Well... Got to put the Mavic Pro in the air this evening and I have to say I absolutely love it! I've been waiting since November and it was worth the wait. I bought the Mavic Pro Fly More Combo with 3 batteries, 4 port battery charger, car charger, extra props, and a bag I'll never use though it is a nice bag. Flying this vs. the Inspire is similar. The Inspire is a relatively easy craft to fly but making fine adjustments with it even with the stick settings set to low would sometimes translate into a rough move. You have to be pretty precise with the controls to get the shot that you want which I don't mind because "flying" comes first and the shot comes second. The Mavic though... It's unbelievably precise (especially in Tripod Mode) and movement with the sticks translates into a very smooth motion with the camera. I only got to fly one battery before the sun started going down but I got a little over 24 mins out of it at a max altitude of 256ft and 789ft away. I started getting a wind shear warning at elevation so I decided to bring it back down due to the winds being close to 10-15mph on surface and I've no idea what it was at elevation but I wasn't willing to test it (although it did fine with no discernible difference in flight). Brought it back down and flew it completely around the house at 7ft while sitting on the front porch. Tested out the obstacle avoidance system and it works as advertised. Tested it against a tree in the front yard and it stopped about 4ft away (yes I was standing next to it) and the same test was done with the garage door with the same result. I'll get it out tomorrow and put it though some tests such as active track, terrain follow, point of interest, etc... to see how those functions work but I can't imagine they won't work as advertised.
My recommendation... If you are in the market for a Phantom... Don't bother. Pick up the Mavic Pro. The camera is much better than expected (recorded at 4k without autofocus and I wansn't focused on camera setting at this momet) and it looked fine. Once I get the settings dialed in, it will be easy to develop in post with Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro. The small footprint of the drone is worth it's weight in gold and the ease of use is outstanding. As of right now I couldn't be happier with this purchase. |