P3S vs Spark

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Hi all,

Am looking to get my first DJI. Mavic would be ideal but not okay with that price range.

How do the p3S and Spark stack up? To me it looks like the range will average out at roughly the same with the fly more package controller - 4k doesn't really fuss me as it's mainly for fun (no time to process videos really) - and portability would be a big plus in terms of me actually using it .

But £419 vs £699...

Any considerations I'm missing here?? I feel like the price difference is for an extra battery, portability and obstacle avoidance.
 
I'd look at Craigslist and try to find a p3a or p3p kit, I've seen several here in California where for $600 you get a phantom, case, extra batteries, lens filters etc. Its the extras that really pile on. A 2 year old drone with 25 flights is a really good deal at less than 1/2 retail price. I'd go that route before getting a p3s. I plan on keeping my p3a for longer flights and the spark for proximity filming.
 
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Cheers for the responses guys - leaning towards getting a refurb p3a but still think it's a bit large. Anyone know how CE range on the spark would stack up against the CE range on the p3s? Looks like it SHOULD be the same from the specs but not sure if I'm missing anything (the 300m is a bit worrying ? Is that video only and the same as the p3s?)

Cheers again!!
 
The range is the same when flying the Spark with the remote controller (500m CE).

Source:
P3S Specs
Spark Specs


Thanks a lot - I saw this. So the 2.4ghz can Transmit both video and controls as far as I can see on this forum? So I can ignore the 300m 5.8ghz?
 
Last edited:
Hi all,

Am looking to get my first DJI. Mavic would be ideal but not okay with that price range.

How do the p3S and Spark stack up? To me it looks like the range will average out at roughly the same with the fly more package controller - 4k doesn't really fuss me as it's mainly for fun (no time to process videos really) - and portability would be a big plus in terms of me actually using it .

But £419 vs £699...

Any considerations I'm missing here?? I feel like the price difference is for an extra battery, portability and obstacle avoidance.
Phantom any day over something with a infrared TV remote sensor on the front
 
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Phantom 3 advanced is the way to go the phantom has a much better camera than the spark and the Mavic Pro

Huh?? The mavic has a 4k/30fps camera, or can do 1080 at 96fps. Advanced camera might be better than spark, but nowhere near as good as the mavics
 
Phantom any day over something with a infrared TV remote sensor on the front
You might find the so named tv remote is an infrared projector that projects a grid pattern (invisible to human vision) to assist the performance of the Intel Movidius Myriad 2 vision processing unit (VPU) or that the spark also includes components of the Intel reaksense tech. We know DJI is buying the cool tech in from Intel now.
 
You might find the so named tv remote is an infrared projector that projects a grid pattern (invisible to human vision) to assist the performance of the Intel Movidius Myriad 2 vision processing unit (VPU) or that the spark also includes components of the Intel reaksense tech. We know DJI is buying the cool tech in from Intel now.
OK cheers handy to know I shall now cut the spark some slack,:)
 
Huh?? The mavic has a 4k/30fps camera, or can do 1080 at 96fps. Advanced camera might be better than spark, but nowhere near as good as the mavics

The mavic falls well short in focus and sharpness compared to the phantom 3 advanced. If you watch any footage bigger than a phone screen it's very apparent
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The mavic falls well short in focus and sharpness compared to the phantom 3 advanced. If you watch any footage bigger than a phone screen it's very apparent
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sorry absolutely untrue. I have a P3 PRO and a MAVIC, and can tell you that the Mavic's camera looks ALMOST as good as the 4K on the Pro. Which is much better than the Advanceds 2.7K.

Im sure if i searched hard enough i could find a video that said that a breeze's video quality was better than a Inspire 2, but reality is much different.
 
Huh?? The mavic has a 4k/30fps camera, or can do 1080 at 96fps. Advanced camera might be better than spark, but nowhere near as good as the mavics

Well actually.. DJI kinder f'd up the Mavic's camera. FPS higher than 30fps in any resolution will cause aliasing. You can see heaps of "Moire" effect on roofs and patterned areas when you use 50/60/96 fps. Why does this happen?? DJI is using pixel binning to accommodate for occustink to allow more bandwidth back to the FPV device with minimal lag. Why you ask again?? For the silly illegal (in some countries) DJI goggles. I dont know why DJI sacrificed camera hardware quality over faster ping. So therefore the Pro/Adv is better for higher than 30fps footage and probably on par with everything below 30fps.

But in saying that.. i use 2.7k@24fps on the mavic with ND filters to motion blur to create cinematic feel. The only time I would use 50fps or more would be for slow-mo and thats rarely the case for aerial footage.

And finally, i sit on the fence with this... The mavic has Focus from 0.5m to infinite. This gave it a depth of field. Considering the size of the camera and the for aerial footage, Its rather useless. It's a nice feature but many have complained because they forgot to tap to focus when filming. Its happened to me before (android didnt get focus peaking until a later date). You didn't need to worry about this on the P3 range as it had infinite focus and all you needed to do was hit the record button.
 
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Well actually.. DJI kinder f'd up the Mavic's camera. FPS higher than 30fps in any resolution will cause aliasing. You can see heaps of "Moire" effect on roofs and patterned areas when you use 50/60/96 fps. Why does this happen?? DJI is using pixel binning to accommodate for occustink to allow more bandwidth back to the FPV device with minimal lag. Why you ask again?? For the silly illegal (in some countries) DJI goggles. I dont know why DJI sacrificed camera hardware quality over faster ping. So therefore the Pro/Adv is better for higher than 30fps footage and probably on par with everything below 30fps.

But in saying that.. i use 2.7k@24fps on the mavic with ND filters to motion blur to create cinematic feel. The only time I would use 50fps or more would be for slow-mo and thats rarely the case for aerial footage.

And finally, i sit on the fence with this... The mavic has Focus from 0.5m to infinite. This gave it a depth of field. Considering the size of the camera and the for aerial footage, Its rather useless. It's a nice feature but many have complained because they forgot to tap to focus when filming. Its happened to me before (android didnt get focus peaking until a later date). You didn't need to worry about this on the P3 range as it had infinite focus and all you needed to do was hit the record button.


Shrug... occustink, obviously your quite biased for some odd reason.., mavic has had auto focus for quite awhile, either way I love my mavic , and since I got it a few months ago, sadly my p3 pro hardly gets touched anymore since the mavic camera quality is impercievable from the p3 pro in 4K, simple as that. Argue stats, transmission methods, and all kinds of other useless tidbits of information. But the camera simply is as good as my p3 pro in 4K.
 
Shrug... occustink, obviously your quite biased for some odd reason.., mavic has had auto focus for quite awhile, either way I love my mavic , and since I got it a few months ago, sadly my p3 pro hardly gets touched anymore since the mavic camera quality is impercievable from the p3 pro in 4K, simple as that. Argue stats, transmission methods, and all kinds of other useless tidbits of information. But the camera simply is as good as my p3 pro in 4K.
Buddy I love my mavic but the focus and sharpness is just not the same as the p3A and above sorry
 
P3S all the way if portability and gestures are something you cal leave without. The P3S has a superior remote, superior camera, superior gimble. The camera is almost the same has the P3A and 2K footage is simply amazing. One is a selfie drone, the other is a flying camera on steroids.
 
They're both worth the money and they both have their ups and downs. I own a p3a and I'm not getting rid of it when my spark comes. Now I'll just have two drones.
 
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Huh?? The mavic has a 4k/30fps camera, or can do 1080 at 96fps. Advanced camera might be better than spark, but nowhere near as good as the mavics
Many Mavics have warm spots in the sensor, and most all Mavics exhibit excessive lens flares, not to mention the gimbal is giving many pilots fits. I personally think the gimbal is fragile. Mine suddenly quite working out of the blue for no reason, it wouldn't finish the startup self check routine. DJI replaced the craft.

For 1080 video I think the phantom 3 advanced or standard has a better camera than Mavic, IMO.
 

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