‘Downgrading’ to Mavic Air

[Paolo5286]

Ive owned a Phantom 4 Pro Plus V2.0 and a Mavic 2 Pro. Bother were too much for what I was using it for and found myself not using those two so much. I sold both a bought an Arctic White Mavic Air.

Can anyone, with experience, explain the major, noticeable differences between the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic Air?

Thanks.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

Your video feed range is going to take a huge hit.

Wifi vs Ocusync.

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[Paul2660]

Also noise. Mavic Air is worse than Spark.

Pitch is high and carries.

Paul C

 

[Nobert]

Purchase Master Airscrew props.

 

[JoelP]

I like my Mavic Air, but I cannot fly on a full charge as far as friend with Mavic 2. He has DLog and aperture control for his video. And, I suffer more often from signal loss. The Mavic 2 is noticeably quieter.

That said, I love the smaller size of the MA for packing it along with me. I compensate the lack of aperture control with ND filters. I try to program flights no longer than 13-15 minutes. I worry less about signal loss by flying a lot of Litchi.

 

[Mavic Mac]

Purchase Master Airscrew props.

I upgrade to the Master Airscrews and they make a NOTICEABLE difference in the sound. Unfortunately my MA didn't "sense" the radio antenna on my pickup truck (nor did the operator ) and that cost me one of the props. I liked them so much I immediately order two more sets - currently waiting for them to arrive.

 

[Mavic Mac]

I like my Mavic Air, but I cannot fly on a full charge as far as friend with Mavic 2. He has DLog and aperture control for his video. And, I suffer more often from signal loss. The Mavic 2 is noticeably quieter.

That said, I love the smaller size of the MA for packing it along with me. I compensate the lack of aperture control with ND filters. I try to program flights no longer than 13-15 minutes. I worry less about signal loss by flying a lot of Litchi.

Are you operating your MA under Android or iOS ?

 

[skiptv]

Big difference is Camera. The P4 and M2 have a one inch sensor. Image quality and video quality suffer slightly. If you not filming professionally or just doing real estate then get the Mavic Air. They are fun. Easy to fly. Almost have all the same pre program flight modules as the M2 and if you crash it’s $600 not $1800. Batteries are way cheaper. And it really is much smaller

 

[Dave Maine]

The camera in the air, as mentioned before, is less good than the P4 pros, and Mavic s, However, I use the air all the time even presenting the results on 4K calibrated TVs, where the results are impressive.

One of the big pluses is using the air in tight spaces - either near the ground or in forest like environments. There the air winds hands down over my P4 adv. The obstacle warnings and collision avoidance on the air cannot be beat.

 

[Basilica]

I love my air.
I have a Pro and a M2Zoom.
I get pretty good 4 K and in an editor I get great video with cinelike.
As far as connection distance, fly high...I still get video with few dropouts.
If you fly in Europe, use the “Android phone Map” fake out, to make your drone think it is in the US. (I use iphone but got a cheap one used and only use Wi-Fi, so no phone contract needed.)
You will get stronger connections and distance, and fewer drop outs.
It you fly litchi, you will never have any problems as the system flys on its own.
I have flown with litchi over 2.5 km away and got great video and photos of castles from all over Europe.
From just having it next to me most of the time, it is the one I have seemed to use the most of all my drones.
And it packs so small and light that is carries with no weight and no one will even know you have a drone until you pop it out and fly!
Obstacle avoidance is great in tight areas as someone else said too.
Great system and only when a TV tower was quite near (on a castle tower of all places) did I have some control issues, but I remained calm and after some yaw to realign the antennae’s away I got it down.
Get one and fly!

 

[BobDoLe]

I had a Mavic Air and it has about half the range in terms of flight time and maybe even transmission range. The lack of occusync is a big deal.
It is also loud and has the most annoying sound.
I was rrrrrreal skeptical about DJI slapping the name of an old dead reputable medium format film camera maker onto a relatively tiny 1" sensor camera, but I admit I'm impressed with how the Mavic 2 pro is takes fantastic photos and videos. The dlog m h265 100meg helps a lot.

However, the Mavic Air video quality was pretty good too.

I miss how compact the Mavic Air was. I could cram it and 4 other batteries into a tiny bag.

If I didn't need the range or the flight time, a Mavic Air would be a very sufficient drone to take anywhere/always

 

[Basilica]

Absolutely agree with range (battery life) but had few issues with video transmission.
Possibly because I fly litchi which has no bearing on controller connection, I never has an issue with control, as I meticulously set up my flights with altitude estimates from apps to get the camera angles, etc.
Also changing the Wi-Fi mode to the US makes a big difference.
I helped a German friend to do that and he now is not going to sell his Air!
The cams are much better of the bigger drones, but as you said...the air is pretty good.
I also flew it in Russia at -7 C, and flew a 1.9km route in borderline wind with Litchi flawlessly. The only obvious thing was the significant battery drop from the cold and wind and I landed with 18%battery left after a few minute flight.
In all, my bigger drone are technically better.
But that darn Air has by kismet has become my go to platform for fun.

 

[Mithrandir]

Less endurance...

 

[Sixgun89]

You’ll love it! I have a P4P, MA, M2P, Tello, etc. Use the MA the most. Does everything! Always with me! Never in the way unless your a pro, you won’t miss a thing!
Ah! Forgot! Before you fly it, every time. Turn to anyone with you and say! “Say hello to my little friend!”
Always helps bring good luck!

 

[rmazzaro]

Purchase Master Airscrew props.

Version 2...they are great!

 

[Harrier]

Just about everything.

Ive owned a Phantom 4 Pro Plus V2.0 and a Mavic 2 Pro. Bother were too much for what I was using it for and found myself not using those two so much. I sold both a bought an Arctic White Mavic Air.

Can anyone, with experience, explain the major, noticeable differences between the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic Air?

Thanks.

 

[Fred Garvin]

I love my Mavic Air.....it's my Personal Selfie Fun Daily Flyer Drone.....I take it everywhere. No drone is perfect, but I gotta say this little guy comes dang close. With the new props from Master Airscrew.....yeah, hard to beat this one for all around use. With very careful, slow and precise flying, I got some AMAZING real estate footage of a heavily treed, beautiful backyard, flying up in the canopy, between and around big branches looking down and back on the house, deck, and foliage. If all you want to do is some selfie follow me stuff, you don't even need the controller. Put the drone in a cargo pocket and when you want some footage, use Gestures. Works great. DJI really did a good job with this one.

 

[Fred Garvin]

...... an old dead reputable medium format film camera maker......

I don't know where you got this idea....Hasselblad is still the high end, premium camera maker today as it's always been. The new X1D II is getting great reviews and the 40k+ followers on LinkedIN and Nat Geo are posting absolutely stunning images made with both the first X1D and the v2. The 907x50C SE and regular are exciting platforms many are eagerly awaiting and of course the H6D-100C....oh man if I could afford one of those.....if I did more portraiture, or just portraiture and landscapes, I'd trade every bit of Nikon kit I have to get a simple Hassy kit.

"Old"....."Dead"...."Film".....not even close. Some of the best Photographers on the planet use Hasselblad kits.

 

[BobDoLe]

I don't know where you got this idea....Hasselblad is still the high end, premium camera maker today as it's always been. The new X1D II is getting great reviews and the 40k+ followers on LinkedIN and Nat Geo are posting absolutely stunning images made with both the first X1D and the v2. The 907x50C SE and regular are exciting platforms many are eagerly awaiting and of course the H6D-100C....oh man if I could afford one of those.....if I did more portraiture, or just portraiture and landscapes, I'd trade every bit of Nikon kit I have to get a simple Hassy kit.

"Old"....."Dead"...."Film".....not even close. Some of the best Photographers on the planet use Hasselblad kits.

If you say so...
It wasn't that long ago that they were selling rebranded Sony cameras for serious markup using the hasselblad name... If that isn't end of life marketing I don't know what is.. Then the x1d 50c was a complete joke... They cut that price in half in a heartbeat.
But yeah... Marketing. The name still has some more to squeeze out of it.

 

[Mike Shock]

I believe, MA is not a downgrade, it's a shift sideways to a most compact but very powerful aircraft.