Looking for a new toy... Suggestions?

[Scratch]

I'm looking for some advice here on what to buy next. Right now I have two quads both home built, (oh... I guess 3 if you count my Blade Nano QX to annoy the dog with)
One of them is an H-Quad and one is in an X-Quad configuration. Both have KK 2.0 FCB's in them. The X-Quad is more for fun flying and I don't put a camera on it, but the H-Quad I put my GoPro on for video.

It does pretty well with Jello, but I'd like to get something with a Gimbal. Something with GPS for RTH and maybe some other cool filming features like orbit, follow me, cable camera, or something like that cool stuff.
I want this to be more for YouTube videos than anything else, not for sport flying. No DSLR though, just my GoPro 4.


The problem is.... I've been out of the loop for a while. I haven't been on this forum for about 6 months and I'm sure there are some cool new "drones" out there, (ugh... I hate calling them that) and the price should have started to go down with more competition and better tech.

I was thinking about getting the Phantom 3, but I'd like to stick around 500.00 if possible.

My brother is big into sail boat racing and it would be pretty cool to get some cool shots of his boats when they tip real far over or something (I can't remember what that's called...heeling...?) so floating or waterproof might be worth some extra money also.

Not sure if I can keep to my budget of around 500.00 but I figured you all might have some better input since I've been out of the multirotor loop for a while.

Any ideas?

 

[Avaviel]

You can waterproof components. Peter did a video on that. There are parts that don't like water, I know, but you could at least make it floatable.

 

[Flyingninja]

Check out the Splash Drone!

http://www.gearbest.com/rc-quadcopt...FXJmMJ3OUf5TQTyuhAkPm17C8wI44heJjYaAjGG8P8HAQ

 

[Scratch]

Check out the Splash Drone!

http://www.gearbest.com/rc-quadcopt...FXJmMJ3OUf5TQTyuhAkPm17C8wI44heJjYaAjGG8P8HAQ

Does anyone have one of these "Splash Drones"? I guess it might also be called the "Mariner". Looks pretty interesting with a waterproof gimbal...

I can't find any reviews of it besides from the seller yet though...

 

[ExperimentalRC]

I was in the exact same situation. I wanted something that I could film wakesurfing and sailing. I ended up buying an electrohub and doing all of the tricks that Peter did in their waterproofing electronics episode. I didn't see the point of waterproofing it and then having it sink to the bottom of the lake, so built some foam floats that matched the contour of the shape of the electrohub. It was big, clumsy, and underpowered. If i were to do it again I would go 4s and build it like a tank.

 

[TheSymaMan]

Mariner is a really nice multirotor, I saw a review of it but I forgot who made it.

 

[Scratch]

Well I ventured over to the dark side and got a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced.

This thing is stupid easy to fly. I'm seriously going to let my 14 and 16 year old daughters fly this thing. (With me right there...)
It was super easy to upgrade the firmware now giving it waypoints and follow me. It has huge monster range and today I flew it completely over our 20 acre lot! And that's not anywhere near its range!

It will be nice for filming, but I still have no intentions on getting rid of my other quads. It's fun not having to worry about crashing with my homebuilds. When my daughters have friends over, I give them a frisbee and they take turns trying to knock it out of the sky. They've only got it once... And it's nice to have it up and running again in a few minutes.

We won't be playing that game with the Phantom...

Anyways... Here's a picture of it since you've probably never seen one before...

 

[KRAR]

DJI in my mind is awesome, they make a really good product. Their service though is amazing i've dealt with them them on numerous occasions and every time they are superior.