DJI Mavic Discussion

OK, so it's the 3DR an its shadow below ... that was kinda neat .. nope never got into that stuff ... GoPro inthe air? Yuck. Dicey gimbals? Yuck. My Matrix with the RX100 (m2,3, and 4) was cool (still is) but it is NOT portable, high maintenance, not subtle .. WILL chop your arm off, heavy as hell, people wonder why it sounds like Russian chopper attack force, and is scary, but the video was better ... except for it was jiggedly crap most of the time, so totally ruined it ... this is exactly the opposite on all accounts ...

What is this Tripod Mode? Heard of it, but not tried ... (I'm apparently not one for reading instructions)

Buy a drone, you buy a set of ND's for it, period ... you should know that by now, silly! It's a pain ... I got the Polar Pro set too ... feels a bit dodgy putting them on/off, but OK ... they only bound up once ...

Don't mind losing contrast .. I put it back in to taste .. but that sharpening .. at once too much and not enough. FLICKER.

Might try the auto modes some time ... maybe finally get my shots of boat under sail ... problem is, to get the drone back, you gotta stop the boat ... harder to do under sail! (I hand catch when on boat, and it's hard enough even swinging at anchor)

The tripod mode makes it very stable. In tripod mode I took it off and set it in tripod at 50 feet. I then drove my tractor around for 25 minutes never looking at the drone while it captured the video. No movement at all. You can still manually fly it but full stick movement results in very very slow movement like a slow pan. Definitely worth giving it a try.

You mention leaving it in the air for 25 minutes ... that's rad (I know flying in sport mode would be different of course) but that reminds me of one reason I like this critter is that it flies for a loooong time in 20-30 degree weather with batteries not even broken in yet, whereas the Inspire 1 would not fly in 40 degrees because the battery was a wimp ... literally would not take off (the other birds flew just fine, but the wimpy smart I1 batteries pissed me off, so I sold it) ... not so with this!

Definitely will try Tripod mode ... sounds like some interesting shots can be had.

Having blur issues in DCI mode. (right side shows lots of blur even when rest of frame is sharp) Level 1 Support told me to turn off the zebras (among other nonsensical things) Found that this problem is not rare at all. DJI is a BS company when it comes to support and taking their customers seriously. I guess that's what we should expect when we try to use toys as tools. Lovely that the RMA time expectation from DJI has and always will be 3 weeks+

@mizamook I would not shoot d-log at such a low bitrate. Go for neutral or art, natural. Log is for high bitrate footage where you'll actually be able to retrieve all the digital info/dynamic range. It's a nice gimmick but the depth is simply not there at such agressive compression rates. I found my P4 footage to be much more mushy when shooting d-log and I believe the general consenus is to stay clear of it with the Mavic and Phantom 4.

Normally I don't ... I'm using D-Cinelike. I find the sharpening halo on distant hills to be nuisance, but with sharpening set at 0 even ... if I set it at -1 it looks bad in foreground IF there is lots of detail, but if not, then -1 is OK, even though it still puts a halo on the distant peaks.

Looks like my shipping label is ready to print ... it's going back today. (for the blur on the right side issue)

Last night I compared a bunch of old Inspire 1 clips (shot with the X3) from 2014/15 ... the Mavic is actually a lot better in several cases. Go figure. Ain't technology amazing?

Also, wanted to mention that I tried D-Log for maximising dynamic range, and, if that Casey guy is right at all, it is working now ... but then it might be subjective, too. Normally quite in agreement .. shooting too flat with compressed codec means bad news.

Just about tired of having to use Neat Video on almost every clip to reduce noise. Unless ya'll need a small portable drone get the P4P or wait for the Mavic II or P5. The current Mavic Pro camera works and makes acceptable footage ... it is no better than a GoPo or the new Smartphones. Guess I'm spoiled with the exceptional quality of my Canon 1DX MK II and 5D MK IV.

I got the Mavic and overall pretty disappointed in the video quality but love the portability of course. Might just use it for overseas shooting and invest in P4P for shooting at "home."

Same here ... I have footage already posted that I am happy with. Of course quite a lot I am not disappointed by, specifically, as I am not surprised by its lack of quality, but part of that is due to a camera issue, for which I have sent it back for repair. In the meantime I took the plunge and went for my first Phantom - the P4P ... To me, that looks like a really good balance between camera quality, bird size, and cost .. I don't like having many thousands in the air ... I have seen too many crash vids of $20K+ machines so if the specs and reviews of the P4P turn out to be accurate it will be nice. The Mavic is the go-to machine when it is uncertain if one is going to want to get aerials, or if the rain will go away, or if on a longer trip or hike when the choice is take Mavic or nothing ...