FPV for the masses is a whole lot of fun, but it’s still not first-person view flying as we know it unless you’re an expert pilot.
DJI has opened up drones to a whole new audience. And its latest model, the DJI Avata, has once again taken a complex form of flying camera – the FPV (or first-person view) drone – and made it approachable for beginners. But does this mean the DJI Avata is right for you? After spending several hours with it, I still think it has a steep learning curve that potential buyers should be aware of.
What is an FPV drone? They differ from standard flying cameras like the DJI Mini 3 Pro by giving their headset-wearing pilots an on-board view from the drone. This brings benefits (more precise flying, an immersive flying experience), but also challenges like latency issues and complex controls. The DJI Avata is a so-called ‘cinewhoop’ drone, which is an FPV sub-genre that’s focused more on shooting cinematic videos than racing.
Thanks to the inclusion of GPS and downward-facing sensors, the Avata is pretty versatile flying machine. When flying in Normal and Sport modes, it can behave like a standard camera drone that’s pretty easy to fly. But its main skill is shooting FPV-style videos where the camera is locked on the horizontal axis, which helps it capture immersive footage that makes the pilot (and viewer) almost feel like they’re flying.
For those with a bit more experience, the Avata can also be flown in Manual (or ‘Acro’) mode. It’s this mode that unleashes true FPV flight. But only if you know how to use this extremely strange and difficult-to-learn flight mode.
Unfortunately, this isn’t possible if you’re starting from scratch, as the two Avata kits only come with DJI’s supposedly beginner-friendly Motion Controller, which works using gestures like tilting the controller to turn, ascend and descend.
To fly in ‘acro’ mode, you’ll need to buy the DJI FPV Controller 2 separately. But whichever controller you go for, expect to put in a lot of hours before you can start thinking about shooting cinematic FPV videos like the ones in DJI’s promos.
You’ve probably seen DJI’s slick marketing videos for the Avata that have been gracing social media recently, like the one below.
In these, drone pilots take control of the Avata in stunning locations around the world using the Motion Controller and the accompanying footage looks wonderful.
