Seems the goggles aren't inc at that price - curious to know how much they are.
Well this drone, being so super tiny, may have pushed me away from the idea of a fixed-wing cruiser.
Even if I end up with a European 'CE' spec it still has over 2 miles range and up to 27 minutes flying time. Up to 7 miles if unrestricted!
Rather than lugging a ground station, big wings etc in a backpack and side panniers, I can just throw this little thing in my bumbag almost as an afterthought, concentrating on my riding and camping spot, more than the flying setup.
Batteries are under $90 and small too, so could easily carry a couple of spares...
I think I'm sold already
Will just wait and see if any issues crop up, and if it really does meet the specs claimed.
Regarding resenting people having it too easy, that is indeed something that has repeatedly pushed me away from this hobby over quite a number of years.
My brother in law in the UK has long been into building scale models, and I recall many a fun time shooting his less-than-favorite ones with an air rifle.. I wanted to get into the hobby but for me it was always about the bird's eye view. I wanted to fit a tiny camera and go high, take photos..?
To him, that would ruin the aesthetics of the model, and talking to others I was basically met with a swarm of numbers ("Well I guess if you mated a P6544 with a VZP300, maybe a VZ500, you could hitch a 30TRY with a 100 or 150 HY, that would give you about 599 blurtz on a 50 giggity hicky, but then you'd need a Tittyjob 500 to even out the HY..")
I'd say over the years I've probaby butted my head against the RC aerial photography hobby about 4, maybe 5 times, and each time met with just too much resistance.
"Get a piece of cr^p you'll really hate first"
"Earn ya stripes!"
"Suffer like we did..."
"Buy these 3 books first, because telling you what you need would be too easy..."
And companies selling this stuff are no better. Never in my vague efforts did I ever find a store that simply explained what they were selling, what each bit did and why - instead you'd see "YIP 450, now only $79!!" But WTF is a YIP 450 and why would I want one?
I work as a consultant to websites, helping them improve their sales, and often have thought "If these guys just put together a total kit, everything you need, and I mean actually everything, not "everything except the motor and prop and a transmitter and a ground station and a..." but everything. 1 kit, 1 price, full instructions. It would sell like hot-cakes...
That's exactly what DJI have done, and with no assembly required too, beyond fitting the props and your phone into the holder - and they have indeed had great success.
However I think this is the first time I've heard an RC hobbyist actually admit that they resent DJI et al, for making things "too easy". I've long suspected (known, really) you guys secretly LIKE it being difficult to enter the hobby
You guys blame the DJI buyers, and DJI for making it easy, but you know what? If you RC types had made it easier to enter the hobby, then there would be a smooth transition as the tech improved, with many perfectly respectable people making FPV and flying cameras, with the concept gently entering the mainstream.
Instead you put up barriers, creating a pent-up demand that DJI fulfilled, and now suddenly people are presented with "drones!" and they naturally recoil - "They can SPY on us, sneak over the fence and steal stuff, enter open windows and rape our daughters with VR and the internet, think of the chilreeeen"
Blame DJI?
I blame you.
DJI have simply opened the doors to people that YOU peeps deliberately excluded, whilst claiming to help. Obviously I'm not talking about any of you personally, just the industry and hobby as a whole.
the result is we do indeed have people with no real clue reacting to a novelty. For everyone who says "They could SPY on us!" there's some yahoo thinking "Wow, with one of these I could SPY on people!"
Pent-up demand, now released, with people reacting to novelty. People hate new, they poke new with pitchforks and throw fire at it, while some, equally clueless, think they can spy on their neighbor's daughter while she's naked. I swear some people think Phantoms fly to the sound of classical music and have telephoto lenses...
As I said, you guys seem more noob-friendly than most, so not a personal dig. Heck, the guys running this seem really helpful, hence my somewhat optimistic attempt to ask for guidance regarding longer-range FPV.
Got the standard "suffer like we did, take a long time, learn slowly and painfully... pain is goooood.." response - and once again, DJI steps in, with a long-range FPV, compact for backpacks, no assembly required.
When people's smartphones can start flying, will you do the same again? "Oh, you don't want a flying Samsung, start with a Nokia flip-phone first.."?
I'm having a gentle dig at you guys, with a grin, but yeah, let the noobs in.
Or they'll buy a DJI