DJI Phantom 3 Quadcopter Overview

The DJI Phantom 3 is a quadcopter from DJI which allows you to shoot video or stills from a 3 axis stabilised flying camera. It offers you the ultimate professional filming experience and best of all, you do not need to be an expert Radio Controlled Pilot to be able to use it. The drone has intelligent systems in place to help you fly!

Built-in Lightbridge technology gives you complete control over your Phantom 3 by offering live HD view, of the world below at 720p even from 2km away! (depending on conditions)

The Camera:

The new DJI quadcopter comes in two different models – the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced (consumer level) and the Phantom 3 Professional (prosumer level).

The main difference being that the Advanced shoots 1080P HD video at 60 frames per second while the professional shoots 4K video, giving you hollywood quality footage at your fingertips. Both models shoot 12mp stills if you would like to capture that amazing view, or perhaps even a selfie, with a simple press of a button.

The 94º angle-of-view on the Phantom 3 lens, produces perfect pictures with no lens correction necessary, certainly a major improvement on the fisheye distortion experienced with the previous models.

Fly with ease:

As mentioned above the drone is pretty easy to fly thanks to DJI’s Intelligent System with automatic flight stabilisation technology. This entails auto take off and landing, using ultra sonic sensors, and if the creativity consumes you and your mind loses all sense of direction, keep calm and simply let go of the sticks causing the Phantom 3 hover quietly right where it is.

The drone also has a return-home button which, when pressed, will cause the craft to undertake the following steps:

• Phantom 3 will climb to 30m at its present position.
• It will fly directly back to your location (the home point – accurate to 6m).
• Once it reaches your location, it will hover and start to decent.
• The drone will auto land if you do not decide to take over.

The App:

The app works on either Android and IOS devices and gives you the ability to view live feed, map view, allows you to edit videos right on your device and all camera settings can be changed in flight.

Please consult the list of supported devices on the DJI website – www.dji.com

Battery Life:

The drone was determined to have a battery life (to 30%) of 15min in the Highveld and 18min in Coastal areas.

New Rules and Regulations:

The South African Civil Aviation Authority has announced a new set of rules and regulations which will be operational from the 1st of June 2015.

When using the Phantom 3 for commercial purposes users will be required to qualify as a RPAS pilot with the CAA. Rules and regulations will be published on the CAA website – www.caa.co.za

It’s just your hobby?

If you use your drone for non-commercial purposes then you do not require a license but you do need to heed to the following rules and regulations:

• You can fly a craft that weighs up to 7kg.
• You can fly at night.
• You can fly up to the height of the highest object within 300m of the drone.
• You must keep more than 50m from people, roads and buildings.
• You cannot fly the drone closer than 10km from an aerodrome (airport/ airstrip)
• You may not fly in restricted areas.

The DJI Phantom 3 opens up a whole new world of opportunities! With excellent footage quality and freedom of capturing the world at heights you never would have been able to in your day to day routine this really is the ultimate professional filming experience.