Active Track first test - Self shot MTB ride

[Nathan Hoover]

I tried Trace and Profile modes and as long as you understand the limitations you can get ok results:

 

[AlexSP]

LOL That's a LOT more than OK Nathan, both the footage and the unicycle skills! Really cool! And a scary close to those tree branches in the end eh? Very very good, thanks for sharing. I too wasn't able to get front footage, only a couple of seconds during some trace orbit shots. Maybe trying something different to make it work, we'll see...

Today I got some great shots with SPOTLIGHT. I wasn't too thrilled with this mode at first, but it's actually pretty useful to add variety to the takes. It's like having a tripod standing anywhere you want to follow you from a still position, pans get really nice and so do short range moves.

So I parked the MAVIC hovering above a river facing an old bridge and crossed it, and did the same on a short stretch of trail, the results came out better than I thought. Felt like my Osmo Mobile, only a floating one Much better and more radical! Will post when I get some wifi here.

 

[Nathan Hoover]

Thanks - glad you liked that. I also initially thought spotlight mode was useless, I also tried it on my Osmo Mobile and think it can be used sometimes for cycling. I see a useful range of almost up to 100' with ActiveTrack of a single cyclist-sized object.

All in all I am forced to conclude that the current Mavic Pro isn't quite good enough for shooting my normal offroad rides. Both for the limitations of ActiveTrack and because it is lacking upwards, backwards and sideways obstacle avoidance. Can't wait for the Mavic Pro 2 and isn't it amazing that the Mavic has already been out for over 3 months? Hoping for an update in April or so.

 

[AlexSP]

Yeah I'm sure the tech will improve to a point when autonomous flight will be a lot safer than it is now. It's drawing near. To imagine that only a year ago the best we had in this league was the P3P (which IMO remains a nice, solid and reliable quad - I love mine), and now the P4P with 360° OA and all it's clear how fast DJI is advancing with this.

For now, I still don't thrust it much, preferring to err on the safe side and live with the limitations. I find it pretty ok as we have it now, I'm not complaining here! But there's a lot to be done in regards to sensors and also processing, of course the frontal OA of the Mavic is better than nothing and could save it in some situations, but...

Anyway, it's obvious we're all having a load of fun because these are awesome toys if used correctly. Well, I am... LOL