Still on the fence

[BerndM]

Hello
My name is Bernd from Placentia, Orange County, California and I have been keeping tabs on the Mavik ever since it was first introduced.
As of right now, I am still firmly on the fence, trying to decide if I want (need) to spend the money for ANOTHER quad.
I have been flying my almost 4 year old DJI F450 Flamewheel with NAZA FC, DJI-GPS, Fat Shark FPV, Tarot 2 axis gimbal and GoPro Hero3 Black and it flies like new and never crashed.
I also have a 1 year old Yuneec Q500+ 4K quad with the CGO3 camera and 3 axis gimbal.
So my Quad Hanger is nicely stocked.
My main interest in the Mavik is all about the size, specifically the lack thereof.
I ride a motorcycle and the the DJI-F450 and Yuneec are just too big to take along on the bike. The Mavik OTOH would be perfect for that.
So I am still seriously giving it a lot of thought.
Hope to harvest a LOT of good info from here to help me decide.
Take care and Happy New Year to all.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Understood - and there will never be a shortage of new technology that makes you think you need something else! But from the sounds of your situation, you would actually benefit from a small, portable and very capable drone. We sell them to all kinds of drone owners - people with Phantoms, Inspires, M600s, Altas, and other custom stuff. Why, they all want the portable one they can have with them...easily. We have done demos of lots of DJI equipment and everyone loves the Mavic. If you can get your hands on one or test fly one that would probably be all it would take to convince you. If you were in FL we would gladly let you see and fly one. Maybe you can find a dealer near you or someone else who has one to check it out. The availability is improving too. If you decide to get one, keep us in mind!

Besides all the info you can find online, did you have any particular question about them?

www.FloridaDroneSupply.com

 

[BerndM]

Thanks for the reply and as of right now my one nagging question has to do with a hopefully put to rest issue that DJI has had in past years, and that is the dreaded unexplained "flyaways". I haven't seen any mention od this for the Mavik. Hopefully it has indeed been solved and eliminated.
I've been flying RC since the early '70's and have never had this happen, and I'd like to keep my record clean.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Roger that! So far I think its been pretty good. We test fly every new product ourselves as well and have not had any issues on any of the newer products. I'm sure people will associate DJI with their old fly away issue for a long time......and the flip of death. But all has been good that we have experienced and heard about.

 

[Retoxx]

Hello
My name is Bernd from Placentia, Orange County, California and I have been keeping tabs on the Mavik ever since it was first introduced.
As of right now, I am still firmly on the fence, trying to decide if I want (need) to spend the money for ANOTHER quad.
I have been flying my almost 4 year old DJI F450 Flamewheel with NAZA FC, DJI-GPS, Fat Shark FPV, Tarot 2 axis gimbal and GoPro Hero3 Black and it flies like new and never crashed.
I also have a 1 year old Yuneec Q500+ 4K quad with the CGO3 camera and 3 axis gimbal.
So my Quad Hanger is nicely stocked.
My main interest in the Mavik is all about the size, specifically the lack thereof.
I ride a motorcycle and the the DJI-F450 and Yuneec are just too big to take along on the bike. The Mavik OTOH would be perfect for that.
So I am still seriously giving it a lot of thought.
Hope to harvest a LOT of good info from here to help me decide.
Take care and Happy New Year to all.

Ok, I've only had my Mavic since Jan 4th, but in response to your question, I would say: GET ONE!! I think this is easily my 8th quadcopter!? But the portability of this one makes it my go-to travel photography drone. This thing is simply amazing. The amount of tech packed into this light little foldable platform STILL blows my mind, and I'm an electronics geek of epic proportions. LOL. Your other platforms are amazing, yes... now, just imagine their power, and then some, being able to fold up into a water bottle sized package.... The active tracking needs a bit of work, I will admit, but that's what firmware updates are for. This thing is truly amazing, and I have yet to unlock even 80% of its potential!


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[Retoxx]

Thanks for the reply and as of right now my one nagging question has to do with a hopefully put to rest issue that DJI has had in past years, and that is the dreaded unexplained "flyaways". I haven't seen any mention od this for the Mavik. Hopefully it has indeed been solved and eliminated.
I've been flying RC since the early '70's and have never had this happen, and I'd like to keep my record clean.

The Mavic does a self-check on power-up. I get an alert if my compass needs to be re-calibrated before a flight. I would assume ignoring this warning and flying (which is possible) would result in a fly away condition. But with a gps lock, my Mavic hovers amazing solid. I've set waypoint flights and gone inside for a drink while they run, it honestly makes me this confident in the crafts ability. Unreal!!


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to DronePilots newest forum BerndM .

 

[msinger]

one nagging question has to do with a hopefully put to rest issue that DJI has had in past years, and that is the dreaded unexplained "flyaways".

In the past, the flyaways were always unexplained since the aircraft and mobile device did not record flight logs. Today, "flyaways" are almost always caused by pilot error. That's an easy thing to prove by reading the flight log. And, many of those aircraft can be recovered using the data from the flight log.

Here are a few a flyaways stories that were posted here:

http://mavicpilots.com/threads/mavic-lost-failure-to-return-to-home.2191
http://mavicpilots.com/threads/please-help-me.3504

Both cases were caused by pilot error. The pilots either didn't read the Mavic manual or failed to follow the instructions in the manual.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Mavic Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for
current developments in Mavic quadcopter’s. Read the manual a few times and watch lots of Youtube videos on the subject to give yourself a good start.
Enjoy!

 

[skypros]

BerndM..... I had a Q5004k, and it was a great bird... except for the frequent FPV disconnects that plagues the Q series. I also have a Honda CRF250L Enduro (aka dual sport) and the Mavic is compact enough to ride along with me.
The other things I can tell you is the Q500 vs the mavic, is the mavic is more stable, more quiet, the operating is way more advanced than the Q series.....

 

[lakong]

Bernd, I'm in Palos Verdes, less than an hour from you, so if you want to come out with me one day, I'm happy to show you the Mavic and let you try it out. If you have a good place to fly we can agree on, maybe we can even meet halfway.

I've only had it for 2 weeks now, but it's a lot of fun. Here are two recent flights, edited down a bit. The one from yesterday morning (first one) was into the sun a bit so there are some prop shadows, but you can see how nice and steady it is and great unedited footage. Still learning but lots of fun:

- Scot

 

[BerndM]

Bernd, I'm in Palos Verdes, less than an hour from you, so if you want to come out with me one day, I'm happy to show you the Mavic and let you try it out. If you have a good place to fly we can agree on, maybe we can even meet halfway.

I've only had it for 2 weeks now, but it's a lot of fun. Here are two recent flights, edited down a bit. The one from yesterday morning (first one) was into the sun a bit so there are some prop shadows, but you can see how nice and steady it is and great unedited footage. Still learning but lots of fun:

- Scot

Thanks for the kind invite. I would be most appreciative to meet up with you and check it out first hand. I have yet to actually see a real one. Maybe you can PM me a few days before your next outing and if the weather is nice, I can hop on my motorcycle and ride out to you location to meet up.

 

[sportfisher23]

Hi,

Your only drawback will be the wait time which has come down a lot. I ordered mine from Brooklyn Drones on Sept 29 and picked it up in late December.
I have been on a tear with it since. I have flown all unguided stuff so this is the first semi self guided one. Get the FlyMore combo. More batteries and charging options. As far as a fly away situation, I would just make sure all the functions and features are working and accessible. Sport Mode can handle a decent wind.
If you're can't access Sport Mode for some reason, you might drift in a high wind (something we shouldn't be flying in anyway!).
I have been very happy with mine and it looks and feels very well made. It's quite discrete and low key to set up and deploy.
I don't think you'll be disappointed.

vsk