Best backup drone for I2

Stratospheric · Sep 10, 2017

Hi all

Do you think I could get some opinions on what is the best backup drone for an I2? We are a general film company and just haveI2. We have got X 4 S as well as the X5 as.

We just use H264 at the moment so don't need to worry about prores or raw footage. At the moment I'm in two minds between the I won so we can use the thermal cameras or the mavick for indoor use And convenience

Thanks

Mad_angler1 · Sep 10, 2017

Phantom 4 Pro hands down.

AeroMirage · Sep 10, 2017

Inspire 1 Pro

Nasscar][ · Sep 10, 2017

During the recent efforts in Texas both the I1 & I2 where the primary work horse, the backup was the Mavic Pro. For extreme conditions the Matrice 200 saved the day.

Advexure · Sep 10, 2017

Phantom 4 Pro

Dr. Ifly Drones · Sep 10, 2017

P4P hands down. There are plenty of times I choose it over the I2.

bluelight.support · Sep 10, 2017

I was going to say M200/M210 as this is what we are looking at as our I2 backup, however I notice that there is a nice new Phantom 4 Pro in Black coming, and am very temped to go tat route - although its not as water tight as the M2xx, I expect it would be more water tight than the I2 just looking at the body - bearing in mind I'm looking at stills compared to video and we don't have the codex unlocked in the I2 - so I'm going to go Phantom 4 Pro in black

djkelly57 · Sep 10, 2017

You could always go for that new skin for the P4P that makes it water resistant. It comes in a black and white scheme. Kind of like a Holstein cow. They did say that they were going to offer more colors.

bluelight.support · Sep 10, 2017

djkelly57 said:
You could always go for that new skin for the P4P that makes it water resistant. It comes in a black and white scheme. Kind of like a Holstein cow. They did say that they were going to offer more colors.

Do you have a link ?

djkelly57 · Sep 10, 2017

Hope this works. Took me a little while to find it.DJI Phantom 4 Pro Adhesive WETSUIT - NEW PRODUCT USA made USA shipped | eBay

bluelight.support · Sep 10, 2017

What a fantastic idea - has anyone tried them ?

AeroMirage · Sep 10, 2017

djkelly57 said:
Hope this works. Took me a little while to find it.DJI Phantom 4 Pro Adhesive WETSUIT - NEW PRODUCT USA made USA shipped | eBay

Hmmmm........ I've seen it all now. What does it do to waterproof the camera / gimbal? Nothing from what the vid shows.

Hotshots · Sep 11, 2017

P4P, I have an inspire 2 also. But the phantom 4 Pro is the workhorse of all drones. Most popular and purchased drone of all time.

Stratospheric · Sep 11, 2017

Thanks very much for all your opinions and it seems from everybody's look the Phantom for pro is the winner on this board but I'm still leaning towards the I1 even though it is about twice the price of the P4p. This is purely based upon the fact that it can accommodate the thermal cameras and if we wanted to use the X5 we still could as we have all the lenses for the X5S.

I'm sure the Phantom 4 pro is an awesome machine but it can't accommodate dual pilot and you don't have the 360 gimbal as you do with the I1. I'm longing to see an adapter for the thermal camera for the I2 but I really don't think it is on the cards. I was really annoyed when my neighbour bought the I 2 because I want to start small and work up to it. Between us we have spent about 13 K and we are just starting off. If it was down to me I would have bought P4p and migrated onto the I2 but my friend was the one ordering the drone so I didn't have a say in it..

Florida Drone Supply · Sep 11, 2017

I would ask you about the purpose of the back up. Is it in case of your Inspire 2 failing or is it for use in a situation where your I2 is too large for a particular shot? If purely as a back up, several people have been purchasing the Inspire 2 (copter only) from us because you can continue to use your existing remote controllers, batteries, cameras, etc. If you go Inspire 1, you will have to have an additional set of batteries, chargers, remote controllers, and spare parts - and cameras - the Inspire 1 will NOT use your X5S or X4S (supports X5 or X5R in that line) - but you do get the benefit of flying the thermal cameras. As a compromise (not on price) if you did get the M200, you could also use all of your Inspire 2 batteries, the remote controllers are interchangeable, it uses the X5S, X4S and thermal cameras - and it would shoot the same h.264 video. But, you can not pan 360 degrees without seeing landing gear or batteries. Definitely trade offs but I think to give you a good answer we would need to know what you are buying a back up for.

Michael

djkelly57 · Sep 11, 2017

How odd in my case. I have had nothing but disappointment with my I2. The bird is nice but my camera has given me nothing but grief. That's why I use the I2 as a back up to my P4P.

bluelight.support · Sep 11, 2017

djkelly57 said:
I have had nothing but disappointment with my I2. The bird is nice but my camera has given me nothing but grief.

What have been your problem - we have had quite a few upgrading from the I1 Pro Black to the 2

djkelly57 · Sep 11, 2017

Mostly with the camera. It cannot detect the camera lens, so it can't focus and I can't do anything manual with it. The prop problem with the rattle, but that has never stopped me from flying. I just do so with bated breath. Being up on Lake Erie we are blessed with a lot of wind that seems to affect my I2 more than the P4P. Go figure.

bluelight.support · Sep 11, 2017

What lens are you having problems with - and the wind surprises me - we went for the I1 and then the I2 as we were advised it would handle wind better than the P4.

djkelly57 · Sep 11, 2017

I have the x5s with the 15mm lens. I was just out with it yesterday and had to bring it down because of high wind warning. Not sure if that is triggered by the bird and mine is just too sensitive or what. I have some video with my P4P just above the water when it was pretty choppy and no problem at all.