The DJI Spark Thread

[discoburg]

Am planning to order the following from DJI.
1. Spark with remote
2.Portable power pack with 2 batteries
3. Charging station bag.
Do you guys think the above will be better then buying a fly more combo?

Me no expert la. I only flew the MVP twice and then sold it away after the Mrs KPKB.

My office is in the DJI NFZ so no flying while in office. Not looking at those cheapo drones.

haha,... you don't have to look for me liow... spark is just younger and smaller brother of mavic... and also may be you are already more expert in dji drones than me...

are you manning a shop? spark is still quite difficult to fly indoor. Try some cheap cheap tiny indoor drones like syma x21w or jjrc H36. Is cheap <S$50, good and more effective. Better don't waste $$ on a spark. Cheap syma x21w and jjrc H36 work well in killing boredom but spark not designed for that.

have fun and merry x'mas!!

 

[feareality]

after spark powered up and idling, press and hold down power button for:
3 seconds (1 beep) to fly with your remote control
6 seconds (2 beeps) to fly with your phone
9 seconds (3 beeps) for a wifi reset
Don't count the seconds in your head, count the battery's green LED blinking

for pairing spark with remote control:
1. Power on the aircraft and the remote controller.
2. Press and hold the Flight Pause button, the Function button, and the customize button simultaneously on remote control.

Normally I got to try few times to get it linked/paired, and it seems like once you switched over to phone control, it lost the RC pairing. => so better leave the spark always controlled by remote control.

if still cannot get it work,... go watch youtube...

Wow sensei thats super super helpful of you. I will try it out, thanks again for helping out

Sent from Samsung SM-G935F using GAGT

 

[Quadcopter]

Am planning to order the following from DJI.
1. Spark with remote
2.Portable power pack with 2 batteries
3. Charging station bag.
Do you guys think the above will be better then buying a fly more combo?

Me no expert la. I only flew the MVP twice and then sold it away after the Mrs KPKB.

My office is in the DJI NFZ so no flying while in office. Not looking at those cheapo drones.

hi,

1) The spark package you plan to buy
All depending on price wah! ... Portable charging station is good for travelling outside. But you could use car charger (3rd party product, not from DJI) if you are driving around.
I'm using extra batteries, total 5pcs. Because I usually going around on bicycle. Extra weight added to my backpack as: Spark(300g) + extra 4 spare batteris(4*100g) + RC(170g) = 0.87kg. I'm not using any portable charger.

2) "fly more combo"
to me, what is useful and non-useful from the fly more combo i bought:
- foam box, very useful protecting the spark, (but you cannot put the RC inside)
- propeller guards, i need these sometimes
- extra 2 pairs of propellers, not expecting to change propellers often as i'm doing palm launch/landing, so less damages or scratches to propellers and lens
- 2 batteries, not enough for me, i bought another 3 more. But i think for normal cases you only need 2-3 batteries.
- spark carry bag, can hold spark, RC, and 2 more batteries but i found it useless. Because i always use my own backpack and i'm on bicycle. Foam box does not fix into this bag.
- charging hub. charges 3 batteries simultaneously and is useful for me

3) Cheapo drones
- Cheapo drones are for some fun flying or aerobatics, either indoor or outdoor.
- I cycle for 1-2hr daily. Sometimes i grab a drone when going out and most of the time i will grab a 210mm cheapo diy-drone. until now I only flew my spark 3 times outdoor.
- Drones that I need are: 2x cheapo drones to fly indoor/outdoor. 1x spark as my video drone. And may be might get a Phantom3/Mi-Drone in future.

4) most value of spark to me
- Spark is able to produce cinematic type of video output, meaning the video is in high resolution, very stable no shaking, and slow detailed motions. Only problem is this tiny 0.3kg spark has difficulties in handling very windy condition. Currently spark's performance already exceed my requirement as video drone. If i really need some better videos I will have to go for the 1.4kg phantom3 or Mi-Drone. But right now I'm just a camera noob so no plan to get a Phantom3/Mi-Drone yet.
- Mavic does not have much value for me as I'm not the sporty type and these larger drones could be more dangerous. And for the price of a S$1.6-2K mavic, I could get two drones of a spark and a phantom3.
- Before spark was available, i was looking at buying a Yuneec Breeze.


have fun, and merry x'mas!!...

 

[ktee]

Just tested my new spark outdoor. It's no fly zone at my place. But i can still test fly. Using beginner mode and flew to 30m. Really tiny uav. Very easy to control. Only problem is battery runs out very fast. Most time i just let it hovers and test test. The tripod mode is very good for smoooooth video.

Only problem is the gps signal is not steady. Most time dont have. Guess too much interference here.

I doubt anyone will kp go and report. it is just a toy drone (so small)...

 

[Nemesismaster]

hi,

1) The spark package you plan to buy
All depending on price wah! ... Portable charging station is good for travelling outside. But you could use car charger (3rd party product, not from DJI) if you are driving around.
I'm using extra batteries, total 5pcs. Because I usually going around on bicycle. Extra weight added to my backpack as: Spark(300g) + extra 4 spare batteris(4*100g) + RC(170g) = 0.87kg. I'm not using any portable charger.

2) "fly more combo"
to me, what is useful and non-useful from the fly more combo i bought:
- foam box, very useful protecting the spark, (but you cannot put the RC inside)
- propeller guards, i need these sometimes
- extra 2 pairs of propellers, not expecting to change propellers often as i'm doing palm launch/landing, so less damages or scratches to propellers and lens
- 2 batteries, not enough for me, i bought another 3 more. But i think for normal cases you only need 2-3 batteries.
- spark carry bag, can hold spark, RC, and 2 more batteries but i found it useless. Because i always use my own backpack and i'm on bicycle. Foam box does not fix into this bag.
- charging hub. charges 3 batteries simultaneously and is useful for me

3) Cheapo drones
- Cheapo drones are for some fun flying or aerobatics, either indoor or outdoor.
- I cycle for 1-2hr daily. Sometimes i grab a drone when going out and most of the time i will grab a 210mm cheapo diy-drone. until now I only flew my spark 3 times outdoor.
- Drones that I need are: 2x cheapo drones to fly indoor/outdoor. 1x spark as my video drone. And may be might get a Phantom3/Mi-Drone in future.

4) most value of spark to me
- Spark is able to produce cinematic type of video output, meaning the video is in high resolution, very stable no shaking, and slow detailed motions. Only problem is this tiny 0.3kg spark has difficulties in handling very windy condition. Currently spark's performance already exceed my requirement as video drone. If i really need some better videos I will have to go for the 1.4kg phantom3 or Mi-Drone. But right now I'm just a camera noob so no plan to get a Phantom3/Mi-Drone yet.
- Mavic does not have much value for me as I'm not the sporty type and these larger drones could be more dangerous. And for the price of a S$1.6-2K mavic, I could get two drones of a spark and a phantom3.
- Before spark was available, i was looking at buying a Yuneec Breeze.


have fun, and merry x'mas!!...

Are u the guy who always cycle and fly drone around Neo tiew?

 

[Quadcopter]

Are u the guy who always cycle and fly drone around Neo tiew?

haha,... no, i will not cycle there because that place can easily kena rammed over by cars/lorry. i will not fly drones there also as it is 1km away from tengah air base. everyday you can see heavy surveillance planes having difficulties making turns and climbing in avoiding m'sia air space.

if you see that guy next time ask him to join me flying at teckwhye...

 

[Quadcopter]

Just tested my new spark outdoor. It's no fly zone at my place. But i can still test fly. Using beginner mode and flew to 30m. Really tiny uav. Very easy to control. Only problem is battery runs out very fast. Most time i just let it hovers and test test. The tripod mode is very good for smoooooth video.

Only problem is the gps signal is not steady. Most time dont have. Guess too much interference here.

I doubt anyone will kp go and report. it is just a toy drone (so small)...

omg!... forgot about that tripod mode. every time what i did was manually control slow yaw to have my 360° rotation and take videos. will try tripod next time.

 

[discoburg]

That sounds scary when your spark is up and away

Just tested my new spark outdoor. It's no fly zone at my place. But i can still test fly. Using beginner mode and flew to 30m. Really tiny uav. Very easy to control. Only problem is battery runs out very fast. Most time i just let it hovers and test test. The tripod mode is very good for smoooooth video.

Only problem is the gps signal is not steady. Most time dont have. Guess too much interference here.

I doubt anyone will kp go and report. it is just a toy drone (so small)...

 

[Quadcopter]

That sounds scary when your spark is up and away

he is flying <30m, optical flow sensor could be still effective so that spark likely still be steadily hovering at that same spot in the air, without GPS.

that day i let my spark hover at 58m above petir park, it was very windy and kept losing gps. Was worried but it did completed the task of video taking for 3-4min and came down safely.

it is better to fly the spark at 30m or below, fly within line-of-sight, avoid very windy days, avoid using any automation or smartness of that drone. be prepared to manually take over the spark by remote control once it cannot lock to GPS position or having difficulties going against the wind. Same for the bigger drones like phantom3 or Mi-drone.

 

[ktee]

Yup. Beginner mode max altitude is 30m. I flew near a small field surrounded by hdb blocks. Hence, gps not strong or rather too much interference...

I can manually control the spark with sighting. It was a test run. To fly higher and further, i will have to find an empty field huge enough to zoom.

Saw a youtube video of 1 indo guy lost his spark as it dropped into sea. He flew 5km away from shore at night! . RTH activated due to low batt, but not enough time to get back on shore... People recommended to switch to sport mode and manual fly home. It is supposed to be faster. lesson learned.

 

[blade81]

Cheapo 3inch acrobatic drone now can equip 1080p camera. The camera double up as fpv cam and hd camera. https://youtu.be/saC-a6tbdiA
Check out the footage from 27:29

 

[Nemesismaster]

Today I wanted to buy the spark after pondering for so many months . (To me it’s very expensive as my salary only 1k plus) Went to challenger at north point and found out they revert price to $1098

(T__T)

Anyone kind enough to lend me fly when they are flying it? I can accommodate to your timing if I’m not working

I stay around Bukit Panjang

 

[ktee]

You can get from lazada. cheapest now is 849 for flymore pkg with local warranty. This is before any discount (promo code, cc, liveup, shopback, etc). After everything should be around 750.

 

[blade81]

Hahaha That thing expensive lend u fly hahaha might ask well for DJI inspire 2 even better!

 

[Quadcopter]

Today I wanted to buy the spark after pondering for so many months . (To me it’s very expensive as my salary only 1k plus) Went to challenger at north point and found out they revert price to $1098

(T__T)

Anyone kind enough to lend me fly when they are flying it? I can accommodate to your timing if I’m not working

I stay around Bukit Panjang

hi, some notes before you go buy that sparky thingy...
- hachi is still selling spark fly more combo at S$899 inclu gst today. if you go down to challenger stores, you have to tell the shop assistant you want to buy from hachi. They might charge you S$8 more for hachi membership, not S$1049. I got mine S$899 from hachi but I think few guys here got better deals from lazada
- Spark is small portable size and extremely good for aerial photography. But any jobs/fun outside that aerial photography would be better not to push that tiny spark doing those stunts.
- I might fly my spark to 60m altitude, but position wise it is only <20m away from me.
- People might push spark to limits of flying 1-2km way. Spark is designed for that but it could get killed easily. This is similar to you go hunting with a gun and a dog, you instructed your dog to go 1-2km away from you exploring in the jungle. Your dog is able to handle the job but it might get killed by snakes, bears, or hunting traps.
- For fun flying, i normally grab a 210mm diy-drone. Diy-drone crashed and crashed but would not die easily. I only flew my spark 3 times outdoor.
- Believe Xiaomi Mi-Drone and Phantom 3 produce better videos than spark, longer flight time, and they are cheaper at around S$600-700. But watch out these 1.4kg larger drones could be dangerous and need careful handling.
- if you want to have some test flying and checking features/quality of dji spark before buying it from challenger/lazada, i could bring my spark to petir park/bt-panjang this saturday morning, if no rain. let me know..
- if you already owned a mavic/phantom now, then no need to look for me liow. mavic, phantom and spark should be similar in operation and good video outputs. Except for their differences in sizes, flight range and foldable making them physically dedicated for different tasks. look for me for coffee instead...


have fun, and happy new year 2018!!...

 

[Quadcopter]

Some camera differences shown here.
I'm a camera noob but think this is just way too obvious...

UpAir One, this is the cheapest camera drone with gimbal at around S$400. If you look at the video carefully, the video is actually shaking and some jello effects all the way. Its 2 axis gimbal is doing the good job of stabilizing, but the camera has poor EIS (electronic image stabilizing). Changing that camera (if can be done) to a XiaoYi 4K might get that problem solved. The drone at ~1.4kg is heavy enough to be filming stable and handling strong wind. But most of these cheaper drones cannot produce good videos.

DJI Spark, at 0.3kg this tiny drones is able to handle windy condition and producing cinematic type of videos output. That non-smoothness of this video is likely due to mpeg video encoded at too low bit rate. Encoding at higher bit rate and upload to youtube should have that problem solved.

Xiaomi Mi Drone 4K. Cheap and Good at ~S$600. At 1.4kg it can handle stronger wind that spark unable to. And I might buy one next year if there is less crash reports (or it is due to those people pushed Mi Drone to too far limits??) This Xiaomi Mi-drone 4K is the cheapest I could find that produces cinematic videos. But dunno where to fly it in s'pore even i have one...

i'm searching very hard for a cheap action camera with powerful EIS. trying and trying. my poor diy-drone needs one desperately.


have fun, and happy new year 2018!!

 

[Quadcopter]

Camera gimbal video stabilizing and EIS

this rollcap camera has built in 2-axis gimbal and powerful EIS. I do not know if it has optical image stabilizing.

this google pixel 2 has powerful EIS. I'm waiting for action camera manufacturers to put this technology into their cheap S$50 cameras. waiting and waiting. my poor diy-drone needs one desperately.

have fun, and happy new year 2018!!

 

[kero89]

Chance upon this thread. I must say I am tempted by drone but still trying to justify it's purpose like for trips (videos and stills) or for flying (can't be real pilot but can be uav pilot).

DJI spark looks good, Xiaomi 4K is even better (@$680) but gotta have passion to keep flying to make this investment worthwhile

 

[Quadcopter]

haiz, i got no skill in convincing people to choose spark... most people here don't want to buy spark...

let me give you guys another 10 lame excuses why you should spend on a more expensive dji Spark this chinese new year, than some cheaper S$300 quadcopters
1) Indoor: spark is the only drone small enough, and with optical sensors to fly indoor. If you fly those S$300 quadcopters indoor, you will get yourselves injured or the quadcopters killed.
2) Kids friendly: spark is less dangerous to kids. it is small, stable hovering indoor or outdoor
3) fast startup: It takes only about 20sec for a spark to take off. For those cheaper S$300 drones you need to plug in battery, calibrate the compass and wait for gps which will take about 3-4min to get into the air.
4) More telemetry info: spark sends back more information like too windy, lost gps, reaching nfz and etc, which will make your flights safer
5) Gesture control: sometimes you could use the gesture control to take quick selfie photo without any phone/RC.
6) Sharper picture: The 12MP camera of spark is giving you sharper pictures. Most of the cheaper S$300 drones are only having 2MP camera and photos/videos produced is in fisheye.
7) Camera Gimbal: Besides stabilizing the camera, spark's 2-axis camera gimbal allows you to tilt the camera when hovering in the air. Most S$300 drones do not have camera gimbals.
8) Video digitally stabilized(EIS): Spark could produce cinematic type of videos, meaning high resolution, very stable no shaking, and slow detailed motions. It is difficult to get any decent videos from most S$300 drones.
9) FPV Video at longer distance: If you are flying too far away, losing your FPV view might ended as losing your drone also. Spark has longer FPV distance of few hundred meters. Whereas most S$300 drones are wifi FPV videos.
10) spark sounds more branded: Everything has to be branded during chinese new year, or else very "no face". There are also more supports on DJI products like accessories and third party control software (Litchi)

what you need is a dji spark and a S$20 tiny indoor drone. S$20 drone to kill your boredom indoor or cure your itchy fingers, and a spark for all your selfie photos/videos outdoor and indoor. S$300 drone cannot meet your expectation 90% of the time.



have fun, and happy new year 2018!!

 

[feareality]

If I bring my spark to Hong Kong, do most airlines allow the drone to be on the carry-on baggage? Or do I need to put it in the checked luggage? Thanks again in advance guys!

Sent from Samsung SM-G935F using GAGT