Thinking of buying a drone for filming, dont know much about them, but see potential to get good videos.

Has to be easy to operate and with good video quality,

Was looking into the GoPro Karma but I see there might be more reliable products? They had a recall and are selling them again.

Most likely the filming will be done in remote locations, a gravel bar or a remote strip.

The new Mavic Pro by DJI, hands down. Easier to fly than that Phantom models and shoots fantastic 4k video. Been researching these hard for several months and that's the conclusion I came to. Been watching YouTube reviews and reading everything, go with the Mavic, get extra batteries.

StampCreek wrote:The new Mavic Pro by DJI, hands down. Easier to fly than that Phantom models and shoots fantastic 4k video. Been researching these hard for several months and that's the conclusion I came to. Been watching YouTube reviews and reading everything, go with the Mavic, get extra batteries.

Phantom has slightly better quality than Karma. The trade-off is portability. I'm considering an Inspire next, so you can guess what value I place on quality (hint: very high value).

But either way DJI is definitely the place to be. Their API allows software developers to write for their platform, which gives capabilities no other platform has. This morning I downloaded an app the allowed me to design a flight plan, take a photo every few seconds while flying it, upload the photos to a cloud service and produce a 3d map of the terrain. Crazy cool.

Another vote for either Mavic or P4P. I will admit to having some growing pains with my Mavic that have slowly worked their way out- gimbal calibration issues, color/white balance problems, and more. I used a couple Phantom 3 pros professional for a couple years and was very happy with their performance. The new generation is just that much better.

P4P camera quality is definitely above the Mavic but in most instances for me, the portability of the Mavic makes it a winner. I end up doing a lot of filming of snowmobiles, river trips, mountain bikes, skiing, etc...being able to have my whole kit in a Pelican 1300 box is a game changer.

Did some filming with the Mavic and a beaver floatplane a couple days ago, footage will turn up on BCP eventually, truly amazed at the quality. My friend flying the drone is no drone pilot but a very good photographer and so far has had zero problems making it do whatever he wants. His Mavic is only a couple weeks old, the gimbal is so smooth, it's like having a Eurocopter with a high end camera hanging off the nose at your command. Another big plus is the lack of noise, from 50 feet away you can barely hear the thing. We're all very excited about the Mavic around Kenmore.


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Another vote for the Mavic Pro. I don't know if it helps but I fly drones in the film industry for a living so I am normally only in contact with the high-end industrial drones but I have had a few of the DJI Phantoms for scouting shoot locations and I can say that since getting the Mavic (which I bought specifically to keep in my plane and make flying videos) I no longer ever use the phantom 4... Which now that I think about it, I should probably sell...

Here's my latest video I shot with the mavic: https://youtu.be/i-WXGLa9efU

Trent

That is the kind of filimg Im looking to do.

Wow, really nice video. Pretty obvious you have some seat time flying those things.
The extra speed of the Mavic is also really beneficial for filming fast things, like airplanes or motorcycles. I had trouble with the old P3 trying to keep up sometimes.

CopterKidTrent wrote:Another vote for the Mavic Pro. I don't know if it helps but I fly drones in the film industry for a living so I am normally only in contact with the high-end industrial drones but I have had a few of the DJI Phantoms for scouting shoot locations and I can say that since getting the Mavic (which I bought specifically to keep in my plane and make flying videos) I no longer ever use the phantom 4... Which now that I think about it, I should probably sell...

Here's my latest video I shot with the mavic: https://youtu.be/i-WXGLa9efU

Trent

Great video!!

CopterKidTrent wrote:Another vote for the Mavic Pro. I don't know if it helps but I fly drones in the film industry for a living so I am normally only in contact with the high-end industrial drones but I have had a few of the DJI Phantoms for scouting shoot locations and I can say that since getting the Mavic (which I bought specifically to keep in my plane and make flying videos) I no longer ever use the phantom 4... Which now that I think about it, I should probably sell...

Here's my latest video I shot with the mavic: https://youtu.be/i-WXGLa9efU

Trent

I have nothing worthy to add to this thread except to say that I am simply blown away when people can pull off multiple arts, skills, or talents in concert like this.

I am handy enough with anything RC to easily find the only palm tree in the neighborhood (on a regular basis) and good enough at photography to frequently do things like taking phone video vertically with nothing but the prop artifact in focus

Awesome video.

Take care, Rob

Rob wrote:

CopterKidTrent wrote:Another vote for the Mavic Pro. I don't know if it helps but I fly drones in the film industry for a living so I am normally only in contact with the high-end industrial drones but I have had a few of the DJI Phantoms for scouting shoot locations and I can say that since getting the Mavic (which I bought specifically to keep in my plane and make flying videos) I no longer ever use the phantom 4... Which now that I think about it, I should probably sell...

Here's my latest video I shot with the mavic: https://youtu.be/i-WXGLa9efU

Trent

I have nothing worthy to add to this thread except to say that I am simply blown away when people can pull off multiple arts, skills, or talents in concert like this.

I am handy enough with anything RC to easily find the only palm tree in the neighborhood (on a regular basis) and good enough at photography to frequently do things like taking phone video vertically with nothing but the prop artifact in focus

Awesome video.

Take care, Rob

Right there with ya. My older son got into the battery powered RTF Cubs years ago. He could fly the hell out of those things. He'd let me fly long enough for it to get away from me then I'd hand the radio back to him before it was a pile of styrofoam pieces.

CopterKidTrent wrote:Another vote for the Mavic Pro. I don't know if it helps but I fly drones in the film industry for a living so I am normally only in contact with the high-end industrial drones but I have had a few of the DJI Phantoms for scouting shoot locations and I can say that since getting the Mavic (which I bought specifically to keep in my plane and make flying videos) I no longer ever use the phantom 4... Which now that I think about it, I should probably sell...

Here's my latest video I shot with the mavic: https://youtu.be/i-WXGLa9efU

Trent

That is a great video

rw2 wrote:I'm considering an Inspire next, so you can guess what value I place on quality (hint: very high value).

I've recently been working with a film crew that is using one of these. The rest of their kit is top-shelf TV production-grade, and the Inspire seems to be no exception.

Another vote for the Mavic here. Highly portable (great for packing in the airplane), very user friendly, and excellent video quality.

Here is one from the Mavic in AK with Alaskabound on Visnaw Lake in February.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBW3P8HDnpQ

I don't know which drone they are using here, but nice work!

Here is the first attempt we did with a Mavic
https://vimeo.com/246041693

Stolhunter wrote:Here is the first attempt we did with a Mavic

That was great, Todd!! Nice work.

My son Colby did all the filming and the editing. Me and Eddie just got to fly the birds. Good trade. We have plans for some better stuff soon

Another nod to the DJI Mavic Pro. The best drone is the one that is designed well enough for you to regularly enjoy it. I've shot commercials using $250k+ rigs on octo copters, but even when we have the budget for a bigger drone, I'll often choose the Mavic Pro for speed and maneuverability.

I am seriously considering jumping in to the drone game soon.

The DJI Mavic Air looks like a winner.

Anyone using one of these?