Mavic Pro review from Philip Bloom

Grey Wolf · Oct 22, 2016

Raptorman said:
I have the GH2, have had it for 5 years I think, but I have not upgraded yet. I was tempted by the GH4, but as it had been out for nearly a couple years when my interest in 4K developed I figured on waiting until the GH5 was out. Sadly, it looks like the GH5 is still more than half a year away and now I'm looking at the G85. There is much to like about what the GH5 is supposed to offer (4K @ 60fps) and it should see a boost in bit rate beyond the 200Mbps the GH4 can do. Hopefully the higher bitrate will be matched by a processor that can do IPB at the highest bitrate -- can you imagine 4K @ 30fps and 4:2:2 and IPB at 300Mbps.

So, I may jump on the G85 when it comes out next week and then we'll have to see next year...

Brian

Why are people jumping aboard with the panasonic crap?
Those G4 or whatever cameras are not broadcast cameras! They are consumer cameras, period!

Grey Wolf · Oct 22, 2016

botasky said:
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Who is this amateur?
Can he not afford to hire a cameraman to film him, since he seems to be well connected in the industry?
His camera keeps going out of focus. His opening is backlit with the sun in the camera.
I always shoot in 4K and nothing else. I find the 60 mbps to be not an issue, same with my Inspire 1.
The 4K image, even after editing, is gorgeous and a lot of my footage has been on national TV with not a single issue.
Don't get caught up in the hype about 60 mbps. It's fine for TV. Perhaps not so for theatrical Spielberg releases but who shoots theatrical movies with these?
Bottom line, the Inspire and Mavic in 60 mbps is fine!

Grey Wolf · Oct 22, 2016

ThreeGs said:
I wonder why he had it tied up.

Maybe he's into "bondage"! lol!

Grey Wolf · Oct 22, 2016

botasky said:
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Why does he keep referencing the Phantom 4, which is clearly a consumer toy?
The Magic is too but it is a different beast and I'll be using it in conjunction with my Inspire 1.

Butterpuff 6 · Oct 25, 2016

A couple of more videos from Philip Bloom using the Tripod Mode on the Mavic.

dinglehead · Oct 25, 2016

Grey Wolf said:
Who is this amateur?
Can he not afford to hire a cameraman to film him, since he seems to be well connected in the industry?
His camera keeps going out of focus. His opening is backlit with the sun in the camera.
I always shoot in 4K and nothing else. I find the 60 mbps to be not an issue, same with my Inspire 1.
The 4K image, even after editing, is gorgeous and a lot of my footage has been on national TV with not a single issue.
Don't get caught up in the hype about 60 mbps. It's fine for TV. Perhaps not so for theatrical Spielberg releases but who shoots theatrical movies with these?
Bottom line, the Inspire and Mavic in 60 mbps is fine!

Did you really just call Philip Bloom an amateur? Dude. Stop now.

Raptorman · Oct 25, 2016

Grey Wolf said:
Why are people jumping aboard with the panasonic crap?
Those G4 or whatever cameras are not broadcast cameras! They are consumer cameras, period!

OK, so which "broadcast camera" do you imagine the average Joe is going to buy at anything other than very high prices? Are you talking Red, are you talking a broadcast quality Sony at $25K+? Just what broadcast camera are YOU talking about? Hey, we'd all love to have a Red Weapon Helium but let's see a show of hands as to who's planning on getting one? Do you have one?

Brian

DefaultIT · Oct 25, 2016

Butterpuff 6 said:
A couple of more videos from Philip Bloom using the Tripod Mode on the Mavic.
[...]

OH MAN that stuff the through the woods is why I love these things. It's like having an insta-dolly at your whimsy.

....Also a good illustration of the bit rate point...to me it's not so much about knocking it (which has little justification looking at the rest of the market segment) as it is about seeing the tantalizing possibility of this tiny little lens and sensor combo on such stable platform. Grading choices aside, this all looks pretty good, but there are a few crunchy areas stemming from the combination of lots of fine detail and a little bit of noise... a few more bits to clean this stuff up would be pretty awesome.

dinglehead · Oct 25, 2016

Raptorman said:
OK, so which "broadcast camera" do you imagine the average Joe is going to buy at anything other than very high prices? Are you talking Red, are you talking a broadcast quality Sony at $25K+? Just what broadcast camera are YOU talking about? Hey, we'd all love to have a Red Weapon Helium but let's see a show of hands as to who's planning on getting one? Do you have one?

Brian

This guy is clearly so out of his depth here it's not even funny. He called Philip Bloom an "amateur" and apparently doesn't QUITE understand how widely used the GH4 is in indie film and even broadcast.

Raptorman · Oct 25, 2016

dinglehead said:
This guy is clearly so out of his depth here it's not even funny. He called Philip Bloom an "amateur" and apparently doesn't QUITE understand how widely used the GH4 is in indie film and even broadcast.

Yeah, I have been waiting, as I said, for the GH5 for over a year and would snap it up if it were available but its not looking like it will hit the streets for at least another 6 months and probably more like 9 months - I can no longer wait for it. So I will be buying the G85 as soon as I can and when the GH5 comes out I'll have to see whether or not I can add that to the kit as well. The G85 looks to be about equal to the GH4 in most areas and a bit better in some others so at this point I'd argue the G85 would be the better buy.

The cost for pure consumer items is a lot lower owing to the economy of scale at that end of the market. When you step up to something like the G85 or similar there are a lot fewer people buying them so there cost is higher, but since the number of folks buying is a lot higher than true high end cameras the cost is a lot less than the top of the line. A Red Weapon Helium starts at about $50K which is more than 50X the cost of a G85, but, if you were to make both items in similar quantities the actual parts cost would probably be less than 3X different in price.

The G85 went on sale today but, sadly, is already out of stock everywhere.

Brian

dinglehead · Oct 25, 2016

Raptorman said:
Yeah, I have been waiting, as I said, for the GH5 for over a year and would snap it up if it were available but its not looking like it will hit the streets for at least another 6 months and probably more like 9 months - I can no longer wait for it. So I will be buying the G85 as soon as I can and when the GH5 comes out I'll have to see whether or not I can add that to the kit as well. The G85 looks to be about equal to the GH4 in most areas and a bit better in some others so at this point I'd argue the G85 would be the better buy.

The cost for pure consumer items is a lot lower owing to the economy of scale at that end of the market. When you step up to something like the G85 or similar there are a lot fewer people buying them so there cost is higher, but since the number of folks buying is a lot higher than true high end cameras the cost is a lot less than the top of the line. A Red Weapon Helium starts at about $50K which is more than 50X the cost of a G85, but, if you were to make both items in similar quantities the actual parts cost would probably be less than 3X different in price.

The G85 went on sale today but, sadly, is already out of stock everywhere.

Brian

Funny you mention the G85.... I want one really badly. Will prob end up grading one once they're in stock everywhere.

botasky · Oct 25, 2016

Edited

botasky · Oct 25, 2016

Grey Wolf said:
Why are people jumping aboard with the panasonic crap?
Those G4 or whatever cameras are not broadcast cameras! They are consumer cameras, period!

Err.. No one has talked about broadcast here, if you can't tell a different between broadcast equipment and film equipment you shouldn't calling out other people as amateur because yourself is definitely one.

elfatih · Nov 24, 2018

lright, so I told myself I would stick to DJI software, calibrate every flight, do my pre-flight checks, etc. because the last thing I want is a fly-away, or to wreck my brand new Spark. After a few flights I really wanted to see what the whole FPV experience was about, but I don't have the funds to drop 3-500 dollars on a pair of DJI Goggles. So........I recently got the new LG V30 Android phone, with a special promotion they gave me the Google Daydream VR goggles. They were fun to play with, but I didn't myself really using them on a daily basis. I came across this app called "CAVU", similar to the "Litchi" app, it's an alternative to the DJI 4 application used to fly your drone. CAVU has VR enabled, which means you can connect in VR mode and use a pair of VR goggles like daydream. I was pessimistic at first, but since you can get CAVU for free (limited to 5 minutes of flying) I figured I would check it out. After taking some time to set up, configuring the screen, the hud, etc. I hooked it up to the Spark through the remote and just walked around the house seeing how it looked, intrigued with how it worked, and after about a full spark battery of "tuning" I felt I was ready for an actual flight. It was amazing, I had my trusty spotter with me (my 8 year old son) while flying at a football field, complete new experience that I highly recommend to anyone. My 8 year old took over on the second battery and did a full flight, he loved it as well. Lets just say I was quick to anti up the 11.99 for the full version of the app to get a full flight in. I don't fly to far away, only high enough to be above the goal posts and pretty much stay within the football field, no connectivity issues with the Spark, we will be doing many more flights in FPV just for fun. My son and I are really enjoying this new hobby together. I'm curious if any of you have tried out this app, and what you guys thought of it. Let me know