Dji Fires Back With A New Small Drone

[BehindBars]

Just bought one of these!

Thats awesome! Can't wait to see some of the footage

Thinking this one may be a little out my price range, but for my needs the phantom should do just fine. Wish I had enough money to just throw at things like this haha

 

[RiderInRed]

This bad boy looks promising. For the $999 price, I'd say this is a steal (they include the remote control)!

 

[lupin]

My only issue I have always had with a drone is how much I would use it.

Now there getting smaller I think it won't belong before I get one. Think I'm more interested in the GoPro because of the removable gimbal and you can use the camera elsewhere.

 

[JoshAFJ]

I don't think I would use it as much for the vlog but I would use it for all the other videos I make.

 

[DanielJ]

Just bought one of these!

Keep in mind, the GoPro Drone doesn't have the same functionality - no smart follow-me modes or anything like that. I almost got that one last week, glad I held off. I cannot wait - Delivery date: Oct 18-24... I hate waiting.

Going to miss having it down in North Carolina next week (Horizons Unlimited Meetup at Iron Horse Lodge). Considering the speed limit on the Tail of the Dragon, It would be awesome to have a drone following me down the mountain.

I don't know how you people can justify spending £1000 (translate to local currency) on a (toy) Drone!
Won the lottery or inherited alot of money or real estate? None of my business I know.

There's also the DJI Inspire, however that's the opposite to this Mavic, large, bulky, although lovely camera/gimbal. Not one for the backpack though.
At least DJI have covered the industry, with a drone out there for every purpose - ALL still expensive new though.

They should perhaps introduce a 'budget' version, still running one of their sweet flight controllers, to take in more consumers not wanting to part with serious money, for an Intro to drone flying/aerial photography. Same price tag as the Parrot ARDrone / Bebop variants perhaps.

 

[MotoMisc]

Just bought one of these!

Keep in mind, the GoPro Drone doesn't have the same functionality - no smart follow-me modes or anything like that. I almost got that one last week, glad I held off. I cannot wait - Delivery date: Oct 18-24... I hate waiting.

Going to miss having it down in North Carolina next week (Horizons Unlimited Meetup at Iron Horse Lodge). Considering the speed limit on the Tail of the Dragon, It would be awesome to have a drone following me down the mountain.

Will be awsome to see the footage from that one

 

[MotoMisc]

I don't think I would use it as much for the vlog but I would use it for all the other videos I make.

Same here, mostly for inbetween vlog scenes and have cutscenes here and there but mostly for other stuff =)

 

[Reize]

To be honest, I bought a DJI Phantom 3 before.

And it turned out to be a huge waste of money. There is really hardly any time I would find aerial shots useful in my vlogs. I could use it for shooting Icon-style videos, but to be honest, I'd much rather go with a good 3-axis gimbal to mount my MFT camera onto and shoot a moving scene from the back of a truck or car.

Drones have always been a very niche specialized piece of hardware that sees VERY VERY specific uses, and aren't really worth the money to your average videographer, unlike a gimbal, which I'm spending my money on. It's better to save up another grand or so and get the DJI Osmo Pro instead and use it to shoot vanity shots of motorcycles for review videos.

 

[JoshAFJ]

To be honest, I bought a DJI Phantom 3 before.

And it turned out to be a huge waste of money. There is really hardly any time I would find aerial shots useful in my vlogs. I could use it for shooting Icon-style videos, but to be honest, I'd much rather go with a good 3-axis gimbal to mount my MFT camera onto and shoot a moving scene from the back of a truck or car.

Drones have always been a very niche specialized piece of hardware that sees VERY VERY specific uses, and aren't really worth the money to your average videographer, unlike a gimbal, which I'm spending my money on. It's better to save up another grand or so and get the DJI Osmo Pro instead and use it to shoot vanity shots of motorcycles for review videos.

I tend to agree. In general a good gimbal would be much more valuable to most people. I wouldn't be interested in a drone if it weren't for the other video production stuff that I do.

 

[Raven]

To be honest, I bought a DJI Phantom 3 before.

And it turned out to be a huge waste of money. There is really hardly any time I would find aerial shots useful in my vlogs. I could use it for shooting Icon-style videos, but to be honest, I'd much rather go with a good 3-axis gimbal to mount my MFT camera onto and shoot a moving scene from the back of a truck or car.

Drones have always been a very niche specialized piece of hardware that sees VERY VERY specific uses, and aren't really worth the money to your average videographer, unlike a gimbal, which I'm spending my money on. It's better to save up another grand or so and get the DJI Osmo Pro instead and use it to shoot vanity shots of motorcycles for review videos.

I dont see a whole lot of applications outside of some neat profile videos from off cliffs and other spaces where I want to look back and take that "epic selfie" for the motorcycle. It would also be interesting to get some footage for intro/outro videos or trailers. However, as I do other video productions outside of motorcycling, my asst dir and writer are rewriting a few scripts to utilize the Mavic.

The other thing I have been looking at would be a chase video. Now, granted the auto-follow features have a speed limit of 20 mph (give/take) I am working with someone to get in a chase vehicle and have one guy drive the car, one guy fly the drone with Sport mode on giving it 40mph (give/take). We are already scouting locations that can make this happen.

But, you are correct, in the world of motorcycle vlogging, a drone is not going to be the most useful tool.

 

[lupin]

Problem I have is both of these run up to $1600 au, thats a whole lot of money for a drone no matter how you look at it.

Might just give a cheaper one a go $300-400 and see if I actually use it.

 

[Reize]

Problem I have is both of these run up to $1600 au, thats a whole lot of money for a drone no matter how you look at it.

Might just give a cheaper one a go $300-400 and see if I actually use it.

Don't spend that $300-$400 first like I did.

Go and get yourself a cheap lightweight camera-less drone that is selling for less than $100 and see if are even comfortable flying the bloody thing without crashing it and destroying your hard earned money.

Don't learn the hard way like I did. Take-offs and landings are the most dangerous parts of flying a drone, where you're prone to lose it.

 

[DanielJ]

Don't spend that $300-$400 first like I did.

Go and get yourself a cheap lightweight camera-less drone that is selling for less than $100 and see if are even comfortable flying the bloody thing without crashing it and destroying your hard earned money.

Don't learn the hard way like I did. Take-offs and landings are the most dangerous parts of flying a drone, where you're prone to lose it.

I'd add, preferably from one of the well known brands, and not a random Chinese "toy" that proves to be almost impossible to fly. You don't want your first experience to be your last (due to a bad experience).

Also, all obstacles such as trees, walls, buildings, can generate rotor wash, flying too close, which can randomly affect the Drone. Get out in a wide open field, or playground, where you also wont fly into anything during the learning phase.

Taking off, a good tip is to "punch" the throttle, swiftly bringing the Drone up from slowly spinning the blades on the ground, to an altitude of 4 or 5 feet, so the craft is well above the ground, eliminating the rotor wash effect, which can affect its stability.

 

[RiderInRed]

Also, all obstacles such as trees, walls, buildings, can generate rotor wash, flying too close, which can randomly affect the Drone. Get out in a wide open field, or playground, where you also wont fly into anything during the learning phase.

Taking off, a good tip is to "punch" the throttle, swiftly bringing the Drone up from slowly spinning the blades on the ground, to an altitude of 4 or 5 feet, so the craft is well above the ground, eliminating the rotor wash effect, which can affect its stability.

So in other words don't fly a drone cause it gets affected by everything and gets crashed


I remember crashing my helicopter. That bloody thing didn't even have a gyroscope so you had to have mad skillz to keep it up

 

[DanielJ]

So in other words don't fly a drone cause it gets affected by everything and gets crashed


I remember crashing my helicopter. That bloody thing didn't even have a gyroscope so you had to have mad skillz to keep it up

Yeah, Drones pretty much fly themselves. So somebody coming in to the scene, picks up a DJI or similar Spec Drone, they'd look a Pro from Day 1.

Sounds like you've got some great skills there, the conventional Heli's take alot of time to master! So much more to take into consideration. Drones just don't compare beside a conventional Heli with blades spinning at several thousand RPM ! The real deal. They also dont just hang in the sky like a Drone does, without a lot of input.

I flew conventional Heli's, before getting into Drones. You tended to spend more time tuning and repairing them, than you would getting out and actually flying.

 

[RiderInRed]

Yeah, Drones pretty much fly themselves. So somebody coming in to the scene, picks up a DJI or similar Spec Drone, they'd look a Pro from Day 1.

Sounds like you've got some great skills there, the conventional Heli's take alot of time to master! So much more to take into consideration. Drones just don't compare beside a conventional Heli with blades spinning at several thousand RPM ! The real deal. They also dont just hang in the sky like a Drone does, without a lot of input.

I flew conventional Heli's, before getting into Drones. You tended to spend more time tuning and repairing them, than you would getting out and actually flying.

yep yep! it takes quite a lot of skill to just keep it floating in the air even. As for the drones. I kinda think they might be easier to fly than the cheap toy gyro RC helis.

Although, I think the hardest part about flying a DJI is the ability to afford it

 

[DanielJ]

Although, I think the hardest part about flying a DJI is the ability to afford it

So true. Infact I cant afford to buy one! Not with a young family to provide for. Priorities.
So I should change me job, to one where I NEED a Quad for work purposes (as some of you guys use here).

The new DJI MAVIC looks the business... But HOW MUCH!!!!

All my Drones I've built myself, Infact my first Tricopters, I built the frames out of Alu tube or wood (which works well at reducing vibrations). But they break easily, or get bent out of shape.

My most recent 250 class FPV 'Race Quad', I made up a list of all the bits I needed and ordered them (Carbon frame, etc), then built it up myself. Soldered all the motors to ESCs etc, saving weight on connectors etc. Actually recently sold it (as a complete, fully running setup) and made a profit.

 

[RiderInRed]

So true. Infact I cant afford to buy one! Not with a young family to provide for. Priorities.
So I should change me job, to one where I NEED a Quad for work purposes (as some of you guys use here). The new DJI MAVIC looks the business!!

All my Drones I've built myself, Infact my first Tricopters, I built the frames out of Alu tube or wood (which works well at reducing vibrations). But they break easily, or get bent out of shape.

My most recent 250 class FPV 'Race Quad', I made up a list of all the bits I needed and ordered them (Carbon frame, etc), then built it up myself. Soldered all the motors to ESCs etc, saving weight on connectors etc. Actually recently sold it (as a complete, fully running setup) and made a profit.

Sweet, you might wanna consider getting enrolled at Drone Base as a pilot! See if they sell any realty around where you live and get in touch with them!

 

[OhioRider]

I cant decide on which one to get ! I want the Mavic but the Karama has alot more to offer when it comes to being a "All-in-One" drone !

 

[lupin]

Don't spend that $300-$400 first like I did.

Go and get yourself a cheap lightweight camera-less drone that is selling for less than $100 and see if are even comfortable flying the bloody thing without crashing it and destroying your hard earned money.

Don't learn the hard way like I did. Take-offs and landings are the most dangerous parts of flying a drone, where you're prone to lose it.

I have a $50 toy drone that I play with, but its too basic to learn anything at all.