Advice

[andart]

Ok I've never owned a drone before but when ever it cones to technology my moto is to always buy the most advanced you can afford .
Now I've come into £1500 unexpectedly first obvious choice p4p or mavic pro .
I think I might end up with both eventually.
mavic to take on holiday is just awesome but am thinking they might bring out a pro+ or someting relatively soon and delay receiving it is another concern .
So unless I get other advice I'm probably going to get p4p , now apart from extra batteries what is the most useful accessory for drone flying from your experience.
I can probably add about £500 for a total of £2000 ($2500).
I'm thinking hard case for traveling but worried about it being stolen if checked onto a plane . Will hard case fit inside hand luggage restriction for size .
Look forwards to any advice and suggestions, I'm looking towards taking advantage of black Friday deals .
Thanks

Sent from my SM-G935F using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Meta4]

Yes .. the hard case fits in jet plane overheads.
Batteries are definitely the number 1 accessory and you're probably better off holding off buying others until you know what you'll really use.
Mavic or P4 pro - you win either way.

 

[MacCool]

The P4P's big advantage is its camera...the Mavic isn't bad but the P4P will have superior imaging. With Mavic, it's all about size and portability...the P4P is pretty transportable (fits fine in an airline overhead bin) but the Mavic is obviously better. Your choice will be which of the two concepts meets your needs best.

For me, the P4P easily makes the most sense so I'd get the P4P to start There will likely be a Phantom 5 in about March. You will never keep up on the technology for long.

 

[msinger]

what is the most useful accessory for drone flying from your experience

Check out my list of must-haves for the P4P here or the Mavic here.

If both of these drones meet your needs and you have no strong desire to buy either one, I'd recommend you go with the P4P. The Mavic is on backorder and you likely won't be able to get one for at least 6-8 weeks after placing your order.

 

[David_Cambridge]

As far as I can tell, the Mavic camera is the same specs as the 4K on the Phantoms


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[msinger]

As far as I can tell, the Mavic camera is the same specs as the 4K on the Phantoms

Yes, it's pretty close to the P4. The P4P's camera blows it away though.

 

[David_Cambridge]

What testing established that?

 

[msinger]

Did you compare the camera specs?

Sure, it might be overkill for some people... if that's what you're questioning.

 

[David_Cambridge]

Yes I did. The only change that I see is that it has a new lens, which changes the FOV. By rumor,that lens also has a focussing capability. All the other specs are identical for imaging. 12mb stills, Exmor Sensor 4000x3000 1/2.3 ". The lens may in fact be sharper, although there is no published spec that I have seen for lens resolution (MTTF). If the new lens is sharper, that would be an improvement. The sensors appear identical, along with the digital signal processing chain.

Do you have some lens specs that you can share?

 

[msinger]

You can compare the Mavic and P4P camera specs here:

• Mavic Specs
• P4P Specs

The specs are not even close.

 

[David_Cambridge]

Those specs are much better I agree. The Mavic specs I took from B&H Camera, are very different. Who has the correct specs? B&H is a very reliable long term supplier of high end photo gear, and has provided me many still and video cameras and their specs, all of which were as advertised.

Tried initially to find the camera Mavic specs on the DJI website, and found very little.

 

[David_Cambridge]

B&H published specs

Camera
Sensor Type: 1/2.3" CMOS
Effective Pixels: 12.35 million
Total Pixels: 12.71 million
Lens FOV: 78.8°
Focal Length: 28 mm (35 mm format equivalent) Aperture: f/2.2
Distortion: < 1.5%
Focus Range: 1.6' (0.5 m) to ∞
ISO Range Video: 100 to 3200
Photo: 100 to 1600
Electronic Shutter Speed 8 second to 1/8000 second
Photo Resolution Up to 4000 x 3000 (12 MP)
Photo Modes Single shot
Burst shooting: 3/5/7 frames
Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB): 3/5 bracketed frames at 0.7 EV bias
Interval
Video Resolutions DCI 4K (4096 x 2160): 24p
UHD 4K (3840 x 2160): 24/25/30p
2.7K (2704 x 1520): 24/25/30p
FHD (1920 x 1080): 24/25/30/48/50/60/96p
HD (1280 x 720): 24/25/30/48/50/60/120/180p
File Formats Video: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 in MOV wrapper
Photo: JPEG, DNG RAW
Recording Media 60 Mbps
Recording Media Type: microSDHC/SDXC card up to 64 GB
Format: FAT32 / exFAT

Note: Class 10/U1/V10 or faster card required (64 GB maximum size)
Operating Temperature 32 to 104°F / 0 to 40°C

 

[msinger]

Who has the correct specs?

See my links above. B&H might be reliable, but it's not the best source for DJI's specs.

 

[DrillRX]

Ok I've never owned a drone before but when ever it cones to technology my moto is to always buy the most advanced you can afford .
Now I've come into £1500 unexpectedly first obvious choice p4p or mavic pro .
I think I might end up with both eventually.
mavic to take on holiday is just awesome but am thinking they might bring out a pro+ or someting relatively soon and delay receiving it is another concern .
So unless I get other advice I'm probably going to get p4p , now apart from extra batteries what is the most useful accessory for drone flying from your experience.
I can probably add about £500 for a total of £2000 ($2500).
I'm thinking hard case for traveling but worried about it being stolen if checked onto a plane . Will hard case fit inside hand luggage restriction for size .
Look forwards to any advice and suggestions, I'm looking towards taking advantage of black Friday deals .
Thanks

Sent from my SM-G935F using PhantomPilots mobile app

Just about the only advantage I can see with the Mavic is the forward mounted camera. Everything else is P4 for sure. The Phantom is faster, flies longer, more stable gimbal, more stable flight in higher wind speed, more options for larger screens, FOV, etc.

For $2,500 US, I got the P4, three extra batteries, Ipad Air 2 wifi-cell(highest end model), hard case, four full extra sets of blades, and two 64Gb SD cards.

 

[David_Cambridge]

Msinger,

Thanks for the clarification. That makes the Mavic much more interesting. I have had great success with the P3 4K (100+ flights) shooting 4k video. I don't really need a new drone, but when this one bites the dust, I will replace it. Probably with a Mavic with these specs.

Thanks