Yes your Q will fly without the camera, but that kinda defeats the purpose of buying a $900.00 drone. In my opinion fly with the camera on and use it as a training aid.
Here's a word from experience; I know you can't wait for that brown truck to pull up and drop off your Q, and dive right in; trust me the best thing you can do to minimize anything from happening is to take your time, and learn your Q. While you're waiting watch some videos (informative ones not stupid risk taking, crash videos) although you can learn a lot from stupidity, just don't let it be your own. Read as many post here on the forum, both past and present. Treat the forum as a F.A.Q. solution site. Learn as much as you can before it arrives. Then when you finally receive it observe and learn every aspect of whats included with your Q. (the case, the props, the batteries, the charger, the controller, the steady grip, the sun shade, etc.) the more you learn before hand the less questions you'll have when it arrives, and the less avoidance of possibly buying more props, or paying for damage repair, or even losing your drone altogether.
When you're finally ready to take that flight find a nice big open area (no obstacles), and learn to fly using your monitor it'll help train, and boost your confidence a lot quicker. Most would say to fly in smart mode, or use the return to home (RTH) feature, but to a newbie these modes can become quite confusing if you don't know, and understand the full process on how to use them.
I could go a lot more into detail on things I've mentioned, but you got a little time to do some homework. I'm sure you will have further questions, and that's what we're here for....patience grasshopper patience...you will up and flying soon...keep us posted![/QUOTE