Which one are you going with?
Vote in the poll at the bottom of this post.

Just seen a good written comparison comparing the Spark with the Mavic Pro.

https://www.heliguy.com/blog/2017/05/25/dji-spark-versus-dji-mavic-pro/

They both have their own strengths and weaknesses, as always with these things.

I just think for the price, the Spark is amazing value.

Can't wait to get my hands on one and really see what the sensor can do!

Looks like the 2-axis gimbal is pretty stable too. I did wonder whether the lack of a third axis would cause issues, but from what I've seen, it actually performs really well.

Are any of you guys going to get rid of the Mavic now the Spark is here?

Or are you not buying the Spark because you already have a Mavic?

I have the P4P and the Mavic and ordered the Spark. They're all for different purposes, the camera quality drops as the craft gets smaller but the smaller size allows you to take it places easier. All depends on your intentions of use and what you expect to get out of it. I compare the Spark with my cell phone, since I'll probably have it with me more I'll take more video with it.

trance728- Posted at 2017-5-25 06:08
I have the P4P and the Mavic and ordered the Spark. They're all for different purposes, the camera quality drops as the craft gets smaller but the smaller size allows you to take it places easier. All depends on your intentions of use and what you expect to get out of it. I compare the Spark with my cell phone, since I'll probably have it with me more I'll take more video with it.

Same here. If the Spark has decent video quality, I might get it instead of the Mavic, as I already have purchased multiple Phantoms. The Spark could be to my Phantom, what my cell phone is to my DSLR when it comes to video. The quality won't be the same, but the convenience and ease of use become major factor when trying to get a shot in the spur of the moment.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-5-25 06:54
Same here. If the Spark has decent video quality, I might get it instead of the Mavic, as I already have purchased multiple Phantoms. The Spark could be to my Phantom, what my cell phone is to my DSLR when it comes to video. The quality won't be the same, but the convenience and ease of use become major factor when trying to get a shot in the spur of the moment.

Although our cellphones can shoot in 4k. In the few reviews I've seen the 1080 video quality is acceptable if all you're ever planning to do is put it on the web.

trance728- Posted at 2017-5-25 07:07
Although our cellphones can shoot in 4k. In the few reviews I've seen the 1080 video quality is acceptable if all you're ever planning to do is put it on the web.

I personally still don't care about 4k. My devices that shoot it never get used for anything higher than 1080. I only shoot for the web though. I understand the whole "shoot higher so you have more to work with" concept, but I still shoot at 1080 max.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-5-25 07:30
I personally still don't care about 4k. My devices that shoot it never get used for anything higher than 1080. I only shoot for the web though. I understand the whole "shoot higher so you have more to work with" concept, but I still shoot at 1080 max.

Agreed, I do on occasion use higher resolutions to allow our crop in if the shot is too wide though.

One thing that would have been a nice addition is a loop on the top that you could use to clip it to a belt. The YouTube vlogger at the the product release had it clipped to his pants in the video but he clipped it to the arm and I feel that could mess with the motor overtime.

trance728- Posted at 2017-5-25 07:38
Agreed, I do on occasion use higher resolutions to allow our crop in if the shot is too wide though.

One thing that would have been a nice addition is a loop on the top that you could use to clip it to a belt. The YouTube vlogger at the the product release had it clipped to his pants in the video but he clipped it to the arm and I feel that could mess with the motor overtime.

A loop! That's a good idea!

There are a variety of CPL and ND filters available for the Mavic.  When examining pictures of the Spark, it appears that the lens is protected by the gimbal housing which would limit some of the creativity that filters can provide.  Any thoughts?

fans775bee07 Posted at 2017-5-25 10:00
There are a variety of CPL and ND filters available for the Mavic.  When examining pictures of the Spark, it appears that the lens is protected by the gimbal housing which would limit some of the creativity that filters can provide.  Any thoughts?

There was an early thread in here about filters already designed for it, just not for sale yet.

just registered here, try if i can reply...

trance728- Posted at 2017-5-25 12:50
There was an early thread in here about filters already designed for it, just not for sale yet.

They look totally different from the ones that were leaked before...

https://www.polarprofilters.com/ ... spark-filter-6-pack

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-5-25 07:30
I personally still don't care about 4k. My devices that shoot it never get used for anything higher than 1080. I only shoot for the web though. I understand the whole "shoot higher so you have more to work with" concept, but I still shoot at 1080 max.

I couldn't agree more with this - 4K looks incredible.

But unless you have the computing power, internet connection and devices to view it, it's a bit awkward to work with.

Barney2k Posted at 2017-5-26 01:38
They look totally different from the ones that were leaked before...

https://www.polarprofilters.com/collections/dji-spark-filters-accessories/products/dji-spark-filter-6-pack

Yea, Polar Pro does things much better.

The Spark seems kinda cool (and honestly it seemed SUPER cool the first time I heard about it... but the more and more I learn the less cool it seems), but I don't think I will be buying one... I'm just the wrong market.  For a hobbyist it would probably be a really fun toy, but I rarely if ever fly for fun, I use drones for professional cinematography and not much else.  I'm all for small and easy, and so far the Mavic is the smallest/easiest drone that I've come across that will still hold up for professional work.  And it's so small that I don't have to worry about packing it with gear, I pretty much always keep it loaded with the rest of our equipment (whereas if I am doing a shoot that includes Inspire or even Phantom shots we really have to plan for the much larger size of the gear). Yes the Spark is smaller but the Mavic definitely falls into the "more than tiny enough" range.  My usual case for the full Mavic setup is surprisingly small... and when I fly I have even smaller individual body and controller clamshell cases that are so tiny I don't even notice them in a carryon bag.  So... if I had $700-800 just burning a hole in my pocket I might buy a Spark just for fun... but for real work 99% of the time the Mavic is the right tool for the job.

Yea, it's not a good comparison really, the Spark is meant for fun. For some reason everyone is on this idea that anything new coming from DJI has to be smaller and better than the last thing the released, which isn't the case. They're expanding their market and testing new technologies along the way. Some won't be happy until they release a drone that can shoot 5k,is the size of a quarter, with an hour flight time and controlled by your thoughts. Actually some might want better than that.


When they can get them closer to silent, that's gonna be something special.

I find this Spark a missed opportunity for us european.
With the upcoming EASA regulations personal drones to be used without restrictions will fall in the "below 250gr" category and Spark is well beyond that...it's a no buy for me.

just want to know, how far dji spark can fly compare to his brother like dji mavic, phantom 3 or 4 (either standard or advanced) ?

Elettrone78 Posted at 2017-5-27 02:41
I find this Spark a missed opportunity for us european.
With the upcoming EASA regulations personal drones to be used without restrictions will fall in the "below 250gr" category and Spark is well beyond that...it's a no buy for me.

The 250 grams is for just about everywhere to not be regulated and is pretty much impossible to have any kind of a flight time or quality at that weight. The tech still has to get better.

fans15af6b5f Posted at 2017-5-27 04:33
just want to know, how far dji spark can fly compare to his brother like dji mavic, phantom 3 or 4 (either standard or advanced) ?

If you fly it with the RC that's in the combo you're looking about 1.2 miles max vs. The Mavic and P4's getting around 4 miles. I'm sure battery life plays a role in this limitation.

trance728- Posted at 2017-5-27 06:56
The 250 grams is for just about everywhere to not be regulated and is pretty much impossible to have any kind of a flight time or quality at that weight. The tech still has to get better.

Unless you get one of these:

http://uk.businessinsider.com/he ... y-is-testing-2015-6

There not even in the same league, the spark is like high school football and the mavric is NFL.

Apples vs bananas does not make any sense to even compare it. They both are in a different league. Not to undermine it, but the spark is a quick and easy platform for selfies and the Mavic is up there with semi-pro film taking platforms.

trance728- Posted at 2017-5-27 06:56
If you fly it with the RC that's in the combo you're looking about 1.2 miles max vs. The Mavic and P4's getting around 4 miles. I'm sure battery life plays a role in this limitation.

After 300 mtrs you have trouble seeing the Mavic ! Well I do especially against a New Zealand Bush enviroment. So the Spark will be shocking, that is why they have coloured it I reckon. So the distance should really not be an issue if I were to buy a Spark.

I have a Mavic and certainly would enjoy owning a Spark. If you were able to use the same remote controller to fly the Mavic and Spark this would sway me certainly to purchase. But as was already written here in NZ pricers are shocking they want $1500 NZD for the combo which is $1000 + USD and the stand alone Spark the prices are what US residents pay for the Combo. I will wait for the third Spark software / firmware upgrade and who knows maybe there will be either a fabulous Mavic and Spark with every issue ironed out OR another Drone model.
What do the forum think
New model / Style Drone
or old ones working without issues?
I know my answer..................lets start a vote about this aye ?

High FlyerCokie Posted at 2017-5-28 13:52
After 300 mtrs you have trouble seeing the Mavic ! Well I do especially against a New Zealand Bush enviroment. So the Spark will be shocking, that is why they have coloured it I reckon. So the distance should really not be an issue if I were to buy a Spark.

Color has nothing to do with visibility, the bottom of them are all dark gray. The colors are because this is marketed for the selfie social media people and color options make this more appealing for getting a first drone.

Hi all

Do anyone feel that the flight time of spark per full charge is too short compare to the Mavic Pro?
Or do any Mavic Pro users here find that the flight time is still way not enough for a full charge of 21mins-/+

Regards

I bought the DJI Spark instead of the DJI Mavic. It's not the price which made the decision for me. It seems that the camera shoots almost the same JPEG photo files. Besides, I need quick shots and I don't want to carry a big case with all stuff. So the Phantom isn't an option (i have owned several Phantom's from the beginning till phantom 3 pro). I haven't tried the Mavic but the Spark just triggers me to create commercial shots with a ''toy drone''.. because I really think it's possible to create cool commercial footage. And, yes, there is no 4K or 60 FPS. The only thing I would use for video is probably tripod mode for indoor shootings. I create websites for my own real estate property's and advertise online. I think is the best drone solution for a real estate managers. Nowadays I shoot property's myself because those managers hire expensive drone operators for just a few shots. I'd rather shoot them myself and have a little loss of quality. But 80% of my viewers view my property's on their phones or ipad/13 inch laptop. Most of the times they don't even know how to use Photoshop or even Lightroom properly. The only problem for me is NO DNG / RAW support But we'll see how it turns out.

Interesting comparison from DJI themselves...I posted in another thread, seems like the Mavic takes a bit of a beating in the article.  https://store.dji.com/guides/dji ... utm_campaign=buffer

Cravenfan Posted at 2017-6-2 09:32
Interesting comparison from DJI themselves...I posted in another thread, seems like the Mavic takes a bit of a beating in the article.  https://store.dji.com/guides/dji-spark-vs-mavic-pro/?utm_content=buffer88f13&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Probably DJI wants to promote this over the Mavic now. Not so sure how well it's turned out for them with the Mavic. Yes no doubt they have sold many but you can bet they won't be releasing any info on warranty returns.

Yes many pro level photographers use the Mavic due to it's small size, an advantage in certain situations but remember these people generally have lots of experience in post processing and the high end gear to aid with this also.

It would appear on this and other forums the Mavic has more than it's share of dissatisfied customers particularly concerning camera/video image quality irregularities. I myself am on second Mavic and it's camera is even worse than the first one. Many have had similar experiences, returning drone 3 times before finally getting one with good camera that does not have focus problems, blurry spots in parts of the image. Appears to be primarily hardware issue with image sensor alignment but who knows for sure.
My $100 cell phone can pass brick wall test better than Mavic camera on 2 Mavics I have tried now.
I have also been on forums and tried every suggestion to remedy this repeatedly.

Also Mavic has many issues mainly with neophyte pilots who don't have deep enough grasp of setting Mavic up to insure they do not lose it. Problems with not so tech savvy users understanding certain modes and lacking solid situational awareness (what if scenarios).
Most of these problems are operator induced yet it still does not make things go smooth for DJI because the customer will blame DJI, return for repairs after they crash even if their own fault. Check the long turn around times for Mavic repairs, obviously they are swamped and Spark sales will help slow the tide as it will likely cut into Mavic sales.
For many who purchased Mavic the Spark is likely a more suitable choice for them at least as a first camera drone so understandably DJI will prefer to steer the average person to the Spark and I bet if they had released Spark before Mavic it would have made things go much more smoothly for Mavic product line.
Just speculating here, I could be wrong.

If the published technical data are true, the SPARK is *not* able to capture photographs in DNG format, but JPG only. MAVIC does DNG and JPG.

For me (as a photographer) a *no go* for the SPARK.

Stefan

Spark looks like a lot of fun but I already own a Mavic and can't justify the cost for what I see as a toy. Maybe if the mavic remote worked with spark it might have been a different story