone and for certain hours if required and upon success completion you will be able to fly as per your agreed flight path.

[Gad-Westy]

Freakuk said:

Gad-Westy said:

Thanks for this. Handy site. Yeah, you're in the right area. Weardale/Teesdale etc. Funnily enough where I live is also right on the edge of a no fly zone. Looks like I could fly in the back garden but not the front! And as you say, some local roads that might have made interesting filming locations are off limits. Not the end of the world for me but well worth knowing about. Asking this for a friend of course, but do the drones still fly in these areas or do they know where they can and can't go? i.e. can you physically fly them where you shouldn't? I'm partly curious as a couple of years ago, my friend flew his Mavic something or other around here without issue and we were both oblivious to the restricted flying area.

No fly zones (NFZ's) are strictly enforced through the software, they get regular updates also. For example a mile or so away from me is a small army barracks, I was flying in that general direction to look at something else that was closer, but suddenly my drone would not move any further forward and displayed a message stating NFZ. Likewise on holiday I couldn't even take off as unbeknown to me there was a small airfield close by even though I didn't see a single plane the whole time I was there.

You can apply to have the NFZ lifted for your drone and for certain hours if required and upon success completion you will be able to fly as per your agreed flight path.

Cheers. I've been doing a bit of reading around on rules and geo fencing etc since my original post so I'm a bit more gen'd up.

[Gad-Westy]

Me again. I'd more or less decided that the sensible option was to dip my toe in and pick up a mini 2 with fly more pack. That might well still be the outcome but my head has been turned slightly when I discovered the Mini 3 can be had with a controller with integrated screen. On the face of it, that looks much less faff, but having never used either option I don't want to be too swayed by assumption. There are some other things I like about the Mini 3 itself but it was really the optional display controller that had the most clout. Probably looking at £250 ish for a Mini 2 vs about £400 for a mini 3 with the display controller. Both as fly more kits. Quite a big difference but maybe justifiable?

[joropug]

Again having had both the controller with a screen is much better. Its a large high quality screen with i think an android UI . Handles updates etc just connect it to WiFi.

You can store footage on the drone, the controller and your phone via quick transfer easily.

[Alex Z]

DJI do the Mini 3 Fly More as a refurbished kit for just over £400 though it’s in and out of stock.

[Gad-Westy]

joropug said:

Again having had both the controller with a screen is much better. Its a large high quality screen with i think an android UI . Handles updates etc just connect it to WiFi.

You can store footage on the drone, the controller and your phone via quick transfer easily.

Cheers. Can feel my arm being twisted in that direction...

[Gad-Westy]

Alex Z said:

DJI do the Mini 3 Fly More as a refurbished kit for just over £400 though it s in and out of stock.

Do you have a link for that? I can't seem to find it.

ETA. Did find this but £499.

https://store.dji.com/uk/product/dji-mini-3-combo-...

Edited by Gad-Westy on Thursday 10th July 15:23

[Freakuk]

I mentioned in my previous post the dedicated controller offers more range also.

[joropug]

Gad-Westy said:

So you have a link for that? I can't seem to find it.

ETA. Did find this but £499.

https://store.dji.com/uk/product/dji-mini-3-combo-...

The mini 4 pro fly more was 750 recently - well worth the extra in my opinion so many more features and less likely to crash it.

Budget for insurance too - dji offer a no questions policy for 2 years against drone damage and loss. Damage or failure (warranty extended too) had zero excess but if you lose it completely its like £200. Only really over water have i ever come close to compeltely losing it, at the end of recording a lighthouse a cruise ship came by so i went out to greet it and literally landed it on the shore i had about 100 metres of travel above land before it forced landing lol. Brother had the same thing.

All of my crashes were being stupid with my mini 2 - hit tree branches and once, a building trying to turn out of the collision path rather than just stopping the drone with the pause button which is like an emergency stop.

I claimed on my mini 2 as i knocked the gimbal off centre with a collision. Got a brand new one back within a week, it shipped to and from NL next day was so impressed. As it happens, i won a mini pro 4 in a competition the day my new mini 2 arrived back at my door so my brother had it off me. My mini 4 had some massive pack with it, was bought by the comp company from a DJI Retail outfit in the UK, came with some other bits but the best was 2 years insurance worth £120.

Edited by joropug on Thursday 10th July 12:09