Mavic Pro in Cold Weather

[NotMyDrone]

Hey everyone,

Just wondering if anyone here fly their Mavic Pro regularly in cold weather (at or near freezing temps) and what your experiences are/were like (aside from shortened battery life)?

I recently took a road trip and stopped by a valley in the eastern Sierra Mountains here in California. It was ~3pm and the ambient temperature outside was 23 degrees F. It was just a quick stop before the sun set behind the snowy mountain tops so I probably got no more than 15 minutes total flight time before it was too cold for me and my kids as I hurried them back into the car.

I thought I had a decent length video clip captured and drove off with a satisfied smile on my face. ONLY to get home, upload the footage, and find that of one of the videos was corrupted. I was capturing in 1080p @ 96fps and the clip registered 10:00 length (10 minutes), which meant I captured about 2.5 minutes. But during playback, it throws an error at just before 4 min on replay (so I guess the corruption came just at 1min record time).

Now to be fair, I'm one of those idiots that doesn't read the fine print on the operating manual and I suspect at 23 degrees F, I'm probably well-below recommended operating temperatures.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has similar experience where their video clips would crap out? Due to the cold? The *.mp4 was corrupt. The short clip that is saved on the phone clips out at the same time.

Thanks in advance.

Safe & Happy Flying.

 

[Filmscum]

Hey everyone,

Just wondering if anyone here fly their Mavic Pro regularly in cold weather (at or near freezing temps) and what your experiences are/were like (aside from shortened battery life)?

I recently took a road trip and stopped by a valley in the eastern Sierra Mountains here in California. It was ~3pm and the ambient temperature outside was 23 degrees F. It was just a quick stop before the sun set behind the snowy mountain tops so I probably got no more than 15 minutes total flight time before it was too cold for me and my kids as I hurried them back into the car.

I thought I had a decent length video clip captured and drove off with a satisfied smile on my face. ONLY to get home, upload the footage, and find that of one of the videos was corrupted. I was capturing in 1080p @ 96fps and the clip registered 10:00 length (10 minutes), which meant I captured about 2.5 minutes. But during playback, it throws an error at just before 4 min on replay (so I guess the corruption came just at 1min record time).

Now to be fair, I'm one of those idiots that doesn't read the fine print on the operating manual and I suspect at 23 degrees F, I'm probably well-below recommended operating temperatures.

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has similar experience where their video clips would crap out? Due to the cold? The *.mp4 was corrupt. The short clip that is saved on the phone clips out at the same time.

Thanks in advance.

Safe & Happy Flying.

In the past month since I've had my Mavic I have regularly flown in temps from 25F to minus -15F and have not experienced any irregularities at all. I know anything over 30fps in 1080 on the Mavic is pretty much unusable as far as quality of video, but corrupt files possibly points to the card. What kind of SD card are you using? I'd say maybe try a different SD card and make sure it's class 10 if possible. I've always had great performance out of Sandisk Ultra Plus. They've even started putting a picture of a drone on the packaging!

 

[skypros]

We have been so cold here.... I haven't had a chance to fly above freezing.
My 15 minute flights have been in the Teens and low 20's
Drone, batteries and remote control all went from a 70 degree house directly to the cold outdoors. I haven't had a problem...... Well I should say, the drone hasn't had a problem..... I have had a problem as I don't like standing there in the cold !!!

 

[Jake Galloway]

I've regularly been flying in below freezing temps with no problem. No way I've waited 2 months to get it delivered and another 3 until Spring lol


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[NotMyDrone]

In the past month since I've had my Mavic I have regularly flown in temps from 25F to minus -15F and have not experienced any irregularities at all. I know anything over 30fps in 1080 on the Mavic is pretty much unusable as far as quality of video, but corrupt files possibly points to the card. What kind of SD card are you using? I'd say maybe try a different SD card and make sure it's class 10 if possible. I've always had great performance out of Sandisk Ultra Plus. They've even started putting a picture of a drone on the packaging!

I have a Samsung 128gb Class 10 SD card that supposedly has 95mb/s read, 90mb/s write speeds.

I had tested it back home in warmer weather and didn't have a problem with vid file corruption. I was just wondering if the cold weather could have somehow contributed to the error. Thankfully, I can salvage enough of the footage that it wasn't a total loss. Otherwise, I would have been quite bummed.

Thanks for the speedy replies. Glad to know the Mavic Pro can tolerate some extreme weather conditions.

(It's also possible it was my phone having problems as 2 days prior, it sort of crashed.) I never lost connection with the RC which is always a good thing. I'll have to revisit the lower fps. I saw someone did a test showing anything above 30fps does get muddy, that's a shame.

 

[4wd]

If the battery is warm when you start you should be OK but I wouldn't go too far away in case it drops away faster than normal. A few degrees below freezing you probably won't notice any change other than frozen fingers (top tip sit in vehicle )
Any fog or cloud can soon cause severe icing on the props which won't end well.

 

[Filmscum]

I have a Samsung 128gb Class 10 SD card that supposedly has 95mb/s read, 90mb/s write speeds.

I had tested it back home in warmer weather and didn't have a problem with vid file corruption. I was just wondering if the cold weather could have somehow contributed to the error. Thankfully, I can salvage enough of the footage that it wasn't a total loss. Otherwise, I would have been quite bummed.

Thanks for the speedy replies. Glad to know the Mavic Pro can tolerate some extreme weather conditions.

(It's also possible it was my phone having problems as 2 days prior, it sort of crashed.) I never lost connection with the RC which is always a good thing. I'll have to revisit the lower fps. I saw someone did a test showing anything above 30fps does get muddy, that's a shame.

Ya when it first came out a LOT of people were bummed at the results of 1080p 60, but I've learned it's a give and take scenario with such a small compact bird. That SD card should be fine especially since you used it before with no issues. Doubt it's your phone as that shouldn't have any effect on the actual recording. Maybe try formatting the card or try a different card? Or try shooting in 1080p 30 .mov?

When you state your recording times had you already conformed the footage to 23.98 or 29.97 fps?

 

[Robert Mitchell]

Flown in single digits F, with no problems.

 

[NotMyDrone]

Ya when it first came out a LOT of people were bummed at the results of 1080p 60, but I've learned it's a give and take scenario with such a small compact bird. That SD card should be fine especially since you used it before with no issues. Doubt it's your phone as that shouldn't have any effect on the actual recording. Maybe try formatting the card or try a different card? Or try shooting in 1080p 30 .mov?

When you state your recording times had you already conformed the footage to 23.98 or 29.97 fps?

I may not be understanding your question fully but I'll try to answer as best as I can. When I select the video file, it tells me 10:00 duration. When I right click to get properties, it shows 23.98 so the playback is already in slow-motion (4x slower as I was recording at 96fps).

On my phone, which shows real-time, the clip is 2:29.

Hm.. you know what. I'm sticking my foot in my mouth as I type this. The 2:29 clip on my phone plays just fine in real-time. It's the clip that got recorded onto the card that was corrupted. Ah bummer.

Well, at least I walked away with a 720p version of it.

 

[MavicMo]

Been flying temps as low as 19F. No issues other than my fingers getting too cold for me to keep going....

 

[younumpty]

Just got back from Boston USA was there after Christmas to catch up with friends and brought my Mavic. What a joy to travel with. Anyway clocked a lot of flights in Carlisle over woods st 400 in high winds. -15C so very cold one day. Wind chill extra 5-10 up there? Cold start outside as had been walking. Flew like a champ no issues. Battery waned up nicely and underside was actually bloody cold when I landed. Perhaps it's more to do with the camera settings? 1080 96 is for goggles only right? Maybe some funky issue there or simply one error on the card and it's corrupted your shot. Sorry to hear. Must have been disappointed.


Fly safe...

 

[Bursky]

I have yet to fly in temps above -5C. And have done a few around the -15C mark. Have had no problems at all with many 4 battery outings at -10C.


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[Dmbrody]

I have a Samsung 128gb Class 10 SD card that supposedly has 95mb/s read, 90mb/s write speeds.

There's your problem right there. 64GB is the max. At least that's what I thought I read in the manual.

 

[Frits]

I regularly fly at about -10 deg. C and have been as low as -15.
No problem in any way with the video footage or with the Mavic itself.

 

[Filmscum]

There's your problem right there. 64GB is the max. At least that's what I thought I read in the manual.

You are right it does say that on the spec page.

From the Mavic Pro page itself:
- Supported SD Card Types Micro SD™
- Max capacity: 64 GB. Class 10 or UHS-1 rating required
Source - https://www.dji.com/mavic/info

The OP said the card worked fine on earlier flights. Might be something to try though!

 

[Dmbrody]

Just flew 3 batteries at 0F (-17C). No problems. A few high wind warnings, but it flew normally. I actually flew from inside a parked car. What a bonus when that worked flawlessly... including perscision landing right back on the car floor mat I used as a launch pad.

 

[NotMyDrone]

There's your problem right there. 64GB is the max. At least that's what I thought I read in the manual.

Well... there's that. I guess I should've RTFM. I'll drop it down to 64 and see if that prevents future issues.

 

[deltalimatango]

Flew last weekend in -8 C. You will probably have to worry more about your phone being drained than the Mavic battery or RC. I have a small bag where I keep the extra batteries and a few hand warmers. Does the trick. You can also keep the batteries warm by placing them next to the floor heater when driving. Just pay attention to when the controller says it is time to go home.

 

[Atomicbear]

I have a Samsung 128gb Class 10 SD card that supposedly has 95mb/s read, 90mb/s write speeds.

I had tested it back home in warmer weather and didn't have a problem with vid file corruption. I was just wondering if the cold weather could have somehow contributed to the error. Thankfully, I can salvage enough of the footage that it wasn't a total loss. Otherwise, I would have been quite bummed.

Thanks for the speedy replies. Glad to know the Mavic Pro can tolerate some extreme weather conditions.

(It's also possible it was my phone having problems as 2 days prior, it sort of crashed.) I never lost connection with the RC which is always a good thing. I'll have to revisit the lower fps. I saw someone did a test showing anything above 30fps does get muddy, that's a shame.

If I recall correctly, the manual states that the Mavic Pro can use UP TO a 64GB sd card... you say you're using a 128GB card. That may be the issue...

 

[Atomicbear]

Flew last weekend in -8 C. You will probably have to worry more about your phone being drained than the Mavic battery or RC. I have a small bag where I keep the extra batteries and a few hand warmers. Does the trick. You can also keep the batteries warm by placing them next to the floor heater when driving. Just pay attention to when the controller says it is time to go home.

Wonder if those iron oxide hand warmers could be duct taped to the battery to keep it warm in sub-zero temps or if it is TOO hot?
(I mean while flying)


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