Ascent AeroSystems Releases the Helios Drone

First up, Ascent AeroSystems has released the Helios, and it’s a really cool design. This is a 249-gram drone with a coaxial system—you can see the pictures here—that mimics the design of their much larger Spirit aircraft, created a few years ago. According to the Ascent AeroSystems website, this is an all-weather, NDAA-compliant aircraft with features like 4G connectivity, a 4K gimbal camera, a 45 mph top speed, and a 30-minute flight time. The Helios is available for pre-order and is priced at $4,499. Pre-orders can be placed either through Ascent AeroSystems or Robinson Helicopter Company dealers, with delivery occurring in Q4 of this year. If they come out with a thermal version, I think this could be a real winner.

Significant Changes to the Blue UAS List

The next story is about the Blue UAS list, which has seen some significant changes. Several drones and manufacturers have been removed, while a few others were added. Removed from the drone list are the Eagle EB, Ascent AeroSystems Spirit, Blue Halo IE V2, 悬浮蝇 Tech Spectre, Inspired Flight IF1200A and IF800, Parrot Anafi USA Gov and Mil version, Vantage Viper, and finally, the WingtraOne Gen 2. These aircraft are no longer on the Blue UAS list, which is, quite frankly, a bit concerning. It’s unclear why these aircraft were removed—either because they weren’t compliant, the manufacturers asked for them to be removed, or they did not renew. This raises additional questions, including what happens to all the departments forced to purchase these Blue UAS-compliant aircraft that are now off the list. We’re not quite sure about the answer at this stage.

On the other hand, a few drones were added: the FlightWave Edge 130, Hoverfly Technologies Spectre (possibly a rebrand of the Hoverfly Tech version), and the ZenaTech Paladin. Pierce Aerospace’s B1 was also added to the Blue List, though on the parts side rather than the aircraft side. We’ll keep you updated if we hear more about this, but it’s a really interesting story.

Skydio’s Controversial Tracking Mailer

Speaking of interesting stories, next up, Skydio appears to have sent marketing material with tracking capabilities to 警察 departments. This was reported by DroneXL. A sergeant from a large 加利福尼亚州 police department revealed that the promotional material from Skydio appeared to have embedded tracking using a 4G/5G SIM card. This was discovered after the device was disassembled by the department’s forensic analysis lab. The marketing material in question comes from a company called Mark Media, which confirmed that the device integrates a screen, a pause and play button, navigation, and a call-to-action button. It has a 9-month battery life and tracks interactions, use of the call-to-action button, and even the device’s location—which I think is the biggest issue here.

Skydio came under fire for this because of their stance as a secure alternative, citing the risk of data collection by other manufacturers. The sergeant in question stated, “In addition to privacy and security concerns, I found it ethically concerning because Skydio has been a strong proponent of Data Security and safety, but then did the very thing they accuse other US manufacturers of doing.” He also noted, “Electronic tracking like this is illegal in California without consent or a warrant.” At this stage, it’s unclear if the application of the law would depend on specific circumstances and technical details, but it’s still not a great look for Skydio.

SkyBrowse Unveils a Big Update

Last up, SkyBrowse has another big update with several features to discuss, including Pocket AI. This function turns an image into a 3D model using AI and is free for everyone to use—so give it a try and potentially win one year of SkyBrowse Lite. SkyBrowse also released Model Merging in Workspace Images. Model Merging allows you to link other models to connect multiple scenes within a workspace, again available for everyone. Workspace Images functions similarly and allows public safety users to attach photos to a 3D model so anyone who can see the model can also view the photos.

If you’re interested in signing up for SkyBrowse, Bobby has provided us with a discount for viewers of the show: 20% off for the first three months of SkyBrowse Lite. You can use the coupon code “PILOT.” We usually don’t do discounts or partnerships—even though this isn’t a partnership—we just like working with SkyBrowse, appreciate the team there, and wish them good luck with this. Give it a shot if it’s something you’re interested in.

Wrapping Up

No Friday Live or Monday Live this week—we’ll see you next Friday for the news update. We’re in the middle of a move right now, as you can see the set looks a bit different. This is more than likely the last time we record from this set before we move on to the new facility, where I’m heading out to right now. See you next week!

Industry Pioneer and Public Safety Visionary Passes Away

A sad first story: industry pioneer and public safety visionary Romeo Durscher has sadly passed away this week. Romeo was a pioneer of drones for public safety with the mantra “无人机为善.” He worked for DJI as their Director of Public Safety Integration, where he led and assisted departments in getting started with drones. In 2018, the Camp Fire in 加利福尼亚州 destroyed an entire town. Romeo led 15 drone teams to create high-definition maps of over 177,000 acres in the days that followed the incident. He said, “After Santa Rosa, I thought I’d seen it all; then came Paradise. It’s beyond what one could imagine.” This was just one of the many ways Romeo helped cultivate drones in the public safety world.

Romeo then moved on from DJI to Auterion, where he pushed to ensure that public safety could use the best tools possible for their mission. Earlier this year, Romeo was given the Law Enforcement Drone Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He was also named one of the 25 most influential people in the drone industry and received the Golden Medal from the Estonian Chamber of Commerce. Haye from DroneXL.co put it best:

“Romeo Durscher’s passing leaves a big void, but his vision soars on. The drone industry stands at a crossroads, poised for growth yet challenged by regulation and ethics. Romeo showed us the way—technology must serve a purpose, not profit alone.”

Texas Bill Proposes Drone Shot Downs Over Private Property

Next up, a Texas bill would allow drones to be shot down if they’re flown over private property. There are several issues with this bill, as you can imagine, starting with 18 USC 32. This law protects civil aircraft both in the air and on the ground.

It states, “Whoever willfully sets fire to, damages, destroys, disables, or wrecks any aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the 美国 or any civil aircraft used, operated, or employed in interstate, overseas, or foreign air commerce” is in violation.

We also know how poor people are at identifying aircraft, with several of the 新泽西州 “drones” actually being airliners and smaller aircraft. Not to mention, what goes up must come down. So, if you’re in Texas, please reach out to your state legislature and let them know this is a really bad idea.

DJI Mavic 4 Leaks Reveal Innovative Features

Finally, DJI Mavic 4 leaks: DroneXL.co and Jasper Ellens are reporting a new rumor that the Mavic 4 will be able to roll the gimbal up to 180° in both directions. You heard that right—roll! That’s kind of interesting and not something we’ve seen on any drone so far, other than the Inspire series. This would mean you could take native vertical shots with all lenses and even have the ability to record videos upside down. This could make for some quite interesting footage, I think. We’ll have to wait and see.

We’ll see you on Monday for the live next week. There will be no Friday live as we are getting ready to move into our new building. New sets and new looks are coming out very soon. Have a great week!

DJI Launches Dock 3 and Matrice 4D Series

First up, DJI launched the new Dock 3 along with the Matrice 4D and the 4TD, the thermal version. This is the first DJI Dock designed to be used on a vehicle, allowing the drone to launch directly from a mobile platform. The Dock 3 can operate and charge in extreme temperatures ranging from 122°F down to -22°F. I know someone in our circle who’s going to be really happy about this, as they had issues with the Dock 2 in high temperatures. It’s also IP56 rated.

The Matrice 4D includes anti-icing propellers, which is interesting and possibly one of the first times we’ve seen this on drones. Speaking of the Matrice 4D, it’s IP55 rated and offers 54 minutes of flight time and 45 minutes of hover time. Both the 4D and the 4TD come equipped with a wide-angle camera, a 3x zoom camera, a 7x zoom camera, and a laser rangefinder. The thermal version (4TD) includes a near IR light and a 640×512 infrared thermal camera in addition to the other cameras just mentioned.

In conjunction with the release, AVSS, the Canadian parachute manufacturer, announced a parachute for the Matrice 4D. It’s not yet on the FAA’s declaration of compliance list, but the press release indicated it will be FAA approved along with approvals in many other Countries, enabling flights over people. The parachute will be available in Q2 of this year. DJI just seems to be pumping out these new devices, as always.

Connecticut’s Emergency Bill to Ban Chinese Drones

Next up, Connecticut’s emergency bill banning Chinese drones has passed both chambers of the state legislature. The bill prohibits state agencies and municipalities from purchasing “covered drones” (i.e., Chinese drones) starting in October 2026, with a ban on operating them beginning in 2028. The legislation also restricts drone flights within 250 feet of critical electrical and other utility infrastructures. Unfortunately, if you’re in Connecticut, there isn’t much you can do at this stage, as the bill is heading to the governor’s desk to be signed.

Last Chance to Comment on Department of Commerce ANPRM

There are only a few days left to make your voice heard. The Department of Commerce’s Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) comment period ends on March 4th. We made an entire video on how to submit your comments or at least get ideas on what to include. Don’t let folks in suits who’ve never flown a drone write the narrative about what our UAS should do. Again, the deadline is March 4th—make sure your voice counts.

LEDA Calls Out AUVSI

The Law Enforcement Drone Association (LEDA) expressed disappointment regarding an opinion article written by AUVSI President Michael Robbins.

John Beal, President and CEO of LEDA, called Robbins’ op-ed published in DroneLife “overt gaslighting” regarding drone legislation related to 中国. Beal clarified that LEDA is a platform-agnostic organization whose stance has always been to allow member agencies and pilots to choose the best platforms for them and their communities.

Beal further explained in the letter that he’s witnessed AUVSI representatives testify in support of bans on Chinese drones for public safety agencies across various states. Beal questions Robbins’ understanding of how these bans negatively impact agencies, forcing many to shut down their drone programs entirely. As a result, these agencies lose the ability to save lives or mitigate risks, including protecting elderly citizens or young children who wander off into harsh conditions.

Additionally, Beal cites Robbins’ lack of evidence for his claim that “security vulnerabilities are well documented within the national security community.” Instead, Beal welcomes the mandated study of DJI and Autel drones’ Data Security stipulated in section 1709 of the 2024 NDAA.

Beal concluded his letter by emphasizing that almost all of LEDA’s 3,200 members are angered by this legislation, seeing it as driven by greed and resulting in diminished public safety capabilities.

On a personal note, I couldn’t agree more with John’s letter. AUVSI’s efforts have not only damaged public safety agencies but have also endangered the livelihoods of Drone Service Providers and enthusiasts nationwide. The Chinese drone ban they’re pushing would leave anyone flying a DJI Mavic, DJI Air, DJI Mini, or equivalent drone with zero options—literally nothing is available in this segment outside of Chinese manufacturers. If this kind of drone ban affects you, I highly recommend politely reaching out to AUVSI leadership to explain its impact on your livelihood. They probably won’t listen, but they need to hear it anyway.

Join us later for the community happy hour, our live Q&A on Monday, and Postflight on Monday in the Premium Community. We’ll see you then!

Camera Quality and Performance

Overall, the camera is great. It’s got a larger 1-inch CMOS sensor on the wide-angle lens with 12-megapixel or 50-megapixel options. The 3x telephoto lens, like the Air 3, uses a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor with 48 megapixels—an upgrade over the Air 3. We now have 4K at 120 frames per second, which beats the 100 frames per second on the Air 3. But here’s my first issue: we’re capped at 4K.

The Air 2S had 5.4K, and it’s an older drone. DJI hasn’t made many drones with 5K—only the Air 2S and Mavic 3 Pro come to mind (not counting the Inspire 3, obviously). Why not include it? Is 5K not popular enough? I wanted to ask Maria Davis, an Emmy-nominated drone pilot who worked with the Air 2S, about this.

Flight Experience: Air 3S vs. Air 2S

Flying the Air 3S feels smooth—like butter. With the Air 2S, you could feel it chunking through the air, but the Air 3S is just fun and amazing to fly. How often do I use 5.4K? Honestly, not much—less than a handful of times. We don’t even use 5K when it’s available unless we need to punch in later. Recording at a higher resolution is nice because you can zoom in, get more details, and downsampling looks better. But it’s a weird decision to leave it out.

Is It Worth Upgrading from the Air 3?

If you already have an Air 3, I don’t see a strong reason to upgrade. The Air 3 and 3S are so similar. If you compare footage side by side, the biggest improvement I notice is in dynamic range and overall image detail. The Air 3 isn’t that old and still a great drone. The main upgrade is the 1-inch CMOS sensor on the 3S, compared to the 1/1.3-inch sensor on the Air 3. However, we’re capped at a smaller maximum bitrate—130 megabits per second—compared to 150 on the Mini 3, Mini 4 Pro, and even the Air 2S, which is years old now. Software updates might offset this, but I don’t get why we’re going backward here.

Bitrate Tests and Footage Quality

I’ve seen people online say they’re not even hitting 100 megabits per second, so we tested the Air 3, Air 2S, and 3S. The Air 2S is rated for 150 but hit 152 in 4K, 10-bit H.265. The Air 3 was at 130, though it’s rated for 150. The Air 3S came in lower at 90 megabits per second. Still, I prefer the Air 3S footage—it’s sharper and cleaner. The Air 2S looked a bit softer. Bitrate is just data captured per second.

On YouTube, for example, it’s re-encoded to around 10 megabits per second. Can you tell the difference between 150 and 10 versus 90 and 10? It’s like megapixels in photos—not a huge visible difference unless you know what to look for. In my tests, I couldn’t spot much difference between the drones at higher or lower bitrates—the footage still looks great.

Auto-Tracking and Ease of Use

With older drone models, I tested flying while holding a baby. Now that baby’s a toddler, he’s the perfect subject for the Air 3S’s auto-tracking. Highlight him in the green box, enable ActiveTrack, and it works well. In areas with poles, if he runs behind one and the drone loses him briefly, it picks him back up quickly. One issue: the focus wheel sometimes won’t adjust, showing an error message. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but it might be for some. I’m still waiting for an update that lets me change a diaper mid-flight—maybe with the Mavic 4!

Codec and Storage Considerations

There’s no H.264 option on the 3S. H.265 files are smaller but need more computer power to play back. It’s like a zip file—compressed data saves space on your camera, but your computer has to decompress it. H.265 takes a lot of memory. Windows 11 doesn’t natively support it—you need an extension from the Microsoft Store, which is surprising. On Mac, H.265 has worked fine for years, so it’s never been an issue for me—smaller files, better quality.

Comparison to the Mavic 3 Pro

I was surprised how close the Air 3S is to the Mavic 3 Pro. Side-by-side, a lot of the footage looks very similar, even though the Mavic 3 Pro costs much more. The Air 3S is still a consumer-level drone, but it’s nearly at Mavic 3 Pro quality. In some shots, I preferred the 3S—details in highlights and shadows were comparable, which impressed me.

Battery Life and Final Thoughts

One small gripe: despite the 42GB of internal storage (which I love), the Air 3S has less flight time than the Air 3. I don’t like seeing new models lose battery life. Is it the bigger sensor or tech onboard? Hard to say. The Fly More Combo now includes ND 过滤器 (ND8, ND32, ND128), which is great, but I’d prefer an ND16 or ND64 for my work. Did I make the right decision with the 3S?

Despite the minor issues, I think the Air 3 and 3S are the best value for the money. It’s still the best drone I own. Want to learn more? Check out our free deep dive video on the 试点研究所 website—it’s pretty great. See you in the next one!

Thanks to Maria Davis for contributing music (“Pulsar” and “September”) to this 评论. Find her at MariaDavisMusic.com.

Don’t Be That Guy: Drone Crash at Uranium Mine

First up, in our “Don’t Be That Guy” segment, an alleged Drone Collision with mine equipment occurred at the Pinion Plain Uranium Mine in Arizona, causing the mine to temporarily close operations. While the size and type of the drone are unknown at this point, it reportedly struck a safety wire used to transport personnel into the 1,400-foot deep mine, according to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office. After crashing into the equipment, the suspect, Bobby Mason, allegedly fled in an F-150, leading to a series of incidents, including two hit-and-run events near and inside Grand Canyon National Park. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office has charged Mason with offenses including unlawful operation of an unmanned aircraft, aggravated DUI, criminal damage, hit-and-run, reckless driving, and harassment. The moral of the story remains the same: please don’t be that guy.

Georgia Bill Targets Chinese Drones

Next up, a Georgia bill would require the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to create an approved drone list for public safety and government use. The bill would give agencies a three-year compliance window to acquire new aircraft from the approved list. If you live in Georgia, please let your legislators know what you think about this and how it might affect your operations. This is House Bill 205.

North Dakota Rejects Drone Ban

On the opposite side of the fence, the North Dakota Senate rejected a portion of a bill that would enact a replacement program for state-owned and operated Chinese drones. State Senator Cal Davidson led the motion to strip the text from the bill, citing the significant cost difference between Chinese and American-made drones. According to Senate testimony, the Matrice M30, currently used by state agencies, costs around $7,500, while an NDA-compliant alternative costs between $20,000 and $50,000. The Senate also preserved a $1 million allocation to support beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations in the same bill.

Drones for Good: Sumas Police Rescue

In a “无人机为善” story this week, multiple agencies in Northern Washington State responded to a report of an elderly woman who had gone missing during the night. After several hours of searching, the Sumas Police Department arrived on scene and launched an M3T, locating the missing person in under three minutes. The woman had fallen down a steep slope near her residence and was becoming hypothermic. Fortunately, she was rescued and transported to the hospital. A big shout-out to the Sumas Police Department—great work, and thank you for all that you do!

New DJI Products Unveiled

Lastly, DJI has released two new gimbals this week—yes, not one, but two! First, we have the Osmo Mobile 7 with Active Track 7.0, hand motion control, 10 hours of runtime, a built-in tripod, and magnetic mounting for accessories. The Osmo Mobile 7 comes in two price tiers: the entry-level model is $89, and the 7P model costs $149, which is surprisingly affordable for what you’re getting. DJI also released the RS4 Mini, and we’ve had our hands on one to test for the last couple of weeks. It offers 13 hours of runtime, a 4.4-pound payload, an Active Track module, and native vertical shooting. You can check out our full 评论 right here.

Community Updates and Contests

In other news, we have two photo contests running in the community, each with over $600 in prizes! Share your drone photo of the Great Outdoors in the Drone Photo Contest, or submit a selfie from the cockpit in our Airplane Photo Contest for your chance to win. Head over to the community’s content space for all the details. If you’re not in the community, it’s easy to join—just register for any free course at PilotInstitute.com to get access. Join us later today for happy hour in the community, plus a live Q&A on Monday and Postflight in the premium community. We’ll see you then!

Understanding the Flight Restriction

The flight restrictions extend 3,000 feet from the ship and go up to 1,000 feet, and they are designated as what’s called National Defense Airspace. This is the same type of restriction we see in Washington, DC, around Disney, and at Kennedy Space Center. But unlike those, this specific restriction is not depicted on any charts, and the penalties for flying there include steep fines, certificate revocation, and even criminal charges.

How to Avoid the Restriction

But here’s the good news: avoiding these restrictions is actually pretty simple once you know what to look for. Navy ships are generally gray. They have a large number, or set of numbers, called a hull number, painted near the bow, which is the front of the ship. These ships may or may not be armed. They will have the American flag at the top of the mast and may have other flags denoting the name of the ship. They could also be black-hulled submarines or hospital ships. Now, remember that gray ship in the distance isn’t just another boat; it’s a moving no-fly zone. Always maintain at least 3,000 feet of distance, and then use your zoom lens if you need to get the shot.

Additional Resources

If you want to check how to fly in other restricted flying zones, be sure to watch this video right here. And if you want more educational drone videos, be sure to subscribe.

Our Experience with Gimbals at Pilot Institute

As you can tell, at 试点研究所, we love using gimbals. We’ve been using them for a long time, starting with the original Ronin, actually. We also have this one right here on the jib—that’s the RS2 Pro, RS3 Pro, and RS4. We have the RS4 Mini on the smaller side of things. We also use a smaller version when it needs to be more portable. We have this one right here, which is the Pocket 3, and we have the Osmo Mobile 6. Yes, it took me a couple of tries to get all of them. Finally, we have this one right here, which is the DJI RS4 Mini—the latest and greatest from DJI. As you can tell, it looks a little bit different; it’s a different color. We don’t love the color—I mean, I don’t love the color. I think, personally, it’s going to get a little bit too dirty. But it comes with a ton of accessories, so we’re going to dig pretty deep into this new gimbal, tell you how it fits in the line of all the other ones, and then if this is something that should work for you.

Unboxing and Initial Setup

Let’s talk about all the different parts and then put them together. When you get the gimbal, this is what it’s going to look like. It’s pretty cool—it’s got the auto-lock function, which we haven’t seen in a mini format. We’ve seen them before on the more pro versions, the larger ones, which means that when you turn it on, it’s going to basically unlock, and when you turn it off, it’s going to lock itself off easily. Then we have this little tripod here. I recommend that you put it in—very simple—but it’s going to help you, like these other gimbals, to be more stabilized on your work area as you set it up.

Now, when you get the gimbal out of the box, it will come with this plate right here and also the plate that you’re going to mount to your camera. This is our Panasonic S5; we’re going to be using that as an example. You’re going to mount that to the bottom of your camera, and then you’re going to slide this in. There’s only really one way that you can put it in, so you’ll find if you’re doing it the wrong way. Then you have a little wheel right here that you can turn to do a minute adjustment, and then you can lock it—just like all the other places in here where you have something that slides. We have the ability to lock it. Make sure that it is locked in place before you go any further.

Strength and Compatibility

Now, don’t be fooled by the small size of the gimbal. It is actually pretty strong—it will be able to hold 4.4 lbs, which is the same thing that we saw on the RS3 Mini, not as much as the 6.6 lbs that we see on the RS4. But there is a list of compatible cameras that are available that will work with this. Now, you can mount any camera that you want on here, obviously, but if you want to plug it in and use some of the functionalities in here that are in the camera and have the gimbal talk to the camera, then you’re going to have to make sure that it is part of the compatible list.

Now, depending on the camera that you use, you will have more or less compatibility with the settings in here. For example, on the Lumix S5, we can start and stop recording, we can change the ISO, and change the aperture, but we can’t do the autofocus. Now, we’ve tested this with several cameras, pushing it to the limit, and we finally were able to overload it by using the Blackmagic Pocket 6 that we use inside of the studio.

Balancing the Gimbal

So now I’m going to show you how to balance this thing. Now, in the interest of time, we’re going to put a link right here to the full video from DJI on how to do this. But by the time we’re done, you should have a balanced gimbal that doesn’t move around and that’s ready to be turned on. Now, let’s make sure that I did a good job. We’re going to turn on the gimbal—you can hear it, the beep—and you can see in the top right corner on the back screen that there’s a green symbol that says that the camera is balanced. You can actually tap on it, and it will show you if the motors are working a little bit more. You can see that on my roll to the left, I have a little bit of motor work, so that means that I would have to use the back right here and kind of slide it again until that goes away. I’m okay with that at the moment, so we’re going to move on.

Vertical Shooting Feature

I want to show you something really cool with this gimbal, which is the ability to mount the camera vertically. I turn it off—you notice it went into the full lock mode—and then the cool thing is, in the back right here, we can unscrew this button and then push on it. As we push on it, the whole plate comes out—not just the plate that was attached to the camera, but the whole plate comes out right here. Because look what we can do now: we can mount it—there is a hole at the bottom—and we can mount it and lock it back in place, and now our gimbal is vertical.

Now, if I turn it on right now, it’s not going to like it because it needs to be rebalanced. You need to rebalance every time that you do a new setup—this counts as a new setup. You also are going to have to move things a little bit around. You notice that here the camera touches, so that means that I have to move my camera tray right here a little bit more to the left in order to give it more room to move. And there it is. So, at the end of the day, once you’ve redone your balancing, the camera should show up right here. If you do a lot of vertical shooting, then that’s the way to do it. If you have two of these gimbals, set one up vertically, set one up horizontally, and then you have two different ways to shoot very quickly.

Using a Phone with the Gimbal

The next cool feature that we have is the ability to use a phone instead of using an actual camera. The way that you do this, you’re going to have to remove the two plates at the same time. So the way that you do this is you’re going to unlock the bottom tray here, and then you’re going to slide it out of the way. You notice I have the one that was attached to the camera and then the one that was attached to the tray right here. Then we’re going to put it back into our flat mode—horizontal mode instead of vertical mode—so here’s the tray, and we’re going to put it right here, attach it.

So technically, that’s how your gimbal works, right? And then now we’re going to take this, and we’re going to slide it in place right here, and now we can lock it. And then now we can attach our phone and clip it in here, and then now you have full control, and you can see what’s going on on the screen.

Magnetic Tracking Module

The last item I want to talk about is this tracking module—it’s a magnetic tracking module. Magnetic is the way that it mounts to this camera—there’s no screw, there’s no bolts, it’s basically just clipping right here. You notice how quickly it went, and then you squeeze on each side right here to take it off. If you put it in the wrong direction, it just won’t let you do it—the magnet just doesn’t work in that direction. What does this do? This will allow you to track someone by doing gestures, and I’m going to show you in this video how we do this in a minute.

Navigating the Menus

Let’s go ahead and talk about the menus in the back of this thing. There’s a tiny little small screen—1.4-inch LCD touchscreen—in the back, very similar if you’ve used any of the DJI gimbals in the past, at least the more recent ones. The menu hasn’t really changed all that much. Now, before we get into that, there’s a couple of buttons in the back. There’s a joystick that you can use—now, depending on how you have set up the camera, then it will either move the gimbal around, going up, going down. And yes, you can reverse these buttons so that when you push the camera up, instead of going up, the camera actually goes down. Some people like it reversed, or whatever you want to call it—inverted. It depends on your style. And then you can go left and right—you can also change the speed. I’ll show you how we change the speed of these settings.

We also have the record button—if your camera is compatible or if it’s plugged in, you’ll be able to do that. And then, on the right side, we have a PTF, PV, and FPV button. PTF means that you can move in all directions when you’re holding the camera. If you pitch down, then the camera is also going to pitch, and if you pitch up, the camera is also going to pitch. It’s going pretty slow right now because I have it set as fairly smooth, but if we also go to the left, then it’s going to go to the left. Now, if I go in this direction—you notice I reached the limits here—if I go in this direction, nothing happens. Why do I say this? Because if we move it to the bottom one, which is FPV, as I go and roll to the left and to the right, the gimbal is also going to roll. This is if you want a really immersive mode where it’s FPV—first-person view—where if you’ve ever seen drones flying in FPV mode, that’s what it is.

And then the last mode in here is called the PF mode. In PF mode, you’re going to be able to pan just like this, and then if you pitch up and down like this, nothing happens—it stays basically at the level at which you have put it. So, no pitching—just basically this pan right here. If you want to pitch up or down, then you’re going to have to use the joystick.

And then, on the left side, we have another button, which is new, I think, to the RS4 series, where we have the ability to either use the joystick for moving the camera—controlling the camera—or if we push it up, if you have a camera that can zoom, then the joystick now becomes a zoom in and zoom out as you push up and as you push down. This camera is not compatible—I don’t like using that anyway—so this is a good mode right here to be able to use it.

Touchscreen Options

On the back of the camera, on the touchscreen, there’s four different icons. The one on the top right, I mentioned already, is whether or not the gimbal is in a good state. You can click on that, and it will show you which of the motors is working as far as the balance is concerned. On the top left, we have the ability to do a calibration. If I start a calibration, it’s going to start doing this right here, which is kind of shaking to make sure that it senses if the camera is calibrated correctly. It’s going to go through that process—it takes a few seconds—and at the end of it, it’s going to give you the results. It says, “Gimbal calibration is complete.”

On the bottom left corner, we have PTF, which tells me that I’m in PTF mode. Now, if I move that switch, then it’s going to change that reading—that really is just for indication purposes; changing it is only done via the button on the side. And then we have “Smooth.” You can see when I click on Smooth, we can have “Smoother” or “Responsive”—this is how quickly the camera is going to react to things. So, I have it on Responsive now; I have it on Smooth—notice how much smoother it is. As I make a change, it takes half a second to basically move on to the next thing, whereas if I go to Responsive, it’s almost instantaneous—the camera is reacting.

And on top of it, we have the speed at which we can go. So, I can go to Medium all the way to Fast. So, if I have it on Responsive and Fast, what’s going to happen is that as soon as I move—you notice it’s pretty much one-to-one—it’s super sensitive, which means that, well, depending on the type of work that you do—let’s say you’re chasing someone that’s fighting or running, and you really want to be in the action—this is probably the best mode. Put that in FPV mode, and then in super responsive, and it’s going to do a great job. You can still go in Fast and Smooth, which means that there’s still a little bit of delay as you turn around, so it’s a little bit smoother. When I stop moving, you notice that the camera doesn’t stop immediately. So those are great modes—personally, I like it to be in Medium and Smooth, but that really depends, again, on the footage.

Hidden Menus and Settings

Next thing, we have a bunch of menus that are hidden. We can start to scroll from the bottom to the top, and you will get to the joystick settings. So, we have the joystick speed—same as me moving around here—except now it’s about the joystick. I have mine on Slow because I like to go pretty slow when it moves down. And we have the smoothness, which is—what does it do when we start pushing, and what does it do when we’re done pushing? If I have it on High as far as smoothness, you’ll notice that when I let go—you see how long it takes to slow down—this is good if you want to be extra smooth, and you don’t really care about how it ends at the very end because you have to be very precise. You have to stop at least a second before it really stops itself. So, between the joystick speed and the smoothness, you can really make it extremely smooth myself—but that’s really the term here.

And then we have the dial function—the dial is this thing right here in the back—and we can set it to different things. I’m going to plug this in—I haven’t done that yet. We’re going to plug it to the back of the gimbal—not the back of this intelligent tracking sensor here, just the back of the gimbal up here—and I’m going to plug it to the side of the camera here into my camera control. Now, what this gives me when I turn on the camera is it gives me the ability to do several things. I’ve mentioned already that the Bluetooth option is not available on this camera, so I’m not going to worry about that. But my ISO changes and gets more sensitive—or the other direction, gets less sensitive. I can also set it to aperture—same thing—you notice my aperture goes up, and my aperture comes down. I can also set it to shutter—this is not compatible with this. We can also use it on Roll—check this out, this is actually really cool—I can have the camera roll right here as I’m moving the wheel. This is really cool if you want just a tiny little bit of roll in your footage, but you don’t want it to be too pronounced, or you don’t want it to be when you roll the camera like in FPV mode. This is a great addition.

You’re going to say, “How do you go back to normal?” If you double-tap on this button in the back here, it will bring the gimbal back to its original location. We also have the ability to pan doing this—so you can pan left or right—and then another one that I like—you can go and tilt. So this means that instead of using the joystick in the back to tilt up and down, if you have it set to PF mode, for example, I can go right here, and I can use this wheel to do maybe a pan right here on these objects, and at the same time, I can pan and I can go down on my items. Now, you could do that in PTF mode as well, but here you have a lot of control over how the camera moves up and down when you know you don’t have to worry about this—this is fixed, and it doesn’t move the camera. This is the only thing that changes the pitch on the camera—so something to play with. There’s no right or wrong answer here.

And we have the dial settings in here, which is the speed of the dial button in the back here, and you can also do a reverse dial. So, for example, here I had to go to the left to pitch down—you could have it so it goes right to pitch down. I’m not going to set it up that way.

Swipe Down Menu

So that’s the swipe-up menu. We have the swipe-down menu right here, where we have a few things. The first one is top left—that’s the display. We can auto-lock the display after 30 seconds, and we have the brightness of the display—so you can change that. It’s at 50% right now—plenty visible. I’m sure if you were outside, it will be different. Then we have our Bluetooth connection—there is an ability to plug in a phone to this in order to control the camera. I’m going to show you that in a second. And then there’s also a way to connect the camera itself to the gimbal—that’s if your camera is compatible. Make sure you look at the website to find out the compatible cameras.

Bottom left corner, we have the sound option—we can turn off the sound of the gimbal. So, if you’re on set and you want to make sure that you don’t have any sound coming out of this, you can turn that off. And then, on the bottom right corner, we have various settings in here. The selfie mode is if you triple-tap—so if I do one, two, three—the camera is going to turn around. Now I can take the camera and do a Potato Jet-style video—love you, Potato Jet—and triple back again—one, two, three—triple-tap—it’s going to go—oh, double-tap, I’m sorry—it’s going to go back to the front view. Now, I could disable that from the menu right here if I didn’t want to, by accident, click three times—that’s up to you.

We also have an option here for orbit follow—this is something that was also available on the RS4—which is the ability to help you as you do an orbit around an object; the gimbal is going to help. We have autolock features in here that can go after a specific amount of time, but also how it locks—right now we have it to fold and lock—you saw that animation. We can also have it to just recenter and lock—what it’s going to do is it’s going to bring the camera back to this normal neutral position here. Personally, depending on what I’m doing, I like the fold and lock when I’m about to travel, but as far as keeping the gimbal here in place when I’m on a shoot, I would prefer to do it this way with the recenter and lock—so that’s up to you.

We also have when it goes to sleep and what it does when it goes to sleep—in this case, recenter and lock as well. The next menu in here is the push mode—this is in order to push the gimbal in place if you wanted to do this by hand. I’m going to show you an example—if I do this right now, I don’t have any of the push modes on—if I push the gimbal, it’s going to try to return to its original state. If I have it on push pan, for example, and I turn that on, I can move the gimbal to where I want it to be, and it’s going to stay in place. Same for the push tilt—I can push it and put it right here—you hold it for a split second, and then it keeps the thing in place.

Horizon Calibration

So, there’s also in here the Horizon Cal vibration—what this is is the ability to make sure that your horizon is level. This camera, for example, has a level on it—I can tell that it is actually horizontal—but if I wanted to do a bit of a calibration in the event that it was tilting a little bit to the left or to the right—it happens from time to time—then this would allow you to do it. See, it’s moving around as I’m doing the calibration, and it’s going to make sure that at the end of it, you don’t have a crooked horizon, which is a bit annoying. You can also do it by hand by just adding a couple of degrees left and right—so I can slide this—you notice how it’s tilting left or right—if you want to do a manual adjustment. I’m not going to mess with it because it is actually level right now, and I don’t want to mess up our shots.

And then we have also the gimbal auto-check option in here—it says, “Make sure that the gimbal is balanced and held stationary before starting the auto-check.” When you do confirm, what it’s going to do is—don’t touch the table—it’s going to do its little shake thing, and it’s going to make sure that the balance is done correctly on the gimbal. It’s an “auto-check complete—gimbal status is good.” We knew that because we had the green little icon on the top right corner on the main menu.

You can turn on or off auto-off right here—I have it auto-off just to save the battery—and we can restore the parameters—you know what that means. We have language, device info, firmware updates—there’s a couple more things in here that are very typical for any kind of electronic devices. So, let’s swipe back up to get back to the main menu.

Active Track Settings

Then we have our swipe from the left to the right, which is giving us the active track settings. And the first one is composition—this is really interesting here. It says “keep current framing” or “center tracking subject.” It means that when somebody gets in front of it—remember this little add-on right here is going to help us keep the camera on whatever the subject is that we’ve selected—in this case, if we keep the current framing, let’s say that your object was on the left third or the right third of the image, then it’s going to keep it there. If you have “center tracking subject” selected, then it’s going to keep the subject right in the middle.

We also have active track speed—if you’re familiar with drones, which you should be if you’re watching this channel—the active track is the same idea as what you see on your drone. So, we have it on Fast right now because we were doing some testing—somebody gets in front of the camera, moves really fast—this is also going to move really fast to follow them. Then we have the ring light—which is that little light that you see right up here—I can turn it on or off—in this case, back on.

And then to turn on this tracking—this auto-tracking—you’re going to be doing gestures. So, to start and stop, we currently have it where you put your hand up like this, and it’s going to pick you up, and then when you’re done, you’re going to put your hand up again, and it’s going to stop. And then, if you want to take a picture, you’re going to do the pie sign right here—it’s going to start capturing the footage—and you’re going to do it again, and it’s going to stop. Now, you can change that if you want to—there is the hand symbol, we have the pinching symbol, we have the peace sign—so you can pick whichever one you want in order to tell the camera what to do using gestures.

Battery Life

Let’s go ahead and talk about the battery life for this thing, which is fairly impressive for being this small—13 hours. The RS4 was 12 hours, the RS3 Mini was 10 hours. Charging time is an hour and 50 minutes, but it does have fast charging—after a 30-minute fast charge, it’s actually going to run for 5 hours. So that’s really impressive—you’re in the middle of shooting a wedding, maybe you charge that for 30 minutes, you’ve got five hours to go. If you’re using the fast charging, it will tell you on the back if you’re using the fast charging by giving you that indication straight on the back screen.

Accessories: Tracking Module and Briefcase Handle

So, one of the flashy new accessories for this gimbal is this tracking module right here, which unfortunately only comes with the combo pack. So, you have to spend a little bit more money to get to it, but it has the ability to keep a human subject in frame up to 10 meters away from this subject right here. It has the ability to do a continuous pan rotation—it can rotate 360° with the subject while it’s tracking it. And the cool thing about it is that there’s no need for a cable—it really just connects directly using that connection pin at the bottom right here when you do the magnet attachment.

Another cool accessory that we have is this briefcase handle—this is also available in the combo pack. It comes with the ability to mount anything with a cold shoe right here—there’s two of them on each side. You could technically mount the receiver for a microphone—DJI mic—and then you could put the transmitter for the DJI mic right here. And as you mount this to your gimbal, then you would be able to hold the gimbal and also talk at the same time right here into the microphone—so a really neat little update. Also, I appreciate the touch where there’s a hole right here to put the USB cable to go and connect it directly without having to remove this handle. And then there’s a quarter-20 right here as well if you want to add a rosette or anything additional.

This briefcase handle—you can change the angle of it depending on how you like to hold it—so very, very useful. You can also put this little tripod right here at the bottom if you needed to, or attach a tripod head or whatever it is that you want to add right here. But yeah, very, very useful—like I said, only comes in the additional pack. This is also very useful if you want to do something very low to the ground, and you want to really get down right here and hold the camera without having to just hold it from the main grip—that’s a great way to do it. So, like I said, only comes in the combo pack, unfortunately.

Using the DJI App

Another cool thing that we’ve seen with other gimbals from DJI is the ability to use the app on a phone right here to control the gimbal from a distance. This is very useful if you want to be kind of behind the scenes controlling and you don’t want to be just right next to the gimbal. The way that you do this is you’re going to have to find your gimbal—RS4 Mini in our case—and then find it in the list. Once it’s turned on and you have your Bluetooth turned on, it should show up on that list. You can click on it—it will connect—and then we have the ability to do different things.

Starting from the top, it says “Create,” and when you create, this is where you have access to some controls. The virtual joystick here is pretty cool because you have the ability to use this bottom joystick and move the camera around—you notice as I go left, as I go right, I go up, I go down—and it tells you where the camera is kind of located at this point in time. We can also do the roll using the bar that’s right on top of it—it rolls left, it rolls right—and you can push “Recenter” to bring the camera back. Obviously, you can change the speed and smoothness on each of the axes, which is really cool because if you want to do something that’s really nice and smooth, you can dial this in right here before you start recording.

We can do the “Force Mobile”—I really like this one as well—so we’re going to have to enable Force Mobile to get started. So, watch what I’m doing—I’m going to keep the phone right here, I’m going to have it vertical, kind of on the same plane as this gimbal, and I’m going to push Force Mobile right here. And now, when I rotate in one direction—pan—it pans. I can go down and up, and in some cases do the roll—you notice it says zero on the roll right now. If I bring the roll on each axis, then I can fully control the camera—so this is really cool and very responsive. Look at the speed at which it’s doing it—and you can do different speeds again—pan, tilt, and roll—and then you can also change the smoothness if you wanted to. So, if I wanted to do a tilt that’s a bit smoother and the roll that’s a bit smoother, then I can do that—you notice that as I stop, it takes a few seconds to also stop. This is really cool—it’s always fun to play with. I haven’t really found a way to use it in real life, but it is something that’s available. When you’re done, basically just get out of this or turn off—unclick that button—you’ll be ready to go.

Panorama and Time-Lapse Features

The next thing that’s really cool is the Panorama function. Now, this is really useful if you are doing photography and you wanted to just take a couple of shots. You can set the sensor in here—it will help it to know how many pictures it needs to take to put everything together—focal length, overlap, how much overlap you want between the different things, and then the interval between taking all these pictures. And what you notice in here is we have the ability to grab the corner—so if I grab the corner all the way to the left—notice what the camera is doing—we have 180 degrees. And let me bring it down so to really explain how this works—180 degrees, the camera is now facing me. I can go to right in the front right here—the camera is facing you right in front of me—and I can go all the way to the right at 180 degrees, and it comes back to me. So, if I set my endpoints to be at negative 180 and positive 180, then it would be doing a full 360 degrees. Same thing for the top—I can bring the camera all the way 90° to the top at 0 degrees—think about it like latitude and longitude—and then we can bring the camera all the way down to a 45° angle down right here.

So, if I wanted to do a panoramic that’s 360 and that goes 90 degrees up and 45 degrees down, then I would select the entire area right here, and then now the camera would take that picture. You notice as I’m moving this, that little yellow icon is the camera and where the camera is actually pointing in space—so this helps you really to figure out. And you can also move it by hand—so you can maybe go like right here, select that corner, and you can say, “Okay, that’s my bottom left corner.” Then I can click on the top right corner and bring that top right corner down, and I can say, “Okay, this is my endpoint right here for the camera for my panorama.” Oops—let’s just bring the camera down towards it right here—there you go. And now it’s going to be able to take this panoramic—it’s going to do 4×3, 12 pictures total—and then we’ll be able to put it together in our software.

I can go back—I can do a time-lapse—same exact idea here with the time-lapse. You can set where you want the camera to move and by how many degrees by creating different points. And then we also have the ability to do a track—this is the same idea as the time-lapse except we can set different points on the app here. So, I’m going to do—let’s do it this way—I’m going to bring the camera—I wanted to start right here—I’m going to push the plus button—that’s my Waypoint number one. I wanted to then go to Waypoint number two right here, and then I wanted to go up to Waypoint number three right up here. I can go back to Waypoint number one and it says stay there for two seconds—okay. Waypoint number two—how long did it take to go between one and two? Let’s make it pretty quick—let’s make it one second—and then we’re going to stay there for two seconds again. And then let’s say we want to go pretty slow—let’s say we take five seconds to go to the next point—and then let’s do a preview. So, it starts down here, takes one second to go there, and then another five seconds right here—you notice it didn’t do the wait between each of them. But if you had a shot that you want to do over and over and over again, this is a great way to do it because it will just keep repeating, and then you can be the subject on the film that does whatever.

Game Controller Integration

And the last thing that we have is really cool—we can use the game controller here. It’s very simple—you would have to get a PS4 controller or an Xbox controller—this is a cheap knockoff PS4 controller—and once you turn on the controller, you have to use Bluetooth on your phone to connect it, and then you’ll be able to control the gimbal. The rest of the options in here are pretty straightforward—the balance tests we’ve talked about, the motor parameters is what you see in the back of the screen. The user profile is also pretty useful if you want to have specific modes—if you want to, you have the ability in the back of the camera here with the M button to change between those different modes once you have them configured. This is helpful if you have a mode where it’s “Run and Gun” really fast—like a fighting scene—or if you want to do something a lot smoother—like having it on the jib, for example—so up to you how you want to set those up. And then there’s a final status of the gimbal itself—these are, like I said, pretty standard if you’ve ever used this line of gimbals from DJI—this is something that you’ve seen.

Pricing and Final Thoughts on the DJI RS4 Mini Gimbal

Let’s talk about the cost of this gimbal—$369 for the standalone kit—that includes the gimbal, the quick-release plate that we talked about, the mini tripod, the L-shaped multi-camera control cable—we also have a USB-C charging cable—and then one screw kit. And the combo kit—$459—that’s going to add the intelligent tracking module right here as well as the briefcase handle.

Now, overall, I think this is a great gimbal that has a lot of great use cases. If you want to spend a bit more money, here’s a video right here on the RS4, which may give you a little bit more power. Let us know what you think in the comments—if you’re going to get one, if this is something for you. I hope you appreciated it, and we’ll see you in the next video.

Specifications Comparison

So, let’s jump right into it and take a look at the specs of these drones, including flight time, which I know is one of the most important things for people when they buy a drone. The DJI Flip comes in at 31 minutes—now, granted, this is the advertised flight time.

The Mini 4 Pro comes with two different batteries: 34 minutes for the small battery and 45 minutes for the larger one, giving the advantage in this case to the Mini 4 Pro. As far as weight, the Mini 4 Pro is 249 grams, plus or minus a few grams—actually, minus a few grams in most cases—with the small battery. If you have the big battery, it’s going to be 280 grams, which, keep in mind, if you’re a recreational pilot, means you have to register the drone. If you’re a 第 107 部分 operator, you have to register these drones regardless.

As far as connectivity going into the controller, both use OcuSync 4.0, so no changes here. Same for the speed: 36 mph maximum speed, so no difference there either. As far as sensors, we have a little more sophistication in the Mini 4 Pro, where you’re using different sensors for forward detection and two in the back for rear sensing as well. With the Flip, we only have forward sensing, which doesn’t use cameras—it actually uses a laser sensor instead.

Real-World Performance

Now, as always when we do these kinds of reviews, we put these drones to the test in a real-world environment. Keep in mind we were at high altitude when we tested them. For the Mini 4 Pro, the equivalent altitude was 7,500 feet; it was 6,900 feet for the Flip—a little bit less. What we found is that total flight time for the Mini 4 Pro was 23 minutes and 31 seconds with the small battery, while the Flip clocked in at 25 minutes and 59 seconds, so the Flip won with the same type of battery.

Obviously, with the bigger battery, we were able to get 34 minutes and 34 seconds on the Mini 4 Pro—not an option available with the Flip. As far as noise, they’re very similar: 70 decibels from the distance we measured, the same distance for both drones. I do have to say the Flip has a slightly different noise profile—it’s a little deeper. The Mini 4 Pro is actually very quiet when it starts to get to a higher altitude. Obviously, we’re not comparing this to the Avata, which has one of the most annoying sounds we’ve seen in any drone.

Camera Capabilities

As far as the cameras in the front, you’re not really losing anything with either drone. Both have a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor—I’ll get to the photos in a second to show you the difference. The aperture is fixed at f/1.7, same for both. As far as video quality, what we find is that both drones are capable of 4K at 60 frames per second, which is pretty standard these days, and 1080p at 60 frames per second as well. The big difference here is that on the Mini 4 Pro, the camera physically rotates to give you a 9:16 format, which we can do at 4K 60 because it’s the same camera—it just rotates. On the DJI Flip, we’re limited to 2.7K in the 9:16 format because the camera doesn’t move, meaning the image is cropped. I do believe this is a big advantage for the Mini 4 Pro if you’re doing a lot of content for social media—I think the footage looks a lot better because you have the full image, not a cropped sensor. So, the Flip is limited to 2.7K at 30 frames per second and 1080p at 30 frames per second in that 9:16 format.

Both drones are capable of slow motion, which is a different mode: 4K at 100 frames per second. The Mini 4 Pro also has the ability to do 1080p at 200 frames per second. As far as color modes, they’re very similar—Normal mode and D-Log M for both, so if you like shooting in Log, you’ll be able to do this. We’ll show you some footage in a second. The advantage with the Mini 4 Pro is that it also supports HLG, so if you’re a fan of HLG and that’s part of your workflow, this will work better for you.

Image Quality Assessment

As far as image quality on these two, they’re really similar. I don’t know if I’m specifically partial to the Mini 4 Pro just because I own one and have flown it a bunch, but I do think they’re very close. I was actually surprised that the Flip’s quality is almost as good as the Mini 4 Pro’s. I do think maybe for me the Mini 4 Pro seems just a tad better, perhaps in dynamic range, but in some comparison videos I’ve seen, I lean toward it. Again, I might be biased toward the Mini 4 Pro, but it’s pretty impressive how close the Flip gets to the quality you get in the Mini 4 Pro for less cost. They do have the same sensor, but I noticed the Flip’s images were a little magenta-tinted and didn’t show as deep greens as the Mini 4 Pro. I have a feeling it’s the backend processing built into the drone. Even though the sensor sizes are exactly the same, you still need computing power to get a good image, and I think the Mini 4 Pro has a little more on the photo side.

There are a lot of similarities here—burst, panoramic, all different formats can be done on both. As far as zoom, the Flip can do 2x, 3x, and 4x digital zoom, while the Mini 4 Pro can only do 2x digital. I don’t know that that’s a big deal—I hate using digital zoom unless I’m really looking for something specific, but it’s not something I’d use in my footage.

Intelligent Features

Both drones can do Master Shots. If you’re not familiar, this is the ability to record cool footage of an object—you let the drone fly, and it makes a little video at the end. This is great if you’re looking to get some creative flows going. As far as Quick Shots—Dronie, Helix, Rocket, Circle, Boomerang—all of these are available. The only difference is that, interestingly, the Flip can do Spotlight, and the Mini 4 Pro can do Asteroids. Neither drone overlaps on these two Quick Shots.

As far as intelligent flight modes, in addition to Quick Shots, we have Master Shots available on both. We also have Hyperlapse and Panorama on both. The big advantage for the Mini 4 Pro is that it can do Waypoints—not something we can do on the Flip. Both have Active Track, the ability to follow an object. On the Hyperlapse side, they offer Free, Circle, Course Lock, and Waypoint modes within the Hyperlapse functionality, and both have the same options.

Pricing Details

Now, let’s talk about pricing because I know this is important for a lot of you, as it should be. The Flip was designed to be a category below the Mini 4 Pro, so it is cheaper. The drone-only option, which is only available with the Flip, is $439. If you already have a controller sitting around, it’s a great deal—you can just buy the drone and use an existing controller.

You can also buy it with the RC2 (the controller with the screen) for $639. Of course, at the time of recording this, those prices might change in the future. The Mini 4 Pro comes at a premium: $759 with the RCN2 (the controller without the screen—you’ll have to use your cell phone). With the RC2, it’s $959. With the Flip, it’s $1,099 with the RCN2 (the lower model controller) and an additional $6 if you want to upgrade to the RC2.

Quite frankly, if you have the budget, the RC2 controller is probably my favorite. For the bang for the buck, it’s such a great package—you have everything in one, and you can be up in the air in no time. I don’t work for DJI, but this is just a great controller. If you want extra batteries, they’re $65 for both drones’ small batteries. The bigger battery for the Mini 4 Pro is $95 instead of $65.

Camera Chart Testing

We love to put our drones to the test using a camera chart, and this is where it becomes very valuable. We zoom in on different parts of the chart. If you’re not familiar with it, this is what our camera chart looks like. We start with 12 megapixels and then move to 48 right after that. We tend to pick portions of the chart that push the sensor to its limits. What we find, looking at the chart, is that these two sensors—remember, they’re the same size and have the same aperture—produce results that are very much the same. It looks like we could have swapped the SD cards, and the result would have been nearly identical. As we go toward 3200 ISO, it starts to get a bit more pixelated and noisy, which isn’t the case at ISO 100.

There’s one part of the camera chart that all drones usually struggle with: a square at the bottom in the middle with a black-and-white pattern that creates a lot of chromatic aberration. What we noticed is that when we tested the Mini 4 Pro initially, it performed the best, especially on that part of the chart, and it still does. We did the testing at the same time with the same lighting for both drones, and the Mini 4 Pro did better. Why? I don’t know—it’s the same sensor size, same aperture, and seems like the same sensor in every other way, but it just performed better in this case.

On the 48-megapixel side, we notice things we’ve seen before: at 48 megapixels compared to 12 megapixels, the image quality is better all the way up to ISO 800. ISO 1600 and 3200 typically perform better at 12 megapixels, which I think has to do with the number of pixels being utilized and the heating that develops from that. In general, if you’re using anything between ISO 100 to 800—which should be the majority of your flights—I recommend using the 48-megapixel camera.

When comparing the two cameras from the two drones, we see the same results as before: both cameras have the same issues in the same areas of the pictures. That’s not surprising because I believe it’s a very similar, if not exactly the same, sensor. Again, the Mini 4 Pro did better on that one specific portion of the camera chart—I can’t explain it, but it is what it is. I don’t know that in real life it would translate to that big of a difference.

Video Comparison: DJI Flip vs Mini 4 Pro

Now, let’s take a look at a video comparison. We used the same settings in the same area on the same day, flown back-to-back, to show you exactly what the footage looks like. I’ll let you decide what you think is the better footage and if one warrants more money than the other. Let me know in the comments!

Flying Regulations and Wind Performance

I do need to talk about flying over people, Remote ID, and these things because these are questions we get all the time. Both of these drones are not—I repeat, are not—Category 1 compliant with the FAA. For the Flip, the reason is it doesn’t have Remote ID internally. Otherwise, everything would work—it has prop guards, it’s sub-250 grams, and it would be perfect. DJI decided not to include Remote ID, which means you’d have to add a module, taking it over 250 grams. You can argue with me in the comments whether DJI was right or wrong—it doesn’t matter; it’s not Category 1 compliant. The Mini 4 Pro isn’t Category 1 compliant either because it doesn’t have prop guards natively. As soon as we add prop guards, it goes over 249 grams—same story.

The bottom line is you can apply with the FAA if you’re a Part 107 operator and certified. You can apply for a waiver because these drones, with all equipment, are sub-400 grams, which is the limit where the FAA requires a parachute. It’s fairly easy to get—we have a video here talking about all this information.

Something else I want to mention, because there’s a big difference between the two: the Flip does not do well in the wind. It’s terrible compared to the Mini 4 Pro. Hyperlapses are one area where we tested this a bunch, and the Flip doesn’t seem to perform very well compared to the Mini 4 Pro—it just doesn’t handle wind as well. So, if you’re flying in a windy environment on a regular basis, you’ll definitely want to pick the Mini 4 Pro.

Final Thoughts

My preference would be the Mini 4 Pro for sure, but I could definitely see myself picking up the Flip. It’s a little cheaper, and there are some great controller options you can pair it with. Whatever you decide—if you want to spend a few extra hundred dollars on the Mini 4 Pro or stick with something cheaper with the Flip—I don’t think you can go wrong with either. Let me know what you think in the comments, and we’ll see you in the next 视频!

This week marks 300 consecutive weeks of news updates. We haven’t missed a single Friday since I started doing this. While I missed a couple when the team filled in during vacations or illness, I want to say a big thank you for tuning in and making this possible. We get tremendous feedback everywhere we go that you watch and appreciate these updates. I started this to keep my students informed about 无人机行业 developments, but it turned out to be much more than that. It has also helped me maintain a good pulse on industry trends.

Growth and Achievements

To share how we’ve grown over the years:

• Over 390,000 students (approaching 400,000 in the next month)
• Over 115,000 第 107 部分 course participants
• 48 drone courses in our catalog
• Shipped over 50,000 remote drone stickers to the community
• Issued 6,300 FAA Wings credits on the FAA safety website
• 258,000 信任 certificates issued

We’re moving into a new facility soon, where we’ll begin offering more services, including in-person training.

Drone Industry News

Wingcopter Introduces New LiDAR Unit

At Geo Week, Wingcopter released a LiDAR unit for its Wingcopter 198. According to the press release, the Wingcopter 198 can survey over 37 miles of linear infrastructure in a single flight while carrying a 10-pound payload. The system achieves a point cloud density of 570 points per square meter, with 10mm sensor accuracy and 5mm precision in approximately 42 minutes of flight time. The LiDAR can scan 2,560 acres in a single flight.

Baltimore Man Faces Federal Charges

A Baltimore man was arrested after allegedly flying a drone over M&T Bank Stadium earlier this year. The NFL paused the game in the third quarter when the drone, allegedly belonging to Alex Perez-Suarez, was spotted flying approximately 400 feet over the stadium. The drone allegedly took seven pictures before flying away.

Alex faces three federal charges: flying into restricted airspace, operation of an unregistered drone, and operation of an aircraft without an airman certificate, and willful violation of national defense airspace.

PYKA Announces Pelican 2

PYKA announced the introduction of the Pelican 2 in the 美国. This large fixed-wing spray drone is designed for crop dusting. The Pelican 2 features a 300L capacity, hot-swappable batteries, LiDAR, and radar, with a price point of $550,000. According to PYKA, the Pelican is the largest drone authorized to operate in the United States.

Skyebrowse Updates Indoor Mapping

Skyebrowse announced a major update to their indoor mapping processing. According to the press release, the new processing method uses AI to verify that individual rooms have been processed correctly. This verification allows for additional speed, clarity, and accuracy in the model. Skyebrowse offers 3D mapping software that uses video instead of traditional photos for 3D models. Their lowest tier is free, with additional options available for professional needs.

Join us later today for happy hour in the community. The live Q&A is back on schedule Monday, now that I’m back in the office, and we’ll have Post-Flight on Monday in the Premium Community as well.

Understanding the ANPRM

The Department of Commerce recently released an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule Making (ANPRM) focused on drones and drone security. ANPRM is a fancy acronym signaling that they’re about to propose a new rule and want your input first. Essentially, they’ve posed a series of questions to prepare for rulemaking. To clarify, this ANPRM doesn’t propose rules yet—it’s a precursor to a future Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Both large and small industry members need to answer as many questions as possible. You wouldn’t want a lobbying group from Arlington, Virginia, who’ve never seen a drone up close, deciding what’s best for you and your business, right? So, how do you share your opinion? Glad you asked.

How to Submit Your Comments

You can submit a comment to the ANPRM, and it’s straightforward. The ANPRM has 50 questions, but not all apply to drone operators. We’ve selected the 11 most relevant ones for U.S. operators to answer. Let’s 评论 them, offering pointers to formulate your responses. We’re not telling you what to say or providing copy-paste answers—those are ineffective, as identical comments get counted as one. Stick to the questions in the document; off-topic opinions may lead to your comment being discarded.

I reviewed posted comments, and sadly, many don’t address the questions and will be disregarded. If you’ve submitted one, double-check it after this guide. Joining me is Vic Moss from the Drone Service Providers Alliance (DSPA), an industry veteran, small business owner, and drone operator. Vic will assist with the first question. Grab your favorite word processor—let’s get started.

Question 8: Threats Posed by ICTs

Vic: The first question we chose is number 8. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) identified threats from transactions involving information and communication technologies and services (ICTs) internal to UAS with a nexus to 中国 或 俄罗斯. “Nexus” means a connection or link. Has BIS fully captured and articulated these threats? If not, what additional threats should BIS consider? This asks if threats are identified adequately or if more exist. BIS lists threats like manufacturers engineering vulnerabilities, exploiting existing ones, or pushing malicious updates to compromise UAS without owners’ knowledge, or implementing no-fly restrictions to disable UAS in conflict zones. If you disagree, state that BIS hasn’t articulated threats well. Reference Section 1709 of the latest National Defense Authorization Act, which mandates a security audit of Autel and DJI within 12 months. If threats exist, they’ll be addressed; if not, none need addressing. Malicious updates or no-fly restrictions require internet connectivity, which isn’t mandatory for flying—most don’t connect. DJI’s recent geozone update nationwide shows they’ve relaxed, not tightened, geofencing.

Question 11: Trade-Offs of Prohibiting Resale or Rental

Question 11: What are the potential trade-offs of a rule prohibiting the resale or rental in the U.S. of UAS or components designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by, owned by, controlled by, or subject to a foreign adversary’s jurisdiction? This is straightforward. If you own a recreational or prosumer drone and want to upgrade, explain how this would affect your hobby or business. Note there are no non-Chinese consumer or prosumer drones available—American manufacturers don’t produce them. For FPV pilots, builders, or model aircraft flyers, losing access to Chinese components leaves few options. Suggest a supply-and-demand study to assess alternative suppliers before an immediate ban, which could severely impact the industry and economy.

Question 15: Data Collection Capabilities

Question 15: What are the general data collection capabilities of UAS? What is the level of aggregation and scale of data they collect on persons, entities, geography, and infrastructure? Emphasize that off-the-shelf UAS in the U.S., for fun or business, mostly use RGB sensors for photos and videos. Specialized drones may have infrared or chemical-sniffing capabilities. Most fly 30–40 minutes, collecting data stored on the drone—not aggregated by it. Aggregation requires transferring data to a computer and processing it with software. Clarify drones can’t measure heartbeats or perform facial recognition.

Question 23: Sensors in Critical Industries

Question 23: Which sensors in or on a UAS are typically used in critical industries (e.g., agriculture, chemical, construction, energy, telecommunication)? All sensors collect data—that’s why we fly drones with them. Every drone has connection capability via radio waves for control, per FAA’s 14 CFR 第 107 部分.9 requiring a pilot in command. Stress that connection and data transmission differ—data is stored onboard, internally, or on removable devices like SD cards.

Question 27: Software Applications on Phones or Tablets

Question 27: How often are UAS operation-related software applications installed on a user’s phone or tablet? What policies govern their access to other phone information? Explain if you use a phone or tablet. I use controllers with built-in screens, avoiding internet or cellular connections. If you use a phone, note if it’s in local data mode (e.g., DJI’s feature) or airplane mode, and whether it transmits. Does the app share location services with other apps? Check user agreements. If using a smart controller (e.g., RC Pro, Autel), specify it’s not phone-based or connected to Wi-Fi/cellular.

Question 28: Systems Used Off Mobile Networks

Question 28: What systems, sensors, or equipment do UAS and operators use when not navigating or storing data over mobile networks? This question reflects confusion about data handling. Explain your process: data is stored on an SD card onboard, then transferred to a computer directly—never via a mobile or Wi-Fi network. Simplify it for non-tech-savvy readers. Some assume internet is required to fly, which isn’t true.

Question 29: Internet and Data Handling

Question 29: Similar to 28, but mentions “internet” instead of “mobile networks.” We don’t need internet to fly, despite misconceptions. Be professional—don’t show frustration. No data is transmitted via the internet during operation.

Question 31: Data Storage

Question 31: Where is data stored on the physical UAS? How long is it stored on and off the UAS? Data resides on an SD card or internal memory until deleted. Off the UAS, it’s stored wherever you choose until no longer needed. Share any personal retention policies.

Question 47: Anti-Competitive Effects

Question 47: What anti-competitive effects may result from regulating transactions involving foreign adversary ICTs integral to UAS? How can they be mitigated? A ban on Chinese drones reduces offerings, raising prices and costing taxpayers more for public safety. No consumer drones are non-Chinese—small businesses and recreational users rely on them. The GAO report notes BLM and NPS lack drones for 星星火 management, shifting to riskier, costlier helicopters, and FWS canceled a restoration project post-Swan Lake fire. DJI will innovate globally, leaving the U.S. behind technologically. Minimal incentive exists for others to improve if top products are banned.

Question 49: Economic Impact

Question 49: What additional economic impact to U.S. businesses or the public might result from such regulations? Make it personal. If a first responder, explain how losing reliable equipment affects saving lives. If a fire captain, note impacts on infrared drone use in smoky conditions. For hobbyists, detail effects on your passion. The more personal, the better.

Question 50: Minimizing Costs

Question 50: What actions can BIS take to minimize costs to U.S. businesses or the public? A buyback program for Chinese drones to fund American replacements assumes viable alternatives exist—they don’t. Suggest redirecting the 25% tariff on Chinese drones (currently to the general fund) to support U.S. manufacturers, reducing costs.

Submitting Your Response

Start with a brief background on your UAS experience. Copy-paste each question number and text, answering clearly below it. Create a PDF and email it to the address provided in the description, including “RN 0694-AJ72” in the subject line. Submit by March 4, 2025. For more details, see the DSPA article linked below.

Good luck!

Drone Operator Charged for Hitting Super Scooper

Peter Tripp Akemann of Culver City, 加利福尼亚州, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an unmanned aircraft. On January 9th, a drone hit a Canadair CL-415, also known as the Super Scooper, damaging a 3-inch by 6-inch portion of the leading edge of the wing. Several drone parts were found inside the wing after aircraft maintainers discovered the damage.

The aircraft, on loan from the Canadian government, was operating over Los Angeles in response to wildfires. Investigators traced the parts to a specific drone, leading them to Akemann. According to the plea agreement, Akemann admitted to reckless operation and posing an imminent safety hazard. He has agreed to pay restitution to the government of Quebec for the damage, estimated at approximately $65,000, and to complete 150 hours of community service.

Akemann attorney mentioned several mitigating factors, including Akemann reliance on DJI’s geofencing safeguard feature and its failure. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Unusual Machines to Acquire Aloft Technologies

Unusual Machines will acquire Aloft Technologies in a $14.5 million deal. The acquisition is dependent on stockholder approval and financial audits. We expect the Aloft team to continue providing the best possible drone experience and to support Aware. Congratulations to the team!

Philly YouTuber Settles in Court for Alleged Illegal Flights

Michael DiCiurcio, a Philly YouTuber, has settled in court for alleged illegal drone flights. DiCiurcio has been under FAA scrutiny for several years due to operating drones over people, in fog and clouds, and above 400 feet. Initially, the FAA proposed an $182,000 fine, but DiCiurcio allegedly continued unsafe operations.

As part of the court settlement, DiCiurcio agrees never to operate any UAS within the 美国 nor seek any certification or licenses to operate a UAS. He has also removed his YouTube channel, Philly Drone Life, and surrendered his drones to the 美国政府. Any breach of these terms will result in an immediate $110,000 fine.

Numerous Drone Bills in State Legislatures

Several drone bills are currently in state legislatures. We encourage you to contact your local representative through the Drone Advocacy Alliance website if these bills affect your area. Here is a summary of the bills:

• Connecticut: SB 00003 is expected to be similar to a defeated bill from last year regarding drone restrictions.
• Kansas: Proposed legislation for a drone ban based on country of origin concerns.
• Massachusetts: HD 79 imposes restrictions on procuring and using drones based on country of origin.
• Missouri: HB 210 and two additional bills aim to impose restrictions on the purchase and use of drones based on country of origin.
• 新泽西州: A270 and S 3483 prevent public safety use of DJI drones and impose additional restrictions.
• Nebraska: LB660 seeks to impose restrictions on certain drones unless they are on a newly created list of secure drones.
• North Dakota: HB 1038 adds funding to a UAS test site and sets up a grant program to replace certain drones with more expensive alternatives.
• Oklahoma: SB 488 prevents drone purchases unless they are on an approved list.
• Virginia: HB 2038 mandates a list of approved drones for public safety agencies based on cybersecurity risk assessments.
• Washington: SB 5302 prevents the acquisition and use of drones based on their manufacturing origin.

If you live in one of these states, please reach out to your state legislature. Join us later today for happy hour in the community on Friday. There will not be a live Q&A on Monday due to travel, but a post-flight update will be posted in the premium community. See you then!

DJI Mavic 4 Leaks

First up this week, more DJI Mavic 4 leaks, which I know a lot of people are waiting for. The rumors include a change in the three-camera setup with a 1x camera that would have an aperture of f/2.0, a 2.5x instead of the 3x we’ve seen before with an f/2.0 as well, and then lastly a 6x instead of a 5x zoom to finish the whole package.

Now, the 1x and the 2.5x are rumored to have D-Log, while the 6x does not look like it has it. Other leaks include images of the upper body plastic, which appears to show either a port on the top or possibly a built-in light.

We’re slowly getting better and better pictures, so we might be getting closer to an actual release. The current rumored release is April, but we may actually see it a little bit sooner.

White House Press Conference NJ Drones

Next up, the White House had a press conference about the New Jersey drones this week. During the press conference, it was stated that after research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons.

Currently, it’s unclear what the other reasons are and how many of the reported drone sightings were truly drones and how many were actually airplanes. Hopefully, this is the end of this and puts an end to this whole saga.

Drone Help Save Skier in Colorado

Last up, Colorado Police used a drone to guide a skier down to safety. The skier became lost and had trouble navigating back to the trailhead. The Summit County Sheriff’s Office used a drone to maintain line of sight with the skier and assist them with navigating back to the trailhead. This operation saved the backcountry rescue team from deploying, which would have resulted in a multi-hour operation with 4-6 ground team members trekking to the last known position. So a great job on Summit County’s part. Glad to see drones being used for good.

Join us later today for the happy hour in the community. We also have a live Q&A on Monday on YouTube, and then Postflight, which is available in the premium community on Monday. We’ll see you then.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​