Mavic Pro or Inspire 1

[agraska]

Okay I know there are other threads talking about this but I have a specific situation. I currently own a phantom 3 advanced but I am working on selling it to upgrade to a Mavic or Inspire. I have two options currently, I can purchase a Mavic Pro for the $999 price point OR I have someone selling a Inspire 1 for $900. I wouldn't even be considering this if I wasn't getting such a good deal on the Inspire. Any suggestions on what would be the better option?

 

[msinger]

Any suggestions on what would be the better option?

Both are good for different use cases. What do you plan to do with your drone?

 

[ChrisRL]

Inspire's X3 is better than Mavic cam at 4K. Mavic deploys much faster and is less conspicuous in the air. Inspire is 1 or 2 operators. Mavic will accept a second remote, but that's in training mode only.
Inspire looks like business, and so can be a cop magnet. The Mavic can be up, shot finished and down again before either the Phantom or the Inspire have their props on.
The Phantom 3 Pro is probably still the best 4K aerial platform out there, for the money.
The Phantom 4 Pro will give an Inspire 2 a run for its camera money.
I'm a pro, I own and fly them all.
It's as he said, above me: they are different tools, for different uses. Asking which is better is like asking which is better, a fork, knife or spoon?

 

[agraska]

Inspire's X3 is better than Mavic cam at 4K. Mavic deploys much faster and is less conspicuous in the air. Inspire is 1 or 2 operators. Mavic will accept a second remote, but that's in training mode only.
Inspire looks like business, and so can be a cop magnet. The Mavic can be up, shot finished and down again before either the Phantom or the Inspire have their props on.
The Phantom 3 Pro is probably still the best 4K aerial platform out there, for the money.
The Phantom 4 Pro will give an Inspire 2 a run for its camera money.
I'm a pro, I own and fly them all.
It's as he said, above me: they are different tools, for different uses. Asking which is better is like asking which is better, a fork, knife or spoon?

To be honest, Im not looking to do really any professional work with my drone, but I do want really good quality. Another big concern is battery life.

 

[scott rand]

GREAT price for an Inspire 1. But I LOVE my Mavic and love the portability, loved that I can just put it in a back pack and go.

 

[AyeYo]

To be honest, Im not looking to do really any professional work with my drone, but I do want really good quality. Another big concern is battery life.

Then this will come down to whether portability matters to you enough that it's worth sacrificing camera quality. Unless portability is a serious concern, that I1 is a no-brainer for $900.

 

[ChrisRL]

My online editor (read: expert video colorist) has had a very close look at the outputs from all our drones, from the V-LOG DCI 4k output of the Panasonic GH4s on my heavy lift drones, through the Inspire 2 and 1, Phantom 4, 3, and Mavic, as well as Go Pros both with standard (fisheye look) and custom (non-fisheye look) lenses.
His conclusion was that for most broadcast and web purposes, anything 4k is fine, and future-proofed as much as anything can be.
He can get his DaVinci Resolve color setup into almost all of the video generated by all of the cameras we tested, and of particular interest to this thread, he said specifically that Mavic footage was "very usable, to pro standards, no problem".
Obviously not as good as RAW footage, but enough video is there for Resolve to get its teeth into and bite properly.
Of this group, the cameras in ascending 4k video quality went:
the GP H4Black camera,
then the Mavic,
then the P3P, I1, P4P, GH4, in that order
and then the RAW and V-LOG formats.
and lastly the I2, which is a little too high quality a product for our purposes here.

Of course, the GH4 will be replaced with a GH5 when it comes out, and the race will be on!

Also of course, one can always mount an A7rii or A7sii on the heavy lifters, or an Arri or Red camera, but I think that's beyond the scope of this thread.

Bottom line, even the lowest quality camera here, the GoPro Hero 4 Black, has been shooting broadcast quality HD footage that you've already seen on many TV shows, no problems.

So camera quality is very definitely not an issue here.

BTW my online editor buddy took advantage of the past Christmas sales to get his first pro level drone, a 3DR Solo for $299+, and the camera he uses: a old GoPro Hero 4 Black he picked up for just over $200.

Should tell you something.

 

[ChrisRL]

Further, I think that I, and almost everybody else here, cut my teeth on a Phantom or one flavor or another, and most of my beginning gigs were off a P3P, flying solo.
Certainly a substantial amount of my earlier footage was P3P out of a backpack.

The big deal about flying a Mavic vs. flying a P3P for me?

The Mavic needs its focus double-checked. It's auto-focus and you should tap the screen where you want it or else risk the grass or whatever you're flying off of being in focus, and the background unsharp until the auto-focus realizes there's nothing sharp in the image and (finally) reacquires infinity focus.

This may will be out-of-date information since so many people complained about the first 15 or so seconds of their videos being out of focus that they should have done something about it firmware-wise, but the P3P never had that issue. It showed the grass sharp, then the background sharp, everything sharp so not even a consideration for Phantom owners - but a rude awakening when they switched over to Mavic.

That's about it, really, just don't forget to pre-flight your Mavic, and warm it up, same as any other drone. It's so fast out of the bag and into the air that there's a real temptation to skip the pre-flight and just fly. Hence, I believe, most of the tales of woes about fly-aways, etc.

 

[ed1nh0]

@ChrisRL your knowledge is enlightening. Thank you for all your tips. They're all pretty valuable for this community.

 

[Johnmcl7]

The reason focus is an issue on the Mavic compared to a Phantom3 Pro is that the Mavic has a focusing lens and the phantom3 Pro doesn't, its fixed focus lens is always set at infinity so getting used to focusing is going to be the same on any drone that has a focusing lens. I'm surprised the Mavic doesn't have a one touch infinity button since the focal length is so small that it has vast depth of field but I do it myself by disabling AFC and when taking off, set the focus and leave it at that.

Given the choice between the Mavic and the Inspire 1, I'd choose the Mavic without thinking as its tiny size but still decent performance and reasonable image quality gives it fantastic versatility as I carry it with me when going out walking, cycling or just trips anywhere. If IQ was a priority I'd probably pony up for the Phantom 4 Pro and its 1in sensor, there clearly is a market for the Inspire but I feel you'd know if it suited your needs better than the Mavic.

John

 

[msinger]

To be honest, Im not looking to do really any professional work with my drone, but I do want really good quality. Another big concern is battery life.

You're likely not going to be able to tell the difference between the results from the Mavic camera and Inspire 1 X3 camera. Battery-wise, the Mavic wins since the Inspire 1 only has a max flight time of 22 minutes (when using the TB48 battery).

Also, you should really take cost into consideration. The Inspire 1 accessories are going to be far more expensive than Mavic accessories. For example, the case I store my Inspire 1 in is currently going for $469.

 

[ChrisRL]

Agreed with MSinger.
Actually if you can stand it, the P3P isn't half bad for the money, and I was able to pick up batteries (used a few times) for it for as little as $60 a pop. However, the Mavic does fly longer on one battery charge, so even though the batteries themselves may cost a little more, that might work out to be more economical in terms of flight hours per battery dollar.
If I had to go with only one drone for rec purposes, it would be the Mavic.
Professionally, one drone? Inspire 1, since it would fetch more per hour than flying a Mavic for money.
My all-time face? My P3P, my coming-of-age drone. There can be only one!

 

[CCDD]

I own both and yes, very different animals. A good deal isn't always about dollars and cents, figure out what you want from a quad and then make up your mind. Max flight time on an Inspire is approx 15 min compared to >20 on Mavic. Size does matter, if you plan to travel, forget about the Inspire.

 

[Kilrah]

I have both. The Inspire hasn't been out of its box for 6 months and my Mavic has more flight hours after 4 months than my I1 accumulated in 2 years.

To me the cameras are basically at the same level (X3 on the Inspire). I1 has slightly more detail, but more noise and in general it evens out. Absolutely no point taking the bulkier, less discreet and shorter flying I1 unless it's for dual op, for super precise work (I1 remote sticks have an edge) or to use another of the cameras that can be mounted on it.

 

[AnzacJack]

You're likely not going to be able to tell the difference between the results from the Mavic camera and Inspire 1 X3 camera.

Sorry but I'll have to disagree with you there. I fly both. When I decided to do a photo session with the mavic, I did find it was quite a bit inferior to the X3.
That being said though, if the better quality is not the deciding factor (the mavic is still a good little camera, better than a GoPro) then I much prefer the mavic. I don't fly the inspire very much now.
Portability and flight times win.

 

[agraska]

Well looks like Ill most likely be going with the Mavic as most people are saying they haven't flown their inspire 1 in quite some time due to owning the mavic. The more I thought about it the more I realized I don't want to be carrying around that giant I1 when traveling. Thanks everyone!

 

[ChrisRL]

agraska, absolutely.
final questions:
will you ever shoot for money?
will you ever fly with a second (camera) operator?
if not, mavic, done and dusted.

of course this will all change in a few years, max, when the next flavor of the month drone comes out...

 

[Kestrel]

I love the Mavic's small size, it gives it a certain stealth to it. You hear it but if you don't know where to look then you wont see it, Unlike a phantom or an inspire 1.

 

[m0j0]

I have owned TH, Autel, P3P and Mavic. My P3P was replaced with a refurb P3P. My TH was a lemon it's gone. Autel still going. That said, I got the Mavic the same time I received the Phantom and... I have flown the P3P 4 times (4 flights total) since November... I haven't flown the XStar at all since November. I sold the TH because I couldn't trust it. I'm sure most dont have the problems I had with the H it was just a lemon but I knew I wouldn't fly it anyway soooooo. I have about 200 flights on the Mavic since November. I can't tell you how incredible the Mavic is.... it is so portable you will forget you even have it. I take it everywhere I go. If you are a pro it is at the low end.... but serviceable. For capturing your life and family activities I think it is the unrivaled best because you never have an excuse to leave it behind. Just my .02

and for comparison with the Inspire I X3 don't think there is a huge difference in video quality. IMO the only reason I would consider an Inspire 1 over the Mavic is if you had aspirations of upgrading the cam and using it strictly for Pro Work. In my opinion, the I1 is the best Pro level bird for the $$$ but you don't realize that quality upgrade until you upgrade from the X3.

 

[MavicMo]

I sold my Inspire. For me the biggest drawback was the short flight times. Roughly 15 minutes. You really had to plan out what you were going to do and carefully monitor how much battery you had left. Before my P4 and Mavic the flight time or lack of was not a big deal, but after flying with the others it was noticeable and only got used for a very specific task...