DJI rates the dji drones Pro for 30 minutes of flight time, which is a figure calculated under ideal conditions. In more normal use, I found myself getting about 25 minutes of actual time in the air—landing with about 8 percent battery left, which is cutting things close. It’s a modest improvement from the Phantom 4, which is rated for 28 minutes and netted about 23 minutes of flight time in our tests. For your first real flight, you’ll want to make sure you’ve picked a location in which it’s legal to fly.
There are also a number of multispectral sensors for drones on the market including the DJI Phantom 4 Pro. P-Mode allows your quadcopter to use visual positioning and obstacle sensing. It is also the position you need to be in to use all the intelligent flight modes such as Waypoints, ActiveTrack, TapFly and beginner mode etc. In addition to the larger sensor, the camera adds aperture control and a mechanical shutter. Its field of view is slightly narrower than the 20mm lens used by the Phantom 4, but you aren’t stuck shooting at f/2.8 all the time—you can stop down all the way to f/11. This reduces to reach for neutral density filters to balance shutter speed and frame rate to maintain proper shutter angles and exposure.
The base station also includes a charging station and two sets of batteries, as well as a remote control, telemetry module, and an anemometer to gauge wind. The camera features a 20MP 1-inch sensor, capable of shooting impressive raw stills and 4K/60p video at 100Mbps video in the D-Log color profile. When you’re shooting with your DJI Phantom 4 drone you will need a constant supply of fresh batteries.
Advanced computer vision technology allows the dji drones Pro to take instructions through gestures. The subject simply lifts their arms when facing the camera and the aircraft will recognize this movement by locking on and placing the subject in the center of the frame. Just as in compact cameras, the 1-inch sensor proves to be a solid upgrade over 1/2.3-inch. It’s not quite as good as Micro Four Thirds, another format used by drones like the huge Yuneec H920 ($1,799.00 at DJI) and the DJI Inspire 2 ($1,799.00 at DJI) , but it’s also quite compact.
The Phantom 4 Pro is an excellent quadcopter for professional site surveying, 3D imaging of terrain and photogrammetry of structures. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. If you want to take advantage of obstacle recognition on all four sides, you need to fly in either Beginner or Tripod mode. Both slow down the maximum operating speed, and Tripod mode makes it possible for very, very fine adjustments to position using the control sticks. The Phantom 4 was the first DJI drone with forward-facing obstacle avoidance sensors, and those same sensors carried over to the svelte Mavic Pro ($1,799.00 at DJI) .
You also have a 720p option, at 25Mbps up to 30fps, 35Mbps up to 60fps, and 60Mbps up to 120fps. All of these settings are available in H.264 or H.265, and you have your choice of MOV or MP4 container formats. It allows you to draw a box around a subject, which the drone dji drones will in turn recognize and follow as it moves. It works pretty well, as long as your subject isn’t too small and doesn’t blend into the background. I was able to get it to follow me around with no problems when I wore a tan coat while standing on a green athletic field.
Users can also import KML/KMZ files to optimize the workflow for their missions. With the built-in screen, pilots can clearly view and plan their missions on an ultra-bright, 5.5-inch HD display. To take full advantage of the Phantom 4 RTK’s positioning modules, the new TimeSync system was created to continually align the flight controller, camera and RTK module.