DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Please Advise - Strobes on Mavic 2 Zoom

apeel

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2019
Messages
404
Reactions
310
Age
72
Location
San Antonio, TX
Hi guys, I have asked a similar question on other threads, but never seemed to have gotten a response. Perhaps if I start my own thread (rather than hijacking someone else's thread!) I will get some responses.

So, I want to purchase one (or possibly two) strobes and 3D printed mounts for it (them). This is not so much for flying at night or dusk, but rather to increase visibility during daylight hours. I have trouble finding the drone after taking eyes off of it briefly while looking at the phone display.

I think I have narrowed in on the Firehouse Arc II strobes. I also like the idea of the 3D Printed mounts from Aerial-Pixel. Combined, these are not cheap (around $39 + tax USD for each mounted strobe). I will likely purchase one of these first and see how well it performs. However, I have seen videos where people have mounted two of these, one on each front arm (or each front leg), so here are my questions. Since the mounts are specific for whether you are mounting on front/rear arms or legs and then again of it is mounted on the left or right part of arms or legs, I need advise on where to best place a single strobe, and then again, where to mount two strobes if that is the way to go.

Specifically,

1) Is there any real need to mount 2 of these on the same side of the drone? Does 2 improve the visibility over just 1?

2) If mounting 2 of these, would it not make more sense to mount say 1 in front and 1 in back. This way you could improve visibility whether it is facing you or facing away from you.

3) If mounting one or more of these on the front legs or arms, will they impact the performance of the camera (i.e. will it cause some light glare into the lens?). I have a Mavic 2 Zoom.

4) If choosing to mount on the arms vs the landing legs, which would you think is the better option?

Thanks for any and all advise you may offer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pelagic_one
Skip the mounts. Velcro works fine and is easily moved around to where they work best for what your needs are.
 
  • Like
Reactions: apeel
here's my set up on my MPP,i use mikes mounts and i leave them on and have modified the foam in my case to accommodate them attached to the arms they are good for aiding VLOS and orientation, and i think having one one each arm keeps everything balanced, as would having one on the front, and a rear one onFHD0036.JPG the opposite arm
 
  • Like
Reactions: pelagic_one
I use the the same strobes and mounts that you are looking at. I usually use four in the aircraft lighting configuration red and green on the front and two whites to the rear.
Unless you get very close to your subject you should not see any indication that the lights are there in film or video.

Also I have not noticed any differences in flight characteristics or any significant decrease in flight time.
 
Have 1 on each front leg and 1 on each rear arms. ARC XLs. No degradation in performance. Invisible in vid and pics even at night.
Check the ground below even in daylight.
I have the same setup. Two reds in front. Two whites in back. Helps with orientation as well as VLOS. And having the L.A.N.D. feature is a plus, one that I hope to never need but nice to know it's there.
 
Hi guys, I have asked a similar question on other threads, but never seemed to have gotten a response. Perhaps if I start my own thread (rather than hijacking someone else's thread!) I will get some responses.

So, I want to purchase one (or possibly two) strobes and 3D printed mounts for it (them). This is not so much for flying at night or dusk, but rather to increase visibility during daylight hours. I have trouble finding the drone after taking eyes off of it briefly while looking at the phone display.

I think I have narrowed in on the Firehouse Arc II strobes. I also like the idea of the 3D Printed mounts from Aerial-Pixel. Combined, these are not cheap (around $39 + tax USD for each mounted strobe). I will likely purchase one of these first and see how well it performs. However, I have seen videos where people have mounted two of these, one on each front arm (or each front leg), so here are my questions. Since the mounts are specific for whether you are mounting on front/rear arms or legs and then again of it is mounted on the left or right part of arms or legs, I need advise on where to best place a single strobe, and then again, where to mount two strobes if that is the way to go.

Specifically,

1) Is there any real need to mount 2 of these on the same side of the drone? Does 2 improve the visibility over just 1?

2) If mounting 2 of these, would it not make more sense to mount say 1 in front and 1 in back. This way you could improve visibility whether it is facing you or facing away from you.

3) If mounting one or more of these on the front legs or arms, will they impact the performance of the camera (i.e. will it cause some light glare into the lens?). I have a Mavic 2 Zoom.

4) If choosing to mount on the arms vs the landing legs, which would you think is the better option?

Thanks for any and all advise you may offer.
I have heard comments about them interfering with the camera, the flash messes with the cameras metering. I have 2 on order from Firehouse and I’m stimulated studying the best mounting location as well.
 
I have heard comments about them interfering with the camera, the flash messes with the cameras metering. I have 2 on order from Firehouse and I’m stimulated studying the best mounting location as well.
Using four Firehouse ARC2s and now four of the ARC XLs on my M2P during well over 1000 flights I have never had lights interfere unless I was in significant fog or pretty close to my subject. There is absolutely no interference with camera functionality. I have the in mounts from our own @Aerial-Pixel
 
here's my set up on my MPP,i use mikes mounts and i leave them on and have modified the foam in my case to accommodate them attached to the arms they are good for aiding VLOS and orientation, and i think having one one each arm keeps everything balanced, as would having one on the front, and a rear one onView attachment 97176 the opposite arm
Two questions on your setup.

1) do these strobes interfere in any way with the camera (light leakage?) - UPDATE. Never mind this one. I just read other feedback that indicates no issue unless in fog or close to subject

2) why is two on one side (the front) better than just 1? Are they not the same brightness and so the light is not additive since they likely stobe at different times?
 
  • Like
Reactions: old man mavic
Two questions on your setup.

1) do these strobes interfere in any way with the camera (light leakage?) - UPDATE. Never mind this one. I just read other feedback that indicates no issue unless in fog or close to subject

2) why is two on one side (the front) better than just 1? Are they not the same brightness and so the light is not additive since they likely stobe at different times?

The arms are angled so unless on has custom mounts the light on only one arm is both blocked by that arm to that side and is pointed at an angle.

Two lights on each end helps eliminate much of this issue and improve visibility from the sides

One needs to consider what one wants the light for; increased visibilty for VLOS or anti collision/night flying or both. No matter which, more is better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: apeel
Two questions on your setup.

1) do these strobes interfere in any way with the camera (light leakage?) - UPDATE. Never mind this one. I just read other feedback that indicates no issue unless in fog or close to subject

2) why is two on one side (the front) better than just 1? Are they not the same brightness and so the light is not additive since they likely stobe at different times?
i have them on the front,to aid me with orientation more than anything,and having one on each arm looks better and keeps things in balance,
 
Have 1 on each front leg and 1 on each rear arms. ARC XLs. No degradation in performance. Invisible in vid and pics even at night.
Check the ground below even in daylight.
Hi Tom....I'm in Tucson on the East Side. A quick Question?? What do you think about using
these same strobes on a DJI Mini-2?? maybe just one on each side diagonal Or would the extra
weight on the Mini-2 which is under 249grams cause a problem do you think....Thank you for your reply..Ron
 
Also Tom....where do I purchase these strobes !...Ron
They are from Firehouse Technology... just Google it... I prefer to by direct from them.
I use mounts from our own @Aerial-Pixel
Get those from him...
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,592
Messages
1,554,167
Members
159,594
Latest member
mini2+