DJI Mavic Discussion

There are several threads where the Mavic has been discussed. Let's bring it all together here so other Artists who may be wanting to buy it can get information. The Facebook forums on the Mavic are very biased and over the top thrilled. Kind of like no one dares state the obvious negatives with the positives.

I've been flying my Mavic for about two months. I like the smaller sizes. The stability and tracking modes are very good. The flight characteristics far exceed those of the all the DJI versions up until the Mavic and Phantom 4 Pro.

The camera is very small and very delicate. The videos and photos are somewhat noisy and many times have the muddy look. The muddy look seems to come and go and many times the results are very sharp. A little Neat Video cleans the noise with no problem. The gimbal is pretty good, when being buffeted with wind the video is stable. Remember the sensor is the same one used in small point and shoot cameras and cell phones. The Mavic popularity is mostly hype from Facebook and YouTube users with their first drone. Agreed is better than anything else out there so far but too delicate.

It is very stable, no problem flying it and controlling it over a mile away. So stable that you can put it overhead and forget about it while you do yard work and let the video run. It will not move. The follow me modes and circle are pretty good. Takes some getting used to how to set it. The battery does not last 28 minutes like advertised but you can get over 20 minutes. Flying inside is not a problem now, very stable as long as there is a pattern on the floor to orient itself.

So my recommendation ... buy the Phantom 4 Pro for much better quality video and photo. The sensor is much larger and much better quality. The stability and functions are basically the same. If you want a smaller form for travel then the Mavic is better.

Should never fly with the cheap plastic dome. In fact the brittle plastic tabs will break off easily. The dome is really only for storage and should be off to ensure proper cooling while in flight.

Thanks for the excellent review.
I have a Phantom 4 and I am not at all satisfied with the image quality, although flying capabilities are spectacular.
I want to upgrade and the Mavic has 3 things extremely interesting: size, less noise and especially narrower field of view of 28mm vs 20mm for the P4. But I believe that the camera is very similar to the one in the P4, so it would not solve the problem.
I am pretty sure I will buy the Phantom 4 Pro in April ( I do no fly in the winter here in the UK, days are tooo short) , unless there will be an announcement of a P5 in reasonable time

Buy the Mavic only if you want to have fun shooting shots, especially if helping with the decision"Do I bring the drone or the tripod?" with this you can do both .. but expect to be disappointed with the quality. From what I see today, I am happy to have it, and it does/will make sellable shots, but ... best to view your footage after drinking or perhaps after sex ...

It has less noise (sensor noise) but lots of flicker in detail areas, and plenty of compression noise/artifacts.

From what I just saw, (previewing Day 2 footage now) I would recommend do NOT ever use DCI 4K ... like the Z3 camera, the edges are way soft, and it's better not to see that at all ... so shoot 2.7K and render to HD, or UHD, but know .. if shooting wide, so far, preliminary results from Mizamook Central indicate -1 on sharpness, but if in forest/complicated scene 0 on sharpening you will need it (happy so far with D-Cinelike -1 or 0 Sharpen, -2 Contrast, -2 Saturation)

Highlight handling pretty fair, considering. Blown out clouds are bad, but moderate zebras on, say, trucks, or mountains, ends up looking OK. Lens flares can be decent so should be used to hide the lack of resolution.

FOV is pretty nice, really, and minimal distortion ... certainly not as bad as the X3 camera.

It will make you more virile.

Just found in RCGroups forum reference to a problem that is in both Mavic and my Z3 cams ... makes me wonder if the guy in charge of calibrating things has a near field vision issue or something .. blotchy blur on edges, mostly on right side. No, it's NOT me .. I've seen it on friend's monitor (5K Mac) and mine, and it only happens on Z3 camera footage and Mavic.

I might have to send it in.

Quality control, guys, quality control!

I had the P4, wanted to get the Mavic but after waiting for months I canceled my pre-order and went with the P4Pro. The difference with the P4 is not as big as I expected, I still got some mushy detail on certain shots with shrubs and trees etc. But I've only had it for a few weeks and it might have been that I didn't re-focus.
I have the impression my P4 was a more stable flyer and the Go 4 Android app freaked out on me when I forgot my iPad mini cable a week ago and flew with my S7 Edge. It almost cost me my bird!

If I had some more cash I'd get the Mavic as well: the best drone is the one you're carrying!

"the best drone is the one you're carrying!" True!

Just did a grey sky dark forest bright mountains in distance test with D-Log (various Style settings) as well as further using D-Cinelike, also checking more Style (you know .. Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation)

I wonder why they don't give us LUT's for the App when shooting D-Log. That is precisely what LUT's are FOR ... really nice to look down and see a decent picture on the screen, not a flat expanse of grey bleah.

Hard to gauge exposure with D-Log ... I'll have to practice more with it. I tended to overexpose (even though the zebras didn't ever show up) and I find no information in the highlights, whereas with D-Cinelike, if I expose just so my preferred highlights are in zebra slightly, I find plenty of balanced exposure to work with.

Sport Mode is SPORTY

Adjusted gimbal tilt response dampening to about 27 ... I like sloooooow tilts.

Sharpness needs to be up, like 0 or +1 even, for both D-Log and D-Cinelike, but that is based on yesterday (nice light) and today (flat light over forest) and if aliasing (as I still see on the far shore horizons) is offensive, a mask and blur technique will be advised. It might go away when rendered to HD.

This movie and individual footage (available here at P5) was captured with the Mavic.

https://youtu.be/vJPLvdmWHmM

Cool stuff .. nice shots, fun location!

Is the super-speed stuff a follow-me flight? If so, that's awesome.

I could see a few "things" but that's a nice example of how well it can work. I bet there's a lot more detail in the dunes and scrub than is seen, but nonetheless, it looks good.

Love the shot vertical looking down early on where you see what ... another Mavic and shadow, or two more?

What settings?

Ya the following shots were automatic and it did a good job tracking me in the RZR and when I was walking. A friend was out with me and he was flying his 3DR drone. He's not really and has never been happy with it. He gets a lot of rejections when using the GoPro 4 Black with aerials for grain and artifacts. It is also not nearly as stable as the Mavic. In Tripod mode it really is like having a camera on a tripod.

Not sure of settings, I was experimenting. I tried the -1 and sharpness and contrast but felt I was losing too much. The biggest thing I would like to see is adjustment in aperture from the 2.2. Most of the time during day shots I would much rather have f 5.6 up to f8. Having to use a 8 or 16 ND filter should not be needed. I have the three lens ND from PolarPro and they snap on real easy and do not mess up the gimbal.