DJY Mavic Air: any good?

I've been following this thread since I've a keen interest in drone flying from boats.

That Karma drone is currently amazing value when you consider that a Hero 5 on its own is £265 (and it was £400 until recently) and the stabilised grip is almost £300. If you want those things then you're up to almost £600 so a drone that includes both items for £899 means that the drone itself is not dear at all!

Picture quality, from what I've seen online I think the Hero 5 is a little ahead of the Mavic or the standard Phantom. However if image quality is the priority, I think that the Phantom 4 Pro is the one to go for. It has a 'proper' camera rather than a phone or GoPro type, so it has a shutter for still photos and adjustable aperture. Also it has a larger digital sensor than most. Here's some footage that I took with my Phantom 4 Pro, Im really impressed with the quality.



And here's some video taken with a GoPro 6, one of the key benefits of which is the ability to record 240fps, something my Phantom can't do. I was having a play with that here (and there's some drone footage with the Phantom 4 Pro at the end - scroll to 7:50 if you'd like to jump straight to the aerial stuff)

 
Nick Burnham said:
Picture quality, from what I've seen online I think the Hero 5 is a little ahead of the Mavic or the standard Phantom. However if image quality is the priority, I think that the Phantom 4 Pro is the one to go for. It has a 'proper' camera rather than a phone or GoPro type, so it has a shutter for still photos and adjustable aperture. Also it has a larger digital sensor than most.
Click to expand...
You are raising an interesting point, because on paper it would be logical to expect a 1" sensor (Ph4 Pro, but it's the same also in the Advanced, afaik) to perform better than a much smaller 1/2.3'' one (Mavic pro, Gopro Hero 5 and 6).
But in practice, particularly as far as dynamic range goes, which is critical when shooting boats in sunny days, I was never impressed by the Phantom 4 videos.
In fact, I think that Gopro cameras perform better in this respect, in spite of the smaller sensor.
Maybe there are tests proving that I'm wrong, though - I'm just reporting my gut feeling now...
 
MapisM said:
But in practice, particularly as far as dynamic range goes, which is critical when shooting boats in sunny days, I was never impressed by the Phantom 4 videos.
In fact, I think that Gopro cameras perform better in this respect, in spite of the smaller sensor.
Click to expand...

Phantom 4 or Phantom 4 Pro? The standard Phantom 4 has a very different sensor and camera to the 4 Pro/4 Advanced. The Pro only came out 12 months ago and the Advanced about 10 months ago.

Definitely agree that the GoPro 5/6 is better than the Phantom 4. Less convinced that it's better than the Phantom 4 Pro/4 Advanced. That said, what the GoPro is really good at is producing really vivid colours. Arguably a little false, but they do look brilliant.

On the subject of boat videos, I was pointed at this one today of a Sunseeker 31 Portofino which is fantastic. It's 'One Away' which I believe belonged to a forum member previously. Some very impressive (and brave!) flying.

 
Nick Burnham said:
Phantom 4 or Phantom 4 Pro? The standard Phantom 4 has a very different sensor and camera to the 4 Pro/4 Advanced. The Pro only came out 12 months ago and the Advanced about 10 months ago.

Definitely agree that the GoPro 5/6 is better than the Phantom 4. Less convinced that it's better than the Phantom 4 Pro/4 Advanced. That said, what the GoPro is really good at is producing really vivid colours. Arguably a little false, but they do look brilliant.

On the subject of boat videos, I was pointed at this one today of a Sunseeker 31 Portofino which is fantastic. It's 'One Away' which I believe belonged to a forum member previously. Some very impressive (and brave!) flying.

Click to expand...

Great video
I know that bit of coast well - I live there - overlooking that water.
However, it isn't always that idyllic - you wouldn't have been topless out there today! - Brrrrr it was cold when we went for a walk along Teignmouth front.
 
Nick Burnham said:
Phantom 4 or Phantom 4 Pro? The standard Phantom 4 has a very different sensor and camera to the 4 Pro/4 Advanced.
Click to expand...
Good question, but I'm afraid I don't know the answer! :o
The Ph4 clips I had in mind are some posted by scubaman and jfm - maybe if they see this thread they can confirm which type of weapon they've got exactly...

PS: the image quality in the Portofino video is indeed nice. Was that made with a Ph4 pro or adv, by chance?
Btw, the boat attitude and the wake she leaves behind her are a joy to behold. "They don't make 'em like they used to" springs to mind!
 
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MapisM said:
Good question, but I'm afraid I don't know the answer! :o
The Ph4 clips I had in mind are some posted by scubaman and jfm - maybe if they see this thread they can confirm which type of weapon they've got exactly...

PS: the image quality in the Portofino video is indeed nice. Was that made with a Ph4 pro or adv, by chance?
Btw, the boat attitude and the wake she leaves behind her are a joy to behold. "They don't make 'em like they used to" springs to mind!
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The videos I have posted earlier have been shot either with Phantom 3 or the Mavic Pro. I agree, looking back at the shots from the Phantom 3, they do look somewhat washed out by today’s standards. The Mavic Pro is doing a better job (though by no means perfect).
 
Aha, I didn't remember that your first Phantom was a 3.
Ref. the Air, I agree that it's impressive - particularly in terms of performance/size ratio.
But talking of wind handling, essentially if its max speed is 68Km/h, that has to be also the max wind speed which it can resist without being blown away.
Or am I missing something?
 
MapisM said:
Aha, I didn't remember that your first Phantom was a 3.
Ref. the Air, I agree that it's impressive - particularly in terms of performance/size ratio.
But talking of wind handling, essentially if its max speed is 68Km/h, that has to be also the max wind speed which it can resist without being blown away.
Or am I missing something?
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I'm not sure that I would want to fly in that wind anyway - google says that is 36.7 knots
IMO, this kit is for taking nice pics/videos when the weather is nice.
But did you see scubaman's link above - the Mavic Air does seem to be good in wind.
 
MapisM said:
Aha, I didn't remember that your first Phantom was a 3.
Ref. the Air, I agree that it's impressive - particularly in terms of performance/size ratio.
But talking of wind handling, essentially if its max speed is 68Km/h, that has to be also the max wind speed which it can resist without being blown away.
Or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

You're quite right - it's like tides. If your boat will do six knots then in a seven knot head tide you're going backwards.

However 68km/h is gale force 8 - you'd have to be very 'brave' to launch a tiny drone in a full on gale..!

Mind you, you'd get some pretty impressive maximum speeds recorded travelling with the wind, at least until it disappeared for ever. :D
 
It's not quite terminal, you can drop the altitude which usually reduces the wind a bit, failing that, land it in a safe place and retrieve it.

Watch the RTH system though, as when the battery gets low it will take off itself and try to make it's way either to your remote, or the take off point! Either could end up very badly...
 
MapisM said:
Aha, I didn't remember that your first Phantom was a 3.
Ref. the Air, I agree that it's impressive - particularly in terms of performance/size ratio.
But talking of wind handling, essentially if its max speed is 68Km/h, that has to be also the max wind speed which it can resist without being blown away.
Or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Yep, as Nick says, but in practice one needs quite a bit of margin to be able to fly it back upwind. Something that the Mavic seems to be pretty prudent with, as it doesn’t take a huge amount of wind for it to start giving warnings about excessive wind...

That’s a very nice drone vid, btw, of a very nice boat too!
 
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There must already be tons of vids around comparing the Air to other drones, but here’s one from Casey Neistat with some good side by side shots with Mavic Pro.



The Air does look very interesting.
 
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MapisM said:
Btw, the boat attitude and the wake she leaves behind her are a joy to behold. "They don't make 'em like they used to" springs to mind!
Click to expand...

Bigplumbs said:
I think I have just fallen in love with that classic boat
Click to expand...

Slightly off topic, but five years ago when I'd just started making boat test videos and was still talking too quickly, I did a used boat test on that actual boat.

I can confirm that it drives every bit as well as it looks, it was fantastic!

 
Nick Burnham said:
I can confirm that it drives every bit as well as it looks, it was fantastic!
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Yeah, that can be appreciated just looking at the video.
Properly lifted and with a low AoA while going straight, leaning a lot but stable as if on rails while steering... A proper attitude for good!
In many ways, reminds me of my old Airon Marine 31, which was actually even faster, being KAD42 powered.
But surely also that Portofino could take more power without batting an eyelid.
Thanks for the link, and no worries for the o/t.
Classic sportboats are more interesting than drones, in more ways than one! :encouragement:
 
scubaman said:
here’s one from Casey Neistat
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Blimey K, does that chap make enough money from YT videos to go to Bermuda just to fly some drones?
I'd better not think of how many days and nights of my life I wasted in an office when I was as young as he is... :ambivalence:
 
Lol, yes, there is a group of people on YouTube who are doing very well for themselves. The views on that vid make up for the trip many times over. He also sold his media company to cnn some time ago.
 
Just got an email from Jessops, £200 price drop on the Mavic Pro. Was £1099 now £899.

(no connection)
 
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