For years now, the best drones have been large and unwieldy to transport. If you wanted great camera quality, a solid build and a reputable name, you’d be looking at a heavy, cumbersome drone like the DJI Phantom 4 or the Yuneec Q500 Typhoon 4K. Until now, that is.
The DJI Mavic hovers steadily despite being lightweight
When my boss handed me this small angular grey device yesterday, it took me a few seconds to realise what I’d been given. This futuristic box with hard lines and a charcoal grey finish looked like it could spring into life at any moment. Nestled neatly in my palm was a compact, sleek, finely tuned drone – the DJI Mavic.
Design
The most striking aspect of the Mavic is its size. It is comparable in size to the average DSLR and can easily slot into a lens bag or small backpack. The propellers fold in compactly, and shouldn’t run any risk of getting snagged against other objects in a satchel.
The Mavic can happily nestle in with the rest of your photography kit.
Unlike the Phantom 4 or GoPro’s Karma, both of which require separate carrying cases, the Mavic can happily nestle in with the rest of your photography kit. I can easily imagine tossing a Mavic into a backpack alongside my Sony a6300, a mini tripod and a couple of spare lenses without breaking a sweat (or any of my gear).
The Mavic is equipped with a miniature version of the camera found on DJI’s Phantom 4. Fixed on a three-axis gimbal, the camera shoots up to 4k at 30fps and 12 megapixel stills. The 3830mAh battery is significantly smaller than the one found on the Phantom 4, but flight time is still a solid 27 minutes thanks to reduced weight.
Body
During setup, the Mavic’s propellers fold outwards (two horizontally, two vertically) to give the drone a comfortable wingspan of 30cm across. Even with its blades fully extended, the Mavic looks small, but its size doesn’t diminish the premium feel of the product. It has an air of confidence, of capability, similarly to the Phantom 4. It feels ready, even eager to fly.
Gone is the Apple-esque glossy white finish, replaced by a hardshell plastic that looks akin to carbon fiber, coupled with a brushed gunmetal bottom plate.
Weighing in at 734g, the Mavic is 50% lighter than the Phantom 4 (1.4kg) and significantly lighter than the GoPro Karma (over 1kg). In fact, the Mavic is almost as heavy as the Karma controller, which weighs 625g alone.
The Mavic has advanced flight modes such as Waypoints and Follow-me
Controller
Speaking of controllers, the Mavic’s one is also a delight. Like the drone itself, the controller folds into a neat little package that can be used by itself or in conjunction with a smartphone running the DJI Go app. If you’re happy to fly blind, so to speak, you can forego the phone and navigate purely by line of sight, or you can pass the camera responsibilities to a friend, using the controller to steer the drone and the app to guide the camera.
We managed 25 minutes in our test flight
There’s also the option to fly using just the app, although we found this a little tricky when using a beta version of the software. We’d recommend using the bundled controller for an optimum experience, although it’s great to know that you won’t be entirely stuck if you happen to lose or forget the controller.
Flight
Getting it into the air was one area where I experienced some initial teething problems. This isn’t uncommon for drones, but the Mavic seemed particularly fussy about where it would take off from. I tried a few times to lift off from the floor of our office, and presumably the drone detected too many obstacles in its immediate vicinity and refused to budge. We did finally manage to get it into the air in a less enclosed space, and once it was oriented, the Mavic sprung into life, taking off quickly and hanging steadily in the air, awaiting instructions. Do note however that both DJI and our team highly recommend using it outdoors – we mainly just flew it inside to test out the obstacle detection.
Similarly to the Phantom 4, the drone is incredibly steady while hovering, even outdoors. DJI has spent years perfecting both its hardware and software, and the Mavic is a natural evolution of the Phantom line in that regard. It boasts the same obstacle avoidance technology, a similar battery life and the same camera tech as the Phantom 4. If you attempt to fly directly into a wall or other obstacle, the Mavic will instinctively pull backwards a few feet shy of the obstacle.
Pricing
The Mavic will be available soon for preorder, and there are a number of different packages to choose from. Without the controller, a Mavic will retail for US$749, with the controller it’ll cost US$999, and the ‘professional bundle’ (including the controller, 2 spare batteries, a car charger and a charging hub) will be available for $1299.
The included charger has two USB ports, useful for charging a remote control and a phone
The pricing is extremely aggressive, particularly without the controller. There’s no doubt that the Mavic is setting out to conquer the consumer drone industry, and this pricing reflects that. The base price is even cheaper than the very affordable GoPro Karma (US$799 without a camera) and force competitors to lower prices just to keep pace with DJI.
Conclusion
In truth, it’s hard to see the business sense in the Mavic, from DJI’s perspective. Here is a drone that appears to be similar to the Phantom 4 in many ways (battery life, obstacle avoidance, camera quality) and significantly better in a number of other areas (size, portability, design). Given the spec sheet and the pricing structure, it’s hard to see why anyone would opt for a Phantom 4 over a Mavic, and that would appear to indicate that DJI is willing to cannibalise its own sales of the Phantom, which is only six months old.
Advanced vertical positioning system, just like the one found on Phantom 4
It appears then that the Mavic is a direct response to GoPro’s Karma, which was released just one week ago. DJI seemed to have been holding this ace in their sleeves for the Karma, which GoPro most likely will be depending on heavily to succeed. Depending on which bundle you opt for, both cost around US$1,000, both are ultra-portable UAVs with flight time of around 20 minutes and 4k capability.
The Karma wins out on modularity and versatility, but the Mavic certainly beats the Karma on portability. Additionally, DJI has been in this game for years, whereas GoPro is a newcomer. Experience counts for a lot, but I’m sure we can expect an aggressive and effective ad campaign from GoPro, the king of viral marketing.
Here is a drone for 2016, light and small enough to carry in the palm of your hand while capable of shooting stunning 4k footage even in tough conditions.
The battle between the Mavic and the Karma will be a fascinating one to watch, but it will also be interesting to see what happens to the Phantom line, DJI’s initial breakout hit. Will it be forgotten as we move into a new era of drones, or will there still be a place for the faithful old Phantom as consumer drones become smaller, faster and more agile?
The front collision avoidance sensors
In any case, the Mavic heralds a new era of innovation in consumer drones and a clear leap forward for the industry as a whole. No longer are the best UAVs cumbersome beasts that require an unwieldy carrying case to tote them around; they are small, sleek and undeniably impressive. Here is a drone for 2016, light and small enough to carry in the palm of your hand while capable of shooting stunning 4k footage even in tough conditions. Drone enthusiasts – welcome to the future.
Man, I was SO jazzed about the new Mavic. And then... I wasn't.
I'm a pretty serious photographer and am just getting into videography. I'd love to add aerial capability (who doesn't!). When done well, it adds an incredibly compelling perspective.
The Karma is interesting. But lacking any kind of Obstacle Avoidance tech seems crazy to me. Not just because of risk to the aircraft, but even more importantly because of safety issues with respect to the subjects and environments I have in mind. GoPro would like us to believe that they have delivered a serious tool for serious photographers. I think, alas, it begs a very large question.
At first glance the Mavic Pro seems to have solved all those problems. All the tech of its bigger brother shoehorned into a tiny, no hassle, go-anywhere footprint. Truly, the drone for the serious prosumer.
But then... you take a close look at the footage it records. Look at the footage that DigitalRev captured in the link above. Look at the quick 4K comparison Casey Neistat did, comparing the Mavic with the Phantom 4. Casey's comment was that the Mavic's was only a little worse. I disagree. I think it was way worse. Soft and muddy, everywhere.
I dunno, but I'm guessing this statement above... "The Mavic is equipped with a miniature version of the camera found on DJI’s Phantom 4" is at the heart of it. Smaller sensor. Smaller optics. Probably because DJI needed to hit a price and weight target.
The Mavic Pro seems to have ticked every box it needed to, and then some. Except, at the end of the day, the one it most needed to.
I really, really want to love the Mavic, for it to be my entry into the realm of drone-based photography. Someone please tell me I'm wrong...
I am also really liking the new MAVIC . . . BUT . . I to noticed the quality of the video . . ????? I hope this is something they can address in an update . . Haaa DJI . . you can't step backwards without being noticed . . we the buying public see what is being done . . . and cutting corners on picture or video quality is a MINUS.
You've got something here . . something to be proud of . . but don't let a miss giving on a feature over shadow it over all. And lets face it . . this is a key feature for a lot of folks like me . . I can fly most anything . . but it's what I record and show others that is IMPORTANT TO ME !!
I have always envisioned . . EVOLUTION . . as a progression forward . . an improvement on the past. It's good to see DJI has this desire !!
One final question . . is there a . . RETURN TO HOME . . feature on this new quad . . ??? Have not seen any info on this feature so far ??
I think they way to look at is like an iPhone. Its great. its best camera most people own. It can sit in your pocket & shoot amazing photos with great quality of course its not a dslr but then it isn't pretending to be. The Mavic has great video for it's size & I will be buying one to keep in my car etc. if you need better quality then spend the extra $$££€€ on the inspire with x5 camera. I have one I am in awe over the size of this new mavic!!
dopeytree Posted at 2016-9-30 09:30
I think they way to look at is like an iPhone. Its great. its best camera most people own. It can si ...
Yesss it is not an Iphone . . but it supposedly is using the same camera (sensor) as the DJI4 . . so it should be almost identical . . or not . . ??? Did the miniaturization force a down quality in the video . . ??
In the DJI range of prebuilt UAVs, I think the phantom 4 is positioned nicely, it should be around £1500 when comparing the prices and images from the Mavic, P4 and X5 cameras.
Ah yes my bad sorry I though the mavic used the same sensor as the iPhone6/7 but actually its slightly bigger than an iPhone sensor. Here's the camera specs they are slightly different MP count so it must be a newer chip. I imagine they will sort the firmware out over time improving the footage.
Mavic - 1/2.3” (CMOS), Effective pixels:12.35 M (Total pixels:12.71M)
FOV 78.8° 28 mm (35 mm format equivalent) f/2.2
Distortion < 1.5% Focus from 0.5 m to ∞
Phantom4 - 1/2.3” (CMOS), Effective pixels:12.4 M
Lens FOV 94° 20 mm (35 mm format equivalent) f/2.8, focus at ∞
In the DJI range of prebuilt UAVs, I think the phantom ...
Yep but for that you get an aps-c sized sensor with interchangeable lenses & you can put the X5 on an OSMO & have a mini ronin & camera. A ronin alone is £1500 + a GH4 or other camera thats another £2000. So its actually pretty good value. It's my main camera these days! But still I love the small size of the new Mavic.
I'm thinking I may end up with the Mavic & the X5Raw so clients have the options.
It's now pretty obvious that these guys were flying with the drone set for close focus because they didn't know you have to focus the mavic. Very good footage is starting to be boosted from people who now know about tap to focus.
'GoPro would like us to believe that they have delivered a serious tool for serious photographers.'
I dont' think GoPro have said that in any of the material I haver seen. With the distorted fish-eye built into everything you do, it could never be considered a 'serious tool for serious photographers.'
It is a selfie drone and little more. Even the supposedly secret pre-launch video clip showing Woodman out in the country with a few employees playing with the Karma, he was doing little more than shooting selfies of himself, there was no use of sophisticated shooting techniques at all.
New to Drones. Just ordered the Mavic.
Can someone explain smartphone/wifi/cell coverage/GPS requirements for the Mavic.
Basically most of my usage will be in an area with no cell coverage. Will this be an issue?
Haaaa . . seems we have something here . . TAP THE SCREEN . . TO FOCUS !!! ) Have not seen any mention of this step so far so its an eye opener for sure. If this SHARPENS (focuses) the video as shown in the above video . . then I am IMPRESSED !!!! Looks like I may have a NEW QUAD heading my way !!!
Can help you a little bit WTX . . . this quad can operate with the supplied controler . . or it can use a cell phone by way of a WIFI connection. Now this WIFI connection is very limited in distance before the quad would loose your phones signal. Cell coverage has nothing to do with this. Your phone is acting like a under powered transmiter . . so you have to keep this in mind. The supplied transmitter gives you a range of 3-4 MILES . . . your phone . . 20-30 yards maybe after that . . your taking a chance.
As for GPS . . this quad is using an additional alignment tool for return to home landings . . . my X380 will sit back down within 12" on a good day . . this quad has been stated as landing within INCHES of its take off point . . not bad at all !!
How many batteries have you got? The 4k footage uses a low bitrate compared to big cameras so you'll struggle to fit a card up with 1 battery of flight time = 27mins.
Well my friend, you definetly havent seen the latest test footage. Even Casey admitted that he didnt even knew about the "Tap to Focus" which is new and different from the P4 which is fixed focus.
The footage and camera so far from the Mavic is even better as some have already tested. There are multiple videos on the web about
I just place my order and its about to be process for shipment, I want to know can you fly the mavic with the protective gimbal and film at the same time its my biggest question... I have to be honest this is my first ever drone I never flown a drone before and I was waiting for something like this for a long time I had a friend who had the phantom and just lugging a drone and the controller set me back because it is not so convenient. But once I saw this I definitely said I got to have it....
watuse Posted at 2016-10-6 03:42
I just place my order and its about to be process for shipment, I want to know can you fly the mavic ...
Yes you can fly the Mavic with the dome on, you'll just have cleaner video without it.
Your pretty lucky if a Mavic is your first drone, they are extremely easy to fly BUT you MUST know how to use all the features and functions AND know it's limitations.
If you have an IOS device, download the GO app as the Mavic has already been added to IOS and the full manual is not there yet but the quick start guide is and you can study that.
watuse Posted at 2016-10-6 03:42
I just place my order and its about to be process for shipment, I want to know can you fly the mavic ...
That's great that you've ordered one. And about to be processed for shipment, I'm not sure about that.
Since this is your first drone ever, I would download the DJI GO app (IOS only right now) and go to the Academy section of the Mavic and they already have a quick start guide up and you can read that.
BUT, to understand how DJI aircraft work, you really need to learn all the features, functions , and limitations.
Take a look at the Phantom P4 Academy section of the app and the full manual is there and read that cover to cover and that will prepare you pretty good for the Mavic.
yeah as of now my order is waiting for or its pending for shipment, I download the app which I have an iPhone 6 plus, and have been reading the manual of the mavic and the phantom 4 and I am looking forward to learning and flying the craft.
There are 2 serious problems with the Mavic as follows.
1. Tap to focus is not only amazinlly Stupid but try doing that out in full sunshine, you can bearly see the screen here in Australia let alone focusing it.
2. No HDMI and therefor no FPV for those whom have the Fat Shark, Headplay, Avegant glyph and others.
What a couple of bad mistakes DJI which I am seriously hoping you will correct.
Anyone know what bit depth this shoots at? I'm assuming it's 8-bit 4:2:0, but I see it does Dlog. This is just a LUT, right - not actual (ie, useful) 10-bit log mode? In other words when you grade it you'll still only be dealing with 256 levels of grey?
Also, it looks like it'll only shoot with the camera facing more or less forwards, so it'd be harder to do side-on tracking shots, right?
I know this isn't an Inspire and it's amazing for the money, it'd just be interesting to see what its limitations are for anything other than the kind of shots that are out there so far (what I've seen has been mainly following a subject, or shooting directly downwards).
I don't know full exact specs yet, but you can get side shots in profile mode but the aircraft will be flying sideways as the camera will tilt but not pan.
You can also use Tap Fly or waypoints or course lock to fly sideways and get profile shots.
DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-10-7 22:19
These are not mistakes at all.
1. There is a auto center focus mode too.
2. There is no HDMI for a ...
I have to wonder what the reason is for no HDMI.
It does make the choosing of the Mavic for FPV very difficult because a lot of people will have the HDMI goggles that cannot be used, and whilst DJI are bringing out a pair of goggles for the Mavic sometime they do not have a HDMI input so they cannot be used with the Phantoms.
I want to buy the Glyph as well for the P4.
But unfortunately we won't know anything until the headsets are released.
I did hear a reviewer say there was a little hatch but they were not allowed to open it.
I have no idea what's in there but we shall see.
As of right now, I know they only work with the Mavic.
You never know, maybe something wonderful will happen
Does anyone know if Android is currently supported and [specifically] what Android devices are physically compatible with the Mavic's transmitter? I can't seem to find any clear explanations on the DJI website.
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) Have not seen any mention of this step so far so its an eye opener for sure. If this SHARPENS (focuses) the video as shown in the above video . . then I am IMPRESSED !!!! Looks like I may have a NEW QUAD heading my way !!!
