Flying the Mavic Air at Portage Glacier

JakeS · Mar 2, 2018

I took some friends on a hike to Portage Glacier in Alaska and used the Mavic Air to get some stellar video of it. I’m constantly impressed by the perspective these drones provide and I’m really enjoying the Footage the Air gets!

I used an ND 32 filter the entire flight and it was just enough to get my shutter speed down to between 50-120...

Cheers

Philbern2 · Mar 2, 2018

Wow! Very privileged to have watched your work! Just think that in your lifetime this will almost disappear!

JakeS · Mar 2, 2018

Philbern2 said:
Wow! Very privileged to have watched your work! Just think that in your lifetime this will almost disappear!

It might. 15 years ago we would have only walked about 1.5-2 miles to see the edge...

bonaerial · Mar 3, 2018

Wow what an awesome video. I still have a lot to learn i'm afraid. How did you batteries hold up ? I take it was (far) below zero ?

JakeS · Mar 3, 2018

bonaerial said:
Wow what an awesome video. I still have a lot to learn i'm afraid. How did you batteries hold up ? I take it was (far) below zero ?

actually it was about 15-17f (-10c) and really nice in the sun. The batteries held up really well giving me plenty of flight time to capture a lot of great footage. It was fairly windy. About 10knots gusting to 15knots but the Air handled it really well.

Cheers

bonaerial · Mar 3, 2018

I take you fly with more then one battery. Do you have any tips on keeping them warm ? Or don't you keep them warm. Please elaborate some more. I'm able to fly in cold conditions but my next two batteries are always worse then the one i start on (which is most warm i guess because i just left house/car).

JakeS · Mar 3, 2018

bonaerial said:
I take you fly with more then one battery. Do you have any tips on keeping them warm ? Or don't you keep them warm. Please elaborate some more. I'm able to fly in cold conditions but my next two batteries are always worse then the one i start on (which is most warm i guess because i just left house/car).

I fly with 3-4 batteries and always keep the batteries warm... I will keep them in my backpack with the small hand warmer pads you can buy or I will put them in my inner pockets in my jacket/coat to keep them warm with body heat. If they get cold your flight time will drop considerably or you wont be able to fly at all. It's also important to let the drone warm up by turning it on and letting it sit for a minute while it acquires GPS signal but then on take off let it hover just above the ground until the battery reaches a temp of 20c or so.

Cheers!

bonaerial · Mar 3, 2018

Thanks ! Will try to get those warmers you mentioned and the hovering one i also added to my list that is a really good suggestion

ceirsik · Mar 3, 2018

How did the Air perform over the pro? I have been watching your videos and told teresa we need to come up there a visit. It's just so beautiful. The glacier is so blue... keep up the great videos we'll see ya sometime soon.

JakeS · Mar 3, 2018

ceirsik said:
How did the Air perform over the pro? I have been watching your videos and told teresa we need to come up there a visit. It's just so beautiful. The glacier is so blue... keep up the great videos we'll see ya sometime soon.

Thank you! Well as far as the pro vs the air the pro has better range longer flight and better signal to controller by far. The air has better image quality faster setup and is more portable. So I sold my pro and kept the air. For what I’m doing size weight and image quality matter most right now. Now when the Pro II comes out it may be a different story but I guess we will have to wait and see

.

I didn’t color correct any of that footage just adjusted the white balance and contrast.

I hope you get to come up here and see Alaska for yourself soon! It’s an amazing place to be sure.

Cheers

Jake