At Snowy Peak Films, we’re all about the toys! Well, we call them “toys,” but they’re actually tools that help us do a better job creating fun and exciting videos. Our latest tool is a drone- the DJI Mavic Pro drone. The Mavic is a small yet powerful drone that gives us the ability to capture stunning visuals from high in the sky. While we believe a story is “told from the ground,” the drone offers unique angles that can complement the story.
Why did we choose the Mavic?
We decided on the Mavic for several reasons. First, the price point is affordable at about $1,299 for the Bundle package. Second, while we’ve contracted out our drone work in the past, having our own drone in-house allows us to offer those aerial video services to our clients at a much lower rate. Finally, we love its portability! The Mavic’s compact size allows us to take it with us everywhere and get shots in tight spaces that other larger drones cannot. This makes the Mavic the perfect option into providing professional, cinematic aerial footage to our clients. Plus it’s 4K!
Features of the Mavic:
The Mavic product page states: “Its compact size hides a high degree of complexity that makes it one of DJI’s most sophisticated flying cameras ever. 24 high-performance computing cores, an all-new transmission system with a 4.3mi (7Km) range, 4 vision sensors, and a 4K camera stabilized by a 3-axis mechanical gimbal, are at your command with just a push of your thumb or a tap of your finger.”
What does that mean exactly? To us, it means the ability to capture phenomenal footage without breaking the bank. The other features that make the Mavic the drone to buy are longer battery life (up to 27 minutes), Obstacle avoidance for safety, Active Track, Sport mode (allowing you to fly up to 40mph) and the GPS based Return to Home feature.
Trevor Holmes wrote in a Wistia blog post:
There has been an explosion of tech in the world of aerial photography. As a result, video producers can now get shots that historically only the Hollywood cinematographer elite could afford.
He mentions four “ways” that drones can enhance your business’s video. They are the Group shot, Handheld stabilizer, the Reveal and the Neighborhood view. I captured two of these on my first weekend flying the Mavic. Here is some of my footage:
Mavic Video from Snowy Peak on Vimeo.
Overall, I feel the DJI Mavic Pro is a perfect fit as a tool to help tell our stories, and we’ve had a lot of fun flying—and learning—the Mavic!
