Follow me for offroading. Spark or Mavic?

[Wissam]

Hello. New to drones. Considering buying spark or mavic depends on expert member advice. My passion is desert offroading. My terrain is soft sand desert with lots of dunes. My offroading involves dune bashing which is climbing/jumping over dunes, maneuvering in between dunes etc. My question is will I be able to take action footage in follow me mode whereby the drone circles around my truck at a 2 to 3 meters high as it follows it? If yes what is the ideal app to do this and would a spark do the job or I need to spend on a mavic? Thanks

 

[msinger]

Both the "ActiveTrack" and "Follow Me" flight modes can be used to follow an object. ActiveTrack requires the object to be visible at all times (since the object is visibly being tracked in DJI GO). Follow Me follows the GPS location of the mobile device running DJI GO (which requires GPS on the mobile device). The Spark does not have Follow Me, so the Mavic will be your only option between those two drones.

By default, the Mavic (and all other DJI drones) are setup to auto return back to the home point when the remote controller signal is lost for 3 seconds. That means the Mavic would start returning home if your truck disappears behind a dune for 3+ seconds. You could change the remote controller signal lost setting to "Hover" to make the Mavic hover in place instead of returning home. However, I'm not sure Follow Me would resume when the remote controller signal is reestablished. If not, then you'd have to keep the Mavic closer so it stays within sight of the remote controller the entire time (which should be possible).

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the SparkPilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange
of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in DJI Spark quadcopters.
Enjoy!
*DJI Spark Manual: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Spark/20170727/Spark+User+Manual+V1.4.pdf

 

[Andy S]

Hi, I'm also an off roader & I got a Spark to capture some cool video on the trail. I would have liked the Mavik but being a total newbie I opted for the Spark. It's a great little drone but I would have liked the "Follow Me" mode. I guess I can still use active tracking right? I'm using an iPhone & controller.

 

[msinger]

I guess I can still use active tracking right?

Yes.