Undecided on Mavic Pro for Photography

[eiphotography]

Hi!

I am a wedding photographer looking to get a drone to add some value to my wedding images. I specifically looking to shoot aerial photography and just basically undecided in terms of image quality. Is it worth it? Should I wait for a version 2? This will be my first drone....

Your help in answering my questions would be appreciated!

 

[SkyHigh Pryo]

First, welcome to the forum. Secondly, their are some that will chime in and help you out with your question. I am not that experienced yet to help, sorry. Welcome again and have fun..

SkyHigh Pyro Eye flying above

 

[4wd]

For more serious photography the P4Pro is way ahead - Mavic is not bad though especially from RAW - and takes up about a quarter of the space in your car.
I find it performs better with relatively close subjects rather than wide landscapes which might actually be a plus point for weddings. An overview of the venue would look pretty good for example.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

eiphotography: If you tell us a little more about the types of shots you would like to get and the camera equipment you currently use for the traditional wedding photos we might be able to put things in perspective for you.

 

[eiphotography]

The types of shots I would be taking are aerial shots of venue, large bridal party, esession shots of couple if location is unique, etc.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[eiphotography]

I use Nikon D5, D4s

Sent from my Nexus 6P using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Cool. So you are used to shooting good resolution full frame sensor cameras then. One thing you are going to notice is that optically this is a fixed aperture prime lens F2.2 at 24mm and a small sensor so bokeh will not be like shooting at 2.2 on your Nikons. Its roughly 12MP - and shoots in JPG and DNG. The latitude for post processing the DNGs is not bad - DJI seems to continue to get better with their cameras. I am not sure about dynamic range on Nikon as I am a Canon guy for the past 20 years, but based on the cameras you shoot with, I think you will find the mavic to be acceptable for dynamic range. As 4wd mentioned above, the new Phantom 4 Pro might be more pleasing to you from a photography perspective. It has a 20MP 1 inch CMOS sensor. Its a 24mm lens as well but you can adjust aperture from 2.8 to 11. Both are relatively small, move around easily and will be easy enough to learn to fly and operate.

We have flown just about everything over the years and know photo and video cameras pretty well so definitely feel free to ask us anything you want to know!

 

[eiphotography]

Thank you! What is the highest aperture on the mavic pro?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[eiphotography]

I'm not concerned about bokeh for Ariel shots as I can always give it a blur filter in post

Sent from my Nexus 6P using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[foreseason]

Technically you need to take and pass the FAA part 107 test to be able to do commercial work legally. Whether you do that or not is up to you though.

The mavic would be plenty capable for the type of work you're doing. People have been doing wedding videography with much less for a few years now.

That being said,The Phantom 4 Professional is definitely a better camera. Its up to you if you want compact and convenient or bigger and a bit better quality.


Sent from my iPhone using MavicPilots

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Aperture is fixed at 2.2. Yep, easy to blur in post - just wanted to make sure you realized it is a very cropped sensor so 2.2 does not look the same as it does on a large full frame sensor. If you mostly are going to grab venue shots it might be OK. Obviously nice and small - but you might be happier with something that has a bigger sensor, higher MP and aperture control.

 

[agour]

if you have space, get the p4p. If you need it to be compact,. mavic.

 

[chippie]

Would also agree, whilst the Mavic is in its own class for portability and convenience for the best bang for buck with regards to photo and video quality it has to be the P4P. I would also recommend you get the Plus version as this has a built in screen with the remote so no need to use a tablet or phone etc.