Reddit reviews 350 QX RTF

350qx quad copter RTF (ready to fly with remote) for $469.99

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DUW8NXG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1395242925&sr=8-1&pi=SL500_QL40

So there are a couple of options for pre-built quads with most of them coming ARF (air ready to fly) and a couple BNF. (bind and fly) All of these quads have approximately the same size motors, (22XX class) propellers (all about 9 inch) run the same battery voltage (3 cell lipo) are approximately the same size (350 diagonally) and weigh about the same (700-800grams with out a gimbal) so there for should have roughly the same flight performance with the phantom lasting the longest as it carries a larger 5200mah battery over the others which carry between a 2700 and a 3500mah but the phantom being the least agile because of it. All of these quads have GPS enabled flight controllers with the 3DR iris+ with the most advanced, folowed by the Phantom and then the Quanum Nova and Blade 350 qx being the the most basic (but sill very powerful supporting features such as return to launch)

Phantom 2 is the most expensive and comes completely air ready to fly (an advantage for some) buying the phantom from that retailer you can also get it set up with FPV ready to fly (immersion 5.8ghz is good you should get about 1.5-2 km on cp omni antenna) but it will cost you a pretty penny, at £1,080 completely setup, before you buy some more batteries( 3 more at the least, which you will need to do if you want to charge by the hour) at £80 a pop, it gets quite expensive very quickly, and thats before GoPro. With the phantom you are paying for an ecosystem where every thing should work flawlessly.(just watch out for fly always) If in future you do want to upgrade you can pull the Naza M v2 flight controller out of it and use it in a custom build, there are many people on the internet that have turned phantoms into F550 hexacopters and im sure they would help, there are big threads on RC Groups. (http://www.quadcopters.co.uk/dji-phantom-2-fpv-edition-222-c.asp)

Another ARF option is the 3DR Iris+ the latest version of this quad has just been released, newly upgraded with 3DR's powerful Pixhawk making it the most capable option of autonomous flight coming with telemetry radios as well as a controller the user can set way points and other pre-planned flight features from a phone or tablet (like take a picture at this point, pretty cool) and some awesome follow features there promo video shows these off.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yOCTgVqmeQ) It comes in at USD$750 ready to fly, but to this you will your self have to add FPV and a GoPro gimbal (they have the option to add a 2 axis gimbal, but you can just buy your own as it uses standard mounting you could buy the H3-3D, USD$370 i think or there are some other options, the cheapest 3axis i know of costs USD$190) once you add a gimbal and some more batteries (only USD$40 from them and you can buy alternatives from USD$20) it should only total USD$1200 (even with a Zenmuse gimbal) this comes out to about £750 with everything, alot less than the phantom 2 before you add batteries. Unlike the phantom you will have to add fpv and get the gimbal going, this is not to terrible as 3DR package the iris with good manuals, the parts are meant to go together... the internet is always there to help if you face problems :) (https://store.3drobotics.com/products/IRIS)

Another option is the Cheerson CX20 or Quanum Nova, this comes ARF and is the cheapest option, at USD$319 with free shipping it is considerably cheaper than the phantom 2. To this you will need to add a gimbal (same standard mounting anything will fit) get some extra batteries (USD$15-25) and FPV with all of the additions it should come out to about USD$700-750 or about £500 it will not have the power of the iris+ flight controller and you will need to make the fpv and gimbal additions but for the price it is a very strong contender. (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__55106__Quanum_Nova_FPV_GPS_Waypoint_QuadCopter_Mode_2_Ready_to_Fly_.html)

The blade 350QX is another option, it comes in a BNF form(bind and fly) without a gimbal for USD$450 but they have been having sales taking it down to USD$350, to this you will need to add a spektrum transmitter (a dx6i costs about USD$200, you could get away with 4ch but you will want pass through for gimbal control and flight modes) and then you need to add a gimbal (standard mounting, has great connectors for gimbal control and power built in to the frame making setup easy) FPV and some more batteries( about $20-$30USD) this should come out to about USD$1100 or USD$1000 if you get it on sale to come out to about £650 all setup. the blade's flight control has very good learning features called safe, making it easier to get a grasp of, one thing about the blade 350qx i dont like is the propellers they uses a weird propriety mounting system, making replacements more expensive than the need to be (im complaining about 5 dollar props) but hobbyking do sell an adaption that allows standard mounting props so its ok.(http://www.amazon.com/350-QX-RTF-with-SAFE/dp/B00DUW8NXG)
(http://www.horizonhobby.com/electric-helicopters/350-qx2-bnf-with-safe-reg%3B-technology-blh8080) Flitetest have a good review of the blade, and show off the safe features.

I would go with the 3DR iris+ as i like the autonomous features of the Pixhawk flight controller, and the price overall as well as batteries makes it attractive.

But make the choice that best suites you, at the end of the day they will all shoot stabilized video which is what you want.

Also i do not see the point of a 3 axis gimbal on one of these quads, as soon as you pan all you will see is the landing gear and that doesn't make for good footage... but that's just me, i can only see the third axis being useful in a dual operator setup with retracts and the gimbal rail mounted forward so not to get the props in shot.