The M2 comes close enough as a jack of all trades for the overwhelming majority of people who are buying it.
Well, I guess I'm not one of the majority then. I own both and the
P4P V2.0 is my "go to" but then again, I'm
not the "majority of people". I have specific needs which have to be met when flying and I know enough not to fall for "numbers marketing". I'm also qualified in in enough related fields to find out the realities.
Industry specific apps, such as Terra mapping, sometimes rely on older, obsolete, discontinued equipment, such as the
Phantom 4 Pro
Older does not mean obsolete. There were turbo and suercharged cars in the 1920s, we just like to pretend that it's a modern invention. All something has to do to be discontinued is to not be as profitable for the manufacturer as a newer but less capable product.
Ask the majority of people who use the
Mavic 2 for it's primary purpose of aerial imaging, and they would never consider going back to a Phantom,
The Mavic
2s primary purpose is to wow consumers and make a large profit for DJI... it does this well with the help of an army of fanbois who don't question the marketing hype and an over saturated colour palette (
M2P) which makes everything look vibrant and rich so no one questions. The Zoom has a certain niche in that it's the only show in town with a zoom capability for less than about $8-10K. The M2Dual is a pathetic joke 160pp resolution .... please.
The main issue with the
M2P is not what it has but more importantly what it
doesn't have. It doesn't really have anything "Hassleblad" in it other than the name, I'm afraid after DJI bought a controlling interest some years ago the marque has weakened consideraby, it's no longer about what is the best possible technical quality, it's about what can be marketed for the most profit ... reminds me of something. It doesn't have a Hassleblad sensor, it has a Sony ... Oh wait! So does the
P4P ... and it doesn't line skip, pixel bin or sensor sample like the
M2P. The
M2P has a no name lens ... the
P4P doesn't. Hassleblad never made their own lenses even in their "halcyon days", the
M2P doesn't have a hardware shutter which once again the
P4P does have (this is the most damning point). The rolling software or "universal" shutter used on many DJI products is a jack of all trades but a master of none.
The much vaunted 10bit vs 8bit advantage of the
M2P is only evident in the rich saturated colour palette. Anything you can get out of a
Mavic 2 I can get out of the
P4P. I may have to go into post to increase colour or contrast but the point is I can. I can not take my M2 images into post and improve the resolution/sharpness or fix the rolling shutter effects...... sadly. I was waitiing for a
Mavic 2 with a hardware shutter ...DJI didn't oblige and I can not for the life of me figure out why,
THAT would have been a game changer. Not enough profit in it?
As most people just want to capture and upload I can understand the appeal of the
M2P for the masses, it captures images that look great and it's easy as anything. "You Beauty!" cries the masses.
I'm surprised you really feel that way but maybe I shouldn't as I believe you focus is in sales and service. (I think?, being Australian I'm a bit far away to deal with you, I wish I could from what I have seen). I was a technician for 40 years before I started a drone business, I work on my own aircraft as far as I am tooled up to do so and the local DJI dealer is talking about me tooling up a but more and doing overflow work for that matter (G-d help me) .. I know that since doing the RePL and these other involvements that flying isn't about fun anymore.
If all I was doing was fly for the sheer joy of it I could (and probably would) be happy with the
M2P as my main airframe ... but it's not and while the
M2P meets the needs of the majority of hobbyists that the exact point. The
M2P is the top end of the consumer market, the
P4P V2.0 was the bottom end of the professional market and to sit and blindly claim that the M2 is superior to and replaces the
P4 series ..... if you can convince yourself of that or more importantly for them if DJI can convince the buying public of that for their corporate agenda when the figures say otherwise then more power to them.
For me, I'll just admit that the "emperor is nude".
I'm not trying to be argumentative of rude so please excuse me if it comes over that way, I'm just more aware of the truths of "what is under the hood" than most and call it on the empirical data.
The
P4P is gone not because it is a lesser aircraft, it's anything but, it's gone because it was a corporate decision made for reasons of profit and commercial practicality.
There will be a "P5 like" hardware shutter camera equip[ped aircaft to replace the
P4P at some point, probably with swappable lens but my guess is not at any time where it will caniblise the sales of the
Mavic 2 series. Otherwise why release DJI terra that only supports a discontinued line? DJI are well aware of the realities but they'll make a move to fill the gap in the line up when they are ready not when I would like.
Regards
Ari
Photography it does well
