Mavic Owners - What Are Your First Impressions?

[m0j0]

I just looked at the raw video and photos this evening. I have been too busy flying. Compared to my P3.. The video is incredibly sharp almost too sharp. Something I thought would be a problem isn't... the focus.. I really like it. Makes the area you are concentrating on very sharp.

I have seen two times where I had some jello. Both times were in high winds when I was adjusting the tilt of the camera while moving.. not a concern at all for me. It was more operator error than system.

 

[schpenxel]

OK, finally received my Mavic FMP yesterday, charged up everything, did the IMU, Gimbal & Gimbal roll calibrations as well as stick calibration (right stick stuck at 5% tried 3 times but flew fine no drift). Nice day today, in the 60's with no wind so went to fly my 3 batteries down to 50% after a compass calibration. First thing, compared to my P2 or P3 this thing seemed to be nailed in place while hovering. The speed with OA on is less than I am used to, but with it off more than I am used to, Yaw response is slower, but altitude gain is faster, as is decent, love the auto pause at 3'. I can't judge battery life as I only run new batteries down to 50% the first 10 cycles, but 50% got me 15 minutes on all 3 of them, so a solid 25 minutes should be doable with 10% safety. Man this thing is easy to lose against a blue sky at 2000' so DJI needs to get the Radar pointer fixed in IOS, because once you lose it you don't know which way to orient the antennas to point them at the Mavic. I ended up just swinging the controller for max signal. Only took it out 2500' but had a solid signal, and no video dropouts like my P3. Tested 'follow me' and 'Active track', as well as the 'selfie' mode, all worked fine. Stick response seems to need some tweaking, but that is just my preference, others may like it just fine. Love the fact that the entire kit fits in my messenger sling bag, with room left over. Set up and tear down is a matter of a minute or so, much faster than my Phantom. So, all in all I am impressed with this quad, haven't had a chance to evaluate the video or photo quality, will do that tomorrow, but from what I see on the web it should be just fine for my purposes.

Then don't use the radar... when you're using the map view instead it shows a dot that orients based on where you're pointing. Pretty easy to aim that at the craft, though honestly I've gone out close to a mile without even being close to pointed the right direction and signal never went out, so not sure how far you'd have to go before it'd matter

 

[Pedro]

I think that it is absolutely incredible.. I started off with a Phantom 1 over 3 years ago and moved on to Sky Hero Spy 600 and since then have built and flown many different multirotors, with many different flight controllers, culminating in a Sky Hero Spyder X8 weighing over 6kg with a DSLR gimbal on it but the Mavic beats them all for a number of reasons:

• Portability - how could it be any more convenient?
• So easy to fly.
• So steady, footage is simply amazing for such a tiny craft.
• Reliability - it just does what you tell it to.
• Speed of getting into the air - 3 minutes max.
• Flight duration - gone are the 5 to 10 minute max flight times.
• Firmware - it just updates itself and works.
• Build quality - superb.
• Software - such a user friendly GUI, so different to all the other GUIs I've used.
• Portability - did I mention that?

Coming from mainly open source flight controllers, I think there's almost a snobbery where people look down on DJI products, almost like they are inferior. This thing has completely busted that myth for me, gone are the hours of tuning flight controllers and who needs Alexmos, what a royal pain in the *** tuning gimbals is.. Never again.

 

[Auspete]

OK, finally received my Mavic FMP yesterday, charged up everything, did the IMU, Gimbal & Gimbal roll calibrations as well as stick calibration (right stick stuck at 5% tried 3 times but flew fine no drift). Nice day today, in the 60's with no wind so went to fly my 3 batteries down to 50% after a compass calibration. First thing, compared to my P2 or P3 this thing seemed to be nailed in place while hovering. The speed with OA on is less than I am used to, but with it off more than I am used to, Yaw response is slower, but altitude gain is faster, as is decent, love the auto pause at 3'. I can't judge battery life as I only run new batteries down to 50% the first 10 cycles, but 50% got me 15 minutes on all 3 of them, so a solid 25 minutes should be doable with 10% safety. Man this thing is easy to lose against a blue sky at 2000' so DJI needs to get the Radar pointer fixed in IOS, because once you lose it you don't know which way to orient the antennas to point them at the Mavic. I ended up just swinging the controller for max signal. Only took it out 2500' but had a solid signal, and no video dropouts like my P3. Tested 'follow me' and 'Active track', as well as the 'selfie' mode, all worked fine. Stick response seems to need some tweaking, but that is just my preference, others may like it just fine. Love the fact that the entire kit fits in my messenger sling bag, with room left over. Set up and tear down is a matter of a minute or so, much faster than my Phantom. So, all in all I am impressed with this quad, haven't had a chance to evaluate the video or photo quality, will do that tomorrow, but from what I see on the web it should be just fine for my purposes.

Thanks F6rider - great short review. A positive review makes me look forward to getting my Mavic rather than the negative reviews that concern me.

 

[Dmitry]

Hi , anybody who already has the unit , could you please give a details on the camera : - is it easy to remove and then install it back ? - is it possible to replace it by yourself in case of damage - Can you remove camera with other equipment as one piece ? I need to know if i can ask the seller to send me drone in 2 parts : body and camera unit ? Dmitry.

 

[GerdS]

My Mavic works well and as should, no problems yet after few flights.
But with the remote I think there is potential for improvement. My Sony Xperia XZ goes in with a bit too much force to my feeling. And the USB-C cable seens to make contact problems, repeatedly connecting and disconnecting or just identifying as a charger cable. Will have to look for a spare cable.
I will also try to remove the lower rubber parts from the phone holders, hoping to bet my phone in while the protection cover is on.

 

[Fplvert]

Hi , anybody who already has the unit , could you please give a details on the camera : - is it easy to remove and then install it back ? - is it possible to replace it by yourself in case of damage - Can you remove camera with other equipment as one piece ? I need to know if i can ask the seller to send me drone in 2 parts : body and camera unit ? Dmitry.

No.

This Mavic is a tiny guy. Very nice build quality and it flys solid.

It is much quieter than Phantoms and start-up is fast without the obnoxiously loud tones.

I'm using my IPhone 6s with a slimline case in the RC and it feels great! I'm used to a big top-heavy RC with a tablet or IPad on a lanyard. Mavic controller is so small and portable, I'm not missing the lanyard at all!

Old man Winter came with my new bird, but I'll be flying more when the weather permits.

You all will love your new Mavic when you get it, it's worth the wait!

 

[Dmitry]

there is no way to remove gymbal with camera ?

 

[F6Rider]

Then don't use the radar... when you're using the map view instead it shows a dot that orients based on where you're pointing. Pretty easy to aim that at the craft, though honestly I've gone out close to a mile without even being close to pointed the right direction and signal never went out, so not sure how far you'd have to go before it'd matter

I don't use map mode much, like to see where I am via the camera, flew in Army UH1H's for years as crew chief and the Mark 1 eyeball was the preferred method for spotting either fast movers, possible FOD or treetops The Radar pointer was a very fast and easy way to orient the controller with respect to the bird when you can't see it.

 

[Mako79]

Its really compact.

 

[Fplvert]

Its really compact.

Yes, just like the disclaimer and quick start guide!

 

[bakerboy]

I'm new to dji after coming from a 450 deadcat (that gave me a wicked scar and nerve damage ) 500 H frame, 650 Y6 and an S800 quad converted with APM

Compact, locked in, mint camera, just unreal what you can get for $2200 these days given a few years ago naza with gps was over 2 grand hahaha

 

[bakerboy]

Yes, just like the disclaimer and quick start guide!

kind of a hint really...

 

[Fplvert]

I'm new to dji after coming from a 450 deadcat (that gave me a wicked scar and nerve damage ) 500 H frame, 650 Y6 and an S800 quad converted with APM

Compact, locked in, mint camera, just unreal what you can get for $2200 these days given a few years ago naza with gps was over 2 grand hahaha

You paid how much?

 

[bakerboy]

View attachment 2019
You paid how much?

There's more countries in the world than just the states

$2200AUD is the retail of a fly more combo from dji or australian suppliers

 

[Fplvert]

There's more countries in the world than just the states

$2200AUD is the retail of a fly more combo from dji or australian suppliers

Sorry, I didn't know. I've seen them go for that on EBay.

Enjoy your summer, it's cold up here!

 

[bakerboy]

haha all good, has been a funny old start to summer, but keen for some warm weather again