DJI Mavic Pro Platinum

So I’m definitely going to be picking up a DJI Mavic Pro Platinum for my trip to Australia. What are the “must have” accessories that I should also consider? When I look at the Amazon page, the “package” deals are bewildering. My assumption is I’d probably want:

A couple spare batteries.
A couple spare rotor blades.
Maybe a hard/waterproof case.
32 or 64 GB memory card.

I’m unsure of what kind of filters I should get. I’d assume perhaps a polarizing filter might be useful for shooting water scenes to cut through the glare.

And should I consider a package with the DJI VR goggles? I don’t think I’d take them on the trip to Australia, but would I find them useful otherwise?

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I thought you were just getting really into electro-dance music or something. Link here for post-google:

:slight_smile:

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I think you have it pretty much covered there Chris. Batteries, case and a spare set of props (although these things are so simple to fly that I doubt you will be breaking any blades).

Goggles would be cool for flying when it’s bright out, because it can be challenging to see a tablet or cellphone screen under those conditions, even with a purpose built shade (which would still be worth looking at as it does help).

I have a Phantom 3 Pro, which is a bit outdated now. I was thinking of picking up a Mavic Air, just for the sheer portability of the thing, but the Mavic Pro Platinum is most certainly the better drone, and still very portable.

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Oh wow…the price with the goggles directly from the DJI store is very good! I’ll have to do a comparison for the packages that include batteries and spare parts…

I have a Mavic and a have owned a Phantom 1, 2, & 3P. Two thumbs up on the goggles. My brother has them for his Mavic and I’ve tried them. They are fantastic. I’m using a work-around right now, which is using a $30 headset that turns your iPhone into FPV goggles. But, there’s no comparison really. I’m just waiting for a good sale for the DJIs. Might get the racing version, even though I don’t race anymore. Too many crashes and I ended up working on them much more than flying. But I still enjoy some low intensity freestyle FPV with a small quad. I also have some micro FPV quads that I fly in the house. Lots of fun.

You won’t need more than 2 extra batteries, unless you are a pro. The multi battery charging hub is nice though.

This is my favorite travel case by far. Great bang for the buck.

I use the DJI software for updates only. I fly with Litchi software. Let’s just say that I recommend this as a fellow pilot whom wants to keep his certificate as long as possible. Do the research to find out why. Litchi also has a few features not found in the DJI app, but they are both good.

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I thought the same thing :slight_smile:

Alright…so this was my shopping cart tonight and I went ahead and took the plunge. This should give me a couple months to get familiar with the drone so I don’t have to learn during more important moments.

DJI Mavic Pro Platinum

DJI Low Noise Props

Smatree Rapid Battery Charger / Hub / Adapter

Smatree Waterproof Case

Aterox Gimbal Lock

64GB SanDisk Extreme Pro microSDXC

Sandmarc Neutral Density Filters (3)

I spent hours watching videos, reading reviews, watching more videos, reading more reviews. The charging hub was a pretty compelling pitch in that it seems more fully featured than the OEM one with some additional features that make it attractive.

On the case, I was torn because they do make some slightly smaller footprint ones, and since I’m traveling I will want something compact. BUT, I didn’t want a semi-rigid or soft side case that wasn’t waterproof because so many of our trips are camping and kayaking trips where we often can spend days in the rain. So even though the Smatree case (like a Pelican case) isn’t the smallest, it is still pretty compact and should fit in a backpack just fine. I also didn’t want to cut my own foam because I would just end up with a hacked up case interior.

The filters seem like a good choice for lowering shutter speed, improving the cinematic effects, and perhaps knocking some glare off bright scenes and water. I’ll definitely do some comparison shots to see how they compare.

So I’m pretty excited to get into this. I’ll give some reviews of the stuff once I get some time with them. Maybe I’ll even make it a main-site hardware review.

I did not buy the VR goggles yet - that can wait for a bit and I’ll try to catch them on sale. I’d like to buy original DJI ones and not aftermarket ones.

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Hmmm. We’ve got a DJI store here in Norway. Must have a look…

Yeah…the more I looked at it, the more impressed I was. The integration with your phone for viewing the camera live is really nifty…and there are a ton of settings on it that allow you to do things like lock on a “target” and then the camera can be set to just track that automatically. So you could be on a canoe or something, lock yourself, then the drone will fly along and take footage. You can even set it to orbit around you while in that mode. And of course I’ve been having a ton of fun watching terrifying videos of people flying their drones out to max range, then sweating as the battery countdown shows they can barely make it back. I don’t think that is legal in most cases since you aren’t maintaining line of sight with your drone, but it makes for some pretty tense You Tube videos.

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You are going to love it. I really need to start flying my P3 again, especially now all the hub bub and paranoia about drones has calmed down a little.

Thoughts on your shopping list Beach:

Everything looks good, except for three things. 1) Your Mavic comes with a gimbal lock and cover, so not needed. Unless you are prone to losing that sort of thing. 2) The quiet props were introduced with the Platinum, so they should be the default replacement prop. I’m running them on my Pro and carry two replacements in the case. 3) I’m also going to pitch the case that I linked over the one that you picked. Having owned a lot of travel cases for drones, including GoProfessoinal and Pelican, the Nanuk is superior to all of them. Construction, materials, use of space are all outstanding.

Filters: I don’t use them, but there are plenty of good arguments either way. The primary one that I hear is not being able to capture at cinematic frame rates. That is a concern if your goal is to replicate cinematic motion blur. But IMO equally important is that filters add weight to an already delicate lens with gimbal, which is working like crazy to prevent shake. The Mavic is an amazing piece of technology, but in making it so compact, DJI has had to make some engineering compromises. I don’t want to have another potential factor affecting image stability. I’d rather change the shot than deal with hanging something on the front of that tiny lens with my fat fingers. But as always, this is a pull for power argument with plenty of advocates on both sides. YMMV

You want to keep everything as KISS as possible until you got about 15 to 20 packs through your Mavic. It’s one hell of a drone for sure.

Yeah…I just bought the $10 aftermarket gimbal lock because I had read complaints that the one that ships with it is a bit of a hassle (first world problem type hassle I’m sure) in that you had to wedge the piece behind the camera, and then put a second cover over the assembly. The one I purchased does it all in one step - it is a combo gimbal lock and protective cover. Here you can see the old one being removed and the “all in one” piece going on…I’m not sure why the techno music is with the video…putting the “DJ” in "DJI"I guess. Any-who…I was on a buying spree…

Yes - I knew the quiet props shipped with it, and I think the box comes with a couple extra ones. I just wanted to make sure I had enough in Australia that if I had an “incident” I could replace all four if necessary. I watched some videos on it and they do seem quieter and have less whine to them. In the video I watched they had a sound meter and they were right about the 4dB drop. Which doesn’t sound like much (haha…pun)…but I guess a 10dB delta is an order of 10 magnitude…so I suppose it isn’t insignificant.

The Nanuk looked really nice…but 15" x 10.5" x 6.2" was just edged out by the inch shorter and 2" less depth with the one I chose. I’m going to need to slip it into a carry on backpack…so I was trying to go as low profile as possible. Honestly, if I could have found one that was even smaller and only held the Mavic, two extra batteries, and the controller, I would have gone for that since the charger isn’t something I’d need in the case necessarily.

Out of curiosity…what is the file format of the recordings? MP4? Or MPG?

Yeah…regarding the filters, I’m going to go without em’ initially and then run a test in a high brightness/reflective area like what I’ll get on the Australia coast. If it is only a marginal improvement, I’ll probably not use them. I’ll be sure to post some comparison captures…

First flight this afternoon. Nothing to aggressive. This thing just station-keeps all day long with no input…it is really, really user friendly. The first person view through my iPhone is insane.

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Very nice! Small 4K sample please as well when you have a chance?

Still, even the 1080p looks great on my 60" 4K.

I couple still photos. They come off the card at 4000 x 3000 pixels at around 4.7 MB each. These are down-sampled to 1800 x 1350 and reduced in quality to give a file size of 1.2-ish MB.

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Very cool house Chris. Are the solar panels to heat water, say for the pool? I’m very ignorant in the alternate energy space, unfortunately.

A mater of taste but you can slow down your camera tilt speed in the app to get a smoother movement in the vertical. Congrats on your fist aerial video!

Those panels are more than adequate to run the whole house on sunny days. They generate 7.5 kW. Our house is 100% electric (no natural gas) and whatever excess power they generate rolls back through the meters and I sell it back to Duke Energy. It took our summer electric bills from around $240 to around $80 a month. They aren’t tied in to a battery bank, so I still have to use Duke Energy for nights and cloudy days. But I really love them. We’ve had them for around 5 years now and they’ve pretty much paid for themselves. When we had them installed the federal government gave us a 30% credit and the state of NC gave us a credit of 35%…so we were only out of pocket for about $9,500. Those incentives are disappearing though, but the price per kW is dropping too as panel prices decrease.

Good tip. There are a million options I haven’t explored yet…it is going to be fun to check it out.

And I’m safe to fly here - my house isn’t within 5 miles of an airport. And hopefully the trees would block most of the shotgun wielding “the guberment is spying on me” types that live nearby…LOL…

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That is a nice drone. Our football team uses a DJI Phantom to film practice, and its so easy, the film kids figure it all out. Its pretty tough also.

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I thought that’s where they live???

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I wonder if I can order this mod from Amazon…?

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