Drones Master Thread

[shauly]

Are there any cheaper drones that you guys have experience with? I'm interested in giving it a try and would like to snap some pictures but I'm not ready to spend $400+ on it yet.

[LoLo]

Are there any cheaper drones that you guys have experience with? I'm interested in giving it a try and would like to snap some pictures but I'm not ready to spend $400+ on it yet.

+1, looking for something decent in the $50-100 range to practice etc.

[tageed-lee]

Casey likes the Mavic... Alot

(Is this a known issue? You can see the props in his footage on the top left at 10:40)

[lfas25]

Are there any cheaper drones that you guys have experience with? I'm interested in giving it a try and would like to snap some pictures but I'm not ready to spend $400+ on it yet.

I did that, I bought a $100 drone... Total waste of money. Can't compare it to the Phantom.

[davidmal]

Casey likes the Mavic... Alot

(Is this a known issue? You can see the props in his footage on the top left at 10:40)

that was even crazier than the other one... I love how he always gets so excited!

[Something Fishy]

Casey likes the Mavic... Alot

(Is this a known issue? You can see the props in his footage on the top left at 10:40)

Is there anything Casey doesn't like? That's what he's paid to do. He loved the karma as well.

Regarding props, one of the advantages of a front-mounted camera is that the props are supposedly not visible. I guess this the case here...

(Disclaimer: I didn't watch the video, only a few seconds around 10:40 for the props.)

[Something Fishy]

The image quality of the Phantom beats the Mavic hands down - see around 8:45. Also see 8:25 for a comparison of the rotors in the shot - here the Mavic is the clear winner.

[davidmal]

The image quality of the Phantom beats the Mavic hands down - see around 8:45. Also see 8:25 for a comparison of the rotors in the shot - here the Mavic is the clear winner.

That was a great review! i enjoyed their side by side comparison

[Moishebatchy]

That was a great review! i enjoyed their side by side comparison

👆 גם אני מצטרף להנ״ל

[Zalc]

The image quality of the Phantom beats the Mavic hands down - see around 8:45. Also see 8:25 for a comparison of the rotors in the shot - here the Mavic is the clear winner.

How would the hero5 compare?
In quality and distortion/FOV?

[AJK]

There is simply no way the Hero5 is bested by the Mavic's camera. No way.

[AJK]

+1, looking for something decent in the $50-100 range to practice etc.

Got it backwards; it's actually easier to pilot a P4 than it is a chinese-made sub $100 drone.

[Something Fishy]

How would the hero5 compare?
In quality and distortion/FOV?

No one knows about the overall quality, there are no comparisons yet.

Distortion is a big thing - the Mavic has a rectilinear lens, meaning everything is straight. The GoPro, as always, has a fisheye lens. I was discussing this with a GoPro rep earlier and he showed me a new mode called Linear FOV, which corrects the fisheye effect. It seemed to work quite well, giving perfectly straight lines and an FOV similar to the old Medium view. Problem is that it's all software, so you do lose quality in the process.

[Something Fishy]

There is simply no way the Hero5 is bested by the Mavic's camera. No way.

What makes you so absolutely sure? Look at the Phantom 4 and Hero4 cameras - which one is better? The Mavic has the same camera guts as the P4; only the lens is different. Smaller, narrower FOV, and not quite as sharp. The Hero5's camera module OTOH is pretty much an iteration of the 4, with an updated sensor whose only claim to fame is better dynamic range (a biggie for sure, but the DJIs have great DR already).

Don't get me wrong - Once the comparisons come out I may very well agree with you. But for now, when everything's still pretty much on paper, I could see the Mavic beating the GoPro.

[AJK]

Of course, there haven't been any in-depth reviews yet, considering that neither has actually been released, but I find it difficult that a standalone camera on its 5th iteration could be bested by a camera affixed to the main thing you're buying.

Also, despite having the same guts, early reviews show the Mavic's camera is objectively worse than the one inside the P4, whether it has the same guts or not.

[Something Fishy]

but I find it difficult that a standalone camera on its 5th iteration

Arguably, the Mavic is a 5th gen (or is it 4th?) camera as well, whose entire pedigree has been optimized for aerial imaging (unlike the GoPro). This is not a new camera, rather, (like the GoPro) an iteration.

bested by a camera affixed to the main thing you're buying.

This argument is actually backwards; a camera dedicated to the hardware will generally be finely tuned to the one task it needs to perform. The GoPro is a cobbled together system - I played around with it today and the amount of hoops they've gone through is just nuts. Special balancing adapters (you need to choose a Karma version based on which Hero model you're planning on using with it), a very odd vibration dampening system (due to the weight of an entire device on the end, rather than just a camera module), and so on. Yes, hopefully all these disparate bits will come together to create a perfect whole, but that of course remains to be seen.

Also, despite having the same guts, early reviews show the Mavic's camera is objectively worse than the one inside the P4, whether it has the same guts or not.

Absolutely, this seems to be confirmed at this point.

[Zalc]

Of course, there haven't been any in-depth reviews yet, considering that neither has actually been released, but I find it difficult that a standalone camera on its 5th iteration could be bested by a camera affixed to the main thing you're buying.

Also, despite having the same guts, early reviews show the Mavic's camera is objectively worse than the one inside the P4, whether it has the same guts or not.

https://youtu.be/sw4jDjYnR0U
The gap is super large considering that they claim the same guts...

Any chance it's a software issue?
The official samples looked very different, and sharpness is not easy to fake...

[Something Fishy]

https://youtu.be/sw4jDjYnR0U
The gap is super large considering that they claim the same guts...

Any chance it's a software issue?
The official samples looked very different, and sharpness is not easy to fake...

There's a big discussion online wether the focus was set correctly on the un-sharp videos. The new autofocus operation is a bit unclear at this point, it seems that many people are just not setting it right.

This could explain the softness, but for now I haven't been able to find concrete examples of good sharpness outside of the official videos.

[Zalc]

Yup. Just saw that as well here. (Seems to be a DJi Employee)

Here are some with proper focus:

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVejCkJFqiI

2:

You would think that such an important new feature (as far as making your reviews look good) would have been pointed out...

[Something Fishy]

Yup. Just saw that as well here. (Seems to be a DJi Employee)

Here are some with proper focus:
1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVejCkJFqiI
2:

You would think that such an important new feature (as far as making your reviews look good) would have been pointed out...

Yup, surprised Casey's handlers didn't make sure of that, his video is totally soft.