DJI Phantom 2 V.2 + ZenMuse H4-3D Gimbal Review

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Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott, and I'm here today to do a review of the DGI Phantom 2
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This is version 2.0, and it's a quadcopter or a drone. And it also comes with this gimbal assembly here, the Zenmuse
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that is built for to be used with a GoPro camera. And specifically, in this case, it's a GoPro for
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either a black or what I own is a silver. As an introduction, let me first say that I'm not trying to do this review as a professional
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as I typically do or an expert with my photography equipment. The reality is that I am a rookie both to flying drones and even a rookie in using a GoPro
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I purchased it just a couple of months ago specifically to use in conjunction with doing this kind of review
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and because my son and I had some projects that we wanted to do that would best be served by using a GoPro
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So I invested in it and then I want to thank BNH for providing the quadcopter for me for review purposes
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And so first of all, let me say that in taking it out of the box, the actual quadcopter itself comes mostly assembled
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The rotors themselves are really the main thing that you add on, but they're very easy to attach
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They are self-tightening and they are essentially dummy-proof. The only thing to remember is that they alternate gray on the top and black and those are to go across from each other on each axis
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You get that lined up, it's pretty easy. Then it's a little bit more fiddly, however, when you begin to put together some of the components of the Zen Muse
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that, for one thing, it requires some fairly fine motor skill. There are some quite tiny parts that need to be a part of that assembly
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And so that part was a little bit frustrating, mostly because the instructions are fairly sparse
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The packaging on this is really cool. It kind of reminds me of an apple-type product
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with that kind of minimalist approach. Problem being, in this case, you could have used a little less minimalist
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and a little bit more clear instructions. I want to encourage you to scan the QR code or to look up the videos that they can link you to
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because they're actually more helpful in this assembly than what the written or printed instructions included are
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But once that was all done, it's a fairly easy thing to then add on the GoPro to that
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By the way, the GoPro does not come included with this kit. GoPro must be provided separately
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A lot of drones have gone to having an integrated camera. system and there are pros and cons that we'll get at in just a moment. But if you already have a
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GoPro, then it's an effective way to leverage your existing camera onto a quadcopter platform
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And so the DGI Phantom 2 may be a plus for you. Now this is a version 2.0. There are a few
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updates in this and one of those is to the design of the actual controller. One major difference
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is that it has now a built-in power pack that lasts for a very, very long
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long time that can be simply charged up by attaching a USB cable to it. It's a mini USB that will
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match if you have an Android phone or any number of devices that use in mini USB or the included
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cable You can charge it by that But I charged it when I initially got it I not had to charge it since The battery level stays very high on that The power for this comes from the included power pack that is rated up to 25 minutes
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It can be charged either in the quadcopter through a port or it comes with a quicker charge cable that goes
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that's an AC adapter that goes into the wall. This battery pack, you'll be kind of surprised at how heavy it is
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considering the quadcopter itself. But it slides here into the back. Just note
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if there's anything I want to add to that is that when you pinch to remove, it takes a fairly
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significant amount of force a little bit more than what you might expect to remove it
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I guess the upside to that is that there's no chance that it's going to fall out
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And so it's very, very tightly assembled into there. And so 25 minutes would be in optimal conditions for flying
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Most conditions expect a bit less if it's having to combat winds or other things like that
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So the overall assembly, as I said, it had some fiddly moments, but it was accomplished for me in probably about an hour or less
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I did find an additional frustration when it came to the calibration
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A calibration is required before each flight, particularly if you are changing locales, and it needs to kind of calibrate its GPS coordinates, and also there's a certain amount of magnetic activity
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I don't understand everything about it that it's got to calibrate itself too. However, once again, the sparse directions kind of let you down
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And so I ended up watching some YouTube videos that helped me with the calibration
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So the sequence for starting that calibration is you turn on the power on the controller itself
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and then on the actual power pack. By the way, it's a press once till it lights up and then a holding down
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And it makes a fairly loud noise, as you can see. And so then it will begin to kind of go through its own kind of pre-flight check
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But it needs to be calibrated at this point. Now, the top right toggle switch, you toggle it on and off until it becomes this solid yellow color
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And then it really should be a matter of rotating it on one axis in a clockwise fashion
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You'll see it then turns to a green color. And then you're supposed to turn it on its side another axis and rotate it counterclockwise
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And technically, after about one revolution, it should flash green and be ready to go
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my experience is that it's rare for it to get right on that first go. There are a number of different
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things that contribute to that. One of those is there can be interference if you're near metal or
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concrete. And so it will sink up better when you're out in some open area. But sometimes even in
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optimal conditions, I find that it's just fiddly. And I think that newer generations have improved on
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that and aren't so hard to calibrate. That was kind of my number one frustration with it and operation, mostly because there were some situations where I was
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actually fighting, lowering light. I was going out to a location, actually for a client to shoot
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for them, and so I wanted to get there for the sunset. I arrived when I wanted to, but it fussed at
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me with calibration, wasting some of that precious light. And so that would be one issue
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Let me give you some of the raw specs on this. These things are, they're amazing. If you've never
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used one before. It is an amazing, heady experience to fly this. You've probably all seen the
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you know, the little demo copters or perhaps purchase one in a mall and, you know, their operation
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somebody's dry and it makes it look so easy, and then you get it home and you're crashing it
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into everything If you concerned about that going to these quadcopters note that it is a radically different experience flying these They have got they are very very stable And even if you a complete rookie as I was I was able to take off fly around do what I wanted and land successfully right exactly where I wanted to land without any kind of issues
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And so they're really, really amazingly simple to operate in that regard
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But some of these specs, as I said, the battery life will last up to 25 minutes
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The speed is impressive. When you ascend, if you crank it all the way up
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it will ascend up to a speed of 20 feet per second, straight up in the sky
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which is, it's incredible to watch it just shooting up into the air. Out of necessity and wisdom, it descends more slowly
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at 6.6 up to 6.6 feet per second. Its flight velocity can be up to 49.2 feet per second
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although they don't recommend really flying it that fast, but this thing can move along very quickly
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Another thing I was blown away by is the distance at which you can control this
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It says that you can communicate up to one kilometer, that's 3,280 feet, although people have exceeded those limits
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The one challenge to that, as we're going to get at in just a moment, is that it can become, once you get it even far less than those constraints
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actually visually maintaining a connection with it because it becomes so small up in the sky can be difficult
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And so that is one of the kind of challenges with this particular situation or configuration
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Some of the newer ones with a built-in camera, either through an app or through added additions
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they allow you to see essentially what the camera is seeing. And while you can connect to the GoPro through its own app for your phone
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it will run out of range before you get to the range of the actual quadcopter
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And so that link I found kind of is not reliable enough to be depended upon
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And so that's one area that those that have a built-in camera exceed this
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is that it makes it more easily to visually track what's going on
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So one thing that does help, however, to at least see the direction that the camera is looking
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is that on the bottom side that when it's in flight, one side it will flash red, the other side it will flash green
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Well, I quickly determined that the camera faces in the red direction
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And so it became fairly easy to, as long as you had enough visual range to where you could see that light flashing
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to at least know the direction that the camera is facing. By the way, the gimbal does allow control over the angle of the camera up or down, not side to side, but up or down
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That's good and bad. Just make sure that you kind of either memorize what direction
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the control itself goes with the gimbal, or if you don't do that
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just kind of get it to the position you want, while you still have it in visual range
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because you would hate to come down and find that your footage was not what you wanted because the camera was faced in the wrong angle
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So that's one thing to watch for. Operation is really quite simple
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and one thing that I want to add that is quite cool is that you can lock the left switch in a downward position
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and it will do kind of a controlled descent. I just find that it still comes down a little too fast at the very end for its landing to what I would like
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And so I usually let it off right before the landing and just kind of feather that down so it lands a little more softly
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While in the air though it quite simple to control And as I said it remains very stable It automatically corrects if there is crosswinds and so it holds itself in a very stable position And so as a result you can get
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some incredible video footage. This gimbal really provides an amazingly stable platform for
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video work, and as a result, the kind of footage you can get off of here is really, really quite
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impressive. It really blew me away what you could produce with the combination. And
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gives you such a unique perspective on a lot of familiar or unfamiliar things. It's amazing
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And so the upsides is that it is easy to fly. It hovers very well. It makes you look better than what
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you actually are as a pilot. It has a very stable video platform. It moves quickly. It does in flight
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really what you would like it to do. And if you are an aspiring filmmaker or a real estate photographer
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there's a lot of doors that open up very quickly when you have one of these
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I'd only had it for a week and it just posted one little video clip that I took
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and already I had people start to contact me, wanting to hire me to do aerial footage of their farm or their home
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And so I think that if you put the word out there
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you would find that one of these would very quickly pay for itself in terms of professional work
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I will say that it's a little nerve-wracking, to have it up in the air
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and considering the amount of money that's floating up there in the sky
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I think that when you actually land successfully, which I did basically every time
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it's as if you kind of take a deeper breath than what you've taken the whole time
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the quadcopter was in the air. But then again, I'm a novice, and those of you that are more professional
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more experienced, will perhaps get rid of those jitters much more quickly
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And so I think that that's, those are a lot of pluses
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Negatives are, as I said, in assembly, the instructions are a little bit vague, particularly when it comes to the gimbal assembly
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Calibration can be complicated. It can be a little bit frustrating. Just kind of persist with it until it gets done
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And then the other issue is that there is no good way to see what the camera sees
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All in all, it really is an impressive package. And the reason why I'm reviewing this one is
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because I am a rookie and because it's one that rookies can't afford
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And it's probably a good platform for many people who aren't experienced. It will run you anywhere between $6 to $700
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but it does go on sale sometimes for less. And, of course, on top that, you are going to
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if you don't already own one, to invest in a GoPro. But the advantage of this setup, too, by the way
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is that the kind of footage you can get from the GoPro in many cases exceeds
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It's better quality than what you can get from those that have a built-in camera. And so that's kind of the trade-off for not having as good of visual communication
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with the GoPro like that. So overall, it was a fun, unique experience
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and I got some really unique both images and video footage that I've never dreamed of getting before
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and had a lot of fun in the process. And so it's not a perfect device
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but for a relatively inexpensive amount of money, It really has a lot of amazing things going for it
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And so you might want to give the DGI Phantom to a look
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particularly if you've got a GoPro sitting around already. I'm Dustin Abbott. Thanks for watching
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Have a great day

DJI Phantom 2 V.2 + ZenMuse H4-3D Gimbal Review

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DJI Phantom 2 V.2 + ZenMuse H4-3D Gimbal Review

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