Additional Before-Purchase Questions

[LeafPeeper]

Folks - I've been a Mavic flier for about a year and a half, and loving it. I even got my Part 107. Now I'm thinking about picking up a Spark. I read the sticky, but I have a few more questions. I realize the Spark is a selfie drone, and that is essentially what I want...although not really for selfies. I love taking impromptu landscape stills. What I really want is a quad that I can quickly launch from my hand, send up 100-200 feet, take a few stills, then land in my hand and then go on my way. Essentially I want a REALLY tall tripod. For video, distance flights, etc., I'll always use my Mavics.

My thoughts were that the Spark may be great for this. I think I can launch it in gesture mode, then pull out my phone and connect, take it out of gesture mode, send it up, then bring it back to land in my hand. So with that use case in mind:

1) Can the Spark launch WITHOUT booting up Go 4 - ie: can I just power it on, double click the power button and let it take off and connect after the fact?

2) How reliable is the Spark wifi hotspot with Android phones? One thing I generally hate about wifi drones is the hotspot reliability with android. Some just never show up in the wifi list, others take a long time...and kill flight time while waiting for a connection.

3) What happens if it loses sight of me or GPS signal and I don't have the phone or RC connected?

4) What happens if I am not connected and there is mag interference at takeoff? Does the Spark give any indication that there may be a compass issue?

5) I see more complaints about Spark reliability and flyaways then I do with the other DJI quads. Given that most flyaways (at least with the Mavic) tend to be user error, is the case the same with Spark, or does it seem to be inherently less reliable?

Your help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
LP

 

[Hayuatma]

Folks - I've been a Mavic flier for about a year and a half, and loving it. I even got my Part 107. Now I'm thinking about picking up a Spark. I read the sticky, but I have a few more questions. I realize the Spark is a selfie drone, and that is essentially what I want...although not really for selfies. I love taking impromptu landscape stills. What I really want is a quad that I can quickly launch from my hand, send up 100-200 feet, take a few stills, then land in my hand and then go on my way. Essentially I want a REALLY tall tripod. For video, distance flights, etc., I'll always use my Mavics.

My thoughts were that the Spark may be great for this. I think I can launch it in gesture mode, then pull out my phone and connect, take it out of gesture mode, send it up, then bring it back to land in my hand. So with that use case in mind:

1) Can the Spark launch WITHOUT booting up Go 4 - ie: can I just power it on, double click the power button and let it take off and connect after the fact?

2) How reliable is the Spark wifi hotspot with Android phones? One thing I generally hate about wifi drones is the hotspot reliability with android. Some just never show up in the wifi list, others take a long time...and kill flight time while waiting for a connection.

3) What happens if it loses sight of me or GPS signal and I don't have the phone or RC connected?

4) What happens if I am not connected and there is mag interference at takeoff? Does the Spark give any indication that there may be a compass issue?

5) I see more complaints about Spark reliability and flyaways then I do with the other DJI quads. Given that most flyaways (at least with the Mavic) tend to be user error, is the case the same with Spark, or does it seem to be inherently less reliable?

Your help would be appreciated!
Thanks,
LP

1. Yes
2. Quite quick, GPS lock takes longer.
3. It will hover. Will try to return either using visual or GPS if available.
4. Don't know. I can't find documentation of spark LED blinking "meanings".
5. Should be fixed by firmware update by now.

What you would instantly notice after flying mavic is gimbal stabilization, especially while cornering and braking (for video). But if you use DJI GO MOD, you can compensate by using tripod mode (for slower movement, in tight space) or cinema mode (for less braking, in overhead sportmode video).

 

[Hayuatma]

Find one

 

[Hayuatma]

Find oneView attachment 6897

Simply make sure your spark changes to blinking green before wandering using RC or phone.

 

[lmel2005]

I'll tell you, what I (and many others) do.

Connect everything, spark, rc, device (with or without cable), and I'm sure I have image feed, many sats locked, and no magnetic or other interference.

THEN, you can takeoff in gesture mode, cancel it, and do anything you want. You can continue to use gestures, for as long as you wish.

The advantage is, that you see all messages, you have a home point set, and you can use controller at any time.

 

[Andre Levite]

If your stated purpose is to take still photos at 100 to 200 feet altitude then you will need to use the DJI Go App and/or the remote control as that is not possible in gesture mode. Gesture Mode is pretty finicky and best for selfies (or marketing videos).

The "reliability" of the Spark is directly proportional to how much control the pilot has during flight. The combination of smart phone app and remote control is worth any inconvenience as this gives the most control. It's a pretty helpless feeling when your drone is misbehaving and you are literally "empty-handed".

I hope you get the Spark. So much fun on a portable little package!

 

[LeafPeeper]

1. Yes
2. Quite quick, GPS lock takes longer.
3. It will hover. Will try to return either using visual or GPS if available.
4. Don't know. I can't find documentation of spark LED blinking "meanings".
5. Should be fixed by firmware update by now.

What you would instantly notice after flying mavic is gimbal stabilization, especially while cornering and braking (for video). But if you use DJI GO MOD, you can compensate by using tripod mode (for slower movement, in tight space) or cinema mode (for less braking, in overhead sportmode video).

Thanks Hayuatma! That helps a ton. Can you clarify what you mean by 'instantly notice after flying mavic is gimbal stabilization'? Do you mean it is worse, better or just different? What would I be compensating for? I'm assuming you mean the yaw stabilization is worse due to the EIS.

Thanks!
LP

 

[LeafPeeper]

I'll tell you, what I (and many others) do.

Connect everything, spark, rc, device (with or without cable), and I'm sure I have image feed, many sats locked, and no magnetic or other interference.

THEN, you can takeoff in gesture mode, cancel it, and do anything you want. You can continue to use gestures, for as long as you wish.

The advantage is, that you see all messages, you have a home point set, and you can use controller at any time.

While I totally get the recommendation, if I wanted to do all that I'd just use my Mavics. The idea here is to have something a bit quicker and less cumbersome for quick still shots.

Thanks,
LP

 

[LeafPeeper]

If your stated purpose is to take still photos at 100 to 200 feet altitude then you will need to use the DJI Go App and/or the remote control as that is not possible in gesture mode. Gesture Mode is pretty finicky and best for selfies (or marketing videos).

The "reliability" of the Spark is directly proportional to how much control the pilot has during flight. The combination of smart phone app and remote control is worth any inconvenience as this gives the most control. It's a pretty helpless feeling when your drone is misbehaving and you are literally "empty-handed".

I hope you get the Spark. So much fun on a portable little package!

Thanks Andre -
Yes - my intent would be to get the thing in the air with gesture mode, then pull out my phone and connect via DJI Go & Wifi and take it out of gesture mode. I just think it would be quicker than finding a spot for my landing pad, booting everything, checking for interference, etc. If I launch from my hand, I'm thinking they'll be less chance of mag interference from anything in the ground, etc.

LP

 

[lmel2005]

While I totally get the recommendation, if I wanted to do all that I'd just use my Mavics. The idea here is to have something a bit quicker and less cumbersome for quick still shots.

Thanks,
LP

If you want to do gestures, and then connect your phone to RC, I think you do "all this", but in different order.

On the other hand, I cannot hand launch my MP by double clicking the power button (it would be difficult anyway), entering gesture mode at the same time.

My point is, spark is not safe in gesture mode, without your device connected.
Also, it is very limited, without a controller.
But it's very easy to fly my spark. It's in the air in couple of minutes, and always hand launch and hand land.

 

[rak83]

I have both mavic and spark, and when I watch my videos or look at stills I often forget which drone I was flying, until I turn sharply. Then I see wobbly spark vs the smooth mavic. I think the best feature of spark is people say "awe look at the toy" vs "you arent going to fly that thing near me pervert" . Spark will do what you are wanting OP. Especially with all of the fun mods out there like mavic flight modes and increased speed/handling. You will not be dissapointed , you'll probably forget about your mavic in many situations I know I did.

 

[LeafPeeper]

LOL - thanks rak! That's what I needed to hear. Although I hope I don't suddenly find my Mavics useless! I've got way too much invested in batteries and accessories!

Now I just need my BestBuy gift cards to arrive. Funny suggestion if anyone else is interested (I'm assuming US only). I had tons of miles piling up on one of my old credit cards. I usually just redeem them for cash every once in a while - but I found out that I can get double the cash value if I get certain gift cards - like BestBuy. The Spark is going to end up being half price! Just a suggestion to check your options if you have one of those silly miles cards.

LP

 

[RPL]

In regards to #5, I’ve found my Spark to be just as reliable as my nicer DJI models. You have to remember that these are imperfect electrical toys, which are obviously prone to malfunctions. The good news is that these major incidents occur less than 1% of the time (assuming the pilot is doing everything correctly). The Spark is a fantastic drone, that simply cannot be beat for the price.

 

[LeafPeeper]

I picked it up yesterday, and played with it all day today. So far so good. After some hiccups getting started (settings, video transmission issues, missing options), I think I have it all running smoothly now. I love the size...but holy crap this thing is loud! Anyone make low noise props?

Some of the missing options that caught me by surprise were the ability to disable the video cache, picture style settings, pic/video resolution & aspect ratio, AEB limited to 3 shots, etc. The other thing that I didn't expect (but should have) was that it's less stable when framing full resolution stills because there's no yaw EIS. Interpreting the LED feedback when in gesture mode seems a bit flaky and confusing, but for the most part it does what I wanted. So far I think I really like it - but REALLY glad I still have my Mavics for the more polished work.

LP

 

[LeafPeeper]

Oh - and the biggest surprise/downer was the fact that the map, home location and radar display are totally missing when controlling the spark via smartphone (ie: no RC). Without an easy way to verify the home location, it feels WAY to risky to fly without the RC. No idea why DJI would do this.

LP