Which Drone ?! DJI or Alternative

[davidkirkbride]

Hello Multi-Rotor,

i';m really close to taking the leap and purchasing my first drone however theres a few things that i need to clarify.

so the drone i';ve had in mind is the DJI Inspire 1 Pro / DJI Inspire 1.

I';m a keen non professional photographer in my spare time and the main usage of the drone would be for photography and for fun.

the things that put me off the DJI range is the price, i';m not sure if there is similar drones on the market that can produce the same photos? with also similar operating range & run time.

i was also slightly miffed by the license key, i know I';m only doing this as a hobby but charging people to shoot in RAW format even though they have shelled out the cash for the  camera is frustrating.

am i better of going for another manufacturer? or going down the custom rig route?

any help is much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Dave.

[apollo7]

The custom rig would that be a self build?, it can be a good way to go but it can be a pain getting it right and squeezing all the needed bits into a frame, you could look at the Yuneec Q500 range, not sure if they shoot in raw, but i have heard the q500 suffer a bit of unstability in windy weather, but they do have a great camera gimbal set up

[guest325]

Have a look here:
http://www.droneshop.biz/multirotors.html
He will build what you want and advise on what will do the job, backup and knowledge is second to none and he is a great guy who likes you to go to his house to pick it up so he can give you tuition on how to use it. You can put whatever camera you want on it - he will also advise on that if need be.

[Hands0n]

The biggest drawback to building your own would seem to be flight duration.  DJI have cracked the equations for flights lasting around 20 minutes before battery replacement.   I cannot speak for other manufacturers.

Self-build or custom-build would require the same attention to detail in the design, by no means impossible of course.   And you might have a great result doing so.  All of the components are readily available, including decent 3-axis Gimbals.   Video downlinks are available also to HD standard. 

I do not know anything about the licence key requirement for the Inspire series.  However, have you considered either of the Phantom Pro or Mavic Pro both of which will shoot in RAW.  Albeit within the constraints of the camera';s imaging chip which is at least prosumer grade if not actually professional quality.  There is no licence key required to use RAW in either of those two models.

[nate80]

Wow, that kinda sucks. So to shoot full with the inspire 2 carrying the x5s in 5k Raw (adobe or apple format files) you have to pay $1000!?! That';s mad after the cost of the drone.

I guess if 5k video footage matters to you then that';s one of your only options right now. I';d be very tempted to buy a Phantom 4 Pro if 4k raw is good enough. It';s a fantastic piece of kit for a much cheaper price.

DJI are arguably the best camera Multi-Copter company on the planet. Their stuff is super high quality and just... works. Unless your want to spend a lot of time designing, planning, building, amending and fixing a custom rig yourself DJI are probably the best option.

You could always get someone else to build a custom rig of course, but you';ll still have to learn all about its set up and probably spend more time repairing it etc. compared to an ';off the shelf'; dji product. Really depends where your interests lay and how much time you want to spent tinkering with your set up.

[apollo7]

Another option might be a DJI S900 hex, maybe a used one, fitted with a sony micro 4 thirds camera, but this set up is going to cost same sort of money as the inspire, a friend flies this set up but i dont thin he gets big flight times, maybe 15 min top

[JeremyE]

DJI have everything else beat in terms of off the shelf photography drones. They are just much better than the rest.
I would consider the following options:

- Phantom 4 pro
- Inspire 1 pro (you could grab a used one which would reduce cost)
- Custom: You could go quad or hex, DJI A3 or N3 controller (depending on functionality you want), DJI X5R gimbal, DJI lightbridge 2 controller. If you can get some of the part used then you can save on costs again.

[betty]

Yes, something like Yuneec and Xiaomi, but I still think DJI is worth its price.

[Reman]

You get a lot more control with DJI products............ by that I mean that their software can control where and how you fly. If you live in an area they';ve deemed as a "No fly zone" it won';t even let you spin up the motors in your house to test them.

I';m also put off DJI because they seem to be backing every piece of ill thought out drone control legislation that doesn';t directly screw them over (Especially if it seems to screw over areas of the hobby that they';re not connected with). I can foresee a day where in the UK, Under the well used title of public safety, you';ll be asked to input your BMFA membership number to "Unlock" your DJI multirotor,

I personally think this is so they can stay in favour with the various governments, and try to get the kibosh put on any legislation that may harm them by pointing out that they know what';s best for the hobby community because they obviously take safety concerns seriously.