I consider myself lucky to have bought the P4 than the mavic. I saw a poll that shows 57% (total of 67 mavic owners) of people are having some kind of a problem with their mavic. I had a feeling this was going to happen because this was the 1st flagship drone compare to ours we are already at number 4. I honestly felt bad for myself especially one month after buying the P4, mavic came up. I'm glad I didn't sell it for mavic.

I'm still hoping the best for the Mavic. Maybe I will jump to mavic once it is Mavic 2. For now very happy and satisfied with the P4.

What are your thoughts?

Here is the link BTW.
http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... id%3D383&page=1

Probably too early yet to judge them, most of the complaints on the Mavic forum seem to be from people still waiting to get their order shipped.

I would like to have a Mavic (that's my 'Geek' gene) but I am not totally convinced that the folding arm technology could stand up to long term wear & tear. Time will tell on that one.

In the meantime my P4 has still got a lot more flying to do to justify its cost, so it will be a couple of years yet before I think of buying again

(Famous last words, I just had a premonition of a big crash next week ).

I've never had a DJI product before, though I've been building/flying quads for a few years now. Like many others I was drawn to the Mavic and I pre-ordered one on Oct 1st.

As time has gone on and certain limitations have come to light, I've come to realise that the Mavic isn't the craft for me... the Phantom 4 is! So I cancelled my pre-order and grabbed a P4 yesterday I've only had chance to familiarise myself with it and update the firmware, check it over, but I'm well pleased so far.

It's dark here in the UK by the time I finish work, but I'll be out with it the first opportunity I get.

Aardvark Posted at 2016-11-2 23:25
Probably too early yet to judge them, most of the complaints on the Mavic forum seem to be from peop ...

You succeeded in making me worry especially after my accidental update of the Go app.

Revs Posted at 2016-11-3 03:24
I've never had a DJI product before, though I've been building/flying quads for a few years now. Lik ...

Awesome choice, Revs. I reckon the P4 is a great all-rounder.

Revs Posted at 2016-11-2 14:24
I've never had a DJI product before, though I've been building/flying quads for a few years now. Lik ...

Congrats on buying your Phantom 4. It's a very fine drone, with awesome features...
Flying at night is actually quite exhilarating. I find it almost more fun than day flights, with my
Phantom 3 Pro. The onboard LED's are quite visible against the dark night sky.
One thing that will improve orientation visibility, day or night are Lume Cubes.
http://www.lumecube.com/164.html
These not only help make your drones orientation more visible but brings your drone photography to a whole other level!!
Worth every penny... And then some!! ;-)

RedHotPoker

Aardvark Posted at 2016-11-2 09:25
Probably too early yet to judge them, most of the complaints on the Mavic forum seem to be from peop ...

True that. We'll see in the next few months. Hopefully their problem will be fixed. I'm worried that they might bring in a lot more updates then our phantoms will be affected again, just like last time when c2+exp wheel disappeared.

Revs Posted at 2016-11-2 13:24
I've never had a DJI product before, though I've been building/flying quads for a few years now. Lik ...

Good decision

vandruten Posted at 2016-11-2 20:21
Awesome choice, Revs. I reckon the P4 is a great all-rounder.

P4 all the way!

RedHotPoker Posted at 2016-11-3 06:28
Congrats on buying your Phantom 4. It's a very fine drone, with awesome features...
Flying at nigh ...

What sort of association have you and Lume cube? Because you do push there products at any given opportunity, I personally WOULD'NT attach anything to the phantom 4 under carriage due to the VPS, I've read threads were people have put stuff on thinking it's all ok and boom there drones crashed.

RedHotPoker Posted at 2016-11-2 23:28
Congrats on buying your Phantom 4. It's a very fine drone, with awesome features...
Flying at nigh ...

Thanks. I'll look on it. I checked youtube but didn't see any nice reviews where they fly it all around at night. You have any cinematic samples with the cube? and you think the cube will not cause a crash because of its weight?

keiser08 Posted at 2016-11-3 01:01
Thanks. I'll look on it. I checked youtube but didn't see any nice reviews where they fly it all a ...

There are a number of us who fly regularly with the Lume Cubes attached, and there has been no problem at all.
The only difference is a few minutes less of flight time. But the drone handles just fine with them attached. ;-)
The powers that be, have regulated night flights and it's become a no-no. But that rule doesn't stop anyone who chooses to fly by moon light and Lume Cubes...

Sometimes the strict rules need to be bent a little bit, but they exist.  So That may be why the night flight videos are far and few between.

RedHotPoker

Sky Mike Posted at 2016-11-3 01:00
What sort of association have you and Lume cube? Because you do push there products at any given o ...

I often share the goodness of my beloved Lume Cubes, because they are so awesome. ;-)
I do the same on other various forums for any of my other possessions that have been incredibly awesome. These include Mathews bows, Nikon D800, SpYder RS-S, for this forum recently my Plasticase Nanuk 945 and more...
Actually there have been plenty of forum threads, where I could have shared the Lume Cube goodness, but had only refrained from mentioning them. It really depends on the particular thread and its presenter too. . .
It's not everyday, that something so awesome comes along that can provide so much more to the drone flight experience.
Unless you have handled them, and had attached a pair to your drone, you wouldn't yet understand.
The way they are connected to the Phantom landing gear, they are no problem to the OA sensors or onboard compass.
I have not seen any naysayers on videos nor read any negative comments about them. So they are safe to use and enjoy.

If they were problematic, that news would have been declared loud and clear, but there has been none.
Why don't you acquire yourself a set and then you could be the first to complain...but likely NOT!!  Haha
They are very well designed and beautifully manufactured, solidly built and wonderful to handle and utilitize. ;-)

RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2016-11-3 07:26
There are a number of us who fly regularly with the Lume Cubes attached, and there has been no pro ...

Would you attach to a p4 ? Would these harm your warranty / after care plan? Would be good if a DJI mod could answer.

If these interfere with the VPS and your descending and the p4 thinks it's on the ground motors shut off = crashed p4

Sky Mike Posted at 2016-11-3 01:44
Would you attach to a p4 ? Would these harm your warranty / after care plan? Would be good if a DJ ...

Yes, forum mod DJI-Ken has acquired a set for his Phantom, after reading of mine and others positive experiences.
There are kits & brackets available for Phantom 3 Pro and Advanced. Phantom 4, even for your Inspire 1.
Now theey are looking into a system for the Mavic too. ;-)
Believe me, these have been very well tested, before being released to the public...
They are safe to use, as they are sitting outside the drone, away from the VPS and OA as well.
That's why they are so popular. They are not detrimental at all. Aside from a few minutes less flight time.
Do a forum search, and read all the positive revues here... No one has complained or had a negative flight well using these.


RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2016-11-3 06:28
Congrats on buying your Phantom 4. It's a very fine drone, with awesome features...
Flying at night ...

Cheers buddy. Those lights look great, maybe I'll start tinkering once I'm used to it.

I did try and maiden it in the dark last night but it wouldn't arm. 'Ambient light too low' warning. I assume there's something you can disable to allow take off in the dark?

I ended up getting it off the ground in the workshop at work. Just a quick hover to make sure it's ok.

When outside it was also giving a 'critical battery' warning, though the screen said 87%. It didn't give the same warning when I tested it indoors. Any ideas?

Thanks again guys

Revs Posted at 2016-11-3 03:35
Cheers buddy. Those lights look great, maybe I'll start tinkering once I'm used to it.

I did try  ...

Yes, the Lume Cubes are an amazing addition to your flight kit. Not sure why you can't fly at night, perhaps turn of the OA sensors?
It's best to fly initially with a battery that's 100% charged.  As this gives you the best and safest advantage.
Hopefully, your battery is not damaged or have a fault within it. Probably just charge it up, and you should be fine.

RedHotPoker

Revs Posted at 2016-11-3 09:35
Cheers buddy. Those lights look great, maybe I'll start tinkering once I'm used to it.

I did try  ...

That initial delay may have been caused waiting for the IMU to warm up (typically 20 - 120 seconds), the motors will not arm until that has initialised. You will get an ambient light warning, that is an indication that the Obstacle Avoidance will not function because light level is too low. So don't expect it to make any evasive moves if heading towards a brick wall etc. Obstacle Avoidance can be switched off in DJI Go.

Have a good read of the RTH section in the manual, it has one or two quirks that aren't a problem if you know about them (like autoland if within 20m of home if RTH initiated).

If you find the IMU warm up time prohibitive, then you can recalibrate the IMU in a cool environment, after letting it sit for half an hour to acclimatise. That appears to reduce or nullify the warm up period.

I wouldn't expect to see a critical battery warning, that needs investigating. Deep discharge & full charge perhaps; what are the voltages on the individual cells showing when warning message displayed ?

Hi Aardvark. I did sit it outside for 30mins to cool (~3*c outside). I know some sensors don't like temp change. I then powered up and left it for a good 3-4 mins, by which time it had aquired 16 sats and the lights had been green for 2-3 mins. I disabled all visual sensors, front and down. It still wouldn't arm. Low ambient light and critical battery warnings on the screen.

Took it inside and it armed straight away, no issue. It's early days, I'll keep experimenting and getting used to it. I've done plenty of night flying over the last 3 years so I'm confident in that respect.

Cheers for the reply

vandruten Posted at 2016-11-3 03:18
You succeeded in making me worry especially after my accidental update of the Go app.

So far the only problem seems to be viewing recent flight records (DJI Go 3.0.2, using IOS 10.1.1), I've not flight tested yet (a bit wet at the moment) but wouldn't expect there to be any catastrophic failures.

I recall having minor issues with my P4 when it released, it was all fixe shortly with a few firmware upgrades, perhaps the same thing is happening?

ConnorSchulte Posted at 2016-11-3 09:16
I recall having minor issues with my P4 when it released, it was all fixe shortly with a few firmwar ...

Hopefully that will happen soon. How long before it was fixed?

Aardvark Posted at 2016-11-3 04:36
So far the only problem seems to be viewing recent flight records (DJI Go 3.0.2, using IOS 10.1.1) ...

I flew today after updating my IOS and DJI. I used 3 batteries to 50%. So far no incident, still flying well.

Revs Posted at 2016-11-3 09:35
Cheers buddy. Those lights look great, maybe I'll start tinkering once I'm used to it.

I did try  ...

Battery internal temperature had likely been too low, although the aircraft will operate at lower ambient temperatures the optimal internal temp for the battery starts at about 25C. If you left the battery outside at -3 then internally it would have been too cold to function properly. You could try running motors for a couple of minutes indoors, check the battery temperature by tapping on the battery icon at top right of DGI Go screen. If 25 and above you should be good to go outside and fly.

I've not done any cold weather flying as yet (soon to come), I'm sure there are one or two who could add their experiences.

OK mate good suggestion, though it was ~3*C not -3*c Still, bloody cold. So maybe keep the batteries indoors while the P4 cools. Definitely something to try.

I also thought about buying Mavic ranged between Mavic and P4, but still stopped at P4 and I do not regret.
Of course, Mavic is very mobile and convenient in everyday use where you want ... But this is very confusing shaky foldable design and do not think it is convenient to use the remote control at the bottom of the phone, also without the possibility of attaching the tablet ...
In general, I am very pleased that stopped at P4.

Somnium Posted at 2016-11-4 13:56
I also thought about buying Mavic ranged between Mavic and P4, but still stopped at P4 and I do not  ...

I believe that your choice is right.

The P4 boxed is smaller and lighter than I imagined and popping the blades on and setting it up it literally a 20 second job. I got out over the weekend and tested it in 1080p60, 2.7k and 4k. I'll be mostly filming a 1080p60 and the quality is amazing! Also it's odd being able to fly for 20+ mins, it seems like forever when you're used to mini-quads that do 3 mins