Active Track: a question. Without this option ...... is it possible?

[Foxadriano]

Hi,
can I confess why I'm still thinking about buying the Mavic Mini 2 and haven't bought it yet? Only because it doesn't have Active Track.
Yes, I know the Air 2 has it, but it carries a greater weight and this is limiting for me.
At this point I'd like some dispassionate advice from you. I've never used a drone and can't wait to do it. I will not use the Active Track in my country but only when I travel to Africa in the savannah.
I usually travel on tracks in the middle of nowhere with an off-road vehicle. I have the driver who runs the car, it's not me.
My question is: Since I'm not the pilot and I'm sitting next to him, will I be able to follow the off-road vehicle with the Mini 2 (perhaps in fairly straight paths) or is it absolutely impossible?
I ask this because, if it were somehow managed, I would buy the Mini 2 without thinking about it.
But I'd like some advice from someone who knows the subject well.
Thanks for your availability.

 

[DanMan32]

DJI will have to release the SDK for the MM2 before a third party app can provide Active Track.
However in such a situation, the app itself will have to track the object using FPV feed and fly the AC accordingly. The models that have AT do the tracking in firmware by the AC itself.

Another consideration is that models that have AT also have obstacle avoidance which helps prevent crashes if an obstacle gets in the way during tracking. The MM2 doesn't have the hardware for OA, so even if it were possible to get AT on it, there's a good chance it will crash.

 

[Foxadriano]

I'm inexperienced and do not understand all these abbreviations. Then I don't understand if your reply if for me. You didn't answer my question. Anyway thanks anyway.

 

[RobertR]

I'm inexperienced and do not understand all these abbreviations. Then I don't understand if your reply if for me. You didn't answer my question. Anyway thanks anyway.

OA = Obstacle Avoidance.
FPV = First Person View.
AT = Active Track.
AC = Aircraft.
SDK = Software Development Kit.

 

[RandyBullard]

Hi,
can I confess why I'm still thinking about buying the Mavic Mini 2 and haven't bought it yet? Only because it doesn't have Active Track.
Yes, I know the Air 2 has it, but it carries a greater weight and this is limiting for me.
At this point I'd like some dispassionate advice from you. I've never used a drone and can't wait to do it. I will not use the Active Track in my country but only when I travel to Africa in the savannah.
I usually travel on tracks in the middle of nowhere with an off-road vehicle. I have the driver who runs the car, it's not me.
My question is: Since I'm not the pilot and I'm sitting next to him, will I be able to follow the off-road vehicle with the Mini 2 (perhaps in fairly straight paths) or is it absolutely impossible?
I ask this because, if it were somehow managed, I would buy the Mini 2 without thinking about it.
But I'd like some advice from someone who knows the subject well.
Thanks for your availability.

It sounds like you would need/value Active Track. If you're driving down a bumpy road in a car, flying a drone will be hard enough. I think flying it well/smoothly while tracking the vehicle you're in will be very difficult or impossible. Maybe with practice you can isolate your hand/thumb movements in a bouncing car and get good at it. But I would strongly recommend the MA2 given your intended use.

 

[BirdzEyeView2020]

Mavic Mini 2 = 242g/ .53lb.
Mavic Air 2 = 570g/ 1.26lb
Considering your use, I’m not sure why this weight difference would be an issue, unless it’s a registration issue.

The Mavic Air 2’s active track and obstacle avoidance would be a solid decision maker for me in your circumstances.
-A humble man’s opinion...

 

[vindibona1]

Adriano,

Since you mentioned going to Africa, UNLESS THE RULES OF DRONE FLYING IN AFRICA RESTRICT THE WEIGHT (or size) of your drone, for me that puts a different perspective on it.

While the Mini 2 has advantages over the Mini 2 beyond the active track difference, on a practical level you have to recoginze the RELATIVE insignificance of the differences in weight and dimensions. The Mavic Air 2 isn't all that big or heavy. It weighs only 0.5 kilos and is only 200mm (8") long [see below]. Can you stick a MA2 in your pocket? No. But you can't do that with either controller as they are larger than the Mini1 controller and similar in size to each other. You will probably need some sort of carring case or backpack anyway.

The Mavic Air 2 size is as follows; Folded – 7.08 x 3.82 x 3.30 inches (180 × 97 × 84 mm) (Length / Width / Height). Unfolded – 7.20 x 9.96 x 3.03 inches (183 × 253 × 77 mm)
The DJI Mini 2 size; Folded- 5.5 x 3.2 x 2.2 " / (140.0 x 82.0 x 57.0 mm) Unfolded- 8.0 x 6.3 x 2.2" / (202.0 x 55.0 x 160.0 mm)

In spite of it's increased capacity to withstand stronger winds than the Mini1, the Mini 2 will to some extent increase it's wind resistance, but I'm not sure it will increase stability in higher winds all that much because of it's low weight. Will there be higher winds where you are going? And, as you said, the Mini 2 doesn't have active track and I'm sure other features. DJI had to withold something on the Mini2 to maintain price point, no? And take note, that the cost difference in the Mini2 compare to the Mini1 is $50USD higher in the basic package and $150 higher in the fly-more... for less stuff. Is the cost difference and affordability an issue for you? Will you, in the foreseeable future want a drone that flies faster and has more features? Honestly, I still believe that the MA2 is the drone to beat for balance of size, price and overal quality. But not knowing the restrictions in Italy and where you're traveling, that could make all the difference in the world... which is why I think DJI was so quick to update the Mini to have more professional features for those of us who are restricted by regulation dependent on weight. JMO

 

[Foxadriano]

I am surprised for your kindness, availability and professionalism. I don't know how to thank you all.

Having said that I'd like to say that it isn't only the weight of the Air 2 itself that worries me, but also to add to the heavier batteries create me problerms. A the end I will need to get heavier bags.

Yes, you are right, maybe I need to know if the countries where I will go will welcome a drone like Air 2.
In my country I need a license. ufffff
With the Mini 2 everything is simpler, although the lens and sensor of Air 2 can give better videos. uffff
Maybe I'll wait for DJI to upgrade the Mini 2 in order to get what I need, namely the "Active Track". I hope as soon as possible.
All this makes me anxious.

 

[ICHOTT]

You’ll wait a long time, you either accept the benefits of size, weight etc with the limitations accordingly or get a device that can do what you actually want but is bigger are heavier, you cannot have it all - decision time!

 

[BirdzEyeView2020]

You’ll wait a long time, you either accept the benefits of size, weight etc with the limitations accordingly or get a device that can do what you actually want but is bigger are heavier, you cannot have it all - decision time!

Truth! Who knows how long he’d wait for the update he’s dreaming of.

 

[Foxadriano]

ahahaha, but dreaming costs nothing, instead spending money on something you don't like, then it doesn't make you dream.

 

[DanMan32]

I own the Mavic 2 Zoom (M2Z) with 3 batteries and that's not all that heavy. The MA2 is even lighter so I don't see how weight would be an issue. Perhaps it might with travel on a passenger plane, since they limit how many bags one can carry on, but the MM2 bag isn't going to be much smaller than the MA2 bag, since both have the same controller.

I doubt DJI will add AT to the MM2, since the MM2 doesn't have OA, and OA is important so that it doesn't crash into objects that might get in the way as it tracks an object, even if AT is probably technically possible in FW with existing HW.

 

[Dale D]

Hi,
can I confess why I'm still thinking about buying the Mavic Mini 2 and haven't bought it yet? Only because it doesn't have Active Track.
Yes, I know the Air 2 has it, but it carries a greater weight and this is limiting for me.
At this point I'd like some dispassionate advice from you. I've never used a drone and can't wait to do it. I will not use the Active Track in my country but only when I travel to Africa in the savannah.
I usually travel on tracks in the middle of nowhere with an off-road vehicle. I have the driver who runs the car, it's not me.
My question is: Since I'm not the pilot and I'm sitting next to him, will I be able to follow the off-road vehicle with the Mini 2 (perhaps in fairly straight paths) or is it absolutely impossible?
I ask this because, if it were somehow managed, I would buy the Mini 2 without thinking about it.
But I'd like some advice from someone who knows the subject well.
Thanks for your availability.

I have been on 12 African safaris and two where I wanted to use my Mavic 2 Pro drone. At both places (Namibia, and Zambia) I was not allowed to use the drone, even while in camp to do aerial shots of the lodge. Please communicate with your travel agent or the safari outfitter directly that you want to use a drone. I will almost guarantee they will tell you no, that it disturbs the wildlife, etc. Of course you can also Google the country and attach the name drone laws to it. Such as, "drone laws Kenya," or drone laws Tanzania.

 

[Foxadriano]

I own the Mavic 2 Zoom (M2Z) with 3 batteries and that's not all that heavy. The MA2 is even lighter so I don't see how weight would be an issue.

Do you know how much heavy MA2 in total? It weighs more than 1.5 kilograms with batteries and everything else. I do trek and even without drone is hard for me.
I always travel alone, I hope you understand me.

 

[Foxadriano]

I have been on 12 African safaris and two where I wanted to use my Mavic 2 Pro drone. At both places (Namibia, and Zambia) I was not allowed to use the drone, even while in camp to do aerial shots of the lodge. Please communicate with your travel agent or the safari outfitter directly that you want to use a drone. I will almost guarantee they will tell you no, that it disturbs the wildlife, etc. Of course you can also Google the country and attach the name drone laws to it. Such as, "drone laws Kenya," or drone laws Tanzania.

ahahaha, you shouldn't have touched your finger on the sore. I'm not young, I traveled for many years around the world and I know it. For me, however, it would not be a problem because I go to very remote areas where there are no living beings for hundreds of kilometers all around. For me the biggest problem is the weight and I would like to penalize the video quality slightly for less weight. I'm thinking of buying the MM2, on the other hand it does not look much worse than the MA2 about UHD (4K ) video. Quite right?

 

[Howard70]

Hello Foxadriano:

As mentioned by RandyBullard, it could be difficult to manually track a vehicle via the controller on a rough road while riding in the same vehicle. I've experimented a bit manually tracking my Tacoma on rough roads with mixed results. If you want long sequences of video following a truck through the bush without interruption you might be disappointed. On the other hand, if your goal is short sequences to compliment other footage in a longer video then I suspect you'll be able to clip great sections out of raw footage that will mostly be to poor to use but still contains some good shots. Keeping the drone well above surrounding vegetation could greatly reduce the need for obstacle avoidance and backtracking the truck to rerun and video interesting sections could reduce the problems with flying from within the vehicle. You might leave the vehicle and pilot the drone from a stationary position outside while your driver progresses through a great setting and then returns to pick you up.

I've only been flying and recording for a few months, but I'm already impressed by how much work it actually is to shoot the spectacular travel sequences we often see in really good videos. Before flying my own drone, I just assumed that folks carried along a drone and fly it while they went about their regular adventures and then put together an award-winning travel log....

I'm now convinced there are a lot of sequences that require shooting many times to get the light, the action, the view and the adventurers all converging into what appears effortless beauty.

A couple of other things that might be worth considering. While with the vehicles you'll have access to 12 or 24 volt (depends on the systems in a particular truck) so charging batteries will be easy. However, the DJI 12 volt direct current chargers work with charging hubs the same as the alternating current chargers - they charge the least discharged battery first. So charging multiple batteries is slow. You could consider multiple direct current chargers (two would be twice as fast as one) or a third party product with enough power output to actually charge multiple batteries simultaneously. To be safe, I usually assume I'll get about 5/8ths to 2/3rds the maximum claimed flight time from a DJI battery because flying them down to near 0 can shorten their life considerably. So you might need several extra batteries.

When away from the vehicle (it sounds like you'll be backpacking a fair amount) charging gets much harder and the equipment heavier. If you figure it takes about 38 watts constant for a bit more than a hour to charge a single battery, most backpackable solar panel setups will have a hard time getting more than a battery or maybe two charged. While there are lithium ion battery systems that can be carried as part of your drone gear, they aren't as efficient as simply carrying an equal weight in actual flight batteries.

Your trip sounds like a real adventure and I look forward to seeing images and video from you.

Howard

 

[Foxadriano]

It seems you are an expert traveller too. Your suggestions are right.
I put on Internet only some clips. But I put onl Internet only scrap clips. If I make video editing like this clip, I'll shoot myself. ahahaahah

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Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[mathomas]

I have both the Mini 2 and an Air2s. The Mini 2 is great and I like how its battery/charging system works, but I haven’t used mine since getting the Air2s. The Air2s is just that much better, in many dimensions. The Mini 2 excels for its size, as in “there’s no excuse not to bring it”. But IMO the Air2s, for your case, is a no-brainer as long as you can fly it on your location(s) without legal or practical issues. And in reality when packed up, it is not all that much larger than the Mini 2.