Here are my thoughts on the Iris vs the Phantom I own both and enjoy each one. My flight time on the Iris with the stock batteries without the gimbal is less than 10 minutes. I have not installed my Gimbal yet so I can not report on that. My Phantom 1 will go about 10 minutes a bit less on one of the batteries. The phantom 2 vision uses from what I am told a non lipo battery to get such high time.
I want to try and find a battery for the Iris that will give me at least 10-15 true minutes and at least 10 minutes with the gimbal. So if anyone has a suggestion let me know
As for which I would buy, I would say this. If you want to just take good video and photos and want a long flight time the Phantom 2 or Vision would be the best choice. If you want a UAV where you can send it out on short missions the Iris for the price is fantastic. Depends on what you want. And if you did go with the Phantom down the line you can add some UAV equipment for a few hundred dollars. The most disappointing part for me is when you get short flight times.
I will just keep looking for better batteries
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Have you had a chance to install and fly with the gimbal? Any numbers to report and/or battery upgrades to recommend?