In February 2018 I visited Chile and Argentina. Basically we did a road trip, starting off in Iquique, in the very north of the country and travelled all the way south to the capital Santiago, crossing the Andes Mountains to northern Argentina and back again further south. This journey was characterized by hostile environments such as deserts, high mountain passes, rain forest and dusty plains. Always with me on this journey: my little DJI Spark.
The drone
My aircraft of choice was the little DJI Spark with the remote cotroller. Compared to its bigger brothers in DJI's consumer lineup, such as the DJI Mavic or the even bigger DJI Phantom series, the Spark is really compact - this however, has its price. Despite its limitations, there are some unique selling points that give this little guy considerable advantage over the other drones on the market:
The good:
Price: I got a pretty decent deal on it used, after the DJI Mavic Air came out. For around 400 Euros, you can now get very good quality areal videos and 12 megapixel stills.
Size: The DJI Spark is fairly small and in the standard carrying case that comes with it, it fits well into every backpack, also non-photography ones. Moreover it looks like a toy and doesn't draw as much attention as a bigger drone.
Weight: At just 300 grams, it is not only light in your bag but it also makes it easier to get flight permissions as many countries have less restrictive rules and regulations for aircrafts of that weight.
USB charging!! - This is one of the spark's biggest benefits. The DJI Spark is currently the only drone on the market which allows USB charging (including the Mavic Air). This means you can charge the drone without a bulky charging station and you can charge it on the go, using a power bank.
The bad:
only 1080p recording at 30 fps (compared to 4K and variable frame rates in the Mavic and Phantom series)
2-axis gimbal (3rd axis is digital, while the bigger drones all have 3-axis gimbals, resulting in smoother footage)
The ugly:
Fixed video profile, leaving very limited options for post production and colour grading
Only 12-14 min of actual flying time per charge
DJI Spark high altitude flying test: At 4200 meters the air was noticeably thinner and the controls were a bit sluggish, but the Spark managed to hold on and climb to 70 meters. Notice however, some clipping in the highlights of the clouds' details although using a polarizer.
Getting permissions
When traveling to a foreign country, it's always a good idea to get acquainted with the local rules and regulations before actually going there. Especially when traveling with a drone, you shoud be aware of any restrictions in order to avoid any trouble such as your drone being confiscated by customs upon arrival right at the airport.
Therefore I did some research and found out that Chile has some regulations in place. If you want to fly an unmanned aircraft you have to get a license and do some courses and carry a radio to monitor local air traffic control and of course stay away from crowds and buildings. However, if your aircraft does not exceed 750 grams, you can fly in unpopulated areas, as long as you have permission from the DGAC, the Chilean air traffic control. At the time I was planning my trip, the DJI Spark really was my only option to legally get aerials in Chile due to its light weight.
So I reached out to the contact provided on an information sheet I found online. In order to make a good impression I tried out my best Spanish and with my knowledge of French and Latin (but mostly thanks to Google translate), I managed to communicate efficiently. I filled out all the forms they provided me with and sent them the required .kmz files where I mapped out my areas of flight on Google Earth. This required a considerable amount of planning ahead the trip, yet the effort was worth it. The whole process took about a week and while already en rout to Santiago during our first layover in Madrid, I received the permits. Many thanks to Luis Henríques and Winston Garrido Olivia at the DGAC for their support.
Extreme conditions: After withstanding the dust of the Atacama desert, I flew the DJI spark into some rain clouds on the Argentine side of the Andes Mountains without crashing it.
Flying on the go
Its light weight and portable design were essential for me on this trip. By no means I am a professional videographer and the focus of this trip was studying the systems of the central and southern Andes, as well as some travel photography. Therefore it was just the right for my purposes, especially at that price point, as a total loss of the aircraft - although painful - wouldn't tare a big hole into my wallet (compared to loosing an Inspire II for example).
But it only shoots 1080p you might say. Well I can tell you it's really good 1080p and the videos look quite sharp, even on a 4K canvas. And if you don't go too crazy in post production, the lack of colour profile options isn't too big of a deal. The same goes for the two axis gimbal. It can't pull off any complex shots that require more than one axis of tilt, yet it's quite usable for basic revealing shots and tilt moves.
The key to creating amazing images is setting the exposure and white balance manually, as sudden changes in white balance while tilting up or down can mess up the shots. Moreover, the use of little filters that clip right onto the gimbal help with creating cinematic footage by reducing the shutter speed and thus rendering movement more smoothly. I used an ND8, an ND16 and a polarizer by Polarpro, although I mostly used the ND16 to achieve a 1/60 shutter speed (equivalent to a 180 degree shutter) and wished for an ND32 in bright conditions.
Screenshot from DJI Spark footage (graded and slightly sharpened): even after grading, shadows and highlights appear to be quite solid, however the files have their limitations and I experienced clipped highlights and loss of shadow details more often than on my Nikon D750 using flat profile.
However strong (side) winds can mess up your shots (or your drone). That being said, I was really surprised at how much wind the little Spark could handle - definitely more thand still managed to capture stable footage, once it was at a certain hight. In the desert, there were constant costal during the days and I ended up flying it in winds of up to 50 km/h.
Moreover, I was really impressed by how durable this little drone is. It was subjected to constant rattling in the bus on rough roads and to shaking during hikes in my backpack. This made it necessary to recalibrate the compass a few times, but no damages or signs of fatigue whatsoever. It also handled the extremely dusty and sandy environment of the Atacama Desert well. At one point, I even flew it into the clouds over the rain forest. I was confident, it could handle a little bit of rain, after having seen this video of a spark flying in the monsoon, however I was quite relieved after it came back safely and didn't fall out of the sky.
On this flight, DJI's auto return function basically saved my drone, as some fast moving clouds moved in on my drone and I suffered a whiteout. With camera and sensors being covered in raindrops it made a save descend until I relocated it and manually landed on my spot.
Life saving refueling on the go: From an empty battery a full charge takes about 1 hour.
Never experienced any problems as it was subdued to heavy rattling on the bus
My verdict
On this trip, I really put the little drone through its paces. From windy deserts to dusty plains and very humid climate - the spark handled those extreme conditions (as well as me as an inexperienced pilot on the sticks) very well. Except from having to re-calibrate the compass after nearly every every travel, I encountered no problems. All in all the Spark is an amazing little machine and still has its place in 2018, although there are better models out there right now. It always depends on what your needs are and what budget you are on. What really matters is, that you are out there and stay on the safe side while capturing that footage.
See more of my DJI Spark footage from Chile and Argentina: Chile & Argentina with a DJI Spark