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.”

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Hover Camera Passport review

Chinese drone-maker Zero Zero Robotics announced its Hover Camera Passport drone and $25 million in funding from investors including IDG, GSR Ventures, ZhenFund and ZUIG.

Being like a drone camera, it offers three modes of photography: 720P, 1080P and 4K. And the Snapdragon 801 processor allows easy recording in 4K, 13MP photo or 720P images in real time. It can recognize a human face and then track it. Hover Camera Passport also supports 360° shooting, throw-and-fly, automatic hovering etc.

And its foldable design gives it a weight that is only at 242g, lighter than iPad Mini. And its foldable size of 18 * 13cm is just a little big as a passport.

But the key to this drone’s design is the safety. The carbon fiber enclosure design protects the propellers, a design move that could have prevented injuries caused by the sharp blades of whirring propellers.

“I want it to be portable, I want it to be safe, I want it to be user friendly,” said Zero Zero Robotics CEO M.Q. Wang, a former Twitter software engineer. “Our goal is to build personal robotics for anyone.”

While the company has really tried to balance efficiency and safety, the result isn’t fully satisfying. As shown above, an adult woman can put her finger through openings in the cover, and of course kids can, too. So for all parents out there: this is not a toy for your kids to play with alone. With such a seemingly safe design, it’s actually more likely that accidents will occur.

It’s something that realistically could compete with the more inexpensive drones from the two established market players, Phantom maker DJI and Yuneec. DJI so far has received at least $105 million in two rounds of venture funding, and Yuneec in August received $60 million in funding from Intel Capital.

Zero Zero Robotics was founded in 2014 and has about 80 employees, Wang said, but the company managed to remain largely unheard of until now.

The Hover Camera Passport is priced at $599. To step back for a second, consumers can buy a Parrot drone or DJI’s Phantom 3S starting. From $499. This new drone-in-a-grill has 10-minute flight, a controllable range of 20m and doesn’t support a remote control, working only through an app. So, is $599 cheap? There are a number of factors to consider.

“We wanted to make sure we solved a lot of hard engineering problems first,” Wang said.

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Trip in France with my first drone Mavic Pro

( Via Christian D )

I pretty much just received my Mavic Pro drone. This is actually the first drone that I ever had – I have never flown a drone before, so I have really taken a lot of time to practice how to get good, smooth and good looking shots. After playing with it for a couple of weeks, I decided to take it with me to my trip to Avoriaz in France.

To be honest, I’m quite proud of the result! This is the product of hours of shooting across multiple days around Avoriaz, and even longer time editing the video!

Avoriaz is a small city, lying deep into the french alps. Situated 1800 meters above sea level on a plateau of a cliff, you get the stunning views together with great skiing opportunity.

 

 

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3DR Solo Smart Aerial Drone

3DR Solo smart aerial drone is especially made for the aerial photography and videography to capture your moments in a frame.Drone has made aeronautical photography, cinematography and videography more available than any time in recent memory, be that as it may, getting proficient looking shots is still genuinely precarious. Unless you’ve had years of practice, it’s truly hard to fly a drone and control a camera in the meantime. A great deal of new drone has been turned out of art and there is a considerable measure of drone company out there. The 3DR Solo smart aerial drone comes in to evolve. This drone planned this particularly to shoot aeronautical video, and furnished it with a scope of independent flight moods that makes it simpler to catch those smooth, hot, professional looking cinematic shots.

First features:

The consumer drone with a brain, 3DR Solo smart aerial drone is powered by twin computers

Only drone to stream wireless HD video from GoPro direct to iOS/Android devices

Powerful Smart Shot technology makes capturing incredible cinematic footage easy and automatic

First with in-flight GoPro access: Start/stop recording and adjust camera settings from the ground (with Solo Gimbal)

Hardware features:

Revolutionary, intuitive video game-style controller

Solo Gimbal (sold separately) delivers smooth footage, GoPro power and control, HDMI video and intelligent camerawork

Future-proof accessory and gimbal bays make 3DR Solo smart aerial drone ready for tomorrow’s technology

The smart drone gets smarter: Concepts under development include LiDAR for super stable indoor flight; ballistic parachute system; flight rewind and more

Software features:

Full-featured app for iOS and Android puts total craft control at your fingertips

Unique safety features like pause and “safety net” mean you can fly with confidence

Take to the air in seconds with effortless pushbutton flight

Follow mode enables 3DR Solo smart aerial drone to automatically track and film a subject

Free software and feature updates ensure your Solo grows and adapts with advancements in technology

The 3D Robotics Solo is a propelled ramble that has a considerable measure of solid components. These incorporate tight mix with GoPro cameras, a superb remote control that makes smooth. A repeatable gimbal change a reality and various Smart Shot modes that can add some drama to your elevated video. The GPS availability and greatest range could be better. However, these issues aren’t generally a tremendous different to ease of use. And 3DR’s incredible self-governing flight modes make you disregard them in a rush.

Be that as it may, there are a few drawbacks to the Solo also. Its GPS sets aside long opportunity to bolt on and some time it can’t get a flag by anyway.

 

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Parrot Bebop 2 test

The Parrot Bebop 2 is a high-end drone with surprising capabilities! This drone is the main competitor of the DJI Phantom 3. We tested for you the different features of this drone!

Before being able to fly the drone it is first necessary to update the firmware. This is done simply by downloading the Freeflight application and updating the internal program. Once this step is done, it will be necessary to parameterize the magnetometer of the drone. Simply follow the instructions and orient the drone in the different positions indicated by the setting screen of the Freeflight 3 application.

Once this stage is completed you are on track to take off your Parrot Bebop 2! Once the drone is on the ground, a simple button will take off.

Piloting the Parrot Bebop 2

This drone is childlike simplicity, take-off and landing are assisted by the embedded electronics and the drone is particularly stable and pleasant to fly. The flight controls respond quickly and during our tests we did not feel latency between the controller and the drone movement, so it’s a very good point!

The Parrot Bebop 2 also has a very nice feature of automated looping! Indeed by pressing a simple button on the smartphone, the drone is able to realize a figure of 360 degrees which will impress your friends. This function is a bit “bluffing” because even if the figure appears complex all this maneuver is managed electronically, observers will be impressed even if you do not do much.

In flight, the drone is very aggressive but despite its record acceleration and its high speed it is extremely maneuverable and finally very nice to drive even for a beginner pilot. This drone will be suitable for all persons starting the piloting of quadcopters.

Parrot Bebop 2 Features

One of the exciting features of the Parrot Bebop 2 is of course the “route” functionality that will enable you to program a specific path that the drone will traverse! Indeed the drone Bebop 2 being equipped with a GPS chip, it is able to locate in the space and therefore to follow predefined paths! Moreover, thanks to the management interface, the programming of this route is extremely simplified. Simply click on the different points of stops on a map so that the drone starts to make the course. At each stopping point the orientation of the HD camera is also defined to record an aerial shot of the hair! A view of the route and the recorded points of sight you can go about your activities while being assured that the drone will carry out the task that you have recorded. It’s just the perfect feature to shoot you in action and to keep timeless memories!

Conclusion

The Parrot Bebop 2 isn’t going to match more capable drones on performance, features, or video quality. But if you are happy with a quadcopter that can comfortably tool around your backyard at a modest maximum altitude, the Bebop is worth a look. If you want a model that can fly further, higher, offers better video quality, and is absolutely steady in the air, consider instead one of the DJI Phantom 3 models.

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GoPro Karma vs Phantom 4: Duel of drones

The GoPro Karma was recalled last year due to sudden loss of power which would cause the drone to crash mid-flight. The re-release for the Karma drones fixed the issue by adding latches to keep the battery secure during flight.

Note that since we did not have the New GoPro Karma in our hands at the moment, we can only rely on what the manufacturer says about the old version, namely the technical data sheet.

Control and functionality

Let’s start with the item that we have … the least information. Indeed, for lack of test, difficult to get an idea on what is worth the GoPro Karma in flight. However, on paper, the Phantom 4 seems to us far better provided than its competitor.

The TapFly has two very interesting functions: the TapFly, which allows it to fly to a destination marked on the smartphone and tablet, and the ActiveTrack, which is the tracking mode. Without target beacon) of the Phantom 4.

These automatic modes require the presence of an obstacle detector at the front of the drone, which it is actually equipped with.

The GoPro Karma only has an “auto path” mode, which aims to optimize the shooting and avoid the hazards of manual driving by making the flight more fluid.

As for controlling, DJI and GoPro have taken quite different paths: when the first one is displaying on a smartphone (or a tablet), GoPro proposes a dedicated controller, with a large screen rather bright on the paper (900 nits ). The counterpart is that if this controller is damaged, you have no choice but to replace it.

Finally, GoPro allows, with its Passenger App, to share video in real time with other users (available on iOS and Android). The latter can, while you are piloting the drone, take care of the capture and the shooting.

Performance and autonomy

Regarding performance and autonomy, once again, the Phantom 4 seems to be still ahead of GoPro Karma. Whether it is the top speed (20 m / s, compared to 15 for the Karma), the range (3.5 km, versus 1 km for the GoPro drone) or the maximum altitude (6,000 meters, while the Karma only “4,500 meters”), the Phantom 4 data sheet surpasses that of the Karma drone.

From the point of view of autonomy, the observation is identical; DJI announces 28 minutes of flight, against 20 minutes for GoPro. The battery onboard the Phantom 4 (81.3 Wh against 75.4 Wh for Karma) is probably not unrelated to this difference of 8 minutes.

Compactness

The GoPro Karma is considerably heavier: counting the mass of the drone, the battery, the camera and the stabilizer, we arrive at 2,144 kg. The Phantom 4 is 300 grams less. Its width and length are also larger than those of the DJI drone (411 x 305 mm, compared to 229 x 229 mm for the Phantom 4).

On the other hand, it is less than 6 cm high and above all, its articulated structure allows it to take more compact dimensions, which allow it to fit in a backpack (delivered by GoPro). A real asset for Karma.

The quality of the shot

It is certainly in this area that the difference between the two drones is the most significant. The Phantom 4 has a dedicated camera, this is not the case with Karma, where you can adapt a GoPro Hero 4 (Black or Silver), a Hero 5 Session or a Hero 5 Black.

This choice makes the GoPro Karma very scalable, and from this point of view, GoPro was rather smart, rightly focusing on the quality of its pocket cameras.

In the case of the Phantom 4, a 9-element lens overhangs a 1/2-inch sensor that shares 12 million pixels, an aperture at f / 2.8 and a sensitivity that ranges from 100 to 3,200 ISO. GoPro is less hard on the subject: just know that the GoPro Hero 5 has a 6-element aspherical glass lens, which brings light to 12 million pixels as well.

In video, performance is similar, but GoPro reaches 30 fps in 4K, where the Phantom 4 is content with 25 fps. Both drones can shoot in Full HD at 120 fps.

In Conclusion

This comparison between these two drones highlights their different orientation: when GoPro Karma relies on the simplicity and the quality of the videos, trying to attract a large audience, Phantom 4 are oriented more towards the users more demanding, which will have uses more exotic than a “simple” shot.

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Whether we can benefit from the Xiaomi Mi drone?

Xiaomi unveiled its first drone on May 2016, the very well named Xiaomi Mi Drone. It is very similar to DJI Phantom.

Aesthetically speaking, the Xiaomi Mi Drone is in the form of a quadrocopter. It is therefore equipped with four arms with as many propellers and engines. The manufacturer also placed a removable camera underneath, framed by two imposing feet.

The Mi Drone weighs about 140 grams and the camera is mounted on a three-axis stabilization system. It also incorporates a 5,100 mAh battery and it will be able to hold no less than 27 minutes in flight. It is not bad and it is also equipped with all the usual sensors.

Moreover, it can even follow the user, or even return to its take-off point in case of loss of signal.

It will be sold with a remote control of course and the Mi drone 4K will offer a range of four kilometers according to the company. If the user wishes, he can attach a base and put his phone on it in order to have a video return.

The camera of the drone is equipped with a Sony sensor of 12 million pixels. Beware, however, because the device will be available in two versions: 1080p and 4K. In the first case, it should be limited to Full HD (1920 × 1080) with a frame rate of 60 frames per second, compared with 4K (3840 × 1250) at 30 frames per second in the second.

Ah, and he can shoot in RAW, otherwise.

But the best thing about the Xiaomi Mi Drone is its price. True to its habit, the manufacturer has indeed opted for a very aggressive price positioning and the device will be offered 2,499 yuan for the Full HD version and 2,999 yuan for the 4K version, which gives something like $380 and $460 by applying the conversion rates currently in force.

So of course, these tariffs do not take into account taxes possible. It remains to be seen whether we can benefit from it in America.

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