Breathtaking Dolomites over the clouds - Mavic 2 Pro

[Dale D]

ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR! This footage should make us all jealous. Obviously there was no possibility of VLOS since the clouds and the peaks had to get in the way. I would have my heart in my throat doing this.

 

[apeel]

Unless he also was standing on one of the cliffs above the clouds. This is what I assume but will have to wait for his reply.

 

[DKAerial]

Unless he also was standing on one of the cliffs above the clouds. This is what I assume but will have to wait for his reply.

You are correct
I was always on a cliff or elevation that was above the clouds.
Coming from below the clouds would not have been possible (or at least very risky) as they were quite thick and wet.

 

[Dale D]

That certainly makes a lot more sense. I would be very afraid to fly through and above the clouds- I'd never be able to see it and would have a good chance of losing it. Still it took a lot of courage even to fly above the clouds since it have easily fallen into the clouds. Again, beautiful stuff.

 

[macfawlty]

I love your mountain destinations the best. This is definitely one of your best videos IMO.

If I flew only VLOS, I'd never get any good filming.

 

[apeel]

While I have only had a few flights under my belt, I have tried to capture some mountain ranges in UT and found it very difficult (especially since I did not have a sun shade for my iPhone and could not see what the camera was seeing). I also try to stay in VLOS and I get terrified whenever I lose sight of 'my baby' and if I cannot locate it using the compass / heading indicators on the display, I hit RTH. Still lack a lot of confidence.

 

[Dale D]

The feeling is MUTUAL!! I started with a Mavic Air and now have had it for over a year. I keep meaning to move on up to the big leagues with the Mavic 2Pro and it's not the money but the thought of a disaster and loss of the big boy. So I am more or less happy with the Mavic Air. but every time it leaves me I have a tremendous nervous feeling. I have crashed it once, and lost and found it once. All very nerve frazzling. I look at all of the Mavic 2 Pro ads here and really think long and hard about getting one. Bug then I read about all of the disasters here too.

 

[apeel]

Hey Dale ... you only live once! Go get that big boy right NOW!! With a full year of experience with the Mavic Air you are ready now ... you know it!!

 

[Lady Rover]

Very very impressive. Well done!

 

[macfawlty]

The feeling is MUTUAL!! I started with a Mavic Air and now have had it for over a year. I keep meaning to move on up to the big leagues with the Mavic 2Pro and it's not the money but the thought of a disaster and loss of the big boy. So I am more or less happy with the Mavic Air. but every time it leaves me I have a tremendous nervous feeling. I have crashed it once, and lost and found it once. All very nerve frazzling. I look at all of the Mavic 2 Pro ads here and really think long and hard about getting one. Bug then I read about all of the disasters here too.

Dale and Allan,
In order to capture good footage, you gotta get over the anxiety. If you haven’t already, buy insurance, which goes a long way to reducing the anxiety. Flying my first drone, the P3 4K, I assumed it was only a matter of time before I crashed it, given the fact that it has no obstacle avoidance. My biggest concern wasn’t crashing, but losing footage captured that day.

Once my drone is off the ground, I’m using the iPad POV. The next time I look at the drone is on return when landing. I truly only use the iPad POV while flying. I don’t understand how you can fly any other way. All the info you need is in the display. Looking for a drone in the sky makes no sense to me.

As for filming, you can fly safely high above ground plane obstacles, but it can make for boring footage without a worthy landscape.

With this most awesome footage, flying close to the mountain features takes it to a whole other level.

 

[Dale D]

Yes macfawlty, you are right. I, for one, think the VLOS rule is sort of impossible for me. My eyes are ok, but I have a lot of trouble following my drone, even with the flashing lights I have put on it. Once my Mavic Air gets a distance away, I lose my line of sight and depend solely on the iPad. So I do indeed use my 9 1/2 iPad exclusively to follow my path. I do try to go above the line of obstructions, but sometimes, I barely miss tree tops and at other times have been saved by the sensors. It is all so tenuous to me. Nice to say to "get over the anxiety," but try as I may, it is not that easy. Insurance? Yes, I have my homeowner's coverage but the cost of my drone ($799.00) would not warrant me risking a claim and loss of further homeowner's coverage, so I "self-insure," or, pay for a new drone if I lose it. What I would really love is a Mavic Air or a Mavic Pro with top and side sensors.

 

[InvisibleName]

Did I just click on a BBC Life on Earth video by mistake? Beautiful & very professional!

 

[apeel]

Thanks mcfawlty for taking the time to share your thoughts. When I bought my drone I also purchased DJI Care Refresh thinking this would be good insurance. However, I realized only later that it does require you to return a broken drone for a refresh, and there are lots of stories where people are unable to recover the drone (lost it after losing VLOS, downed in lake, etc). So I am less 'terrified' about crashing than I am about losing 'my baby'. So I remain nervous. Once my DJI Refresh expires I will research other insurance options that do not require you to return the drone.

Incidentally, I also have an iPad Pro 9.7 that I have started to use and it is MUCH better than my old iPhone 6s. Easier to see, and the sun shade I bought also works well. I think I will always try to keep my eye on M2Z and VLOS, but I agree that relying more on the iPad POV will make for better cinematic shots. I also agree that as I continue learn to control the sticks for smooth flights and video, my shots are very boring as they are high up, go slow, and have scenery in the far distance. Took me a long time to get good at amateur photography with a DSLR ... guess it will take me a while to get good at drone videos. Maybe I need to move to the Dolomites mountains in the Italy, huh?

 

[RCdancer]

Beautiful! I lived in northern Italy from 1986-1989. Brought back a lot of good memories.

 

[macfawlty]

Yes macfawlty, you are right. I, for one, think the VLOS rule is sort of impossible for me. My eyes are ok, but I have a lot of trouble following my drone, even with the flashing lights I have put on it. Once my Mavic Air gets a distance away, I lose my line of sight and depend solely on the iPad. So I do indeed use my 9 1/2 iPad exclusively to follow my path. I do try to go above the line of obstructions, but sometimes, I barely miss tree tops and at other times have been saved by the sensors. It is all so tenuous to me. Nice to say to "get over the anxiety," but try as I may, it is not that easy. Insurance? Yes, I have my homeowner's coverage but the cost of my drone ($799.00) would not warrant me risking a claim and loss of further homeowner's coverage, so I "self-insure," or, pay for a new drone if I lose it. What I would really love is a Mavic Air or a Mavic Pro with top and side sensors.

My eyes aren't very good anymore, so I lose sight of it quickly. I have a 9.7" iPad for the same reason. I really need to see the POV and telemetry to properly anticipate my filming moves and check flight info.

Small insurance claims on a homeowner's policy are generally not a good idea, plus the deductible is typically more than the cost of the drone. I pay $60/year for the insurance from State Farm. It goes a long way in reducing the anxiety.

You should definitely get a M2P, between now and your next worthy destination! One thing I REALLY like that I didn't anticipate is the longer focal length of the M2P. It's really the perfect focal length as the view appears closer to the objects in the field of view. It's like the difference between a 35mm and 50mm (I think the equivalent is a bit wider than a 50mm, but you get the idea). So, I don't have to fly anywhere near as close to water, ground plane, tree tops and cliff faces to look really close. I've found that when tilting gimbal down, I accompany with an increase in elevation to look more natural (vice versa with gimbal up/decrease elevation). I have DSLR lenses of every length and I just love the field of view of the M2P. It's really magic. Between the sensors and the longer focal length, I'm flying a lot safer and getting way better footage than with my P3 4k.

 

[Smokieflies]

Great views and flying. Thanks for sharing.

 

[macfawlty]

Thanks mcfawlty for taking the time to share your thoughts. When I bought my drone I also purchased DJI Care Refresh thinking this would be good insurance. However, I realized only later that it does require you to return a broken drone for a refresh, and there are lots of stories where people are unable to recover the drone (lost it after losing VLOS, downed in lake, etc). So I am less 'terrified' about crashing than I am about losing 'my baby'. So I remain nervous. Once my DJI Refresh expires I will research other insurance options that do not require you to return the drone.

Incidentally, I also have an iPad Pro 9.7 that I have started to use and it is MUCH better than my old iPhone 6s. Easier to see, and the sun shade I bought also works well. I think I will always try to keep my eye on M2Z and VLOS, but I agree that relying more on the iPad POV will make for better cinematic shots. I also agree that as I continue learn to control the sticks for smooth flights and video, my shots are very boring as they are high up, go slow, and have scenery in the far distance. Took me a long time to get good at amateur photography with a DSLR ... guess it will take me a while to get good at drone videos. Maybe I need to move to the Dolomites mountains in the Italy, huh?

Allan,

State Farm, $60/year. Get it now and breathe easy.

Photography is useful for getting your settings right, but it doesn't teach you how to do cinematic video. Just make sure you soften your gimbal and drone settings to avoid jerkies. Flying high doesn't make for very cinematic video, but getting there does. I do a lot of gimbal tilt with elevation change (tilt-down increase, tilt-up decrease). It's a pretty easy move to master. Just try to maintain the center point of rotation. Gimbal tilt lags behind the elevation change a bit.

The yaw movement is the most challenging to master, particularly when combined with an elevation change, forward/backward travel and gimbal tilt, but those combo moves are where the magic is at. The lightest lateral touch on the left joystick. Follow the contours of the landscape features with broad arcs.

One easy move I've been doing a lot lately is a POI with backward travel, like a spiral. Looks real nice and super easy to do as the POI does most of the hard work.

One more complicated move is a 180 degree turn (what goes out must come back). With the 180, I increase elevation, tilt gimbal down rotating around a (manual) POI axis, trying to make the yaw move as graceful as possible. The tilt down/increase elevation reduces the radical pan visual you experience with a 180. Of course, you have to do the inverse move at the tangent,... gimbal up/decrease elevation. Anticipate that you'll need a few takes to get the move/filming perfect.

When I'm watching my video clips after a day of flying, I'm anticipating what I SHOULD have done at certain points in the video. It's like there's a natural flow to the landscape and you're just following it. You really develop a feel for it. You can always check your proxy clips on the Ipad between batteries.

What I don't have is stunning scenery like what DK is capturing here. I've never seen those mountain ranges. Photography may not do it full justice, but drone footage comes really close. I'm gonna watch this video over and over.