The Mavic Pro will mean different things to different people

I have been very impressed with the DJI Mavic Pro and as a first time drone owner I’ll try and break down its features based on how they impacted my decision. I purchased the bundle which came with the additional accessories and the shoulder bag. My overall rating is based on the quality of the drone because the accessories, in my opinion, will mean different things to different people.

The Drone:
So my primary qualification for getting a drone was portability. I wanted something I could take with me camping and on family vacations which would give some interesting options beyond a handheld camera. The DJI Mavic Pro certainly fits that bill. When folded it’s surprising how compact it is. The Mavic Pro also feels very sturdy and not cheaply made at all. I have put about an hour of total flight time onto the drone with no issues. It is very easy to setup and fly. Each of the 3 modes (standard, sport, & tripod) work exactly as advertised and fit different purposes. In standard mode I can hit about 24 mph, sport will do a little above 40mph, and tripod mode offers a nice slow, stable flight experience. On a fully charged battery, depending on use, I can fly for about 25 minutes before I get too worried about hitting the critical battery status.

Controller & App:
The DJI Mavic Pro’s controller is much more compact than a Inspire or Phantom controller. In addition to the DJI GO 4 app makes it very easy to change settings on the fly. It displays a lot of flight data and can even play it back later. It also does a great job of tracking flight information.

Accessories:
1. Car Charger – This accessory will come in super handy for trips. Being able to charge as you go is a big plus.
2. Charging Hub – If you have more than one battery, which I would suggest and since the bundle comes with 3 batteries, this is a great accessory. It doesn’t charge all the batteries at once, but does allow you to connect them all so you don’t have to worry about monitoring your batteries and swamping them out.
3. Charging Adapter – This is a neat little accessory which allows you to turn your drone’s batteries into mobile chargers. Not necessary for the drone experience, but very cool and I can see it coming in handy traveling.
4. Shoulder Bag – It has good quality construction, but doesn’t offer a lot of protection. Also, because it’s very compact you can really only fit the drone with a battery in it, the controller, and two additional batteries in the outside mesh pouches. Fitting additional blades or a fourth battery will be a challenge.

Suggested Items:
1.DJI Mavic Phantom 2 3 4 Inspire 1 protective Accessories Mini landing pad – Having a landing pad helps with the drone’s return to home feature. In addition to GPS the drone also takes a picture of where it took off from. Having a high contrast object like a landing pad improves this feature. It also protects the drone from dust/dirt and moisture. When using my landing pad the drone returns to home within inches of where it took off from.

2. Waterproof Hard Case with Foam Insert for DJI Mavic – Having a hard case, in my opinion, is a must for travel. The shoulder bag is great for going out and about, but I’d never use it for air travel or when I’m loading up the car for a camping trip. I’m not a fan of the “pluck and pick” cases so these laser cut ones are more attractive to me.

The post The Mavic Pro will mean different things to different people appeared first on Drone Inner.

Will the Karma drone sales be enough to revive the GoPro?

According Recode’ source, GoPro will cut approximately 270 more jobs, or about 17 percent of its workforce based on its headcount at the end of last year. That’s on top of the 200 positions the company said it would eliminate in November. The recent job cuts were made mostly in the company’s virtual reality and broadcasting wings, claiming that “no one is left” to supervise the departments. Those cuts would certainly reflect Woodman’s CES assertions that GoPro is looking to shift its focus to a core set of products.

Just in case you didn’t know, GoPro cut 100 jobs in January 2016 and 200 more after the Mavic launch in November 2016. So the company’s workforce has shrunk by almost 25% since the beginning of last year.

GoPro primarily sells action-oriented cameras, but it recently made a foray into drones. The company’s foldable Karma drone is back for sale after an embarrassing recall. Some customers complained of a power failure that caused the aircraft to fall from the sky, leading to the recall.

Now the hyped Karma drone is back,how about the updated one?

Theverge has got another review unit.

As reviewed by Theverge, the Karma can’t autonomously follow you around. Its battery life is on the low end, and its range is much shorter than its main competitors. It doesn’t have fancy sensors to help it stabilize indoors or avoid obstacles. It’s akin to releasing a flagship smartphone in 2016 that didn’t have a fingerprint sensor or front-facing camera.

It concluded that the GoPro Karma is not a great drone by today’s standards. It’s basic, kind of like a mid-tier Android smartphone that checks all the boxes that more trailblazing units have established over the last few years. It may be a nice starter kit if you own a GoPro. If you don’t need a handheld stabilizer or don’t own a GoPro, there is no reason to settle for a drone with a spotty track record and a total lack of cutting-edge features.

Will the drone sales be enough to revive the floundering company? It seems that though the Karma drone is back on sale, existence of the DJI Mavic has completely blocked their way into the drone market.

Thank you for reading!

The post Will the Karma drone sales be enough to revive the GoPro? appeared first on Drone Inner.

Range is not an issue with the GoPro Karma

GoPro is a camera company that made a drone. The Karma drone is first an accessory for GoPro cameras.

TechCrunch reviewed, on paper, the GoPro Karma looks like it’s going to compete with the DJI Mavic drone. They’re both packable drones with limited feature sets, designed with portability in mind. In reality, the Karma’s main competitor is the DJI Phantom.

But we think the Karma’s competitor is not the Phantom 3 or 4 but it is the Mavic Pro. Portability is what the Karma was developed for and it falls short when compared to the Mavic although it does have a much better camera with the Black. The Karma will be the go to for those deep in the GoPro ecosystem and for GoPro’s first shot at a drone it’s a home run, but let’s not minimize the impact of the Mavic, it is the standard everyone will now try to emulate.

It’s clear that the product bundle itself is one of the main differences between the GoPro Karma and its DJI rival. GoPro shares a single camera between both the drone and its gimbal grip, and wants you to buy it separately. You’ll need to supply a Hero4 Black or Silver, or the new Hero5 Session or Hero5 Black camera for use with your drone, bolstering GoPro’s camera sales in the process unless you already own one. But the drone ships with its gimbal grip as a free accessory, and realistically speaking, many target customers likely already own one or more GoPro cameras anyway.

Range is not an issue with the GoPro Karma. Its maximum flight distance is 3,000m, which in most cases is far enough for the pilot to lose sight of the drone, breaking one of the key FAA rules of piloting a drone of keeping the drone in visible range. However, many other drones available around the Karma’s price now have a range of 5,000 meters or farther.

The DJI Mavic has a claimed a maximum flying distance of 8 miles (13km). OcuSync long-range-transmission technology is capable of relaying a signal up to 4.3 miles line-of-sight while supporting 720p HD video (1080p HD transmission in short-range mode). Every time you fly, OcuSync scans a range of available frequencies to find and use the one with the least interference to give you more reliability and control, OcuSync transfers vital statistics of the Mavic to you in real time, and can also be used to download photos and videos at up to 40 Mbps while flying. It can be controlled using the DJI Go app over shorter ranges. If you to want to fly further the you can add a tiny remote controller which increases the range to a claimed 7km. The remote can link to a mobile device and view a live feed from the copter in 1080P.

On the whole, the GoPro Karma is a great drone. Think of it as a flying GoPro mount, though, instead of an autonomous aerial vehicle. It lacks collision detection and follow-me abilities — the latest features found on most drones in the Karma’s price point. And that’s a shame, too, as both are excellent additions to drone technology. Think of the Karma as one of the best drones from 2014, and maybe, for GoPro’s core audience, that’s fine.

The post Range is not an issue with the GoPro Karma appeared first on Drone Inner.

Hover Camera: See what they think

Speaking of Hover Camera, you may think of the bankrupt Zano and the Lily in the drones marketing, the three drones are similar, they are all the drones mainly coming with the Self-Timer function, including the following shot function.

Then Hover Camera will follow in their footsteps? How do you think about the Hover Camera?

Below are some comments from the Hover Camera forum.

“More realistic. Its primary selling point is the use of the bottom camera. The rest of the functions are common cellphone camera features. Its main purpose is to stay in place no matter what, the follow feature is probably just the yaw and camera tilt.”

“I saw Hover Camera in my news feed. Looks cool, but at the end of the day, it’s just another toy hitting the market. It might sell well, but I don’t think this is the kind of device that people NEED or that will be super widespread. I’m sure it’ll be fun to fly, though.”

“Just seems a bit pricey for a design that looks like it was 3D printed to hold crayons. Why enclose the props with all that plastic? You’re losing a lot of functionality (lift and aerodynamics) that way.”

“Video is pretty bad. Which is why they market it more for taking photos instead video. I still need to take it out for another ride on the Boosted Board and see how Beast Mode works and how the video quality it when it’s flying at a constant speed. I’m hoping it does a little better than when just floating. Overall, it’s still a fun little toy.”

“The Dobby and Yuneec Breeze look like good options as well. I’ve had Phantoms and actually lugged them along on some pretty long hikes to do exactly what one of these will do. And the fact is I’m not a videographer and while the capabilities of that platform are wonderful, I’ve just come to the realization that one of these types – or maybe a Bebop 2 – are much more my speed, being that all I ended up using the Phantom for is remote selfies anyway.”

“Just purchased Hover Camera because the concept seemed cool and I wanted to try it. Not worth the money really. But still a fun little guy to mess around with. May end up on eBay in a couple weeks.”

“I don’t think I need Hover Camera but and glad I found out about it through an entertaining and honest, robust instructional delivery well done. Imagine it above you while your cooking acting as a fan while filming.”

“If you are looking to use for photos only, this could be a good choice. If you want more video, I’d suggest something like the DJI Mavic. I did a review of that too. It may be more of what you are looking for.”

 

The post Hover Camera: See what they think appeared first on Drone Inner.

Mavic Pro shot with the fighter jets was a surprise

( Video via Matthew Me )

I have been messing with my new Mavic Pro the past few days in Colorado. Other than the fact that I have blur on the right side of my image I love this drone.

*DISCLAIMER* All of this video was recorded outside of all no fly zones and I never flew this flight more than 150feet or so from the ground level. The shot with the fighter jets happened about 10 minutes into my flight and I did not know they were in the air nor did I know they would be flying so damn low.

You may wonder who recorded the Mavic Pro in flight? I was flying with a friend of mine who also owns a Mavic so I recorded him recording me. Unfortunately I didn’t have anything recording sound so I had to borrow a sound effect to put in the video but I think it fits in well.

Someone asked me regarding the fighter jets, where I in any particular mode (tripod, cinematic..) while filming? They flew directly over my head and then circled in front of where I was so I had a few seconds to prepare myself. That being said the panning was quite jerky but I ran it through stabilization in Final Cut Pro and that smoothed it out quite a bit and made it looks as if it was a smooth constant speed.

 

 

The post Mavic Pro shot with the fighter jets was a surprise appeared first on Drone Inner.

What can we expect from the DJI Mavic Standard?

Drone Manufacturer DJI will in all probability soon come with an entry-level version of the Mavic Pro on the market. Not entirely the drone DJI Mavic Standard will be called surprising and have lesser specifications. These new drone will also be offered for sale without a controller. The selling price of the basic model without transmitter would not more than $ 500.

Model M1S

On the FCC website there is in fact a photograph surfaced of a product label showing the designation M1S. On the Mavic Pro adorned with a similar label, but with the indication M1P.

Anyhow, the introduction of a DJI Mavic Standard (or just ‘Mavic’) is a logical continuation of that DJI. The Phantom 3 Standard was announced 6 months after the release of the Phantom 3 Professional and Advanced. At the end of this March, the Mavic will be turning 6 months old, so we can expect that a cheaper iteration will hit the market around that time.

If such a model were introduced, we would expect that its specification might be limited as follows:

• Camera resolution limited to 1080p/2.7K camera.
• Ocu Sync video transmission (same as the pro). That means the Mavic Standard will also be able to fly as far as 7km (4.3mi)
• Removal of obstacle avoidance sensors
• No remote controller
• Controlled only by the DJI Go 4 app
• $ 699 for the version with controller and only $ 449 for the Mavic Standard without remote.

Delivery Problems

Many retailers still have many orders are on backorder. These may put off potential buyers as such a specification would severly limit the functionality of the Mavic Standard.

Thank you very much for reading!

The post What can we expect from the DJI Mavic Standard? appeared first on Drone Inner.

Who is the GoPro Karma for?

Scan drone forums to find many people like GoPro Karma for its full package, versatility and portability.

“I really like DJI but the GoPro Karma does offer a full package for mostly all elements. I will guess the Mavic Pro is a better quad hands down. But if the Karma is a solid quad in the air, the package offers a lot of versatility other than being just a portable quad. Removable gimbal to use with Karma Grip is a killer feature with a Hero 5. Would like that for my kids events, biking, vacations, etc.”

These people can also live without follow me and collision avoidance features.

“The DJI Mavic definitely has more features that appeal than the GoPro Karma BUT, and it is a big but, the GoPro Karma is first generation and it has features, such as removable camera, that will allow me to transfer my existing camera to future generation Karma’s and thus make my investment carry over to the next generation that you can most certainly expect to include features found in the Mavic. Can I live without tracking and collision avoidance and, to a degree, the range difference for now? That’s a tough one but just on the fact that in the next generation my cost will be lower because my cameras transfer (and can be used in other ways, not just flight) I would lean GoPro. With the camera being removable, I can use it in a variety of ways, how about putting that arm into a cradle on a track robot and inspect a pipe, follow a cave explorer, crawling under a house to inspect…without having to have another employee licensed by the FAA.

Technology advantages shift back and forth, I have a great deal of canon video equipment and even though the next guy comes out with more features…this year, I’m not ditching my investment in cameras and lenses to switch. GoPro looks like it is serious about making just that kind of haven for investment in equipment and opportunity to grow by creating a full product “ecosystem” that allows me to work in more than one way or arena. So, my experience is don’t get blinded by the new “features” that will stand at the front for just a short time, look at the long term effect of your investment.”

“The GoPro Karma is the first drone that made me consider getting one. I can take it for shorter biking trips in the mountains. Though Karma lacks some features like “follow me”, less features mean easier to use and less intimidating for beginners. No need to attach a phone or tablet and the detachable gimbal is also welcome. Just see the Karma what it is don’t compare it to the fully featured drones. It’s kind of point and shoot vs DSLR and many times you don’t want to drag your DSLR with you the point and shoot is more convinient. It’s extremely portable and comes with everything you need and you can save $100 if you buy the Hero5 in a package with it. ”

I think the GoPro Karma’s advantage is that you basically can remove the GoPro and use it as a waterproof action cam. But if that doesn’t matter to you because all your land videography will be done with a “real” camera, then the Karma instantly loses 90% of its appeal over Mavic Pro.

The GoPro Karma sells for a flat price of $800 while the Mavic Pro costs $999. The total cost depends on what camera you strap to it. It costs $1000 with a GoPro Hero 5 Session, and $1100 with a GoPro Hero 5 Black.

The post Who is the GoPro Karma for? appeared first on Drone Inner.

GoPro Karma vs DJI Mavic:See What They Think

GoPro Karma and DJI Mavic are considered two entirely different drones, however, it is inevitable for users and enthusiasts to have it compared neck-and-neck. These are two of the more popular brands from the competitors with almost the same features and specifications so it is understandable why comparisons are necessary. Almost is an understatement as one may have more than the other.

The site MyFirstDrone provides some thoughts on this battle.DJI Mavic is going to be the better choice because of how small it is and the additional automated features that it has. While the GoPro owners out there are going to love it. In a way, it’s almost like the 3DR Solo drone, but made by GoPro. He thought what it comes down to is price. People who have GoPros and don’t want to spend as much money will probably get the Karma, and people who want the smallest drone with the most features are going to get the DJI Mavic.

Unfortunately, there’s no follow features on the Karma. You get a 2 point cable cam mode, dronie mode, reveal mode, and orbit mode. These are the same features that other drone manufacturers have had for the past year. Upon its initial launch, the Karma was criticized for a lack of functionality, even the basic ‘Follow Me’ was missing.

The site Gizmodo thought it depends who is flying and under what conditions. On basic specs, the DJI Mavic Pro seems to have bested the GoPro Karma in several categories. Some aspects such as top speed, battery life, portability, remote controller, features modes, it looks like DJI Mavic wins.

When it comes to versatility of video recording, the GoPro Karma easily beats DJI. It was built to combat these type of situations. It can be outfitted with the new GoPro Hero 5 Black, the Hero 5 Session, Hero 4, and Hero 3 cameras and its removable stabilizer that can be used as a handheld gimbal for shooting nice clean shots on or off the drone.

As added by FASTCOMPANY, GoPro may have missed its chance to claim a substantial share of the market, let alone be a serious challenger to China’s DJI, the undisputed industry leader. That’s particularly true since the initial release of the Karma was delayed for about a year, and because the recall came not long after DJI launched its Mavic Pro, which was seen as a direct Karma competitor offering more features like obstacle avoidance and follow-me features that the Karma can’t match.

In conclusion, DJI Mavic Pro is better than GoPro Karma, at least on paper. We’re hoping to get our hands on both drones when GoPro Karma is on sale this year so we can really test the claims both companies are making.

The post GoPro Karma vs DJI Mavic:See What They Think appeared first on Drone Inner.

How to manually set the Mavic Pro camera?-Video

( Video via CAPTAIN DRONE )

The great thing about the camera on the DJI Mavic Pro (or any DJI camera) is that you have lots of options. You can choose to go full automatic and have the camera do everything, or go full manual and change every setting you can think of.

This video gives a quick demonstration on how to manually set the DJI MAVIC PRO camera for optimal video/picture and do things the hard way for the most flexibility and control over the footage.

The post How to manually set the Mavic Pro camera?-Video appeared first on Drone Inner.

DJI Mavic competitor from ZeroTech…

DJI’s first foldable drone Mavic Pro is sought after as soon as it hit the market. Now another Chinese brand ZeroTech, maker of the Dobby, has introduced a similar product, a DJI Mavic competitor.

The aircraft can also be folded, which is almost the same size as the Dobby. At first glance, it’s very similar to DJI Mavic, but different in details. Such as the smaller size, the battery installation and the configuration. It seems it aims at hobby market.

The photos published on drone-rumour site sb-dji.com suggest a folding format drone. Specifications which at this time are rumor/speculation stand as follows:

• Approximately 7-15 minutes flight-time.
• 1.5km flight distance/range.
• Folding propellers.

The industry predicts that the performance of the drone will not be very high, at least is less powerful than Mavic Pro. The advantage is its price, it should be somewhere within $500 USD

What are your thoughts about the competitor? Please let us know in the comment below.

The post DJI Mavic competitor from ZeroTech… appeared first on Drone Inner.

In which case do you hand launch/catch the DJI Mavic Pro?

Many people are curious how many people are hand launching and catching with the DJI Mavic Pro. Below are the cases from DJI Mavic Pro forums.

# “I was hesitant to hand launch and catch but since I fly from mountain locations where this is the only option, I have now done this many times with no issue. I do not have time to fiddle with settings like disabling OA or VPS. I just catch the Mavic Pro from the front (camera side). It’s easy to grab a good firm hold there with no chance of slipping and you can avoid the bottom sensors. If it does try to lift off, that’s not a problem either, it’s easy to hang on. ”

# “Generally no hand launches; when the terrain makes it necessary I use one of those foldable landing pads. The only exception is when I (occasionally) find myself in a (rebar-heavy) concrete jungle that my compass doesn’t like: then I’ll hand launch. And personally haven’t yet found a reason to hand catch, but I understand that some people (e.g., in boats) have a reason to or just prefer it.”

# “I almost strictly hand launch and hand catch. Too much snow right now and since I travel light, I don’t carry any kind of pad. I find it super easy and I do not turn off anything. I have added a removable neck strap to the controller to make it easier to use with one hand while launching and landing.”

# “I do both hand launch and hand catch and I literally have never tried landing my DJI Mavic Pro on ground. I find my fingers are impossible to touch the props if you catch it from the belly (just like everyone else does)”

# “I hand launch and catch whenever I need to. These days, snow would simply not let me take-off and land normally from the ground. I tried several things, but what works best for me is to make sure the DJI Mavic Pro hovers steadily on my right-hand side, 1 foot above my head. I set the automatic landing with two hands on the RC, then I hold the RC with my left hand only and raise my right hand in the air just underneath the quad. The Mavic Pro starts going down and stops when it reaches my hand and feels what it thinks is the ground.

The other thing I do as often is just lowering the quad manually with my left hand on the RC, while my right hand is grabbing the quad. Usually there is a second or two where the drone tries to escape due to the sensors but it does not resist for long. You just have to stay full throttle down until props stop. The worst that can happen if you miss your shot and don’t have a good grip is the quad lifting off by a couple of feet. You just have to start again with a firmer grip.

I find both techniques safe enough for this kind of conditions (snow, water, rocks on the ground), but I’d rather take-off and land from a flat and clean surface when I can.”

# “I have hand launched and caught a couple of times – when there is no suitable site for auto takeoff. I turn the Mavic Pro facing away from me so it doesn’t detect any objects. Then put my hand up under it quickly and grab, then throttle down quickly. It struggles briefly, but then is ok. Launching is no problem. I set the controller on auto takeoff – hold the Mavic with other hand (facing away from me), and hit the take off button. Sometimes I have my wife hit the button. It just lifts out of my hand and stays there until I’m ready with the controls.”

It seems that most of the pilots launched/caught the DJI Mavic Pro manually if necessary in some special conditions like landing/catching from the snow,water, rocks, jungle and boat etc..

The video below may show this technique and offer some good tips for Mavic Pro hand launching or catching.

( Video via Tech We Want )

The post In which case do you hand launch/catch the DJI Mavic Pro? appeared first on Drone Inner.

Drone’s Save Lives – The PR Boost Drones Need

When drone first started to become stable and reliable, industries across the spectrum brainstormed as to how to incorporate this new technology and reap its benefits. From the shipping industry, to the filmmaking industry, to the agricultural industry, drones are slowly becoming major workhorses in a number of industries. It’s exciting to finally see the exponentially increasing use of drone in the public safety sector. The faster drones are put into use; the more lives are potentially saved.With every positive use case reported on by news outlets, public safety departments get more leverage to acquire these technologies.

What accounts for this increase in drone use for public safety is the ability of drones to fly with an array of different types of cameras including infrared, multispectral, and telephoto capable. Platforms like the DJI Inspire or Matrice 100 allow pilots to swap out cameras in seconds. With custom made apps used to control the drones autonomously, user oversight is mitigated. With autonomous flight paths, one of these aircrafts can fly in a grid to cover every inch of land so no hiker is lost to the wilderness.

One such example of drones being put to the test is in Western Canada where seven skiers and snowboarders were rescued after getting stranded. Hummingbird, a drone company specializing in SAR (search and rescue) drones, teamed up with Kamloops Search and Rescue to deploy a DJI Matrice 100 fitted with a thermal camera. After only a few hours the glowing hikers were spotted on the thermal camera. “The Matrices are our favorite and the most effective for what we do because they provide a platform for us to develop on and build out functionality beyond the primary basic use case,” said Robert Atwood, CEO of Hummingbird.

(screenshot of Kamloops SAR’s XT video)

Because of the public’s skeptical position about drone use, public institutions are hesitant to incorporate drones into their arsenal of safety tools. To speed up deliberation, companies like Drone Pilot Inc. have developed programs to provide the tools and training necessary to ease safety, budget, and logistical concerns. They focus on crime scenes and SAR training and use a wide number of multirotors of all shapes and sizes the large and powerful DJI S1000 to the portable and quick-to-deploy DJI Mavic.

As more use cases develop and more success stories are published, public safety institutions will incorporate drones more rapidly and more lives will be saved. Public opinion in favor of drone use by public or federal institutions has been slow to come, but the general perception of drone use may soon be overwhelmingly positive.

The post Drone’s Save Lives – The PR Boost Drones Need appeared first on Drone Inner.

Do you really need Mavic Pro propeller guards?

DJI launched new accessories for the Mavic Pro, one of which is a propeller guard. These aren’t the most exciting releases but they’re, as theverge said “practical gadgets.” The Mavic Pro propeller guards come with two variants. One is priced at $16 and the other one is $159.

No idea whether to buy the Mavic Pro propeller guards? Just check out the buyer’s comments from Amazon and DJI forums below.

# “I am a newbie and waiting for my Mavic Pro-I got the prop guards for use outside to be on the safe side until I become more skilled. I have no intention of flying inside yet.”

# “I bought Mavic Pro propeller guards from Amazon. They installed quickly and really do a nice job against walls and other such in-home obstacles. I recommend them. The Mavic is a bit clunkier with them on but overall flies great. I recommend turning off forward sensors not because the guards interfere with them, but because you can get sudden movements that aren’t fun to experience even with prop guards on!

But note that small objects (like posts less than 11 inches in width) can fit between the prop guards and then impact the props. You could run a string or strong tape across that opening to prevent that if you wanted but it probably would be in the camera field of view and would definitely interfere with the forward facing sensors.”

# “It works fine but is a bit of a pain to put on and it seems to leave some small marks on the Mavic Pro‘s arms when it is slid on.

This will not protect your props with any level of certainty. It will also not be a guarantee that the Mavic cannot cut you or things the Mavic collides into. It works best when it’s a straight level collision, in those cases the Mavic will just bounce off or stay up against the object. If the object you collide with has a complex shape then all bets are off because the Mavic can tilt at an angle and expose the impact zone to the spinning blades.”

# “These guards go on easy and really are study protection. I haven’t noticed any affect on the flying of my Mavic besides a slight shorting of flight time, that I haven’t noticed. You can fly right into a wall and the Mavic just bounces off. I feel so much safer flying my Mavic now.”

# “I got these prop guards, have used them once and removed them. Though they will certainly protect the props, they are heavy relative to the mass of the Mavic Pro and they seem to lower the aircraft’s wind tolerance. I was getting wind warnings when the tree tops were moving only slightly, conditions I had flown in previously and seen no warnings. Other than that they seem to be well made and fit tightly. Each guard is two pieces. On piece fits around the motor and over the arm. The other piece fits down on the first and is connected by two plastic clips. They appear to made of standard polystyrene and are therefore not likely to tolerate any significant impacts but that is pure speculation on my part.”

The post Do you really need Mavic Pro propeller guards? appeared first on Drone Inner.

Any 90% satisfied Mavic Pro pilots?-Part I

Surfing online and reading through forums can find many horror stories of the Mavic Pro.It probably doesn’t help that folks often seem less likely to post about the times that the expected or satisfactory happens.However, many owners still want to know are there any satisfaction stories?

Then we post the thread on some Mavic forums to get the idea.

Loving it at 37 flights, 6.5 hours of flying time so far. The toolset is deep and there’s a lot for me to learn still about advanced functionality, what works best for the kind of photography I want to take, etc.

# Mine has been trouble free and flys great. May be a slight blurry on right side. I’ve been using basic auto focus and need to learn camera settings which I’m doing now.

# I’m satisfied with my purchase.  It would be nice if the camera was a notch higher grade than it is but it’s been a trouble free unit so far. Only a bit over 4 hours of flight time so far.

# It’s portable and the distance stock is better than expected. What’s not to like? The thing that puts it over the top is the dji programmable modes, poi, waypoints, pano, active track. There’s other software for it too.

# I’m at the 95% Satisfied column. I’ve logged 30 flights/5 hours 10 minutes of flight time and over 38,000 meters. I’ve flown higher, longer distances and got the best pictures/video with the Mavic Pro than all of the previous quads I have built. This is a good platform for the size factor.

# Mavic Pro is the first drone that I have ever owned, and I am loving it! The only problem is with me not knowing enough about it! To date, I have had not problems at all and have accumulated just under eight hours of flight time in 42 flights!100% satisfied!

# At this point, less than a month in and only a few hours of flight I would call Mavic Pro 95% satisfied.

I’m carefully learning to fly and exploring all the controls.  So far I’ve found it superior to most quads I’ve flown. It has good picture quality and is well stabilized even in moderate winds.  The packaging was maybe a little excessive but it felt like you were opening a premium product. So far it’s performed like one.

I think my only point of concern is that the remote holds my Samsung G6 only without it’s case and that makes me nervous. Plus taking the case off to fly and putting it back on again when I’m done flying is a bother. Just going to have to buy a small tablet to use when I’m flying.

# 98% satisfied. I had a problem with softness in video but hopefully it solved by changing profile and set sharpness to +1 to remove the NR.

The only thing i miss is the 60/96 FPS which is a huge disappointment. Others from that it is pure fun and love, tested all intelligent flight modes. Been flying where I had hundreds of errors with my phantom 3 without any problems nor errors.

# Delighted with mine – first time drone owner and loving the toolset and YouTube rabbit holes its opened up for me to learn more.

Absolutely love the Mavic Pro and surprised at how exciting it is to use, as usual though if you hang around the Internet forums you can get a bit overwhelmed with the negativity and moaning going on.

I’m 46 now and if you told the 10y old me this sort of thing would be possible and I’d have it one day I’d have thought you were mad (god I wish I had one of these when I was 10)

#The Camera is of course not as good as that on an Phantom 4 Pro and Inspire, but this was never the claim of DJI.

Overall I’m almost 100% happy with my Mavic Pro! This is really a great piece of hightech and does the job very well!

We’ll continue to collect the feedback,please stay tuned to us.

The post Any 90% satisfied Mavic Pro pilots?-Part I appeared first on Drone Inner.

5 things to kill your DJI Mavic battery

The Mavic Pro is an incredibly popular foldable drone from DJI. In this article we’re going to go over Mavic battery.

DJI claims it can power the Mavic Pro for up to 27 minutes under ideal conditions. In my field tests, which combined high-altitude flying on a breezy day, some low-altitude testing of the obstacle avoidance system, and a few jaunts across a football field in the high-speed Sport mode, all while rolling footage at 4K resolution, I netted 23 minutes of flight time by utilizing 90 percent of a fully charged battery. Recharging takes about an hour, and spare batteries are priced at $89. If you think you’re going to get a couple of spares, consider the Fly More bundle—priced at $1,299, it includes two extra batteries, ten propellers, and a carrying case.

Scan Amazon.com for feedback from Mavic Pro battery buyers to discover reviews like “For the size these batteries are great. So far I have 5 of them and so far all work as well as they did the day I got them (all have about 50 cycles on them so far). The Mavic is a fantastic drone and these battery provide great flight time in a small package.”

The Intelligent Flight Battery for Mavic Pro from DJI has its own integrated battery-management system that takes into account everything from remaining voltage, amount of power being used, temperature, and more to calculate remaining flight times, so you always know when to head home. It also has a host of protection mechanisms in place to prevent overcharging and over draining, both of which can damage a LiPo battery permanently. When placed in longer term storage, LiPo batteries should only be kept at 50% charge. Any more or less could cause permanent damage. If left unused, DJI Intelligent Flight Batteries will discharge power until 50% to maintain good health.

This video is about 5 things that can kill your DJI Battery. Check it out and learn what you should NOT do with your DJI batteries. It also applies to Mavic battery.

The post 5 things to kill your DJI Mavic battery appeared first on Drone Inner.

Any Way To Use iPad Mini With Mavic Pro?

Many owners are looking for some ways to use iPad Mini with the Mavic Pro as the iPhone screens are way too tiny for kind of work and the problem with lots of iPhone battery drain.

Yes it makes the interface in the DJI Go app less crowded and gives you more room for controls with the iPad Mini. It also has a bigger battery, so you don’t have to rely on your phone to operate the drone.

Then how to use iPad Mini with DJI Mavic Pro?Below is a step-by-step guide for you.

What you need

Turns out the DJI Mavic Pro Controller was designed to perfectly fit an iPad Mini 2,3, or 4. We’re not sure about Android compatible tablets, but please comment for our readers if you know! This article is focused on iPad Mini.

iPad Mini 2, 3 or iPad mini 4?

The iPad Mini 4 has a faster processor and a better screen, which reduces glare outside — a big plus for flying. You also get the Touch ID which makes it easy for a quick setup. The iPad Mini 2 is still a good device and compatible with the Mavic Pro. There are great deals on both the mini 4.

Right Angled Lightning Cable

Using a regular cable with the iPad Mini in the controller will result in the cable sticking out and bothering your hand during flight. The way to fix that is using a right angled USB. The ideal cable length is between 6–8″, which turns out is hard to find.

Luckily, there is a cable on Amazon for $10 inside a little plastic keyholder — which you can break open and free up the perfect sized right angle cable.

How to Setup iPad Mini with Mavic Pro

Step 1) Remove the Plastic Insert

Step 2) Insert iPad Into Controller

Step 3) Plug in Cable

That’s it! Enjoy the larger screen for flying, and increased battery life!

( Source )

The post Any Way To Use iPad Mini With Mavic Pro? appeared first on Drone Inner.

That’s how the Mavic Pro was born

This year’s trend is smaller drones. Following Dobby, Breeze, and GoPro’s Karma, DJI has finally launched its own mini drone, Mavic Pro.

Let’s have a look and see how the Mavic Pro compares to the competition!

Transforming design

Its appearance might be the most defining part of the Mavic Pro.

Its four propellers and frame arms are foldable, reducing the size to just one third of a piece of A4 paper. There are three things you can re-design to reduce size: battery, camera system and frame arms. If you use a smaller battery you will usually get shorter flight time, while a smaller camera system may reduce image quality. Therefore, the best option is to find a way to fold up the frame arms and propellers to reduce size at the same time as reducing the arms’ weight.

The Mavic Pro strikes a wonderful balance between two sides of this equation.

(3-axis gimbal + longer flight time + 7km video transmission range + new Intelligent Flight modes = small size = portable)

It is possible to achieve all things on the left side, at the same time as reducing size to improve portability? Or is it too good to be true? Let’s find out.

 3-Axis Gimbal

The composition of an aerial photo or video depends on the altitude of your drone. But motors spinning at a high speed create vibrations and impact air flow, and may therefore make your photos and videos so blurry as to be unusable.

The best way to reduce vibrations is to use a mechanical gimbal. It not only reduces vibrations and movement to give you smooth shots, but also helps you to control the camera.

The Mavic Pro is equipped with the smallest high-precision 3-axis gimbal and camera, while still keeping the same size 1/2.3 image sensor. With 12.35 million effective pixels, and an ultralow distortion lens, the camera also supports 90° vertical shooting and always captures high-quality footage.

Flight Time

The Mavic Pro’s theoretical flight time is 27 minutes.

How does it fare in practice? Let’s try it out.

We tested Mavic’s flight time using the Point of Interest mode, and set it to fly at a height and radius of 10 meter. After flying for 24 minutes, there was an 8% battery charge remaining. We drained the rest of battery to 0% and the Mavic finally landed itself after 26 minutes of flight.

We trialed its flight time several times that afternoon and despite windy weather, the Mavic managed to fly for 25 to 26 minutes in each test. We also flew the Mavic in Sport Mode, and when we landed the drone after 10 minutes it still had a 52% charge left.

The official rating of 27 minutes is achieved in ideal conditions without winds, just like the ratings of other products like the 0–100 km/h acceleration for cars, or smartphone benchmarks. Since there isn’t a universal test standard in the drone industry, flight time is a better and more direct measure over battery capacity.

The Mavic remote controller has a battery life of 2.5 hours and more importantly, it also has a built-in screen, offering flight information including flight data, battery level and so on.

So even if your phone is out of battery, you can still use the remote controller alone to control your Mavic Pro.

7km Video Transmission Range

DJI uses a new transmission system in the Mavic Pro which allows you to change between different radio frequency bands to extend the transmission range or avoid interference. DJI claims that the max transmission range is 7km, which beats the range provided by commonly used 2.4G Wi-Fi video transmission.

We tested this, too.

When Mavic reaches a 6km range, the system warns that the signal is weak, but video transmission is stable and smooth as always. When it’s 7km away, we still have transmission signal.

New Intelligent Flight Modes

Mavic comes with many different Intelligent Flight Modes, including Circle, which is the mode I use the most. When a target has been selected, the Mavic will start to circle around it.

Other than that, Mavic Pro also supports the new Spotlight and Profile Modes, where the drone flies in parallel to the subject. You can adjust the distance between the drone and the subject by using the control sticks. You are suggested to use these modes in places with one side open and wide, such as canyons or roads along the sea.

Gesture Mode

A new important feature called Gesture Mode has been added to the Mavic. In this mode, the camera will recognize moving objects in the frame, and the front LEDs start to flash slowly after finishing calibrate its recognition system. When you make a specific gesture, for example, a frame gesture, the Mavic confirms your gesture and the front LEDs flash quickly and the camera takes a photo. All you need to do is pose before the flashing stops.

Phone control and goggles

Finally, the Mavic Pro can now be controlled with just a phone. However, in this mode its maximum flight range, altitude and speed are all restricted. There are also specially design FPV goggles coming soon, so that users can experience Mavic’s flight in an immersive way.

Summary

Let’s sum up all the highlighted features of the Mavic Pro. Transforming frame arms and remote controller, high-precision 3-axis gimbal, new Intelligent Flight Modes, intelligent Obstacle Avoidance, TapFly, Profile Mode, Terrain Follow, controllable with a smart phone, Gesture Mode and vertical camera angle.

The concept of a selfie drone is not new. Rather, it’s an extension of consumer drone category, just more consumer-oriented and optimized in terms of their size, weight, intelligent features, flight time and so on. That’s how the Mavic Pro was born.

Despite its small size, Mavic has everything needed inside. If you have higher expectations than just a “selfie drone”, you will be amazed by what the Mavic can do.

That’s all for today’s review. Thank you for watching. See you next time!

 

The post That’s how the Mavic Pro was born appeared first on Drone Inner.