Reviews — Mavic

Curious about some of the range specifications for the various DJI products? Search no more.  Here's a bit of useful information from our friend Grant recording the times at Pretoria altitude. 

In South Africa, we fall within the CE Specifications, the same as Europe, and that means we are limited to half the transmission power as compared to the USA. DJI automatically adjusts the power output of the transmitters depending where the craft is being flown. This is not something that can be bypassed.

SO LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT MODELS:

*It uses Lightbridge for the Control and the Live Video feed to the operator

Please remember in South Africa the CAA has limited Drone flying to 500 m of the operator, so the figures are academic anyway.

WHAT ABOUT THE FLIGHT TIME?

If you've ever asked the question "How far can I fly my drone from me?", it's highly likely that you've ventured on to DJI and other website for the answers. The other specification on the DJI website that can be confusing is the flight time. All of the Flight Times on the DJI website are for Standard Sea Level, with no wind.

If we look at the Phantom 4 specification, we see the following:

Max Flight Time Approx. 28 minutes

On the Highveld, in Pretoria or Johannesburg, we are over 1 km above sea level, and generally we are much hotter than the standard sea level specification, so we experience reduced flight times.

So, how long does the Phantom battery last? My Phantom 4 consistently produces flights of 18 minutes, with the flight battery down to 30%.

Please take note of this.

[Update] When did the Mavic Pro stock arrive?

By Bernice van der Westhuizen 

PROFESSIONAL VERSUS HOBBYIST

The Mavic Pro was launched on the 27^th of September 2016 and in only a few short hours, has taken the world by storm. Already comparisons, debates and discussions are taking place to determine whether this drone is the ruler of them all.

Before we even dive into the debate between the GoPro Karma and the DJI Mavic Pro, let’s first take a look at how the launch of the DJI Mavic Pro will influence the popularity and relevance of its predecessor, the DJI Phantom 4.

SO LET’S TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT THE FEATURES:

Similar in features, but different in size.

Well almost. The Phantom 4 is still superior when it comes to the quality of the camera, speed and that extra minute of battery life. But this compact drone sure is making a good impression on us and the rest of the world. In my opinion, the Mavic Pro is not meant to be a replacement for the DJI Phantom 4 … it would have been called the Phantom 5 in that case. So what exactly is the difference?

The Mavic Pro is essentially compact and easy to carry or transport. It’s great, that’s for sure - you can read about it more on our Mavic Pro blog. Being so compact with it’s range of features, it’s basically a drone with the convenience of a large mobile device. It’s not as portable as a mobile device but sure as heck more than some other drones and equipment nowadays.

Being able to use the Mavic Pro without a remote is also driving some dronies mad, others however enjoy using the remote and even their tablet rather than their phones. Let’s not forget that a working professional would consider and experience the difference in screen size differently to a hobbyist.

Because of its shape (and location of the legs and propellers), catching it with your hands become a bit risky, although possible. This essentially rules in favour of landing it on the ground, which if you’re on grass can be a bit destructive. This is also an advantage to the Phantom 4 as you’re able to land or catch it respectively.

The major benefit of the Mavic Pro is essentially the fact that it is compact in size with a world of features still at your disposal. If you are smart enough, you’ll realise that the convenience of the smaller drone is also a disadvantage when this copter takes flight. Being so small and light it does not handle stronger winds or weather with the same stability or power as the Phantom 4 (let’s not forget the bigger propellers). 

Essentially if you are using the drone for more professional or business purposes, the quality of the camera and stability of the Phantom 4 would be best suited. On the other hand if you are backpacking and have limited space, the Mavic Pro is the ideal drone companion.

At the end of day we have to be realistic here. You cannot simply compare features alone, it is truly dependent on the usage of the drone itself and the gap between professional and hobbyist is one that needs to be taken into account when choosing between the two. Rather than a replacement to the Phantom 4, I feel it has it’s own unique place in the drone industry, namely for hobbyists.

On a separate note, why on earth is it called the Mavic Pro? (and do we say “Mah-vick or May-vick”)

Let's not forget the hassle of trying to get our hands on some Mavic stock. Seriously. The delay from November 2016 until March 2017 was an unbearable one. Nonetheless, we are glad to finally have stock of this bad boy. (see Mavic Pro & Fly More Combo)

[Update] When did the Mavic Pro stock arrive?

By Emmanuel Mudzielwana:

Remember the Mavic Pro rumours? Well it's finally here.

Spoiler alert people, I'm a huge DJI fan, so be warned, I will express my affection for DJI in this blog.

The Mavic - tiny compact drone sized at Height -83mm, Width - 83mm, and Length - 198mm, weighs more than 200g less to a kilo - to be exact this tiny piece of scientific revolutionary art weighs 743g. In case you are not sure what that really means the height of a 750ml bottle of Coca-Cola and weighs less than that bottle itself. It is about just 3.8 cm longer than an average human hand.

FLIGHT AUTONOMY

This is the first commercial drone in the whole world with an acclaimed to have abilities to land just under 2cm from the point of takeoff if not the exact sport, how you wonder? Well, here is how - this tiny little thing utilises vision cameras underneath it to take a bust of photos without needing your command, and whilst on it on coming back to land use those very pictures to reconfigure itself to that position - now that's intelligence. The obstacle avoidance was taken from the Phantom 4, but they didn't leave it there, it has an advance reaction to obstacles and the location of the forward vision positioning system it is just perfect for it size. Hovers precisely using GPS & GLONASS, the 2 ultrasonic range finders and redundant sensors and the 24 powerful computing cores embedded in drone.

FLIGHT PERFORMANCE

Max ascent speed of 5m/s in sport mode, that means it can fly a height of 2 average human beings - with the other standing atop of the other's head in 1 second, that is fast. Decent 3m/s max speed. Max flight time of 27 minutes (well - know this, none of you will ever reach that time due to the fact that they stated you have to fly at 0 wind, with constant speed of 25kph) with that said, stop hoping for the 27 minutes.

This thing has a range of 7km, and for a drone that fits in your hand, that is very far - believe me you won't see it at 400m from you.

CAMERA

Remember that rumour about the gimbal being 2 axis, DJI did it again - it is the tiniest 3 axis gimbal the company has ever made, and it carries a 4k Ultra HD video camera that shoot 4k videos at 30fps, it is a 12 megapixels with a maximum 8 seconds exposure time. DJI partnered with Adobe so this allows you to use DNG RAW from Adobe.

As I have warned you before starting the blog that this will be a full expansion of my affection to DJI.

The Mavic is the best drone in the world, it is compact intelligent, and not made of cheap plastic but composit material for that feel good moment - well that is all the times you fly the drone

Video from Casey Neistat:

Let's not forget the brilliant DJI video:

You can also check out a bunch of new videos of the Mavic Pro on the DJI's YouTube channel

[Updated 27 Sept '16] It has since been launched. Here's a quick overview & why we think it rocks!

 

27TH SEPTEMBER - HERE WE COME.

What are some of your predictions? Comment below!