Has anyone seen a youtube video of the spark footage vs the air?  I've been curious to see if there's a noticeable difference.

Thanks

Theres a huge difference. I have both drones and have always loved the Spark but the Mavic Air footage is better than both the Spark and the Mavic pro, I would go as far as saying as good as the P4

Joshua Carlton Posted at 2018-2-9 19:41
Theres a huge difference. I have both drones and have always loved the Spark but the Mavic Air footage is better than both the Spark and the Mavic pro, I would go as far as saying as good as the P4

Do you have some shots of the spark vs the air you could share?

Wreo Posted at 2018-2-10 01:08
Do you have some shots of the spark vs the air you could share?

Heres Spark footage I took.

Heres Mavic Air footage I took.

Yes, I concur.  The Mavic Air footage is much sharper and more detailed, even at 1080P.   However, it also has 4k which is an order of magnitude better than the Spark's 1080P

It won’t be the camera that makes the difference it will be the photographer.

Is not the following true about 4K:

1) It uses way more space on your SD Card and every thing else you transfer it to
2) Most people do not have 4K Screens on their Computers or other devices
3) Most TV's do not seem to play the 4k Video from the DJI Stuff
4)Most People do not have 4K Eyes
5) Most people I speak to cant see the difference between 4K and 1080p

I am sure I will be shot down in flames here now

Dennis UK

Bigplumbs Posted at 2018-2-10 10:16
Is not the following true about 4K:

1) It uses way more space on your SD Card and every thing else you transfer it to

You are right about it and actually most of the consumers still want a camera with more MP than the previous.  Even though they don't need it and will never see the difference and only get the drawbacks.
But still, the output of the Air is better than the Spark.
And right about every other feature it has.
Except for the price and maybe durability (I'm not sure how the foldable design will survive daily usage)

Hi, as you can see on the specs, Spark has one format 1920×1080 30 fps in video resolution, Mavic Air has some options available. You can refer to the screenshot below, or visit this site for further info.

Bigplumbs Posted at 2018-2-10 10:16
Is not the following true about 4K:

1) It uses way more space on your SD Card and every thing else you transfer it to

Even if you don’t output in 4K you can always film in 4K and use the increased resolution for digital zoom, comes in handy if you’re try to pull off he vertigo effect.

I flew the spark and the air yesterday, and I agree with the others who said the air footage is noticeably sharper. I’m not a big resolution freak either, but again the footage just looks a bit better. For most of the stuff I do the difference in quality would not be a deal breaker. But the FPS options and options 4K footage give you with cropping and doing ken burns within your frame could be a deal breaker depending on your project. Just so many more options with slo mo, cropping, cleaner video...

I'm sure you have watched the DJI Mavic Air vs Spark video quality difference in one video. But try to watch them in different videos, separately. You'll notice if the difference is big enough and if it's not - it will help you to save your budget

Bigplumbs Posted at 2018-2-10 10:16
Is not the following true about 4K:

1) It uses way more space on your SD Card and every thing else you transfer it to

Not trying to flame you at all here. I think you are right about most PCs/Laptops not being 4k, but not all video content is viewed on PCs and laptops. I suspect most people watching the short drone videos we create will be watching them on YouTube. Many of those people have 4k TVs now. The majority of all new TVs being sold are 4k and all have built in 4k YouTube. Chromecast, Roku, Shield TV all support 4k YouTube. Most of my friends and even my parents have 4k TVs that nativley play 4k YouTube.
All I'm trying to say here is that more people watch 4k than people realize and more are gaining the ability every day.

That said, if you're watching 4k on a phone with a 4k screen or a TV with a smallish screen, you won't see a benefit. However, watch 4k on a 60+ inch TV, you'll see the difference. 4k on my 65" tv looks spectacular. Not saying 1080p is bad, it still looks great, but 4k has a noticeable difference.

The field of views for both cameras are more similar to each other than they are to the Mavic Pro and Phantom. The Spark really isn't fully capable of filming good video while in Sport Mode, while the Air is more stable with its 3rd axis gimbal. The Spark gets the job done, but it appears the Air does it a bit better.

Joshua Carlton Posted at 2018-2-9 19:41
Theres a huge difference. I have both drones and have always loved the Spark but the Mavic Air footage is better than both the Spark and the Mavic pro, I would go as far as saying as good as the P4

Totally agree!   

It's not just the ability to zoom, pan and stabilise that gives 4K an advantage.  Its also the fact that, even downscaled to 1080p, the image will be better than one filmed in 1080p to start with.

Take a quick look at this to see why -

Wreo Posted at 2018-2-10 01:08
Do you have some shots of the spark vs the air you could share?

Youtube compression will spoil any advantage MA has over Spark image quality

Captain Mal Posted at 2018-5-8 08:36
Not trying to flame you at all here. I think you are right about most PCs/Laptops not being 4k, but not all video content is viewed on PCs and laptops. I suspect most people watching the short drone videos we create will be watching them on YouTube. Many of those people have 4k TVs now. The majority of all new TVs being sold are 4k and all have built in 4k YouTube. Chromecast, Roku, Shield TV all support 4k YouTube. Most of my friends and even my parents have 4k TVs that nativley play 4k YouTube.
All I'm trying to say here is that more people watch 4k than people realize and more are gaining the ability every day.

4k leaves room for zooming and reframing with no quality loss

Captain Mal Posted at 2018-5-8 08:36
Not trying to flame you at all here. I think you are right about most PCs/Laptops not being 4k, but not all video content is viewed on PCs and laptops. I suspect most people watching the short drone videos we create will be watching them on YouTube. Many of those people have 4k TVs now. The majority of all new TVs being sold are 4k and all have built in 4k YouTube. Chromecast, Roku, Shield TV all support 4k YouTube. Most of my friends and even my parents have 4k TVs that nativley play 4k YouTube.
All I'm trying to say here is that more people watch 4k than people realize and more are gaining the ability every day.

4k is even quite good for photo from video! =)

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-2-10 09:24
It won’t be the camera that makes the difference it will be the photographer.

I totally agree. There are more advanced cameras (DSLR) and depending on how good the photographer is, the megapixel and the price of the camera doesn't matter. Although, with the drones, its a difficult comparison because your enemy is the light. You have to know how to play with ISO, aperture and correct shutterspeed.

I have Spark and Air. The photo and video from Air looks much better. The colour and light from Air looks more rich and accurate. Spark sometime difficult to get correct exposed image.

I only video on 1080 as 4K eat too much space and cpu time to edit. 1080p 30 frame is good enough. The file of 1080p 60 frame also huge and can’t see the different. Only useful when shooting fast action films which I won’t with Air.