Buying an Air next week!! Tips?!

[EricE]

The fly more combo is definitely a good idea as the additional batteries are more than welcome.

If you plan to shoot videos ND filters are a must in my view as you just have a fixed aperture and the only thing you can do is shorten the exposure time if you have too much light. As a side effect of that you will get an unnatural and mechanic look, so ND filters are necessary.

Where is the best place to look foe filters and what would be a good set to have for a beginner

 

[jspil]

Just as @Manty suggests, download the entire manual and find some time to go over it. Your MA will only come with a quick start guide. I did this and when my MA was delivered I was able to unbox it and start checking it out rite away. Enjoy your new drone, the MA is loads of fun to use. Dont forget to register it also.

I am buying a Mavic Air on the 22nd when I get the last $100 I need for it. I have been watching tons of video about recommended setting changes. I am going to buy a landing pad and MAS propellers when I purchase it. I will have three medium sized cards instead of just one large one. I would like to know more tips or recommended videos to help before I really get to flying. Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Butterfly Copper]

Where is the best place to look foe filters and what would be a good set to have for a beginner

The choice of filters seems to be a religion of itself. I just bought a set of cheap ones from Neewer. The only thing that was important for me is that they are multi-coated to give an even light distribution.

I bought a set of ND 4 / ND 8 / ND 16 and ND 4 + PL / ND 8 + PL / ND 16 + PL but to be honest the first three should be enough to start. I paid 30 € at Amazon Germany, you can probably get them for the same amount in the US.

 

[Stormin]

Good advice on reading the forums here (especially the crash / fly away threads), saving and referring to the manual (often), learn it's way inside out . . . YouTube - Air first flight tutorials - use that string to search YT, the big open oval / sports ground with no trees etc for your first flights and testing features like flight modes, RTH, etc.

Also, just fly for a while, get that right before getting into photos and video, that and editing is another new thing to learn after flying well.
Do try and get that one photo on your first flight, have it set to camera and auto before take off so you don't need to much about with it in the air.
It's always good to get that shot to remember your first air time in the new hobby. (Assuming it's your first.)

Enjoy.
My BIL loves his Air, but has written one off into a cliff.

I use an I Pad mini 4 and hot spot it to my mobile phone it works extremely well, and many others do the same.

 

[Dave Maine]

I love my MA and have had no problems with it using either iPad or iPhone. it travels well and I have flown all over US and Europe without difficulty.

The only time I use a filter is a polarizing one when there are lots of shiny objects that reflect light. The higher shutter speed needed to get correct exposure is fine. No need for ND filters.

like any camera, correct exposure is essential. You need to understand how to do it correctly. Read the manual.All the exposure controls work independently of the filters used. Understand the histogram feature.

 

[Dave Maine]

Not really accurate. Most drone flights are flown at a height that any strobing from the use of a high shutter speed is unnoticable.

 

[johnbirt]

Wow. This is the first time I’ve heard of this.

Try as a temporary fix ensuring that you have Air-plane mode on to cut out other apps interfering. One UK user with app crashing found this worked. You will still be able to fly with a few restrictions to do with maps and other stuff etc. but at least you might be able to get in the air!

 

[DanMan32]

Not really accurate. Most drone flights are flown at a height that any strobing from the use of a high shutter speed is unnoticable.

True, it's less of a problem on Mavics as it was on the Phantoms.

 

[Neil Reid]

Many congratulations on your new drone! A very exciting purchase.

Some very good tips from the crew here.

It can be a bit intimidating to fly at first but you'll gain proficiency soon. Watch videos like those from Ed Ricker for those new to the Mavic Pro.

Advice from a fairly new guy with about 100 flights now on my MP-

1) Take your time. Impatience will cause you problems (maxim stolen from this website)

2) Find "Beginner Mode" on the DJI 4 app which you'll need, and turn that on for your first few flights.

3) Find a wide open flat space with no trees or structures nearby on your first few flights.

4) If you get in a pinch while flying, simply take both hands off the joy sticks and it'll stop and hover until you think your way through the situation. Go real easy on the joy sticks- small and smooth incremental movements.

5) At first, land with more than 5 or 6 mins remaining on your batteries. It'll freak you out as a newbie when you get a low battery warning and it zooms to 100 feet in the air for a return to home when you're a newb. It’ll freak you out even more if the batteries get too low and it attempts to automatically zoom to return home altitude while you’re under an obstruction like tree branches.

6) Have a checklist. Remember to remove the gimbal cover(s) before you fly.

7) Stick close to this site as there are a lot of experts here (I'm not one of them). YouTube is also a treasure trove for new drone owners.

Have fun!

 

[DanMan32]

One more thing:
If you lose signal, don't freak out if it appears to not be coming directly back to you. It retraces the last 60 seconds of its flight path with the assumption that if it had signal where it was, it should be able to get signal back by going where it was.

 

[JJDUN770]

Have you tried using Litchi instead? It should be available in the apple app store.

 

[Butterfly Copper]

Not really accurate. Most drone flights are flown at a height that any strobing from the use of a high shutter speed is unnoticable.

Hmm, not my experience. This only is true if you do not have a lot of change between the frames. Generally motion blur is desired in videos.

 

[scoble08]

Try as a temporary fix ensuring that you have Air-plane mode on to cut out other apps interfering. One UK user with app crashing found this worked. You will still be able to fly with a few restrictions to do with maps and other stuff etc. but at least you might be able to get in the air!

I always fly my MA in Airplane mode on (iPad mini 4, iPhone 8+) iOS. No txt, email interruptions. However, it seems that DJI GO 4 app, v4.3.28 IOS does have specific issues.

 

[zzxrox]

Dont fly in the house (everyone that does it ends up regretting it). Dont crash. READ THE MANUAL. have fun. Get a Tiny Whoop to fly in the house.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I use an I Pad mini 4 and hot spot it to my mobile phone it works extremely well, and many others do the same.

Yep, I do this myself if needed, but I generally don't worry about it, maps on site aren't a big issue for me, just use the little map box to keep tabs on drone position / orientation etc.

 

[Rustedfrog8]

Thank you everyone for the tips! I could not be more excited. I have loved the little limited flying I have done in the past. I cannot wait to get a truly capable drone.

 

[gianni_BT]

Thank you for that tip. A lot of the videos I have watched talk about shooting flat and then fixing in editing. But I don’t even know how to edit at all. Or what software to use. So knowing that a ND filter will fix some of that really helps.

ND filters are necessary to comply the rule that shutter speed should be the inverse of the double of the frame rate you use (e.g. 25 fps, shutter speed 1/50 of sec.; 60 fps, shutter speed 1/120 of sec.). This is the base to have fluid footage. And this is valid either if you use Cinematic or normal color mode and standard or customized brightness and contrast. The ND filter is needed because, to comply the rule, normally you have your footage overexposed: the filter reduces the amount of light without affecting the color, to make a correct exposure that you can verify directly on DJI application activating the hystogram.Normally you need a ND 32 on strong sunlight and reflecting environment(snow, white sand), ND16 on full sunlight, ND 8 on partially cloudy, ND 4 on cloudy.But, I repeat, the hystogram will tell you what filter you have to mount to have a correct exposure.
When I have to post produce the footage, I use Davinci resolve, mainly due to its complete color correction set of tools. If my footage does note require color correction, because made with normal color and normal brightness and con trast, so I use Wondershare Filmora 9, that is much more user friendly.

 

[tanner707]

I am buying a Mavic Air on the 22nd when I get the last $100 I need for it. I have been watching tons of video about recommended setting changes. I am going to buy a landing pad and MAS propellers when I purchase it. I will have three medium sized cards instead of just one large one. I would like to know more tips or recommended videos to help before I really get to flying. Thanks in advance!!!

Save your money and make your own landing pad.

 

[Rustedfrog8]

Save your money and make your own landing pad.

I was thinking about that. But if I purchase from the DJI official eBay store then it comes with a landing pad. It will depend on if purchasing from the eBay store includes the full warranty like purchasing directly from DJI.

 

[tanner707]

I was thinking about that. But if I purchase from the DJI official eBay store then it comes with a landing pad. It will depend on if purchasing from the eBay store includes the full warranty like purchasing directly from DJI.

I would not buy from an ebay store. Look for a dji authorized dealer. Shop around, prices will drop on the fly more bundle within the next couple weeks.