First drone ordered

Buying Advice
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I just ordered my first drone, the Mini 3, along with extra batteries and the controller with a built-in screen. Super excited!

Any tips or advice for using it? Maybe some editing tips too? I’m in upstate NY, but I hike and camp all over.

I would love to hear how you guys use yours, and your experiences, both good and bad.

I also have an Insta360 X3, a Canon Rebel T5, and an old Canon A-1 film camera. Most of my digital footage just sits on memory cards for my own collection, but I might eventually get around to editing and posting it!

First drone ordered
First drone ordered415×577 65.9 KB

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Begin in a large open field. Never put your trust in any obstacle avoidance features, under any circumstances. Seriously, never rely on them.

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This is one of the best pieces of advice: always fly as if there’s no obstacle avoidance. Luckily for the OP, this drone doesn’t have any OA features.

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Good thing the mini 3 doesn’t have it!

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Can’t stess that enough

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Speaking from recent personal experience, this is $440 worth of advice.

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True, obstacle avoidance can be helpful at times, but in my experience, it tends to get confused more often than it actually helps, lol.

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Definitely don’t put it on S mode I think lol

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Have fun with it! DJI drones are generally tough to crash. Use one battery to explore the settings and test it out in a small area. After that, just dive in – they’re simple and enjoyable to fly.

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I always ensure the drone has a strong satellite connection before takeoff, waiting for the “The home point has been updated…” message. If you’re flying long distances, return when the battery is around 65%, as wind conditions can be unpredictable at higher altitudes.

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Advice? First off, I wouldn’t have ordered it from Amazon. I would go straight to DJI that’s just my opinion.

Second, make sure to study the drone laws in your area. Once you do, it can really take the fun out of seeing posts here of people flying illegally.

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Why not? Amazon has excellent customer service if anything goes wrong.

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As someone who has also sold through Amazon, I find their service to be quite poor. The sooner customers realize this (and more are starting to), the better.

This doesn’t even cover the issues people have reported in this subreddit about buying drones from Amazon. The problems stem from both Amazon’s customer base and their return policies.

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Our experience has been different; Amazon has always processed returns and refunds with almost no questions asked.

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In addition to the other tips,

Avoid starting indoors at home, even though it might be tempting. I can almost guarantee you’ll end up damaging the props and your walls (trust me on this).

Be very mindful of your home point, especially if you’re on the move, and check your RTH (Return to Home) settings. Without front, rear, or top obstacle avoidance, you don’t want it to suddenly shoot up 200 feet and crash into a branch, or land immediately if you’re over water or in an inaccessible area.

For capturing images, there are many settings to experiment with, except for the fixed aperture. People generally find better results using standard still mode and HDR merging with AEB rather than the 48MP mode.

Ray Maker (dcrainmaker), a triathlete and blogger, has some excellent in-depth videos on drones and action cams, including the Mini 3 series. Even if you’re not into cycling, I highly recommend watching his demos on subject-tracking modes—they’re incredibly helpful.

If you haven’t yet, get your TRUST certificate (and consider getting printed cards if you’re worried about being hassled) and a LAANC request app like Aloft Air Control.

As for my flying experiences, I’m mostly a stills photographer focused on architecture, and I’ve enjoyed the new perspectives drones offer. They’re great for scouting locations before hauling my medium format gear. Edward Burtynsky and George Steinmetz are a couple of my favorite aerial photographers. I haven’t done much with video, aside from a bit of self-chasing while boating.

I use the Mini 3 Pro, and while it’s not as high-end for stills as the Air or Mavic models, it fits in my cargo pants pocket. Fast shutter speeds, good post-processing, and, most importantly, good lighting are key. The main limitations are its low-light performance and some lens issues like chromatic aberration and corner blur—similar to a cellphone camera. Keep these in mind, and you’ll still get great shots.

On a related note, the A-1 is a fascinating camera with a bit of history. It was one of the first to offer all the P/S/A/M modes and the front finger dial for adjustments, bridging a gap in industrial design. There are some great FD mount lenses available for it.

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I have two pieces of advice I’m a long time drone pilot, always make sure you calibrate it when you first get it, and make sure you do an IMU calibration as well take your time doing it. Don’t rush, you’ll have plenty of time to fly it. Go to your local high school try to find a big soccer field with nobody on it, and practice using the drone Nice and easy in the beginning Make sure you set your return to home altitude higher than any trees or buildings that you’re near. And make sure you have good satellite reception before taking off,… and you need to download the UAV forecast app. Very important! It’ll tell you if you’re able to fly or not based on the weather in your area