Drones

[cherrybomb1]

I've been doing a little research into drones.Does anyone in the forum have any experience with the DJI mavic pro.Besides fireworks I would use it for my sons high school football and baseball games.Thanks!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

PM Bazerk on this. The man is a drone god (lower case!). If memory serves, he has that particular drone.

[cherrybomb1]

Thanks Rick.Yeah I was kinda hoping he'd see my post and pitch in.

[Bazerk]

Oh drones...I have questions before I can answer that question for you bud. First off is budget. How much do you want to spend? Second question is portability to you? Do you travel a lot? Lastly and a probably least important is stability. I have both the Mavic Pro and the Phantom 4 Pro. The Phantom 4 Pro is a better drone due to much better camera, a slightly longer flight time and stability in windy situation. I keep my P4P in the car at all times because it is my preferred drone of choice. I also like that I can use my iPad Mini as my screen vs my phone. Some people manage to cram an iPhone mini into their Mavic controller but it only works in portrait position and looks absolutely ridiculous when its being done. If you have any question just ask bud, I am always here to help. I will also say that you have to be careful when flying over public events like that as it is somewhat frowned upon and it is illegal to do so. Im do it and I am not going to even begin to lecture anyone on laws (have you seen my fireworks shows? lol) but there are some shitty people out there that may call you out on it. Ask away and I will always answer to the best of my abilities.

[shake the cove]

As a aside check with the FAA website. Do you know you need a license for ones depending on size and its ability. Unfortunately the government controls our airspace.:mad:

[Bazerk]

As a aside check with the FAA website. Do you know you need a license for ones depending on size and its ability. Unfortunately the government controls our airspace.:mad:

You dont need a license unless you plan on using it to make money. Also, they suspended the fact that you have to register them as well I do believe. That was a $5 thing and required zero knowledge of anything.

[cherrybomb1]

Thanks Bazerk and Shake.Budgets no more then 1500.00 but that would have to be with some perks(extra battery etc).I live out in the middle of corn fields more or less. I think my son has 42 kids in his class. So were a very small tight knit community. As far as using it i would probably would only have to worry about an occasional crop duster lol.I would only use it for home games.Not to get off subject but when my oldest son was a senior i used to shoot off a 500 gram cake after every home football win. Everyone used to get a big kick out of it even the local police Andy and Barney.Just kidding we only have one cop.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Unfortunately the government controls our airspace.:mad:

As a retired Air Force guy and private pilot I will respectfully disagree with you on this point. Our ATC folks do one hell of a job keeping us safe.

[Bazerk]

The P4P is right at your price point but without the extras. Just to give you an idea of the camera quality I will attach a couple of images I have taken with it. The Mavic is nice, but wont produce images quite this good. Mind you, I have reduced all of these in size for posting purposes.

250225032504250525062507

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Bazerk - Those pictures are beautiful. Can you and do you use any filters to get those colors and effects? Or are they all 100% pure drone quality pics?

[Bazerk]

Bazerk - Those pictures are beautiful. Can you and do you use any filters to get those colors and effects? Or are they all 100% pure drone quality pics?

I refuse to use filters as I try to keep everything as natural as possible. When I take the pictures with the drone, they are flat, but that is intentional. When you take photos and video using a flat setting, there is actually more color information retained in that file than there is in a photo that is taken with vivd color to begin with. If I were to take a photo with one of the vivid color settings, it may come close to what you see in these images but there would be no latitude for me to make corrections because everything may already be at its maximum exposure and things of that nature. Does that make sense? So in saying all of that, when I take the image on the drone before it hits photoshop, it looks washed out and not so good. I use photoshop to enhance the information stored within that washed out image to make it look like what I saw when I took the picture in the first place.

Its also worth noting that the color depth that is used in the webpage is different so they actually look better on different viewers. For example, if you looked at my Instagram page you would see the colors as they are supposed to be. jimmy.demar is my instagram name.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Okay... One more question. How hard is this thing to fly? I'm going to buy the P4P, but before I lay out $1500 and crash and burn the thing on the first flight, I'm wondering how difficult it is for a new guy to fly. Just how steep is the learning curve for this thing? Any tips or pointers you can offer to keep me out of trouble while learning to fly it?

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I refuse to use filters as I try to keep everything as natural as possible. When I take the pictures with the drone, they are flat, but that is intentional. When you take photos and video using a flat setting, there is actually more color information retained in that file than there is in a photo that is taken with vivd color to begin with.

Roger that. Makes perfect sense. So for the non-photo manipulating inclined people like me, I could use the vivid setting on the drone and get some really excellent looking shots.

[Bazerk]

Okay... One more question. How hard is this thing to fly? I'm going to buy the P4P, but before I lay out $1500 and crash and burn the thing on the first flight, I'm wondering how difficult it is for a new guy to fly. Just how steep is the learning curve for this thing? Any tips or pointers you can offer to keep me out of trouble while learning to fly it?

Honestly Rick, I would hand you my controller today if you were standing next to me. I would also have absolutely zero worry about doing so. That is why DJi is the leader for consumer drones. The P4P has every sensor you can imagine to prevent you from crashing. As long as you don't turn them off, you almost cant crash unless its into something too thin for the sensor to see like a really thin branch or a power wire. There isnt a sensor on top so if you go straight up and there is a tree above you, it wont know that. They are amazing machines and even if you lose contact or communication with the drone, it knows where it took off from and will land itself back where it left from. Also, if your battery is getting low, it will return to home before it dies unless you cancel it from doing so. It knows how much battery it needs to get back based on distance and wind. Its amazing. You should text me.

[Bazerk]

Roger that. Makes perfect sense. So for the non-photo manipulating inclined people like me, I could use the vivid setting on the drone and get some really excellent looking shots.

Yes sir. Its fantastic for a drone when it comes to photography.

[displayfireworks1]

Bazerk, it would be great if you could do a video of features to look for on one of these. Or post some pictures of the one you use. I often though of purchasing one of these myself.

[Bazerk]

Bazerk, it would be great if you could do a video of features to look for on one of these. Or post some pictures of the one you use. I often though of purchasing one of these myself.

This is tough because the more features, the more expensive Dave. Its better to get a budget in mind first and then work from there. Ill gladly answer any questions for those who may have them.

[rkmcdon]

I had a friend film my display with his P4P this year and it does an amazing job. He made several passes through the display for some cool video. I've been looking into getting one myself and I think what it comes down to is that the P4P is going to get you the best footage hands down, but will run around $1900. If you have budgetary restrictions, the mavic pro will also get you excellent footage while staying under the $1500 price point.

Here's an article doing a direct comparison between the two

https://myfirstdrone.com/mavic/dji-mavic-pro-vs-phantom-4-pro-drone-better/

[Bazerk]

The P4P is $1400 and the Mavic Pro is $999.

[Gordon]

About a year and a half ago I was in search for my first drone. In the end it came down to the phantom 4, Typhoon H and X-star premium. Each have there pros and cons but in the end I went with the Autel robotics X-Star Premium. I went this the Autel for a few reasons. First, it was the cheapest at $899, now it is $799. Next, it came with a really nice case. Probably one of the nicest things about it. After that the Camera is mounted on a platform so you can take it off. They now have integration for other cameras that use night vision or thermal imaging. Also, they have a pretty good range. I have gotten up to 1.5 miles range with mine. It also comes with the auto take off and land button, return to home feature, way-points and a follow me mode. It also has about a 2500 feet max altitude flying height from its take off location. Finally, Autel is US based and they have 24/7 US based support. Some of the short comings are that the phantom can go much further ranges, have collision avoidance I think all the way around. Also the phantom has a cool follow me mode where you can highlight a object and it will follow it. With the Autel the drone follows the controller. I don't remember much about the typhoon except it was still not released when I bought the Autel.

[cherrybomb1]

Bazerk,Those pictures look about as good as my Cannon EOS 70D.I saw the Phanton 4 Pro on Sams club website for 1499.00 but its currently out of stock.Im probably leaning in that direction after seeing your pics.I wish i could wait for black Friday to see if they have deals on them but my sons football games start the end of August.Thanks for everyones input!

[cherrybomb1]

Did some more research and theres a lot of options out there that come with bundles for almost the same price as Sam's club.They were 1499.00 with just the Phantom 4 Pro.Thanks again.

[Bazerk]

No problem my friend. I can only speak for the DJI line of products as I am well versed in them starting from the P3,P4,Mavic Pro and now the P4P. Having used all of these and knowing the reliability, I will not be changing platforms. When I was on the hunt for a drone it had to have a good camera. The P4P has a 20mp camera on it with a 1in sensor so it does pretty well in low light. You can also adjust the shutter speed, fstop and ISO independently just like on your DSLR. This was huge for me. I have the Canon 5D Mark IV so my drone needs to be as close to that as possible. I am sure you will be thrilled with whatever you get, but certainly don't pass up the DJI line due to price as you do get what you pay for.

[adultuser]

Question- Is it still legal for someone to shoot down a drone flying over their residential property? I seem to recall a debate among various states a while back? Thanks.

[Bazerk]

Question- Is it still legal for someone to shoot down a drone flying over their residential property? I seem to recall a debate among various states a while back? Thanks.

Its not legal for anyone to take a drone out of the sky if I am at 90ft or higher over your property.

[rkmcdon]

The P4P is $1400 and the Mavic Pro is $999.

sorry, I should have specified, I was pricing under the assumption of buying a couple of spare batteries and some filters. You're pricing is correct

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Its not legal for anyone to take a drone out of the sky if I am at 90ft or higher over your property.

Do these drones not have a zoom function? Is that why 90' is the magic number?

[Bazerk]

Do these drones not have a zoom function? Is that why 90' is the magic number?

No zoom but I don't think that's why it's 90ft. I'm guessing that's it's because at that height there is no possible way to see inside any windows. Zoom or not.