Precision Landing Test - DJI Spark vs Mavic Pro vs Phantom Pro
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2024
- Do you own a DJI Spark or Mavic Pro or Phantom 4 (Pro or Advanced)? Here is a simple test I conducted to see how accurate each of these drone's Precision Landing software is.
The small hardshell backpack for the Mavic Pro/Spark can be found in my video here: • Hard Shell Backpack fo...
The landing pad can be found here: www.lightake.co...
Buy your DJI Spark here: click.dji.com/A...
Nice video. I'm new to drones, having purchased a Mavic about a month ago, but I have about 40 years of prior experience in conventional R/C with airplanes and helicopters. Two comments/observations:
Perhaps a later release of software incorporated this feature, but when using "Auto takeoff", a dialogue appears that says the drone will climb to 4 feet and hover. However, there's a tick box for "record position for precision landing" (or words to that effect. When ticked, the dialogue changes to "climb to 20 feet", instead of 4. This is where it captures the image for later use.
Secondly, you captioned that the drone "turns 180 degrees" when it reaches the spot over the landing area, before beginning descent. That's true if you made zero turns after taking off, and before initiating RTH, as in your case. But what it actually does, is turn to the compass heading it had when it took off. It uses GPS to reach this spot, then descends. At about 20 feet, it will really slow, if not stop its descent, and then start comparing the image from take off, to fine tune it's position.
Brilliant work by the DJI developers! Again, nice vid; thanks for making it!
Good points, thanks for sharing.
Great Spark! You're my joy and pride! :)
yes Man , we need more this kind of Science background testing and comparing
I have the spark, love it!
Very portable. Thanks for the video.
I was so wishing the spark would be the closest 😂😂 great vid !
That is incredible from all 3 drones. Great video.
Very useful video, as usual DJI manual doesn't tell whole story. I found out through experimenting with P4P that it can be much more accurate when landing if you use the auto takeoff function and have everything set right in OA advanced settings. After you click on auto takeoff icon, window comes up asking if you want to activate precision landing, check box and then swip control. Phantom will take off and hover about 2 meters above the ground and record a picture of the landing area. Using this procedure, P4P should be as accurate as Mavic.
Impressive. Going to try testing my Spark.
Back to the future Captain!!!; in 2023 all 3, by todays "precision landing" standards were exceptional!; would be interesting to do a comparison with their modern day equivalents !
Nice video,Captain.
Brilliant work! Keep it up!
Thank you!
I love my Mavic. It has been working perfectly for me, other than a few times, I have lost video connection to my Android tablet. I tried the RTH function on my first test flight and it landed within an inch or two of the takeoff point. Normally I just return and land manually but it reassuring that the auto RTH works great in case it is needed in an emergency.
Good video. You got excellent results. I tried the RTH function on my Phantom 4 last week for the first time. I landed about 12 feet from the takeoff point. It descended very quickly from the RTH altitude until it was within 20 feet of so from the ground, then slowed it's descent. During the descent from RTH altitude it wobbled quite a bit as it descended thru it's own rotor wash. I guess the descent speed is a compromise between getting back home expeditiously and safety of flight. With a rapid vertical descent, you risk losing control due to vortex ring state.
Perhaps your battery was entering the critical state.
No, not at all. I landed with well over 30%, I forget exactly. It's just that the P4 descent rate is quite fast until it gets within 20 feet or so of the ground (related to the Vision system sensors I guess). This was a planned execution of the RTH just to see how it would perform.
awesome as always
Thank you!
Nice video, still considering to buy spark as i still newbie in drone
Spark is an excellent first drone.
Great video! I'll need to try that!
Great video, good comparison. Thank you !
Thank you!
Excellent video
Thank you!
nice test, thanks for sharing!👍
Thank you!
Great video :)
It would be awesome that all three drones has come in last part of a video, not just a 'Sparkie' ;)
To me the Spark had & still has a lot of potential with programmable updates. My belief is that If DJI would have made the Spark 4K it would have superseded the Mavic in sales. I get that as a company more $ is better than less however, after their big success with the phantom series & Mavic series you would think they wouldn't compromise on hi-fidelity. Fitting that much tech into such a small drone i'm sure from an engineering stand point must be difficult which i'm sure is why they only used a 2 axis gimble. Overall currently the Mavic still wins with 4K quality & stealth.
My educated guess is that the SPARK II (due out next year), will have the 4K video and foldable arms. The current Spark does have 4K video, but DJI uses the entire sensor to help with video stabilization, so we only get a 1080p video. The prediction that I made when the Spark first came out was that eventually DJI would upgrade the Spark via firmware to all 2.7 K video when in Tripod mode (the reason Tripod mode is because the drone is more stable with slower movements). This has not happened yet and may never happen, but it could be done if they permitted it.
Well done, thanks
Thank you!
A test between DJI and other manufacturers would be interesting.
Great video👍
Thank you!
Funny, and quite creative with "sparkey!" I envy you guys that can both fly and edit video. I got called out by iKopter for not having any videos on my 'channel.' I'll get there. But, dayum, you guys set the bar so high for a beginner!
Thank you!
Great test footage, a sub from me. Nicely done. I hope to see more from you. Thanks for posting.
Thank you!
Great comparisons.
When you hit the RTH function, the drone always lands (or attempts to) facing the same direction it took off facing. So if you launched facing North, it will turn and land facing that direction.
Wow! Impressive!
Top Video! 👍
Love the video
Thank you!
It's good having a 4K UHDTV now , because all you tubes 4K content loads by default. unless my internet speed is slower then whats it's advertised as.
Mavic you are awesome 👏
Watched ... liked .... and subscribed !!
Thank you!
This test is floored, my P4P beats my mates mavic every time on precision landing, i didnt even see you tick the box for precision...
Nice video, tilt the camera down when landing it makes the precision much more obvious.
You're right. I would have loved to but after I hit the return to home, I placed the controller on the ground, then grabbed the hand held camera to film the landing.
Excellent video, Captain! Now a new subscriber! I found it interesting that you pointed out how much quieter the Mavic was over the Phantom 4. Would you rate the Spark even quieter?
Honestly it is difficult to tell. I don't find the Spark at all loud. It is comparable to the Mavic Pro.
Mavic Pro!!
Nice! U need one more test. With Falcon 9 in RTH mode... :)))
First I'd need a large landing pad on a barge out in the ocean, or I could just set the surrounding grass and nearby houses on fire as the rocket lands. :)
My experience with the Mavic Air is it doesn't return so precisely every time. I've tested the precision landing with many different distances and altitudes. Sometimes it will land right from where it took off but in at least one instance it was several feet off. Haven't figured out a pattern to this randomness. However, overall I would say it will land within a 1-2 feet radius most of the time.
Mavic Air is my first and only drone I own. I made that comment after seeing your tests. The point that I was making is precision landing sometimes is amazingly accurate and other times not so much.
Great review Thanks for sharing
Thank you!
I follow you and really enjoy all of your work. you are Great! Can you do a video on Typhoon H RTH as well thanks Tom
I'm sure I have done it in some older videos.
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 thank you for a speedy reply. I recommended quite a few people to follow your Channel
This is some quality video. I loved it. Where did you get the bottom guard bar thing for your P4Pro?
Thank you. The gimbal guard came from Amazon, but you can also find it on eBay. Just make certain you get the Phantom 4 Pro version. There are many people selling them... I believe this is one: www.amazon.ca/SODIAL-Carbon-Landing-Protector-Phantom/dp/B06VXH56BT/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498815448&sr=8-2&keywords=phantom+4+pro+gimbal+guard
I would strongly suggest removing the gimbal guard on your P4P.. There have been MANY MANY reports of it interfering with the VPS/Sonar sensors on the DJI forums. I have seen the flight data from a lot of people with them on, and VPS will show inconsistent height measurements. In more than one instance it has caused the P4 series to drop from the sky. I have both the P4 and P4P and I hardly ever get a verification to land (landing safety turned on) and with precision landing it usually lands within 5-10 inches of launch point.
I read about that before as well. Also heard of people having compass interference. I've had a gimbal guard on pretty much every Phantom I have owned. The Phantom 3 had the downward sensors as well and I had no issues. So far no issues with the Phantom 4 Pro. Issues either exist or they don't. Perhaps others installed the guard too far forward which would cause a problem.
I would remove it chap, i too had one on my P4P and it wouldnt come down from 60m i had to gently coheres it down, took about 5 minutes, it was cause of the gimble protector bar, also, im pretty sure it didnt help in this review too on the RTH, heed advice, just because youve been ok in the past does not mean you will be in the future....
Great video on auto landing capability of these drones. Do you find the Mavic less disturbing/ annoying to people loudness wise once you get 150-200 feet high? I plan to buy a Mavic or Phantom 4 pro this next week and like the proven P4P frame/body years of improvements to it, however the noise factor I've seen online is pushing me towards the Mavic now.
The higher you fly, the less noise. At 200 feet the Mavic is quiet and the Phantom is just background noise.
Great Job There Captain , Highly Appreciate your Good effort ......,,May I Kindly ask couple of Questions Please ?
Does Any Of Those Drones Keep Recording While RTH Is is effect or does it stop as soon as you press RTH on The RC ...
how long do I need to press RTH Button on the RC to make the drone RTH , I tried it on my spark & also the Mavic Pro By just pressing RTH once for a second and it does not work
Cheers.....Jacob
Hi Jacob,
All of the drones continue to record on their way home. To engage RTH, you will need to hold the button down for a few seconds until you hear the beep and get a notification on your display.
Cool vid, 2 questions
1: if you had to pick between the 3 which 1
2: your land based camera has bigger issues as in constant exposure adjusting what is it
It depends what one requires a drone for. Obviously camera drones should only be purchased for taking photos or video (kind of boring doing anything other). If a person is a photographer who actually knows how to use a camera, then the Phantom 4 Pro is perfect. If on the other hand a person takes pictures with their cell phone and only uses the AUTO setting on a camera, then the Mavic Pro is great. Finally, if a person needed a small drone for vacation or vlogging then the Spark would be the one.
The handheld camera is in AUTO mode because I had to flim me, then the sky with zero time to readjust settings. The exposure change is not normally noticeable, but I tend to purposely edit my videos together to remove the slightest pause in between words, so as I remove milliseconds of video and/or seconds of video, you can notice the change in exposure. The 4K camera is a Panasonic VX870K.
"Kind of boring doing anything other"?! So you're saying that you only bought the drones to take pictures and video? And that flying them is boring? Wow, the way you seem so excited every time you pull out your drones makes me think otherwise... but, this is a year old, and I'm sure you've allowed yourself a little more joy into your life...other than taking pictures...@@CAPTAINDRONE798
Great video.... how about mavic air..
Where was this...looks like a nice park behind you (I'm in Ottawa as well)
East end of Ottawa at Millennium Park
Thumbs up for the birds precision!
Mavic pro has more accurate landing. The P4P is damn loud though. Anyway great reviews.
Hi my name is ron and ive been watchig you guys do these test vids .so far im partially leaning to you . Would love you advice on what i should do. Ya see ,im a right side amputeeand and AM getting a drone. And after all these testsi leaning heavily towards the mavic air. Now my question should i wait to see if mavicpro 2 gets relesed and what price drop we can expect..im in a wheelchair and feel if im careful that i can do this!!! Thank you for your time 😁
Hi Ron, if you can wait, then wait and see what new tech is coming out. But, be prepared to double your spending. If you have a budget and the Mavic Air fits the budget, then it is a good drone for the money (plenty of useful features).
CAPTAIN DRONE thanks for the info. 1000 bucks is the budget , maybe the air fly more... but if the pro 2 which seems may be the case, is only a few hundred more i might be able to bump it up a little. But if double the price means 2 grand then ....sigh. im subscribed to you so as soon as you know what the update is let us know!!!
Good video. I subbed
Great! Thank you.
Sparky ..very mischievous pet name for a drone :-)
So very true, and this drone suits its name. :)
Why not point camera downward when landing?
Is it me or the spark 1080p footage upscaled is a tiny bit chopy
The footage from the Spark is very smooth. When it is placed in editing software, it sometimes appears to drop a frame every now and then giving the "choppy" footage look. If you watched it on your own computer, from your own Spark, it would like butter smooth.
I just watched this video I seemed to have missed it, 5 years late, but better late then never.
I have a Mavic-Pro. You video look amazing compared to what I'm getting. I am still in the experiential phase of camera settings. Can you share your setting and any comments you might suggest please? Thanks
Thanks. To be honest, I left all 3 drones in AUTO mode, but I set the White Balance to sunny.
Spark. Top
great that was
Thank you!
press the controller on/off button once and it will turn off the annoying RTH beeps!
nice
My Mavic hits dead center every single time - it's amazing.
Yeah, the Mavic Pro is a nice piece of kit.
I love my Spark! but I cannot believe you risked Bird Poop landings with yours, how could you ! turning the landing pad around- reveals another" Poopless " landing area, philistine!
Why not just hit the precision take off button
What happens if you move the pad over after it takes off and is out there a couple hundred meters? Say you move the pad about 8' away? Will it adjust?
Not at all. The pad does not affect the landing. The landing is based on the exact GPS coordinates that the drone acquires upon takeoff. It flys back to the same coordinates and tries to maneuver itself into the exact same position regardless of wind.
Great video captain!!
I have a problem with my Typhoon H. The camera has stopped working. It's got power and initialises okay and is fully controllable, but there is no wifi image coming from it.
I have a feeling the sensor may have gone. It's had over 250 flights and got about 30 hours on it and is just over a year old. I may have to replace the CGO3 at a cost of. $900 NZ. Still got my trusty P4.
No one knows more about these things then you.
Any suggestion?'
Carey
New Zealand..
Are you 100% certain that you are connected to the correct camera model? Even though you have movement, it requires the correct camera model for an image. Other issue could be a firmware mishap. You could try reinstalling the camera firmware.
Hi Brother, Thanks so much for your help. The firmware issue was one thing that I hadn't thought of.
Unfortunately it didn't work.
The camera stopped working about three weeks ago after I formatted the SD card. Up until that point , it never had a problem.
I have tried resetting the camera and reconnecting it and the connection establishes okay after the password is entered , but when I go back to the main splash screen it is black with all the normal telemetry showing and no image. Also I've got the CGO3 app on my phone and it used to work fine, but not any more.
My plan is o buy a new CGO3, once I get the capital authority from my darling partner and that could be a while.
My P4 is working perfectly with no issues.
Thanks again for your help and I am spreading the word about your channel down here in New Zealand.
Regards Carey..
Thanks Carey! Hope your get your H working. Very odd that it just stopped after formatting a card. If you record video, is it just a black image on the memory card? If there was an image, then the fix would be easy (i.e., the video transmitter is faulty).
Hi again Captain,
It won't let me record, nothing happens when I hit the record or the shutter buttons.
I can still move the gimbal and rotate the camera. I think you might be right with the video TX being faulty.
Not sue how I can get around it without replacing the entire CGO3.
It's still flying perfectly and is rock steady, even in high winds.
I really enjoy making videos with it, so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get a new CGO3.
Hope your H is still going well, looking forward to seeing it again soon on another video.
Thanks so much for all your help, you're the only other Typhoon H owner that I've had any communication with.
Take care man
Carey..
Thanks. All I can add is this... The DJI Phantom series requires that the controller is to be bound to the Phantom. if the controller and Phantom have two different firmware versions, then the camera on the Phantom will move but it won't take video or pictures. I'm thinking it could also apply to your Typhoon H. It is showing that you have the correct firmware but there may be a glitch. You could try to zap the firmware to factory (Yuneec has a file for that and a procedure) then reload the firmware. Just a thought. Best of luck!
The red thing on your Phantom 4 Pro blocked the downward sensor
That is the gimbal guard. I have it placed far away from the sensor. It has not caused issue before. As you could see in the video it had no effect on the sensor because the Phantom 4 Pro landed very close to wear it took off. It stopped prior to landing because I had the feature turned on that causes the drone not to land on uneven surface such as water, rocks, slopped ground. I believe the sun glare was triggering the sensor to go off. However, it it keeps doing this over flat surface, then I'll take your suggesting and remove the gimbal guard and give it a try. Thanks.
Turn off landing protection and it will not throw up the "Not suitable for landing" error.
Exactly. I forgot I had left it on. Nice to know that it works... although the ground was perfect for landing. Perhaps it was a reflection bouncing back up throwing the sensor off.
I crashed my drone when I used it see the footage on my channel but this is def impressive
I really enjoy your videos! Just want to say I purchased a spark on your recommendation a while back and I absolutely love it! I already had a mavic pro last year and I ended up selling it to a co-worker who begged me for it! LOL I think I'm going to purchase a second-hand mavic Pro in the near future hey, do you have any recommendations you think it's a good or bad idea to purchase a second hand used mavic Pro? Are there any pros and cons to doing that and is there anything I should check upon purchase? Once again thank you so much subscriber for life! Joey
Thanks Joey! When buying a second hand drone, have a super close look at the entire body. Sometimes people crash, break the plastic and glue it back together, so look for fine hairline cracks. Also, ensure the motors are secure to the mounts, and finally check the camera and gimbal (no scratches on the lens & it works fine... no jitters).
@@CAPTAINDRONE798 Tks. Cap...lol.. I really miss my Mavic Pro.. than again... I really would love the Mavic Pro 2.... UGGGGGG! 🤔
I am having a problem with my Mavic pro remote control, the battery goes of within minutes this is after i upgrade what my be the problem?
It sounds like it is not charging. When you press the button on the controller just once, does it say 100%?
DJI precision landing don't need any portable pad. You can try!
Where did you get the carry bag that holds the mavic and the spark??
Here you go. All information is contained within this video: th-cam.com/video/uebC9cmegM4/w-d-xo.html
Is there a reason you don't point the camera down while attempting precision landing, would like to have observed the alignment while descending. Good comprehensive video otherwise appreciate your efforts....
Thank you! If I had someone else with me that day I would have been able to. In this video, each time I initiated the RTH, I put the controller on the ground then took the hand held camera and walked over to the landing pad to film the decent. Also, unless DJI has removed it, if you hit RTH and prior to hitting RTH your camera is pointing down, the camera will automatically raise up upon landing to avoid damaging the lens. If at any point you move the camera during RTH, you override this camera sequence.
Mavic is the winner!
If you aim the camera at the landing pad from 10m+ up on take off and aim the camera down on return, they will land exactly where took off from!
I believe that is an urban legend. The forward facing camera is not involved in the precision landing routine. DJI explains how the precision landing works and it revolves around GPS and the downward facing optical sensor (it makes a pixel diagram in addition to the GPS coords & matches them upon return).
That bird is savage
Why does my spark rc make a different noise when returning home? I’ve seen many videos in which the sound is like yours and many in which it is like mine. Your rc sounds clearer than mine
Perhaps the motors are spinning up and down attempting to control the Spark for the return home when there is wind.
CAPTAIN DRONE no, I mean the beeping that the RC makes. It is different in some videos it is like yours and in some it is like mine. Actually not just the return to home but the beeps are different... thank you for your answer by the way!
The beeps is just the object avoidance. And that sound comes out of your phone... so if you're not using the same phone, your speakers are different.
CAPTAIN DRONE yes that’s true, but I mean the sound it makes when you turn the controller on, switch to sports mode etc. I mean, whenever you press a button on the controller is the controller itself that makes that sound right? I’m sure about this because it also does that sound when the phone is still not connected... I don’t know if I explained myself (?)
Sorry for the misunderstanding, my English is not so good 😅
why my spark lands like 12ft away even if I press the RTH location button??
If you take off vertically to a min of 10 meters, the precision landing should work.
CAPTAIN DRONE thanks for the reply, I will try that and maybe because my landing spot is near the wall of our house, maybe my Spark is avoiding it.
what do you think spark having 2 axis gimbal is pretty much worse that the 3 axis gimbal on the mavic pro?
Can't tell any difference. Spark and Mavic Pro have pretty much the same image sensor but DJI uses much of the sensor in the Spark to stabilize pictures and video so everything is extremely stable.
It looks the same almost for like half the money picked up a spark for $375 on Amazon and haven't looked back. Btw thanks for the comparison very educational video. Thanks 😊👍
Mavic is Mavic !!! the drone king !!
I think many would agree with you.
Is hovering at 20m after take off 'the rule' when it comes to precision landing? Will it still work if it hovered at 10m for example?
No, not at all. When any of the 3 DJI products would take off, straight up, as soon as they hit 7 meters above the ground they would announce home point recorded. So, I'm guessing that as long as you fly straight up to at least 7 meters, the landing location is logged.
Thanks
Did you try this with the TYP H?
Not with the Typhoon H. The Typhoon H uses a different system whereby it uses the ST16 as the home point and will always land within 8 to 15 feet from it. The Typhoon H does not have precision landing.
i hope someone can make a battery for spark that last for 30 minutes :)
the "16minutes" is actually 10-13 because once the battery is low. you would want it to return home anyway. cos we dont want to loose our $700 toy
True, the flight times are really short if you fly up and down or fly in Sport mode.
Does that case fit both the spark and the mavic? If so, where did you get it?
Thanks in advance!
Yes it does. However, you have to cut out a few portions of the form for the Spark and Controller to fit (takes about 2 mins). There is a video of the backpack showing it more in detail here: th-cam.com/video/uebC9cmegM4/w-d-xo.html
You can purchase the hardshell backpack here: www.lightake.com/p/Waterproof-Hardshell-Backpack-Shoulder-Bag-Luggage-Suitcase-for-DJI-Mavic-pro_2141532.html
is the Mavic louder than the spark?
In my opinion, having flown both many times, I find the Spark a little less loud. It could be that it puts out a higher frequency prop buzz which gives that impression.
CAPTAIN DRONE so more high pitched but not as loud as the Mavic?
Right, that's what my ears say.
I am sure somebody already commented that you are doing it wrong, read the manual about home point.
Wrong?
You bird sound overlay at the start was a bit too loud.
I live in Canada and there are birds everywhere. My ears didn't even notice it, but when I played back the video, yup, you could hear them as if they were sitting on my camera.
On the spark. How do you activate R T H. do you have to do it on the app???
On the controller. There is a button. Also in the App, there is a selection.
CAPTAIN DRONE I know of the home button on the r c. I have tried that. I guess maybe you have to press and hold. ? Sorry this is all new to me.
Roger St martin It only works when the Spark is flying and away from you. Only works outdoors when your controller says GPS in green on top left.
CAPTAIN DRONE Thanks so much. You the man. 👍.
Transport Canada sent that bird to bomb your drones. That is what you call a near miss. Lol.
I think you may be right! :)
👍
Mavic it's a clear winner !
My Creative Cinema the Mavic is still king in my book! Still the best all around drone in my opinion... especially at the price point
Just got mine like a week ago! Works like a charm.
Mavic is
good for me :)
My Creative Cinema yep everyone knows the mavic is the best I mean look the fantom 4 didint wanna land the spark off this is very important when your in a small area also the mavic is much quiter in the air and the legs fold up .Yep I love my mavic it's comes back and lands exactly the way it took off now that's cool
you can not get good footage as p3 standard. because in wind its not stable as p3s. only advantage size. is everyone agree with me?
Where do you get the landing pad?
CAPTAIN DRONE thanks
Sparky your dangerous but pretty fun hahaha that was funny
Arms of Mavic pro are so delicate you can't launch them! They'll break soon!and then, this ugly rubber band to take blades...in shops they sell amazing blade holders for few bucks. Congratulations for the video, instead, it shows me I've had a good idea to buy it
What software you used to edit your 4K video?
I just use iMovie that comes with a Mac computer.
DJI ...YoU mAkE sOmE rEaLlY gOoD pRoducts
Yeah, my Mavic precise landing is almost dead center every time.
Yes, right, if the ambient condition is not changed too much from the take-off moments and you let it remain hovering at about 10 ... 25 m, some seconds above a detailed and enough contrasted take-off area, before going away, so just to let to aquire the take-off area in his memory.