Phantom 3 refurb?

[Greg_E]

Assuming that you only want personal use video for your hobby, and assuming that 1080 is the highest you'll want for resolution, does the refurb Phantom 3 Standard (2.7k camera) make sense at the refurb prices?

I think a Mavic Pro is probably more along the lines of what I want, or maybe a refurb. Phantom 4, but not willing to go that kind of money right now when P3 can be had for just about 1/3 the price.

And just to again be clear, personal use, hobby, non-certification based work (at least for now).

My only issue is I wish there was a tracking device so that someone could oversee the flight operations and the quad could attempt to track an object with minimal framing corrections from the operator.

 

[firehawk]

The phantom 3 has an option I think it's called follow me or point of interest (I can't remember) that let's you set up a target to shoot and then it automatically moves around it which makes it easier on the operator. This might only be on the pro model. And it wasn't available on the early software but came later. The P4 has a better built-in version but the P3 version looks useful.
I have it but never used it yet.
I haven't kept up with the prices on the used and refurb P3s. But I did see the new prices drop on remaining units. The P3 is a capable system.

If you could find a good deal on a 4k P3 I would recommend it if possible. Even if only interested in doing 1080P, shooting in 4k gives you great flexibility with your footage in post. It also allows you to fly safer distances from things and then crop zoom in post

 

[Greg_E]

Just a tip, those wanting to get started cheap, the Phantom 3 Standard is again on sale at Newegg for $350 and a $20 gift card bonus. It's a refurb but should get me some practice before moving up to a current model.

 

[Greg_E]

Sending mine back for refund. Compass won't calibrate, video drops out at about 15 feet away, it won't stay in one place during a hover and iff allowed would stray at least 20 feet. (always brought it back manually after it got that far away) A refurb should be perfect, a human being was supposed to have actually checked and fixed everything wrong with it before sending it back. This (in my opinion) is worse than poor manufacturing quality control because a "specialized" human being worked on this item before returning it to the shelves.

Contacted DJI through the Newegg marketplace, they passed the buck to make me call DJI USA where I waited on hold for longer than I had the patience to wait. Filed to have Newegg refund this, certainly hope I don't get screwed on this deal.

With the runaround from DJI, I'll probably never buy one of their products again. Too many other manufacturers making similar (and maybe better) products.