Has anyone tried filming with the dji spark? The cost is more in my price bracket, but more concerned with short flight time and being lighter weight maybe it's less stable too?
Not as close as the DJI spark price range, but nevertheless maybe worth mentioning. Pro version only has an extra battery and bag, but I could be wrong since it is a big price difference.
I would wanted to mention maybe a second hand airdog through Amazon.com $649 orsomething, but I see that you are also from the Netherlands. And on Amazon.de only 999 euro atm.
BTW that staaker still sample looks promising, don't understand why it could be better then airdog since both use gopro's and both have 3 axis gimbals now. The airleash on ADII looks better then the one on staaker.
Xiaomi drone 4k is cheap stable very good built I have flow it till 30+km/h and I think can hold till 50km/h. For 400$ 4k video, range, stability etc, is no brainer and its better overall from dji3 advanced .........
I have a kitesurf hotel in Madagascar, Sakalava Bay, next to Diego suarez. The name is KiteParadise Madagascar.
The wind is incredibly strong here. I bought the Mavic Pro to shoot some good footages for our customers but I can tell after several sessions over 30 knots - very often in Madagascar - that the Mavic is definitely not made for such mighty winds.
DJI seems to be the drone leader and most likely continue to be my brand of choice for drones despite crashing twice already. I lost my first P3s because onshore 30+ gusts blew it into the trees. The second P3s was whipped by my friend's kite. His 6m2 kite canopy became two 3m2 canopies and my drone was lost at sea. I got a 3rd P3s again due to the two extra batteries I bought in the beginning and have been flying it more carefully with no 3rd accident since last year. So both crashes were my stupid pilot errors, no blames on the drones. The DJI Mavic series and Phantom 4 series used by my friends are definitely more capable in stronger wind, can fly longer for each battery charge, and have better picture quality. We'll see what DJI come up with when I crash again.
I liked the videos. Where is the second spot located. I have a phantom p3 adv and have had my share of mishaps including 2 water incident both my fault luckily only the cameras were damaged in both cases. The quality of the DJI drone footage are really exceptional and what keeps me a DJI fan . Ive heard the phantoms are a a litle better in strong winds though. My max windspeed I feel comfortable flying is probally about 20 knts and thats very close to shore . That was the first thing I was told by an experienced drone flyer. don't fly your drone in strong winds. u would loose it. lol
DJI seems to be the drone leader and most likely continue to be my brand of choice for drones despite crashing twice already. I lost my first P3s because onshore 30+ gusts blew it into the trees. The second P3s was whipped by my friend's kite. His 6m2 kite canopy became two 3m2 canopies and my drone was lost at sea. I got a 3rd P3s again due to the two extra batteries I bought in the beginning and have been flying it more carefully with no 3rd accident since last year. So both crashes were my stupid pilot errors, no blames on the drones. The DJI Mavic series and Phantom 4 series used by my friends are definitely more capable in stronger wind, can fly longer for each battery charge, and have better picture quality. We'll see what DJI come up with when I crash again.
I liked the videos. Where is the second spot located. I have a phantom p3 adv and have had my share of mishaps including 2 water incident both my fault luckily only the cameras were damaged in both cases. The quality of the DJI drone footage are really exceptional and what keeps me a DJI fan . Ive heard the phantoms are a a litle better in strong winds though. My max windspeed I feel comfortable flying is probally about 20 knts and thats very close to shore . That was the first thing I was told by an experienced drone flyer. don't fly your drone in strong winds. u would loose it. lol
DJI seems to be the drone leader and most likely continue to be my brand of choice for drones despite crashing twice already. I lost my first P3s because onshore 30+ gusts blew it into the trees. The second P3s was whipped by my friend's kite. His 6m2 kite canopy became two 3m2 canopies and my drone was lost at sea. I got a 3rd P3s again due to the two extra batteries I bought in the beginning and have been flying it more carefully with no 3rd accident since last year. So both crashes were my stupid pilot errors, no blames on the drones. The DJI Mavic series and Phantom 4 series used by my friends are definitely more capable in stronger wind, can fly longer for each battery charge, and have better picture quality. We'll see what DJI come up with when I crash again.
The second spot is located at Neipi Beach of Suao on the east coast of Taiwan, about one hour drive from Taipei City. A year ago on 2016/09/27 at 14:00 we had a typhoon with 18-meter waves recorded by buoy, condition was totally different from the video. No drone flying on that day.
160927 wave record.jpg (211.51 KiB) Viewed 1951 times
Thinking about going in on a DJI Mavic Pro. Yes I know there is a 50% chance it drops in the ocean and i never see it again.
Anyone have any real life experiences using this drone for filming kiting? Obviously i would use it for other stuff too, but that doesnt concern me as much.
I've had the Mavic since January. If you take all features into account (portability and ease of use being paramount) the Mavic wins hands-down. If you don't care as much about portability, than I would buy a larger drone.
That said, the Mavic is a great kite filming platform up until the low 20s (mph). More than that and it really starts to drift with gusts. The max speed is about 25mph in Normal mode (which has obstacle avoidance and the best stability). If you are getting strong gusts, you can switch it to Sport mode which has a max speed of 45 mph and that will get it back to you if the wind picks up and takes the drown for a ride. However, once in Sport mode your camera and flight movements are much more erratic. It is very difficult to get usable video footage. Stills may be fine as will stationary shots.
A friend of mine has flown the 3DR Solo side by side with me on multiple occasions. That drone is older, out of production, and harder to find. Doesn't have the same battery life nor some of the automation, however, it handles the wind better. He also attaches a GoPro to it which has better video quality. I think since it is heavier with stronger motors it just gets thrown around less than a lighter drone That should apply to any larger drone.
Still, I'd recommend the Mavic. I would not have shot 90% of the footage I have if I couldn't bring it along with me. And no, there is very little chance of it dropping in the water if you are not an idiot. It is a very reliable product. If it drops in due to unit anomaly, buy the warranty, DJI will replace it once. They can tell from your flight logs stored on your phone what was going on when it wrecked.
I have a Mavic Pro but I haven't used it for any kiteboarding video so far. I'm more interested in close-up video of a rider (at least in the sub 20 knot wind and rider speed range) rather than the typical "small spec" from 30 meters away. I'm not ready for that yet, but I have seen some great drone closeup video of kitefoiling, albeit in light wind. The closeup shots in this clip by Drone Nerds are pretty amazing. Of course these shots require a separate, and very skilled drone pilot (even then you can see where the drone comes a bit too close to the rider at the 1:21 mark!)
I'm also really hoping the "electronic leash" autonomous follow-me drones will eventually get to the same developed level as the DJI drones, or that DJI comes out with an electronic leash option (Active Track sucks) . I think the best drones in this category (Staaker and Airdog II) show great promise, but are still pretty rough around the edges, and very pricey ($2k with a Hero 5). Here is a kiteboarding clip I found online taken with the Staaker. Remember that there is no separate drone pilot in this video. The rider sets a few basic parameters and the drone just follows the arm band electronic leash that the rider wears, Pretty cool
