Introducing.. DJI Mavic. Karma Killer at $999!

DattaGroover · Sep 28, 2016

twitchyzero said:
Mavic is capable of shooting in DCI 4K, not just 4K UHD.

What exactly does that mean?

fpvsteve · Sep 28, 2016

I am very impressed. Very innovative.
This is what I expected Karma to be.
And it is even shipping earlier....
Lastly, icing the cake, they managed to get into the Apple stores.

Waiting for real end user reports, then I will pull the trigger.

DattaGroover · Sep 28, 2016

DattaGroover said:
What exactly does that mean?

I see that means the DCI has a slightly higher pixel count horizontally (4000 vs 3800 for UHD).
But, it's not the specs that ultimately count; it's the results. How good is that camera, really? How well does it work in low light?

DattaGroover · Sep 28, 2016

fpvsteve said:
I am very impressed. Very innovative.
This is what I expected Karma to be.
And it is even shipping earlier....
Lastly, icing the cake, they managed to get into the Apple stores.

Waiting for real end user reports, then I will pull the trigger.

Looking forward to hearing your reports!

DattaGroover · Sep 28, 2016

SteveReno said:
Don't mean to disrespect anyone,

I like Mopar Have a 70 Hemi Cuda

The sound alone of that Hemi is worth the price of admission.

Damien · Sep 28, 2016

As these will be sold largely on specs and hype, its pretty clear that gopro management won't be sleeping tonight, China 2 : USA 0 if you consider 3DR the first casualty, looks like they were just sitting on it and waiting for gopro to release karma pricing... a day to confirm the math, few days to adjust all marketing, they're even shipping before the karma. my concern is whether the impending karma failure will affect their ability to produce a future update for my H4Bs. I was hanging out for their own iteration of the handheld gimbal for the H4B, maybe I'll hang out a little longer to see if the gimbal-only price drops.

DattaGroover · Sep 28, 2016

You guys do what you want. I found the perfect drone for me:View media item 417

DattaGroover · Sep 28, 2016

Damien said:
As these will be sold largely on specs and hype, its pretty clear that gopro management won't be sleeping tonight, China 2 : USA 0 if you consider 3DR the first casualty, looks like they were just sitting on it and waiting for gopro to release karma pricing... a day to confirm the math, few days to adjust all marketing, they're even shipping before the karma. my concern is whether the impending karma failure will affect their ability to produce a future update for my H4Bs. I was hanging out for their own iteration of the handheld gimbal for the H4B, maybe I'll hang out a little longer to see if the gimbal-only price drops.

I think you're right. Especially since the Karma doesn't have "follow me." That could definitely put GoPro out of business. Or maybe DJI will buy them

DattaGroover · Sep 28, 2016

Damien said:
As these will be sold largely on specs and hype, its pretty clear that gopro management won't be sleeping tonight, China 2 : USA 0 if you consider 3DR the first casualty, looks like they were just sitting on it and waiting for gopro to release karma pricing... a day to confirm the math, few days to adjust all marketing, they're even shipping before the karma. my concern is whether the impending karma failure will affect their ability to produce a future update for my H4Bs. I was hanging out for their own iteration of the handheld gimbal for the H4B, maybe I'll hang out a little longer to see if the gimbal-only price drops.

. . and that very well may have been DJI's strategy. Seems like it was well played and well-timed.

twitchyzero · Sep 28, 2016

yep, the mavic certain stole the hype train thunder from right under 'em.

it's not hard to beat hero4's low light videos...which is underwhelming at best. Hero5's low light perf is anyone's guess.

4K DCI was the original "4K" resolution if that's important to anyone.If i get it i'll keep it at UHD so it's easy to do post with my other cameras.

Datagroove, any reason why you have 2 h4b with different lenses? Do you use one over the other in certain scenarios?

Damien · Sep 28, 2016

DattaGroover said:
. . and that very well may have been DJI's strategy. Seems like it was well played and well-timed.

the fact that a number of prominent youtubers had their own version with enough time to test and edit the footage so their own videos could be released on their own channels today tells you they have good strategists... how many karma test reviews are out there right now? homicide with intent!

Damien · Sep 28, 2016

at least gopro might have a chance to scale back karma production before its too late and reduce losses from over-production. for the would-be-ers erring over specs, I really can't see a reason to buy a karma over a mavic, their weak points would be the amount of broken rotors being so close to the ground, but the video-ID thing on the mavic seems to have that sorted. The failure of Solo showed the 'i already have a gopro' line doesn't have much influence in the general market

twitchyzero · Sep 28, 2016

i seriously doubt karma will be a commercial failure like Solo unless a bunch of reviewers come out and say please dont buy this garbage...regardless of how it actually flies and does as a quad , the brand appeal + gimbal versatility will ensure it does ok.

thePeter · Sep 28, 2016

Since the Mavic was announced, I had listed for sale a brand new Solo with a brand new backpack and a Gopro Hero4 Black with Peau 3.97mm - for £1000 (in UK). The idea was to swap my backup Solo for the Mavic.

Can anyone guess how much interest I got for it? Yup, zero.

Damien · Sep 28, 2016

thePeter said:
Since the Mavic was announced, I had listed for sale a brand new Solo with a brand new backpack and a Gopro Hero4 Black with Peau 3.97mm - for £1000 (in UK). The idea was to swap my backup Solo for the Mavic.

Can anyone guess how much interest I got for it? Yup, zero.

Best to just use them until they die, in only two years we'll be up to mavic 3, and anyone who jumped in now will be lamenting... Such are the times and not much is going to change.

Damien · Sep 28, 2016

twitchyzero said:
i seriously doubt karma will be a commercial failure like Solo unless a bunch of reviewers come out and say please dont buy this garbage...regardless of how it actually flies and does as a quad , the brand appeal + gimbal versatility will ensure it does ok.

Yeah it will sell some units, but investors who bought GP shares at $80 two years ago we're hoping they would have the game changer to raise stock from its current $16. The mavic will probably further lower the GP stock price in the next few weeks before either get to sale.

Toiletbowl · Sep 29, 2016

but the dancing calibration is still exist look at 1:09

User Name · Sep 29, 2016

Damien said:
Best to just use them until they die, in only two years we'll be up to mavic 3, and anyone who jumped in now will be lamenting... Such are the times and not much is going to change.

This is really it, the industry is smack in the middle of a rapid acceleration. In 1 to 2 years, Karma and Mavic will look just as "outdated" as Solo does today. You're going to be loosing a LOT of money if you keep selling what you have to jump to the latest and greatest. Better to just keep what you have, hone your flying and filming skills and when your Solo bites the dust, buy whatever looks good at that point. Solo is still unmatched when it comes to easily capturing smooth shots, and that is really the whole point, is it not?

It's the same thing with computers, I dropped $6000 on my current workstation, and within a few months, 12 core processors replaced the 10 cores I bought. So what? That's how the industry works. I'll get my use out of what I have and when I'm ready for something new, 18 to 20 core processors will be the norm. I'd loose my shirt upgrading at every level.

And I'm not banging on the Mavic or Karma, they both look great, but let's see how the real world compares to marketing hype. Anyone else notice the disclaimer on the Mavic's 27 minute flight time? *tested in the lab under optimum conditions. So yea, just as Solo's 20 minute claim ends up 15 minutes in the real world, you're not going to be getting 27 minutes on the Mavic. Don't fall for the hype - from 3DR, DJI, GoPro, or anyone else.

pyrate · Sep 29, 2016

You do get that karma and DJI are copying smart shots, and the karma does not even have follow. So in many ways these new birds are not that more advanced.

Cyberblitz · Sep 29, 2016

At the moment its all hype. I've seen a few videos demonstrating the Mavic and it does appear very impressive, and admit its making me a little envious, particularly on how compact it is, and the range it can fly. But until it is released and out into the community at large, we really don't know how reliable this bird is, how well it will fly and how good the camera and gimbal are. I'm pretty keen on seeing someone tear it apart to see whats inside and put it through its paces.

Wait a few months after its release and see if opinions cahnge.

I'm pretty pleased with my Solo, and bought it on the basis of community opinions and reviews. Yes, it isn't absolutely perfect but the fact you can upgrade it is appealing. I myself have changed the GPS and extended its range with amplifiers and bi-directional antennae. I've never had a crash (apart from a few near misses) and plan to keep it around for the time being.

An after thought. It is theoretically possible to redesign the solos frame to allow it to become compact, introducing ways to fold the arms into itself. I don't have the expertise to this but i wonder if anyone else does?