Had previously drone on APM 2.5, performance terrible. Wouldn't hover, very squirrelly in GPS, yaw all over the place and (apparently commonplace) blowing of components on the board. Since bought fc40 and it's what I want in terms of reliability and performance, but poor fpv, no gimbal, no autonomy.
All I want is a stable, controllable platform for my gopro; the things I film don't move so no high performance required. I want to fly the thing, not spend hours at a workbench.
Would you recommend the iris+ and Tarot 2, yes or no?
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oops. HERE is a recent video. The yaw hunting you see is when I was flying in LOITER mode. Flying in alt hold completely eliminates the yaw hunt. You will notice that the yaw hunt is not a twitch.
In that vid at one poiint you're looking vertically down...can you control gimbal pitch from the controller?
Only thing in your replies that gives me concern is the hover position. I was amazed how rock solid hte FC40 was after months of fighting the "uppydownies" with my APM 2.5 (and no better when converted to 2.6) quad.
Another minor question, what sort of props does it take? My old APM was on 10x4.5s. How do they fasten on to the motors?
Yes with the default Iris+ configuration you have control of the gimbal pitch angle from the transmitter. I just went into loiter mode above the pool, pointed the camera straight down and did a 360 yaw movement (pirouette).
GPS hover postion - Sometimes it's almost perfect. My description was a worst case scenario. From an uppydownies perspective, 8 to 12 inches is pretty good and it's very gradual. Again, that is a worst case scenario.
The Iris+ uses 9545 (9.5" diameter, 4.5" pitch)self tightening props. They screw directly onto the motor adapters. They are color coded. 2 of the screw on CW and 2 of them CCW. Same setup as the phantom.
As a previous owner of the Phantom 1.1.1 and the FC40 and the Blade 350 QX and the QX3 and now the Iris+ I would have to say that if I would have known how good the Iris+ was I would have never wasted my money on any of that DJI and Blade Junk, the Iris+ puts them all to shame and no I do not use a camera I am a sport flyer and the Iris+ is great for sport flying, it can hold up well and the battery time kills the Phantom and the Blade both.
As for what you buy well that is up to you because it is your money but I am sorry that I wasted my time and money on any of that other junk plus 3DR customer support and tech support kills DJI's nonexistent customer support and Horizon Hobbies uneducated tech support! I have never had any problems at all with my Iris+ and really enjoy my time with it.
The only thing I could ever complain about is that they could have used a better brand of radio but since I have installed a back light on it I cannot complain much, still it is way better than that Phantom Junk radio and with the Iris+ Radio you have live telemetry on it and it does not have that stupid self centering throttle stick it is just a plain throttle stick which I prefer.
The Iris+ props are 9545 Props and they are spin on just like the DJI prop.
I have both. To compare the Phantom to the iPhone is giving it way too much credit. Even if your an Android guy and an iPhone hater, it's still giving DJI way to much credit to compare it to an iPhone.
At first the Phantom was indeed easy, but very quickly many problems cropped up. From an insufficiently shielded GPS reciever, to numerous firmware upgrade snafus and bugs, to ESCs burning out.
Compared to my Iris+, I've spent way more time cracking open the Phantom to make fixes and mods just to get it to work. It's true that at first it was easier. I think that's an area where 3DR can improve, but once you get your Iris+ dialed in, it requires a lot less maintenance on the bench.
Dealing with DJI is an absolute nightmare. Customer support seems to be an alien concept to them. Their policy is to deny, deny, deny - then claim user error. Basically they are useless. If you want help on any DJI product, go to www.PhantomPilots.com.
Contrast that with 3DR. I've sent 2 questions to their support email and they replied the next morning. Hell, one time they actually reached out to me to offer help after I posted on this forum about a crash (I'd breached the GEO Fence).
Last fall, DJI quietly updated their assistant application, but they didn't change the version number on their download page. Eventually a guy on PhantomPilots figured out what they had done and we were able to re download the software - a critical step to getting their new gimbal tilt controller to work.
Lately there have been numerous problems with Phantom firmware updates and iPhone app updates. As usual, DJI has denied everything, until they were finally forced to admit that the latest update was borked and it had to be withdrawn. I could go on.
One other thing. without a 3 axis gimbal you can get some yaw twitches visible in the recordings when flying in loiter or poshold mode. I just fly in Stab or alt hold to compensate. I'm not into the photography side enough to switch to a 3 axis gimbal.
I have been having the most fun lately with the IRIS without any payload and flying the crap out of it in ACRO mode (no flips) with a 45 deg lean angle limit. That puppy handles great but I'm building a QAV250 for that type of flying right now.
They IRIS has plenty of power without the camera and gimbal, very fast if your into fast.
mp
Hi Nigel! I concur with Grandpa's assessment. It's kind of like the iPhone vs the Android, the iPhone being like the phantom, you pick it up and fly it, very little configuration required. While the Android on the other hand does what the iPhone does, BUT, allows for much more manipulation than say the iPhone. I have a Phantom, a 3dr Y6B, an Iris+, a Turbo Ace Matrix, and an xhover 230 mm, I like all of them equally but probably fly the Iris+ more than any other. If I would prefer to just fly and play around then I use the Phantom. I'm not into photography by any means, more into amateur radio which lends to tinker a lot. I hope this helps in your decision, whatever you elect, just keep in mind each one of these airships require a certain amount of bench time which is unavoidable as the hobby continues to mature into a really plug an play scene. All the best! Eric
Hello, I will give you my opinion which I am sure will differ from others. I own a number of systems and there are many many more available. I have the Walkera 350pro, a few phantom 1's a Phantom 2 non vision with 3axis gimbal, the Parrot Bebop, two others with the 2.6 APM and the one you are interested in the Iris+ Each have a purpose and depending on what I am doing any one of them could be my favorite at that time. But you are asking for something that will allow you to take amazing video and photos along with Autonomous flight. So the simple answer is Yes, buy the iris+ you will be happy you did. It will do all you ask and more. It can be flown right from the box ( but I do suggest as you wait for it to arrive you study as many instructional videos as possible ) it is complex and if you are not educated on its abilities you could put yourself in trouble. But that is true with anything that fly's. Check out Mission Planner as that is the main program I am guessing you will want to use. Also if you have an Android device check out the Tower App which in the past was called Droidplanner. That is really cool as you can send your Iris+ on its missions right from your phone. And one of the features you will enjoy is the ROI Region of Interest. You plot a course around an object making it the ROI and your camera will keep focused on that spot. As for the FPV 3drobotics sells most of what you would need and can help you get setup without much trouble. Dollar for Dollar I think you will be very happy with your purchase. You will see horror stories with all makes and models, some caused by failure but most caused by Operator error. I have over 100 flights on my Iris+ and have no complaints at all. I don't use it for fast flights and don't do anything crazy that could put it in trouble. I have a 250 for that lol..... if you learn all you can, have a check list for preflight, and an emergency plan should something happen I think you will do just fine.
Sorry for such a long explanation to your question, but most of these things I have learned by reading, watching, and just plain hands-on. I want to wish you great success no matter which system you chose and make sure you share some of the results once you are ready.
Feel free to check out some of my videos with the Iris+ if you want to see some of what it can do
Grandpa Jake https://www.youtube.com/user/funtimegrandpa/videos
No offence intended, but you might be more of a DJI customer.
None taken Hans...I assume from that you mean the Iris still requires considerable maintenance?
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