Short battery life has been an issue with previous Phantoms, and DJI has moved to address this in the Phantom 4 with a battery that extends flight times by a quoted 25%. All this makes the Phantom 4 an appealing option for jobbing photographers who need a solid, easy to use drone that will enable them to capture great aerial shots . DJI claims the Phantom 4 is five times more stable than previous models, and while I have not empirical way to test this, it sounds correct based on my time with it. When watching footage where the Phantom 4 was just hovering, I frequently found myself thinking I had accidentally paused playback because the video shot did not change or shake at all. Even in moderate wind, the Phantom 4 managed to hold its position with hardly a waver.
You’ve been wowed by incredible 4k video footage taken from hundreds of feet up in the sky, and you’ve probably been tempted to buy your own Phantom 4 drone. The flight package is convenient, providing the battery and all the necessary cables and connectors for a successful flight. As always, second and third batteries would be great to have, this is a pleasant drone to fly, it’s sad when there’s no more juice. Newer aircraft offer some powerful alternatives to the big Phantom series as well. Craft like the DJI Air 2S offer the same size of camera, but with a much newer sensor and software, not to mention the smaller and more agile airfame and lower price tag. No longer is the Phantom series the best if you want a 4K camera in the sky.
The new Sport mode lets you get to your location faster or just have some fun. Its Obstacle Sensing System can help avoid head-on collisions as well as track subjects. Slow-motion video is a nice addition to an already excellent camera. Joshua Goldman is a senior editor for CNET Reviews, covering laptops and the occasional action cam or drone and related accessories. He has been writing about and reviewing consumer technology and software since 2000. The DJI Phantom 4 Pro sells for for $1,500, AU$2,600 or £1,590 with the standard controller.
I must say, I am very impressed with the stability of the camera on this drone. It has been windy around here, not ideal conditions to fly a drone, but it’s a loaner that I have to return soon, so I take what I can get. As I am carefully watching the dji drones drone to see it jumping around in the wind, I am more than pleased to get home to the footage to find it as smooth as can be. Remember that you cannot legally fly more than 400 feet above the ground, but, the service ceiling on this machine is feet.
Given the new autonomous features available, however, you probably won’t rely on this mode for anything but waypoint navigation. Trying to crash made me physically ill I spent the last few days putting the phantom 4 through its paces, spending most of my time on the brand new fully autonomous features. It took me a while to get up the courage to fly it full throttle at a wall, and I felt physically sick with fear when I did, but the unit never failed to sense a crash and come to a halt.
The Phantom 4’s remote control and live feed is based on DJI Lightbridge technology, providing effective control range of up to 3.1mi in unobstructed areas that are free from interference. Its HD live feed gives you an exact view of your flight, perfect for composing shots. The Phantom 4 camera has been improved in terms of image quality.
Since the Phantom 4 can only see in front of itself, you need to watch for obstacles while orbiting, and I could easily imagine a rookie pilot misjudging the width of a circling drone trying to track a moving target. Once the drone is assembled and your mobile device is connected the controller can be switched on, followed by the Phantom 4. It’s then just a case of waiting for 6 GPS satellites to be picked up before you take to the air.
The Phantom 4 features a 4K camera to capture stunning aerial images with ease. It builds on the design of the Phantom 3, increasing the battery life and durability of the aircraft. Please note, this aircraft has now been discontinued and stock is limited. You select a subject — a person, a bike, a car — and the drone will lock on and keep them in the center of the frame. It does this using the same computer vision technology employed for obstacle avoidance, except this time it’s building a 3D model not just of the environment, but also of the target you want to track. Much nicer footage The Phantom 4 uses the same remote controller and Lightbridge video downlink technology as the Phantom 3.
The onboard camera was redesigned to use a 1-inch 20-megapixel CMOS sensor. It’s the first DJI camera to use a mechanical shutter, eliminating rolling shutter distortion which can occur when taking images of fast moving subjects or when flying at high speeds. It’s still an Editors’ Choice winner, and it greatly improves on the Phantom 4’s imaging and video capture capabilities, while adding modest improvements in obstacle avoidance and flight time. It’s just not the jaw-dropping standout the Phantom 4 was at launch.
As of December 2013, QF-4 and QRF-4 aircraft had flown over 16,000 manned and 600 unmanned training sorties, with 250 unmanned aircraft being shot down in firing exercises. The remaining QF-4s and QRF-4s held their training role until the first of 126 QF-16s were delivered by Boeing. The base continued using them to fly manned test and unmanned live fire test support and Foreign Military Sales testing, with dji mini 2 fly more combo the final unmanned flight taking place in August 2016. The type was officially retired from US military service with a four–ship flight at Holloman during an event on 21 December 2016. The remaining QF-4s were to be demilitarized after 1 January 2017. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs.