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I went to the dark side

meant to ask... is the smaller footprint tougher to keep VLOS? sometimes it takes me a second to even keep eyeballs on my Karma (oops) I sometimes need to give the joysticks a dart back and forth to catch her back in my sights. lol
 
The Mavic Air has a quick shot mode that takes multiple pictures and stitches them into a rectangular 360 photo. You can then create a spherical type photo in post production or a 360 photo like you see on Facebook.

The Air also has a setting that allows individual pictures to be saved, so that the user can stitch their own panoramic photos together.

As I mentioned above, the same effect could be achieved with the Karma, perhaps even more so, because the camera can look up at a higher degree. Someone told me Microsoft ICE is the software they use to do this, but I have never attempted it.
 
meant to ask... is the smaller footprint tougher to keep VLOS? sometimes it takes me a second to even keep eyeballs on my Karma (oops) I sometimes need to give the joysticks a dart back and forth to catch her back in my sights. lol

Sorry, I missed this earlier... I suppose it could be an issue. Mine is Red and Black...so it seems to stand out a bit better than white and black. I've certainly lost the Karma..even when it is right in VOS.
 
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Price and size is not everything! Having to rely on built in sensors to stop you running into trees and the like, even those sensors are not reliable. From recent postings I hear that the DJI cameras are not that hot either.

A guy on the Mavic forums was asking how to mirror his Mavic 2 Pro view on another phone. He was basically told it couldn't be done without spending several hundred dollars on specialized equipment.

I helpfully pointed out that with the "Passenger App", the Karma not only allows another person to view the flight on their phone, they can also control the camera and gimbal pitch!

I agree...as this example points out...price and size are not everything...but I tell you what...I went on a 5 mile hike with the Air the other day...and my knees and back were thanking me! :D

I'm pretty sure the three extra batteries I was carrying weigh less than a single Karma Battery.
 
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So Matisse, you took your eye off your Karma! First off, do not wriggle your controls as you may end up hitting something like a tree. First off take your Karma up in altitude gently clear of all obstructions, turn your camera down so you can see the ground below, slowly rotate your Karma, you may see a recognisable object,
even yourself. Once you have established sight gently guide the drone back to you and land. Before landing realign the camera to the upward position.
 
So Matisse, you took your eye off your Karma! First off, do not wriggle your controls as you may end up hitting something like a tree. First off take your Karma up in altitude gently clear of all obstructions, turn your camera down so you can see the ground below, slowly rotate your Karma, you may see a recognisable object,
even yourself. Once you have established sight gently guide the drone back to you and land. Before landing realign the camera to the upward position.

I told a longer story about something like this happening to me in another thread. "Maximum Altitude Reached" still couldn't find my drone. Scary situation!

Almost lost my drone today.
 
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So Matisse, you took your eye off your Karma! First off, do not wriggle your controls as you may end up hitting something like a tree. First off take your Karma up in altitude gently clear of all obstructions, turn your camera down so you can see the ground below, slowly rotate your Karma, you may see a recognisable object,
even yourself. Once you have established sight gently guide the drone back to you and land. Before landing realign the camera to the upward position.

awesome tip... i had a 'general whereabouts', but got that sky blindness... i will definitely add this tip to my repertoire. thanks :)
 
I do love that bubble thing it's only the 2nd time i've seen it - a member of my local (if you call 2 hours away local) drone club does some real estate droning for his wife's listings. is that a DJI type feature then @Shon ?

Yes, but I haven't been all that impressed with the automatic stitching. It leaves much to be desired. Most folks set the drone to save all the un-stitched pictures, and then manually stitch them using a program like Microsoft ICE. I haven't had all that much experience to try it yet. This drone is still new to me.
 
So...been flying the Mavic Air or at least trying to for several weeks now. While I'm starting to get the hang of it... There are some things I appreciate much more about the Karma:

--The AIR is a bird magnet! I swear...as soon as I get it in the air...birds of all types come out of nowhere to take a look at it. I've had to take it out of the air a couple of times... because birds have attacked it. I have not had that problem with the Karma...they kept their distance.

--- The Air has may different types of camera and video settings...but I have not been very pleased with the video quality. It might just be user error...but if the sun is in the shot, without a filter, the entire shot is washed out and not usable. I did not have this issue with the Hero Black, filter or not. 4k 2k 1k, doesn't make any difference if the video is washed out... Basically...if I'm flying the Air...I'm using a filter from here on out...

---The Air is a tiny drone...the wind pushes it around quite a bit. It's amazing how stable the video looks...but this thing is moving all the time. I've heard so many people gush about how "rock steady" this drone is. that has not been my experience. It drifts about as much as the Karma, it is just smaller. The Karma is much more stable in the wind. I constantly have to reverse thrust to get this thing to stop moving with the wind (10mph)... I only had to do that with the Karma in much more windy conditions.

---I hate, hate HATE using my cellphone with the remote. The remote does not charge the phone...and it eats the battery quickly. The other day, I had three fresh batteries, but forgot my phone charger, and had to stop flying because my phone died in my pocket :(. Even if my phone is fully charged, it is not all that easy to see in full sun. I also don't like the position under the remote. Yeah...I know...I could by a phone mount, phone shade, extra long cable to attach my phone or tablet and tablet mount, or a $600 stand alone remote with built in screen...but seriously...if I wanted to carry all that gear...I would just carry the Karma! I love the simplicity of the Karma remote and the drone. I can get the Karma out and up in the air much faster than the Air.

I went on a 7 mile hike today with about a 1000 ft elevation gain. I'm glad I was carrying the Air, as opposed to the Karma. There are many features I like about the Air, but I have to admit...the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
 

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