My 1st Phantom was a P2 with a GoPro. Footage from that was used in reality shows and commercials, same with my P4p. TV budgets are very tight these days no one wants to pay for anything more than they have to.
My 1st Phantom was a P2 with a GoPro. Footage from that was used in reality shows and commercials, same with my P4p. TV budgets are very tight these days no one wants to pay for anything more than they have to.
The reason one spends $2,000 on putting a Phantom kit together is for the quality of the video produced. That quality depends on the relatively large sensor size used with the camera. A Mavic or Spark is not going to produce equivalent video quality and these are marketed to a different segment. The sensor area of the Phantom is 116 sq mm as compared to the Spark at 28 sq mm. This affects in particular low light video quality and overall dynamic range.
In terms of the camera's capabilities DJI has the base level with the Mavic and the Spark and a mid level with the Phantom and a top level with the Inspire line of drones. I would expect that DJI is trying to capture first time drone buyers with their Mavic and Spark drones and hope that they will move up to a Phantom and from there possibly to an Inspire should they wish to generate steady income from their preoccupation and turn it into an occupation.
This is not any different than the rest of the video market that goes from a $200 P&S camera or a smartphone up to a RED camera and cine lenses. There is also not a one size fits all and when traveling by plane and wanting to take a drone along with my other photo gear it will most definitely not be a Phantom drone but something much smaller and cheaper (so when someone at TSA or an airline baggage handler steals it the loss is less).
In terms of the camera's capabilities DJI has the base level with the Mavic and the Spark and a mid level with the Phantom and a top level with the Inspire line of drones. I would expect that DJI is trying to capture first time drone buyers with their Mavic and Spark drones and hope that they will move up to a Phantom and from there possibly to an Inspire should they wish to generate steady income from their preoccupation and turn it into an occupation.
This is not any different than the rest of the video market that goes from a $200 P&S camera or a smartphone up to a RED camera and cine lenses. There is also not a one size fits all and when traveling by plane and wanting to take a drone along with my other photo gear it will most definitely not be a Phantom drone but something much smaller and cheaper (so when someone at TSA or an airline baggage handler steals it the loss is less).
Funny, I'd rather carry on a P4P when traveling and bring less camera gear, packing an SX50 camera in my drone backpack. I'd rather have better aerial video quality than land based shot quality, that's just me. And, nobody can steal it during the plane flight since it's in my possession and no guns are allowed on planes (that's the only way someone could steal it, over my dead body
).
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GadgetGuy
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I just wish I could find more places in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to actually fly my darn P4P without having to drive an hour and/or notify 10 different airports/helipads, etc.. I could care less about the size...If I can’t fly it, I don’t care what it looks like or what features it has. If I can only fly locally in a couple of spots, what good does all the advancement do me? Sorry.. Just venting..
I would be happy if their batteries didn't brick after updating firmware. I have a P4 and have had 2 batteries quit working after firmware update - They display a "Battery Signal Error" The first time it happened DJI replaced the battery under warranty. The most recent one has only been used 11 times but DJI said "Sorry, it's out of warranty" So now $100 + battery is now a brick! Not a happy camper. I am hoping some day another company will come out with Quads that have the same feature/$ and have decent customer support.
That really sucks! This is another good reason to never upgrade firmware on anything if it's flying ok. Never!
Did you ask DJI to repair it out of warranty? I gotta believe they have a way to fix the firmware.
That really sucks! This is another good reason to never upgrade firmware on anything if it's flying ok. Never!
Did you ask DJI to repair it out of warranty? I gotta believe they have a way to fix the firmware.
Did you ask DJI to repair it out of warranty? I gotta believe they have a way to fix the firmware.
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They claim the battery can't be repaired. What crap! The reason I update firmware is because I can't stand all the nag screens. It would be really nice if they took these batteries and figured out why they are failing after updates. If you look at their reviews I don't think I recall any saying they were happy with customer service. Here's another example of why their service sucks. They have a webpage saying they have a service center near me in Los Angeles. They have hours but no address. I don't think they want anyone coming into their facility. Oh well. I work in customer service for an A/V company. If we treated our customers like this we would be out of business because we have competitors. Unfortunately DJI really doesn't have any competition.
That's too bad, I find that difficult to believe, but I guess it could be true. I don't think that should alleviate the liability from DJI in this case. 11 charge cycles is nothing.
You might want to visit or call a DJI store and get their opinion. All of them repair drones out of warranty. Maybe some clever technician has figured out this battery firmware anomaly.
I clearly understand why DJI doesn't want anyone visiting their facility for drone repair. That's wise for not letting the public visit them IMO. It's too time consuming with potentially irate people coming in, whining for an hour about their woes. With consumer products you get all kinds of personalities that are non-professional, and know nothing about anything, technically speaking. It's way more efficient to ship things so it fits into a routine with trace-ability, with a paper trail. It's just more efficient. My company provides computer repair services and we don't like it when a customer insists on visiting to "discuss" their problem, for something that needs to be written down anyway, for the record. Things can be discussed on the phone if needed, but it's way more efficient if the issue can be expressed in writing, and shipped in. It's truly a waste of our time when customers visit with their broken hardware, usually taking 2 to 3 times longer to get the same job done. We only allow our larger long term customers to visit, our of courtesy and to build a relationship. Others, we insist they ship their H/W in with an RMA#, that requires them to state the symptom and background of the issue to get the RMA#. People always take too long in person, use too many words, tell their personal stories, and often repeat themselves. So I get it.
I'm not trying to defend DJI, only being candid about in-person service when it comes to electronic repair, especially for consumer products.
Interestingly enough, I never really thought about aerodynamics here. I typically use mine for photography, so I'm moving slowly for the most part. It's pretty much symmetrical, so if there IS an airflow consideration, it's pretty much the same in any direction of travel. I think as different uses arise, there may be a need for different designs and styles, but for me, I think the Phantom works pretty well.
I like the size, too. Only reason I'd want anything larger is if I went to 6 or 8 props and wanted to carry a heavier camera.
I'm a huge fan of P4P, my primary go to craft. My Mavic gets neglected due to the lesser camera, but I still have circumstances that prompt me to fly it every once in a while.
That said, I've noticed a flight anomaly with P4P that Mavic doesn't seem to have. I'm curious if others have noticed this.
When I'm in a hover with P4P and do a very slow and consistent pan to capture the view, I find it difficult to keep a consistent rate of yaw with the craft. Even though the stick isn't moving once I start the yaw, the rate of yaw speed will vary as the craft rotates. It will slow down, sometimes stop, even though the stick has a fixed input to yaw at a constant rate. If it stops, and I wait, the craft will eventually start to yaw again with the same stick position. This behavior ruins the cinematic look that I'm after. Sometimes I'm successful with a smooth and consistent yaw rate, other times it just doesn't happen. The only thing I can attribute this anomaly to is the wind, which might be affecting the yaw rate.
When I fly the Mavic and do the same slow yaw move, it's more consistent than the P4P for a constant yaw speed. This may be due to better aerodynamics, I'm not quite sure.
Both craft have the EXPOs setup for a non linear stick reaction, set at the maximum non linear rate, to aid in a slow movement with initial stick input.
If the new MAVIC2 has the 1" sensor and it has the same consistent yaw rate behavior as the MavicPro, that would be a compelling reason to buy MAVIC2.
I've been tempted to buy an Inspire to fix this anomaly I always experience with my P4P. The rotating 360 camera in the Inspire should work better to get a consistent pan rate, versus yawing the craft. However the Inspire is way to big for the majority of my needs.
Has anyone else noticed yaw behavior differences between these two craft, P4P and MavicPro?
That said, I've noticed a flight anomaly with P4P that Mavic doesn't seem to have. I'm curious if others have noticed this.
When I'm in a hover with P4P and do a very slow and consistent pan to capture the view, I find it difficult to keep a consistent rate of yaw with the craft. Even though the stick isn't moving once I start the yaw, the rate of yaw speed will vary as the craft rotates. It will slow down, sometimes stop, even though the stick has a fixed input to yaw at a constant rate. If it stops, and I wait, the craft will eventually start to yaw again with the same stick position. This behavior ruins the cinematic look that I'm after. Sometimes I'm successful with a smooth and consistent yaw rate, other times it just doesn't happen. The only thing I can attribute this anomaly to is the wind, which might be affecting the yaw rate.
When I fly the Mavic and do the same slow yaw move, it's more consistent than the P4P for a constant yaw speed. This may be due to better aerodynamics, I'm not quite sure.
Both craft have the EXPOs setup for a non linear stick reaction, set at the maximum non linear rate, to aid in a slow movement with initial stick input.
If the new MAVIC2 has the 1" sensor and it has the same consistent yaw rate behavior as the MavicPro, that would be a compelling reason to buy MAVIC2.
I've been tempted to buy an Inspire to fix this anomaly I always experience with my P4P. The rotating 360 camera in the Inspire should work better to get a consistent pan rate, versus yawing the craft. However the Inspire is way to big for the majority of my needs.
Has anyone else noticed yaw behavior differences between these two craft, P4P and MavicPro?
I have the Sync Gimbal Pan Follow turned off. I turned that off months ago and it helped. You're right, that thing is weird sometimes. Although turning it off improved the predictive nature of the camera panning left or right, the craft at times has difficulty keeping a consistent yaw rate for the pan. I'm thinking it's the wind that's causing it, but it seems the Mavic is less affected by the wind, if in fact it's the wind causing the anomaly.
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