Gary cato- You're right. I haven't played around with RC airplanes since I was a kid, back in 1960. But I wanted a flying camera and after lots of research decided to wait a couple of years for something that was easy. Then I wanted light and small to travel well. I kept watching each year at NAB, but they remained big and complicated. When I saw the mavic Pro it seemed to be the right fit for all my needs, but decided to wait for the reviews. After about 6 months I decoded this was the one and bought the Fly More kit that is perfect except for one useless to me item which is the bag. I would have rather had any number of other accessories because the Mavic Pro and controller, extra batteries and charger fit in my other gear mag with other cameras.
In a few weeks of flying I became disappointed in flying with my iphone 6+ Basically it wasn't bright enough for outdoor. I tried the sun shade and they were awkward. Vinally decided to switch to using an ipad
air 2 which I had already anyway. That worked really well but I had to make a home made bracket which worked great but in bright sun it still was too dark, so I had to buy another mount that worked well with a sun shade. I'm still not real pleased with the sunshade because it is not real easy to attach and then the kit is beginning to grow into a monstrosity and take two long to set up. I'm back to my simple home made bracket that folds up very small and I cast a shadow over the ipad with a ball cap. Need to wear one anyway to keep the sun off my head.
So those accessories all were a waste of money. I did buy extra props too because the fly more only came with 2. All the stories of the experts crashing I decided it was important for this novice to own extras. Well, haven't broken any yet in over a hundred flights. But I watched the videos and decided the people crashing and breaking props fly fast and loose with precaution, doing dare devil stunts, often violating local laws too. I'm not into that, just want a flying camera that takes nice video as a non-professional.
I bought a few other accessories very cheap, such as an open camera dome that is black to cut lens glare. Excellent $6 spent. A couple of $8 leg extenders to land in high grass. Put them on and leave them on. Bought a 5 filter kit for under $37 that works really great, thanks to all the excellent videos explaining the benefits of the ND filters.
Most of my accessories are for making flying easier without adding to the bulk and cost by a great deal.
One very simple accessory I had to fabricate is a bracket to carry another small camera piggyback. Hose clamp bent to the shape of the Mavic plus a quarter-20 bolt to mount the extra camera. So far I have tested a Giroptic360 on the Mavic Pro and it handles the camera nicely. Now I can shoot forward 4K high quality plus 360° spherical video as well. I'm hoping to get this to work for a VUZE 3D 360° camera later this summer when that preorder arrives.
Very excited about the Mavic Pro and it doesn't break the bank, rather as a flying camera, gives me many more shooting options for a real bargain.
BTW- I have already perfected a flying technique that allows me to shoot 3D video from the Mavic Pro's single camera. The method only works for a pan side shot but it does give excellent 3D depth. I do lots of 3D video with my projects so this method will be used often in my 3D projects.
