If you’ve ever considered the option to shoot with your drone on the ground while holding it with your bare hands hence taking advantage of its onboard camera gimbal capabilities, you’re not alone. In the video below US-based videographer Ed Ricker shows off how you can utilize one of the coolest accessories for the DJI Mavic Pro currently available out there – the Katana Mavic Tray. If you have never heard of that excellent piece of gear before, you’ve just come to the right place as this is your chance to get to grips with it right off the bat.
In a nutshell, the Katana Mavic Tray turns your Mavic Pro drone into a handheld stabilized camera system. With its lightweight and compact design, the device offers comfortable handgrips alongside a rubber grip for your phone located on top. To install the Mavic Tray, you should take off the propellers of your Mavic Pro first and set the drone to the available WiFi mode afterward. You can find your Mavic Pro WiFi password on the arm of the UAV itself or inside its battery compartment.
Then you should put the harness around the Mavic, thread the harness into the tray, line the crossbar just behind the battery button and install the phone clamp at last. The latter can accommodate a wide variety of smartphones including those with a large form factor such as the iPhone 7 Plus with a case.
Once you have installed the Mavic Tray and mounted your smartphone, you can switch on the Mavic Pro while holding it steady and level until it calibrates. Then connect your phone to its WiFi signal, open up the DJI Go app and you’re set to go. Keep in mind, though, that the compass of your Mavic Pro might give you some error messages due to the metal components of the Katana Tray, but you can safely ignore them while using the Mavic Pro on the ground.
Furthermore, if you want to tilt the gimbal of the Mavic Pro while shooting, you can press the screen of your phone and control it with a finger. Since Mavic Pro won’t be very effective while dealing with the vertical movements during walking, you should try to move as steady as possible to get the smoothest results. Nevertheless, the camera will follow when you turn while filming. A quick tip is to use this setup on a long board or another moving vehicle for optimal results.
Overall, the Katana Mavic Tray is a fantastic piece of equipment that can make your Mavic Pro even more versatile filmmaking tool, thus allowing you to film with the drone on places where you are typically not allowed to, especially when it comes to flying. So, if you don’t have any other handheld gimbal at your disposal, but you already do own the Mavic Pro, then the Katana Mavic Tray is apparently an accessory you don’t want to miss out by not taking the chance to give it a spin.
[source: Ed Ricker Vlogs]
B&H Order Links:
Polar Pro Katana Tray System for DJI Mavic Quadcopter
Amazon US Order Link:
Polar Pro Katana Tray System for DJI Mavic Quadcopter
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