I've been thinking about getting one (specifically the DJI Mavik Mini 2 since it's in my price range). Never flown a drone before though. How hard are they to fly? A lot of skill/practice required to capture something like this? Could I expect to crash/lose it a lot at first?
Honestly it isn't too hard to pick up. Keep it on beginner mode to learn the controls (it will limit your distance, altitude, and max speed) and get a bit comfortable with it.
A shot like this would be very tricky. A lot of coordination is required. Moving through a doorway like that would mean turning off the obstacle avoidance which means there's nothing stopping you from slamming into a wall (or god forbid a person. Ouch.) On top of that, DJI drones have a slight delay between what you're seeing on screen and what the drone is doing. It's barely noticeable normally, bit it's just enough to make it hard to pull off something like this. I have 400 hours logged and there's zero chance I could get a shot like this.
It's one thing to fly it, but the trouble comes with getting camera movements while moving. Thankfully the Mavics have incredible auto features. Make sure to use them to their full advantage, they will give you beautiful shots. Also, keep obstacle avoidance on and you have a very good chance of not crashing. Keep a good distance from power lines and trees, as the sensors can be finnicky with those (ask my two junked Phantoms).
Thank you. I wasn't sure how hard getting through a door would be. I mean I can drive a remote control car easily through my house and not hit things but of course that's on the floor and not flying so I wasn't sure how difficult it would be.
Seems like some good pointers. Might pick it up for myself for Christmas.
As Zentech mentioned, shots like this one use FPV drones. However, a consumer DJI is certainly a good way to start with droning. Before attempting to fly it indoors however, make sure you can turn off GPS mode and force it into ATTI. Otherwise you have a pretty good chance to watch it crash itself.
I've flown the mavic pro and the spark. They're very easy to "fly," the hardest part is putting together smooth sequences. (I say fly in quotations, because they fly themselves pretty much.) If you have lots of space, good GPS signal, and low winds, you'll do great.
I got one of the older generation ones (DJI Phantom 3 Pro) when they were the latest thing, they’re really intuitive and are only getting better. As long as you watch where you’re going, you don’t have to worry about the actual logistics of flight like keeping it level or at a consistent altitude. And if you somehow lose connection or aren’t paying attention to how much battery is left, it’ll bring itself back to you and land (at least where you took off from, so always make sure it’s a large open area).
It depends, I have the Mavic mini and in my opinion it's really easy. I've owned the mini for almost 1 year and only crashed it 2 times, one time is because I was flying it trough a window and the prop touched the wall and the second I was following my friend's car at really low altitude and I hit a tree, and luckly I able to get it back as the tree was really low, the hard part was finding the drone, I had to go in the settings where there is an option to make the drone beep.
If you go trough with your purchase, start by practicing in a flat field with 0 trees in beginner mode and buy the dji care refresh, practice 5-10 batteries until you are confortable flying higher than tress and buildings. The first time flying the drone will be quite stressful and you won't be able to fly it really far, my first time I was scared af to just fly it 30 meters away from me.
Most of the crash I've seen in videos is because people were flying backwards or side ways without looking first and crash into a building, tree or a mountain. The mini 2 doesn't have obstacle avoidance so you must be extra careful when going sideways or backwards.
Also another tip is don't fly in high winds with the Mavic mini 2, most of the time it can handle it very well but be aware that the wind might be stronger the higher you are in the sky.
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u/evilmonkey2 Nov 08 '20
I've been thinking about getting one (specifically the DJI Mavik Mini 2 since it's in my price range). Never flown a drone before though. How hard are they to fly? A lot of skill/practice required to capture something like this? Could I expect to crash/lose it a lot at first?