Hello everyone!

Years I've been flying with my quads and hexas. I'm hobbyist who also makes sometimes semi-pro video work. Now it's time to take next step and move away from GoPro footage to something better.

I film everytime everything as flat/RAW I can. How do you like P4 Pro/Advanced raw video quality? Is it worth the extra money if compared to Mavic Pro?

Mavic is so easy to take everywhere and batteries are about half the price. I hate Phantom 4 A/P battery prices. But still the 1" sensor makes me think is it still worth it to go with the much expensive way or is it just eventually small difference to Mavic?

The Mavic is good but the bigger sensor (more than 4x bigger) makes a big difference in image quality.
You just have to decide which is worth more to you - easy portability or image quality..

I have both craft and personally find myself using the Mavic WAY more often than the P4P for two reasons that you likely already know:  1.) portability and 2.) it’s quieter.  (I have the original P4P without the quiet props so it’s a huge noise difference for me.)  They both fly for about the same amount of time, (for half the price in batteries) and the Mavic honestly seems to handle wind and stuff just as well in my experience so far.  I also LOVE the controller on the Mavic, even though I’m a long time RC hobbyist like you and prefer a big, bulky transmitter.  I find the Mavic TX to be nice to hold, and combined with my iPhone SE a perfect match for quick easy portability. It’s just so much easier than hauling around the P4P with my iPad Pro.   Also the extra info on the Mavic Pro controller I am finding super useful, even though most of it is also displayed in the GO app.  I didn’t expect to find it useful, but I do.

However on the other hand, it IS harder achieve nice cinematic shots manually flying with the Mavic TX than with the full size P4P transmitter.  However- I fly pinch method, which makes reaching the gimbal slider on the Mavic controller nearly impossible.  On the P4P I can easily use my middle or ring finger to pan up/down while pinching the throttle to get nice climbing/descending fading shots.  Not so much w/ the Mavic.
If you fly thumbs-only this is not an issue, as the Mavic controller is made for thumbs only.  

The Mavic is also less responsive in the “normal” position mode than the Phantom.  Which is necessary since the controller gimbals on the mavic are smaller and harder to be precise with.  

So for me, it’s not about the better camera on the P4P - it’s about the transmitter being easier to achieve smoother manual flying with.  Both craft can produce amazing video quality.  Yes, the P4P has a better 1” image sensor, but after post processing (and YouTube mucking it up...) most folks can’t tell any difference anyways.   

'How do you like P4 Pro/Advanced raw video quality?'

The P4Pro does not shoot RAW video.

Sorry my post above was far too long.  To keep it simple...

No, it is not worth the extra cost unless you are willing to sacrifice an enormous amount of portability, to gain smoother control (better TX) and a little bit better image quality.  (Yes the camera is better, but personally the bigger difference is in smoother RC congtrol.)

Geebax Posted at 2018-6-3 01:24
'How do you like P4 Pro/Advanced raw video quality?'

The P4Pro does not shoot RAW video.

Yes bad word. It can't do real RAW. Only flat and so far these are only 8bit .H264 and Phantom can do .H265.

Alan James Posted at 2018-6-3 01:27
Sorry my post above was far too long.  To keep it simple...

No, it is not worth the extra cost unless you are willing to sacrifice an enormous amount of portability, to gain smoother control (better TX) and a little bit better image quality.  (Yes the camera is better, but personally the bigger difference is in smoother RC congtrol.)

No! Thank you! These long answers with experience are very valuable! I've been flying with the big traditional controllers about 20 years and I owned DJI spark few months. Before I tested it I really wasn't sure would that kind of TX work but yes it was quite nice. And I really liked how easy it was to go everywhere with Spark and it's small TX but I just wanted something bigger better and I need 4K for few projects that I film for clients.
So far I've worked aerial videos with GoPro and it's small sensor and not even full sensor because I had to crop it every time to get the fisheye away.

I really love the Mavic but I just try to think does the P4A make more sense. Trying to get tool that I can use for next 2-3 years.

Todj Posted at 2018-6-3 02:22
No! Thank you! These long answers with experience are very valuable! I've been flying with the big traditional controllers about 20 years and I owned DJI spark few months. Before I tested it I really wasn't sure would that kind of TX work but yes it was quite nice. And I really liked how easy it was to go everywhere with Spark and it's small TX but I just wanted something bigger better and I need 4K for few projects that I film for clients.
So far I've worked aerial videos with GoPro and it's small sensor and not even full sensor because I had to crop it every time to get the fisheye away.

I use both drones. There is less barrel distortion on a Mavic Pro camera than you find on a P4A / P camera. A P4A / P camera has much less noise in the picture in the same time you have an aperture in the lens. The worst thing I can say about P4A / P camera, it lacks a little longer focal length of the lens.

Regards Leif.

1" sensor is only reason I'm interested about Phantom 4 Advanced. If Mavic had bigger sensor I already would have bought that. Sure the 4K 60fps is also nice but 4K 30fps is enough.

I would love to have Mavic Pro and Phantom 4 Pro/Advanced flat footages that I could try to grade and look what I can do for those. Is there anywhere? Tom's Tech Time is one site where I found but those Mavic footages can't be real... Those are so bad. Even my Spark looked better than those.

Hi Todj, both Mavic and P4 series do not support to record RAW videos for now. For the better camera, I would suggest P4A or higher.