I may add that Phantom 3 Standard goes on sale for 399 and Phantom 3 Advanced is at 580 on ebay right now.

For these drone, the camera will need to be replaced with an extra gimbal + camera cost included.

Notes on 3DR Solo as it seems to be the best deal.

Beginner FAQ http://3drpilots.com/threads/solo-faq.2571/

Setting for Hero 4 Black http://3drpilots.com/threads/suggested-gopro-settings-for-solo.1657/

Comparison of Solo with Litchi app

Comparing Solo MultiPoint Cable Cam with Typhoon H Curved Cable Cam - RC Groups https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2664981-Comparing-Solo-MultiPoint-Cable-Cam-with-Typhoon-H-Curved-Cable-Cam

3DR Solo Cable Cam...Can DJI compete or Beat? - RC Groups https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2632433-3DR-Solo-Cable-Cam-Can-DJI-compete-or-Beat

http://3drpilots.com/threads/for-smart-shot-cinematic-video-clips-is-there-really-anything-a-solo-can-do-that-a-phantom-cant.6459/#post-72346

I've been testing Litchi and Autopilot for the last couple weeks. In terms of performance on smart shots, they are about the same.

I've focused 90% of my efforts on duplicating Cable Cam. Neither Litchi nor Autopilot on a P4 can match Solo.

Solo does a better job with: - framing - easing - smooth yawing - ease of use

By "framing" I mean that the Solo does a better job hitting its "mark" on each point in the cable cam. For example, if you have a tree in the center of your image at one point on the cable, and say your house in the center on the next point in the cable, the Solo will reliably recreate that framing over and over again. It's not perfect, but it's much much much better. On the P4 (whether using Litchi or Autopilot), I just can't get the same consistency from shot to shot. The P4 really seems to have problems consistently with altitude at each point on the cable, but also the craft will be yawed to a slightly different heading every time. End result, that tree will NOT be center framed in every shot. It's really very frustrating.

By "easing" I mean the way the bird transitions from one point on the cable to the next. Colin may have oversold a lot of features on the Solo, but not this one. The Solo eases in and out of every shot beautifully. There is indeed a nice logarithmic easing going on. In both Litchi and Autopilot the transitions feel very linear... almost robotic.

By "smooth yawing" I mean the way the aircraft rotates itself (and the camera) in the air. There are often noticeable yaw jerks on the P4 in cable cam shots (and in all way point missions, but not so much on orbits). It's worse the faster you run the cable, especially with extreme camera tilts and yaws programmed in. Also it's worse when your connection to the craft is weak - more on that below.

By "ease of use" I'm just referring to how easy it is to access and set up smart shots. After a lot of fiddling and experimentation, I've got Litchi and AutoPilot both configured to duplicate Solo's core functionality. Fly to point A, tilt your gimbal and yaw to frame your shot, click a button on the controller. Fly to point B, and C, etc and do the same. But despite a lot of effort to streamline and simplify things, it's all very cumbersome on a P4. Litchi beats AutoPilot, but neither is as easy, quick and simple as Solo.

Other thoughts: I'm convinced the biggest difference between the P4 and the Solo is the way Solo's on board computer manages smart shots.

With the P4, Litchi or Autopilot manage the shots. In other words, the Litchi and AutoPilot app monitor the heading, position and gimbal tilt of the P4 throughout the shot and send updated instructions to the bird throughout the shot. This creates an inherent lag in execution - and I speculate this is the cause of the herky-jerky yawing you sometimes get. If your connection weakens or drops out for a moment during a smart shot, everything gets jumpy. On the Solo, the onboard computer does the work that Litchi/Autopilot do. The result is a smoother, more consistent shot.

Improve 3DR Solo Gimbal or add another

I believe that cheap Bluetack will achieve a similar effect. Find all places where vibration will effect operation and stick in bluetack

http://3drpilots.com/threads/gimbal-wire-proper-routing.6080/#post-67285

https://www.peauproductions.com/blogs/guides/81726724-reducing-vibrations-and-jitter-in-3dr-solo-footage

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2556737-Solo-Gimbal

mount the Gimbal underneath the regular GoPro mount, it should tremendously help with vibrations. This way you not only have another 4 rubber balls to eliminate (or let's say help) with vibrations, but you can also put some moon gel between the two and secure the whole thing using zip ties that go through the balls...

The only real mod one has to do, is to cut/drill a while for the power and for the HDMI cable.

https://www.hackster.io/jeeboont/solomod-reducing-solo-gimbal-vibrations-v1-e3d302

HDMI CABLE... Let's start with the Micro HDMI cable. As you know by now, the HDMI cable is fairly thick and a little stiff. As such, it easily transmits vibrations to the 'floating gimbal circuit board'. To minimise transmission of vibrations, I stripped the outer casing by 3 to 4 inches. I then wrap soft silicone tubing to isolate vibrations coming from contact with the body shell. For the micro HDMI contact head, I then applied 1/2 strip of Moongel to isolate vibrations coming from various contact points with the body shell.

DATA LINK CABLE... In my opinion, this is the major culprit to vibration transmission... even more than the HDMI cables. It is extremely stiff. Comprising of 8 stiff wires, it is further locked down by a small zip-tie to the motherboard. I intentionally removed this zip tie and then proceeded to cut the cables at both end leaving only 1.5 inches of wires for me to solder a new set of softer and thinner gauge wires as connectors.

GOPRO... The way I line up the 2 pieces is to have one laid horizontally and the other laid vertically. In the picture below, the piece on the left is placed in such a way that it 'wraps-out' so that a small bit of the Moongel extends out to the front of the GoPro. This will help reduce vibrations coming from the gimbal motor. The second piece is placed immediately after the first piece but perpendicularly. The idea is to try to 'isolate' the GoPro as much as possible from the Gimbal.

IMPORTANT! Do not line up the Moongel too close to the back connectors. There should be some space between the Moongel and the back connectors.

Carefully align the folded Moongel to one of 4 sides. a full length folded Moongel on the HDMI connector side. Using a small screwdriver, gently tuck the Moongel into the recess space between the circuit board and the bottom plate.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2055844-STorM32-BGC-32-bit-3-axis-brushless-gimbal-controller/page418

The 3DR gimbal as a whole seems to be pretty good with very slow, deliberate flying. As long as there is NO wind at all, I get good stable video and also good video when flying very slow.

As for flying fast, that is a different story. The controller cuts off the motors quite easily. Any hard accelerations and the gimbal will "flop" to the side since the controller turns the motors off. It will turn them back on a second later and re-boot. From there, the gimbal works again, but this is very annoying. The gimbal also has a decent amount of shaking the higher you go up in altitude. Also, the gimbal flop will also happen at high altitudes as the wind picks up. Personally, I think 3DR needs to increase the power to the very small motors on this gimbal. They seem smaller and weaker than the Walkera G3D and the DJI HD-3D. Really, I should only say smaller as I've never come across a power issue with the Walkera or DJI motors. Again, it could just be a power issue that 3DR can fix with an adjustment on their controller.

No question, I was able to tune that low end DYS gimbal with the Storm32 to handle the higher speeds and quick accelerations far better than what the 3DR gimbal is working. This is disappointing considering the cost of the 3DR gimbal. It is $400, but acts more like a $200 gimbal. That may sound harsh, but DJI charged $400 for their HD-3D a year ago, and that gimbal performed very well, so that is the benchmark for gimbals in that price range, in my opinion.

:-)

http://3drpilots.com/threads/gimbal-wiring.624/page-2

Wiring custom gimbal and camera to 3DR Solo

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?2391450-Official-3DR-Solo-Owner-s-Thread/page1165

looking at the gimbal cable and tested the pins use vcc battery and gnd gimbal pins to power any gimbal mounted in the gimbal bay. the vcc 5v is only for charging the gopro.

Gimbal is connected to Pixhawk via normal RX/TX lines from gimbal cable and is talking mavlink which the storm32 supports (so we get full tilt control of gimbal!)

Some gimbals that will work.

http://www.olliw.eu/storm32bgc-wiki/Example_Setups#Goodluckbuy_3_Axis_Gimbal_.28v2.29

Remember

NX500+light lens is 350gm

G7+14mm = 410+55 = 465gm

Weight of RX100 1 through 5 Weight 240g 281g 290g 298g 299g

Sony X3000 action cam Dimensions (W x H x D): Approx. 29.4 x 47.0 x 83.0 mm (Approx. 1 3/16 x 1 7/8 x 3 3/8). Weight: Approx. 114 g (including supplied battery)

Gimbal Payload Requirements

The recommended payload requirements are:

Gimbal + camera weight*: 390grams
Maximum pitch: -130 to +45 deg
Maximum roll: +/- 40 deg
Maximum yaw: +/- 25 deg

The gimbal should operate effectively within the following environmental conditions:

Altitude: -30 to +3650 metres MSL (≈ -100 to +12,000 ft)
Operating Temperature: -18°C to 55°C (≈ 0°F to 130°F)
Transportation Temperature: -40°C to 66°C (≈ -40°F to 150°F)
Operating Temperature Humidity: 10%-80% relative humidity (non-condensing)
Transportation Temperature Humidity: 5%-95% relative humidity
Wind Loading: 0-25kts, from any direction

• The maximum payload of Solo with gimbal, camera and other accessories is 700g. Camera/Gimbal solutions that exceed the weight of the 3DR Gimbal and GoPro (390g) may not work with all accessories.

@bannedindv - The DJI cameras tend to fall apart in terms of compression with fine details. 60mbps for 4k or 45mbps for 2.7K is simply not enough for cinema work.

Oh! And don't forget some nD filters so you can limit your shutter speed... which until recently wasn't even possible to control manually with a GoPro... still not sure how accessible that is depending on your go pro model, wifi config, etc.

With the DJI you set your shutter speed via app very easily. - a high bitrate 4K hack for phantom 3 and phantom 4 would be very welcome. Also note the unit I linked to is p3 pro. Top of the line last generation. If you're just getting started, filthy has laid out my same argument.

@valdi99 - I looked at that option too. Just charting out everything :-)

Xplorer G has excellent feedback for wind and gimbal stability

For Xiro Xplorer G,

when you add a ND Filter to the front of the camera. An unbalanced gimbal will wear out the motors and to an extent affect the smoothness of your footage. I have noticed that once you remove the gimbal guard on the Explorer the gimbal falls forward and to the side. I put 4.5 grams on the arm opposite the camera for roll. For pitch, I added 3.6 grams to the bottom rear of the camera. I positioned it near the inside corner (mostly aligned with the roll axis, so that this weight wouldn’t impact roll balance. I found that I had to offset the weight about a 1/16” from the rear lip to avoid any physical interference. Now that I have it mapped out, I’ll paint the weights and attach them with Goop.

For a 3rd party gimbal I would highly recommend Storm32 based board, it's rock steady on my Dji P2.

I've just got Xiaomi Yi 4K, really impressed with that little beast! I do some IQ tests, picture looks really good, but the stock lens gives some fish-eye effect that I do not like, so I am looking for non-fisheye replacement.

Edit: have a look at this lens - hard to beat in picture quality!

@filthy that P4 was a good deal. Gone.

@valdi99 Can you get fpv from your xiaomi i.e. video out connected to board ? Also, did you connect the storm32 to the pixhawk to get tilt control remotely? There is a 5V power connector from pixhawk as well that can theoretically power the action cam as well.

@valdi99 - Agreed. There is no one solution that works perfectly out the bag for all users with their varying needs. What's the range on controlling the gimbal in that video if running via WIFI? And is the radio running on different frequency (i.e. 5.8) to avoid interference with the 2.4 signal?

@filthy - all P2V or P2V+ use factory radio link at 5.8Ghz and 2.4Ghz WiFi, so there is no interference. WiFi range is up to about 300m, but some people get more (around 1km) while using some WiFi signal boosters.

Regarding my earlier post - NOT SURE about P2V (non plus) - but P2V+ (Vision Plus) certainly works with other than Dji's cameras and gimbals!