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Impressions and tips from my first few flights...

tomnjfl

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So I finally got a chance to fly the Mavic over the weekend and I have to say, it is everything I hoped for!! Here are a few things that I really liked, and a couple tips for people just getting theirs:
  • LOVE how quiet the Mavic is in the air! Compared to my old Solo it's very quiet which makes it much easier to be more discrete.
  • Extremely stable in the air and very agile! If you're used to a larger drone with slower movements, definitely start in beginner mode until you get a feel for how quickly the Mavic reacts and moves in the air.
  • The camera and video...amazing!
  • Flight time. I went about 20 minutes on my first flight and still have about 30% batter left.
Here's a few pointers I picked up which might help new fliers:
  • Take the time to go through ALL the settings. There are dozens of camera settings, system settings, and flight settings that you may not realize. Go through every menu, it's worth it.
  • When I was flying outside I noticed my iPhone screen was quite dark. Depending on how you fit the phone into the holder, it can cover the light sensor, which then makes your screen get dimmer. But there's a solution, in the main camera view of the DJI Go app, you can slide left on the screen and it will bring up a slider to adjust brightness. Wish I found that sooner!
Overall, I love this thing. I'm heading up to Vermont today and can't wait to get some awesome mountain footage!
 
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Congrats ... very good tips..


Sent from my iPad using MavicPilots
 
So I finally got a chance to fly the Mavic over the weekend and I have to say, it is everything I hoped for!! Here are a few things that I really liked, and a couple tips for people just getting theirs:
  • LOVE how quiet the Mavic is in the air! Compared to my old Solo it's very quiet which makes it much easier to be more discrete.
  • Extremely stable in the air and very agile! If you're used to a larger drone with slower movements, definitely start in beginner mode until you get a feel for how quickly the Mavic reacts and moves in the air.
  • The camera and video...amazing!
  • Flight time. I went about 20 minutes on my first flight and still have about 30% batter left.
Here's a few pointers I picked up which might help new fliers:
  • Take the time to go through ALL the settings. There are dozens of camera settings, system settings, and flight settings that you may not realize. Go through every menu, it's worth it.
  • When I was flying outside I noticed my iPhone screen was quite dark. Depending on how you fit the phone into the holder, it can cover the light sensor, which then makes your screen get dimmer. But there's a solution, in the main camera view of the DJI Go app, you can slide left on the screen and it will bring up a slider to adjust brightness. Wish I found that sooner!
Overall, I love this thing. I'm heading up to Vermont today and can't wait to get some awesome mountain footage!


As another previous Solo user for a year, I would say the only thing the Mavic has going for it so far in my book vs. Solo is form factor and flight time. I qualify with "so far" because I think the current Mavic drawbacks can be remedied with future development and firmware/software updates/enhancements. The Mavic size and flight time are obviously an advantage. However the stability issues cant be ignored. When so many people including myself are having frequent disconnect and abhorrent flight glitches on a drone that was marketed as infallible, that can't be excused.

My Solo, while certainly bigger, with shorter flight times and perhaps "louder" as you put it was solid, dependable and super useful. Also you may weigh in with your experience but I think I am safe in saying 3DR Solo smart shots beat anything DJI intelligent flight has going HANDS DOWN. OK, so the Mavic's visual tracking and gesture modes are a cute gimmick but the 3DR people really based their entire development efforts at flight macros that are super user friendly and very useful for capturing cinematic aerial sequences. Solo's Multipoint Cablecam and Zipline beats the pants off DJI's Waypoints because the setup is much easier and the functions record gimbal movement changes in addition to the flight settings. There is no need to gingerly thumb the gimbal wheel to pan through your Way points as with DJI because Solo does it all for you automatically, just fly to your cablepoint and point your camera where you want at each location. OH, and how about the benefit of moving forward and backward through you cable or repeating whereas DJI exits the Waypoint function when the route is complete. WTF? You have to go back into waypoints and recall it again to refly the route...Subpar. Similarly, Solo Orbits beat DJI POI in all the same ways as the cables, Panno and Zips. I even miss the Solo's Selfie function which was a clever way to sweep out to reveal the environment surrounding your subject. And while the Mavic cam is amazing for it's size.... you can't start to compare the capability of the DJI Mavic cam to a GoPro Hero4 black. Anyway, I bought Mavic because Solo was too awkward and cumbersome to take along wherever I went. I had to plan for Solo to be at a place whereas Mavic can just ride along without taking up the extra space so convenience wins but Come on DJI... Fix the glitghy stuff and take some cues from Solo on your smart shots. All this = my humble opinion.

Cheers

JC
 
As another previous Solo user for a year, I would say the only thing the Mavic has going for it so far in my book vs. Solo is form factor and flight time. I qualify with "so far" because I think the current Mavic drawbacks can be remedied with future development and firmware/software updates/enhancements. The Mavic size and flight time are obviously an advantage. However the stability issues cant be ignored. When so many people including myself are having frequent disconnect and abhorrent flight glitches on a drone that was marketed as infallible, that can't be excused.

My Solo, while certainly bigger, with shorter flight times and perhaps "louder" as you put it was solid, dependable and super useful. Also you may weigh in with your experience but I think I am safe in saying 3DR Solo smart shots beat anything DJI intelligent flight has going HANDS DOWN. OK, so the Mavic's visual tracking and gesture modes are a cute gimmick but the 3DR people really based their entire development efforts at flight macros that are super user friendly and very useful for capturing cinematic aerial sequences. Solo's Multipoint Cablecam and Zipline beats the pants off DJI's Waypoints because the setup is much easier and the functions record gimbal movement changes in addition to the flight settings. There is no need to gingerly thumb the gimbal wheel to pan through your Way points as with DJI because Solo does it all for you automatically, just fly to your cablepoint and point your camera where you want at each location. OH, and how about the benefit of moving forward and backward through you cable or repeating whereas DJI exits the Waypoint function when the route is complete. WTF? You have to go back into waypoints and recall it again to refly the route...Subpar. Similarly, Solo Orbits beat DJI POI in all the same ways as the cables, Panno and Zips. I even miss the Solo's Selfie function which was a clever way to sweep out to reveal the environment surrounding your subject. And while the Mavic cam is amazing for it's size.... you can't start to compare the capability of the DJI Mavic cam to a GoPro Hero4 black. Anyway, I bought Mavic because Solo was too awkward and cumbersome to take along wherever I went. I had to plan for Solo to be at a place whereas Mavic can just ride along without taking up the extra space so convenience wins but Come on DJI... Fix the glitghy stuff and take some cues from Solo on your smart shots. All this = my humble opinion.

Cheers

JC


I can see where you're coming from, but I never used the Solo smart-shots anyway, so that wasn't such a big deal to me.

And as for the issues with the Mavic, I honestly have none to report. I flew mine in 20-something degree weather almost all weekend up in Vermont and it was flawless every time, even in some heavy fog and in varying mountain terrain. Every time I powered on the Mavic I was in the air within 30 seconds, which is something that could never be said for my Solo. The Mavic's flight was always super smooth, the controls are great, and I never had any connection issues whatsoever. I hope I don't experience any of those issues, because honestly I think it's just perfect as it is...so far.

Oh...and tripod mode....AMAZING!
 
Greatly appreciate this post. I've had a P3P for over a year, and love it. And my Mavic should arrive this week.

I'm looking forward to its lighter, smaller, quieter footprint.
 
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