Are you shopping online for a drone that will fly you to the next level? Perhaps you've had a pleasant go at your kids 3D virtual reality drone, or you've simply drone tired of your own pocket selfie drone, and are looking for a more than decent upgrade in the drone department that will help you graduate into the upper ranks of professional drone hobbyists. Or perhaps you're simply someone that likes to start from the top, and fall within the more limited category of consumers with a greater marginal spending propensity. Whatever the circumstances may be, if you're looking for a top notch user-friendly drone with cutting edge flight features and technology, and that takes astonishing aerial photos and videos of pristine quality, you'll definitely want to turn your attention to the DJI Phantom 4 Pro +. Its salient features and specs are briefly described below.
Best Suited for Open, Challenging, and Scenic Outdoor Environments
Considering the DJI Phantom 4 + Drone's control distance (an astonishing 4.3 miles, or 6.9 km drone-to-pilot control distance), top speed (top high speed of 45mp/h, or 72km/h), flight time (30 minutes), and size, the DJI Phantom 4 Pro + naturally maximizes its full potential and value out in the open. Unlike some other drones suited for the outdoors, however, the drone's advanced flight controls and features (such as the multi-directional 3D 360 degree obstacle avoidance flight sensors) also makes it safe and easy to navigate, fly, and operate in more challenging scenic outdoor environments. This is a clear bonus for drone hobbyists wishing to fly it through mountains, forests, waterways, and the likes in order to fully utilize and maximize the drone's incredible aerial photographic and cinematographic capabilities. Its approximate weight of 1,388 grams (inclusive of the weight of its mounted HD camera), as well as its large heavy casing also makes it such that this professional drone does not fit in the portable category of drones, even less in pocket-sized drones. In other words, professional drone hobbyists might one to plane their date, or field trip, when going out with this drone. While this professional drone may be considered a top notch drone in the aerial photography category type of drones, its has its limits in that its ideal operating temperature (0 degrees celsius to 40 degrees celsius) makes it not so ideal to fly in arctic or Saharan-type environments.
Operation and Control
The DJI Phantom 4 Professional + comes with (DJI Phantom 4 Professional +), or without (DJI Phantom 4 Professional) an integrated 5.5 Inch 1080P Android Tablet mounted to the drone's remote control. In the latter case, a smart phone can be mounted to the drone's remote control, and is compatible with the DJI GL300E drone remote control. In the former case, you the pilot get to enjoy a full five (5) hours of bright screen pleasure (the 1,000 nits-type of visible light intensity bright pleasure). Aerial photographers and cinematographers will rejoice in the 16GB of internal storage and Micro SD card capacity on the DJI Phantom 4 Pro + 's remote control. Another great feature is its ability to operate on both the 2.4 and the 5.8 GHz frequency. This ensure redundancy, in minimizes the risk of interference in signal between the remote control and drone. This is particularly important considering the incredibly 4.3 miles (6.9 km) drone-to-remote control range (note that some have commented on certain rules that require a drone flyer to keep the drone within a visible distance, which can arguably shorten the permissible control distance of the drone, at least without extra vision enhancing props). The DJI Phantom 4 Pro + 's remote control allows for granular control over various settings, features, and modes, including those that pertain to its flight, photography, and videography.
In-Flight Modes and Features
The DJI Phantom 4 Pro + has sophisticated navigational technologies, namely dual GPS and compass redundancy for same home returns. It has a pleasant and fun to use "tap screen" flight mode, in which the drone will pilot itself towards the destination taped/touched by the pilot on the remote control's screen, making this drone easy to fly for beginners and advanced drone hobbyists alike. Other fun drone flight modes include:
- Beginner flight mode (a flight mode for starters wishing to take it slow on their first date with the Phantom 4 Professional +)
- Sports flight mode (offers, among other things, higher flying speeds)
- Active subject track mode (the drone locks onto, and follows a live subject);
- Directional flight lock mode (the drone locks onto, and flies into that single direction);
- Profile shot mode (a special photography flight mode ideal for taking close or distant profile photos of a subject);
- Gesture control flight mode (a flight mode in which the drone responds to certain hand gestures and arm movements);
- Spotlight frame focus shots (another flight mode ideal for professional photographic and cinematographic photos and videos);
- Narrow flight modes (allows you to configure the drone's flight for more confined or obstructed environments)
- RTH flight recording move (a flight mode in which the drone records its own flight path directly from takeoff, a path which it can then use to safely return home for landing);
- Landing site detection mode (facilitates smooth landings by avoiding rugged, hazardous landing environments)
A lot more could be said about the various DJI Phantom 4 Pro + 's flight modes and features, and the way they can be used to creatively enhance the wonderful hobby of drone flying. Suffice to say that the DJI Phantom 4 Pro + comes with the latest, cutting edge technologies in drone flying, which in a sense contributes to the ease with which it can be flown for beginners and professionals alike.
Intelligent Drone Flight Systems: Obstacle Avoidance Sensors
As it was stated earlier, the DJI Phantom 4 Professional + drones shows its full colors in more challenging, outdoor environments. This is largely due to is its cutting edge, sophisticated 3D, 360 degree, 4 directional obstacle avoidance sensors, one of its more salient features. Specifically, the drone carries high-resolution front and rear visual sensors with an approximate range of 0.7 meters to 30 meters (or 2.3 feet to 110 feet). It also carries in its left and right flanks 3D Time-of-Flight (TOF) modulated light sensors with approximate ranges of 0.2 meters to 7 meters (or 0.7 feet to 23 feet). As well, it contains bottom sensors to assist with vertical flight and landing, giving the DJI Phantom 4 Professional + complete, 360 degree obstacle avoidance flight control.
Amazing Aerial Photo and Video Capabilities, Even in Low-Light Environments
The sophisticated flight modes, features, and instruments, not to mention the highly stable, solid, and balanced flight they provide to this soft, quiet (only 83.1 decibels), smooth humming electronic flying device, largely contribute to its excellent photographic and cinematographic features and characteristics. The DJI Phantom 4 Pro + 's 24 mm camera, which contains a 1 inch CMOS sensor with 20,000 useful pixels, offers 4K photos and videos at an 84 degree field of view, 60 frame per second cinematographic recording, at a 100 MB per second rate. Its image processor reduces, or condenses photos and videos from 40 to 50 percent. In addition to offering adjustable aperture settings (2.8 up to 11), it also allows for different ISO range settings (up to 6,400 in video mode, and 12,800 in still images), all of which allows for amazing photos and videos in low-light environments, with little noise distortion in images. It also offers three (3) different image scales: 3:2, 4:3, and 16:9. The end result of a drone with superior flight systems and aerial photographic and cinematographic capabilities are visually alluring and clear photos and videos of the highest and most professional quality.
Last Comments
While the DJI Phantom 4 Professional + 's advanced flight modes, features, and systems might, on the one hand, appear to make it more suitable for advance drone hobbyists, these same flight modes, features, and systems also make it easy and safe to control, operate, and navigate, making it just as suitable for beginners who may want to rely a bit more on the drone's "artificial intelligence assistance" flight systems. While advanced drone hobbyists will no doubt maximize the value and use of the numerous features of this drone, beginner drone hobbyists will simply find themselves with a longer and more adventurous learning and discovery path. In the end, the features that one should rely upon to determine whether or not this drone is right for them is the price, and the superior photographic and cinematographic features of the DJI Phantom Professional 4 + drone. Anyone who has a valid reason or purpose in using aerial drone photography and cinematography will certainly find its higher cost more than justifiable.