Coming in at under $1000, the DJI Mavic Pro () gives the adventure photographer, or even the everyday drone aficionado, the tools to shoot incredible photos and videos.
The drone has a great battery life and is extremely reliable, but those are not the only reasons you should add it to your photographer’s toolbox.
Here are 5 reasons the DJI Mavic Pro is the best drone on the market:
1. Portability
The number one reason the DJI Mavic stands out as the top drone on the market is its portability. As a travel photographer or videographer, you need to be quick on your feet and often travel long distances. While the Mavic may not fit in your pocket, it will fit perfectly in your backpack with another DSLR, a jacket, even lunch, and an extra lens. For me, I keep the drone in the case that it comes with, with 4 batteries, and the remote.
Diagonal Size (Propellers Excluded): 335 mm
Weight (Battery & Propellers Included): 1.62 lbs
2. It’s easy to fly
In the past, setting up drones always seemed like a hassle. Having to manually screw in each propeller or attach an external camera always took so long. The Mavic is simple: unfold the wings, power on the drone and controller, and you’re good to go. With a little practice, you can be in the air in less than 90 seconds. Whether I am launching the Mavic out of the back of a truck bed, or on a boat in the middle of the jungle, the drone is simple, and I am very confident that it will do exactly what I want it to do.
3. It’s reliable
After launching this drone over 200 times, in 4 different countries, and 25 different states, I can honestly say, this is a reliable product. It has only failed on me once and this failure was a good learning lesson — something all Mavic owners should know about. The Mavic Gimbal (the part that holds the camera steady) is fragile. Always remember to put the Gimbal clamp on the drone when traveling, and take it off before you power the drone on. As long as you use the Gimbal clamp and lens cover, you should be good to go! The customer support from DJI fixed the drone for free and it hasn’t had any problems since.
4. Battery Life
Plain and simple, the Mavic has a great battery life, especially considering its size. With around 25 minutes of flight time, and the ability to pack extra batteries, you can now be confident that you will get the shots you need. With 4 batteries fully charged you have almost an hour and a half of flight time. DJI also makes a charging unit so you can hook all four batteries into one charger — perfect for travel shoots. The controller also has a great battery life and hooks into the same charging unit.
Max Speed: 40mph
Max Flight Time: 27 Mins (no wind at a consistent 15.5 mph (25 kph)
5. Image Quality
The ability to shoot RAW images is huge. The Mavic is a tool that allows you to shoot high-quality photos, and also concentrate on capturing some great video footage. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of drones that shoot better quality video, but the photos (especially for social media) come out great, and the video works perfectly for adding some aerial footage to any documentary. For our recent trip to Argentina, we adjusted the video settings to match up with the image quality and composure from the Red camera we were shooting with. Yes, the Mavic is shooting at 1/10th of the Red quality, but after some post-production, and the right settings, it honestly gets the job done.
A quick tip for photo editing with the Mavic: If you shoot an image horizontally, try flipping it vertically to show more of the image on Instagram and Facebook, here is an example of that.
If you’re looking for a bit more from your drone, we would recommend upgrading to the DJI Mavic Pro Fly More Combo () — the extra batteries and propellers will come in handy in the long run.
For more drone content check out our Instagram @flylords.
