Anyone waiting for the Hasselblad 2X zoom coming out next year?

[Mr. Salty]

They had intermediate upgrade models.

Very, very incremental, with the consensus that they weren't worth upgrading to: New props that you could buy for your existing Mavic, and tweaked speed controllers that added maybe a couple of minutes of flight time. Everything else was identical, unless you bought a white one from Apple.

 

[Former Member]

a.) There will always be upgrades and new models. Its the Apple biz model that Mr. Wang follows. In a Wall Street Journal profile Wang lauded Steve Jobs as his idol. I only wish he would emulate APPLE and Steve Job's early mantra and upgrade service, open an East Coast repair & service facility, open technical phone support with American speakers. and be more transparent about parameters of various issues and..not use uninformed low level tekkies reading a script in the Philippines..


b.) I flew and photographed the partial demolition of New York State's Tappanzee Bridge yesterday. One drone team from ABC brought Inspire1's....many had Inspire1's. I brought Inspire2 and Mavic2Pro. Opted for M2P simply because we didn't know how long we would have to be in the air and M2P has longer battery time...and it was frigid temps. While the Inspire1 may be at its "end of life" many trust its batteries more than IN2. It remains a great aircraft. It's really all about how to use a camera/aircraft to its fullest..not necessarily having the latest and greatest.

Wow. Steve Jobs might be Frank Wangs idol, but you have become mine with one simple post. Nice summary.

I like how at DJI new releases they always have a guy, in jeans and a Jobs-like shirt and demeanor, introducing their next product. How about a shirt and tie?!

 

[Mossiback]

It will be interesting how much they add to the Mavic line. Put in a Hasselblad zoom and they might start cutting into their Phantom sales more than they are already.

 

[Meta4]

they might start cutting into their Phantom sales more than they are already.

I'm not sure what's behind it but DJI have been out of stock and haven't been selling Phantoms for quite a while.

 

[Former Member]

I'm not sure what's behind it but DJI have been out of stock and haven't been selling Phantoms for quite a while.

Good observation. This is different for DJI. They never list something as out of stock (or discontinued) that has been on the market for a while until well after it has been superseded by a newer model. They didnt discontinue the Mavic Pro until the M2 had already hit the market for a few months. The P4P V2 has only been out for 9 months.

 

[ff22]

a.) There will always be upgrades and new models. Its the Apple biz model that Mr. Wang follows. In a Wall Street Journal profile Wang lauded Steve Jobs as his idol. I only wish he would emulate APPLE and Steve Job's early mantra and upgrade service, open an East Coast repair & service facility, open technical phone support with American speakers. and be more transparent about parameters of various issues and..not use uninformed low level tekkies reading a script in the Philippines..


b.) I flew and photographed the partial demolition of New York State's Tappanzee Bridge yesterday. One drone team from ABC brought Inspire1's....many had Inspire1's. I brought Inspire2 and Mavic2Pro. Opted for M2P simply because we didn't know how long we would have to be in the air and M2P has longer battery time...and it was frigid temps. While the Inspire1 may be at its "end of life" many trust its batteries more than IN2. It remains a great aircraft. It's really all about how to use a camera/aircraft to its fullest..not necessarily having the latest and greatest.

Thanks for posting the picture. I now live on the other side of the country but drove and was driven over that bridge hundreds of times.

 

[offtheback]

What DJI did was mean and cruel. Offering 2 drones with features everyone wants in 1 unit. I can bet my bottom dollar that there will be a Mavic 3 Hasselblad 2X optical zoom next year. So what to do? Flip a coin and buy one of the current offerings and have regrets or wait for what you know will be the inevitable dragon slayer.

Next frontier--Micro 4/3 sensor in as compact as possible frame.Foldable would be nice.Camera enthusiasts would go for it.3 grand would work if possible.Just dreamin'

 

[Mavic Pro Platinum]

Next frontier--Micro 4/3 sensor in as compact as possible frame.Foldable would be nice.Camera enthusiasts would go for it.3 grand would work if possible.Just dreamin'

That’s a dream Mavic!

 

[Johnmcl7]

What DJI did was mean and cruel. Offering 2 drones with features everyone wants in 1 unit. I can bet my bottom dollar that there will be a Mavic 3 Hasselblad 2X optical zoom next year. So what to do? Flip a coin and buy one of the current offerings and have regrets or wait for what you know will be the inevitable dragon slayer.

It's nothing to do with being 'mean and cruel' and everything to do with limitations of technology and optics. When you increase the sensor size you also increase the lens size which means for the same size of package, you can choose between a larger zoom or a smaller zoom/prime and a larger sensor. You can see exactly the same as the Mavic 2 options in the camera market as well, those cameras offering monster zooms such as Nikon P1000's 125x zoom use tiny 1/2.3in sensors the same as the Mavic 2 Zoom. Jumping up to the 1in sensor size the same as the Mavic 2 Pro which is a much bigger sensor, the largest zoom range drops to 25x in the RX10 mkIV. Onto the much bigger APS-C sensor which is popular in the crop Canon, Nikon and Sony DSLRs and the largest zoom range drops down to 17x with the 18-300mm then all the way up to full frame and it drops again to 11x with the 28-300mm superzoom. Not only that when you couple a full frame body onto such a lens, you have a much heftier combo.

I'm impressed DJI managed to squeeze a 1in sensor onto the Mavic 2 and I think it's extremely unlikely they'll offer a 1in zoom as size and weight are a crucial aspect of a drone, much more so than a handheld camera. And even if they can offer that with a 1in sensor then they could offer a superzoom range for a 1/2.3in sensor.

What seems more likely which I've seen suggested a few times is for DJI to still offer different cameras but make the gimbal and camera a modular design to allow users to purchase one model and then purchase the alternative camera module with the option to easily swap them. This has the further benefit that it would make the gimbal more easily replaceable which would be useful given the delicate gimbal is the part most likely to be damaged when the drone crashes.

Ultimately there's always something better round the corner particularly with technology, you have to assess whether the current product does what you need and weigh that against waiting for a new product which may offer what you want. I would love a Mavic with an APS-C or FF sensor but to put it mildly, that's not going to happen.

 

[Mavic Pro Platinum]

It's nothing to do with being 'mean and cruel' and everything to do with limitations of technology and optics. When you increase the sensor size you also increase the lens size which means for the same size of package, you can choose between a larger zoom or a smaller zoom/prime and a larger sensor. You can see exactly the same as the Mavic 2 options in the camera market as well, those cameras offering monster zooms such as Nikon P1000's 125x zoom use tiny 1/2.3in sensors the same as the Mavic 2 Zoom. Jumping up to the 1in sensor size the same as the Mavic 2 Pro which is a much bigger sensor, the largest zoom range drops to 25x in the RX10 mkIV. Onto the much bigger APS-C sensor which is popular in the crop Canon, Nikon and Sony DSLRs and the largest zoom range drops down to 17x with the 18-300mm then all the way up to full frame and it drops again to 11x with the 28-300mm superzoom. Not only that when you couple a full frame body onto such a lens, you have a much heftier combo.

I'm impressed DJI managed to squeeze a 1in sensor onto the Mavic 2 and I think it's extremely unlikely they'll offer a 1in zoom as size and weight are a crucial aspect of a drone, much more so than a handheld camera. And even if they can offer that with a 1in sensor then they could offer a superzoom range for a 1/2.3in sensor.

What seems more likely which I've seen suggested a few times is for DJI to still offer different cameras but make the gimbal and camera a modular design to allow users to purchase one model and then purchase the alternative camera module with the option to easily swap them. This has the further benefit that it would make the gimbal more easily replaceable which would be useful given the delicate gimbal is the part most likely to be damaged when the drone crashes.

Ultimately there's always something better round the corner particularly with technology, you have to assess whether the current product does what you need and weigh that against waiting for a new product which may offer what you want. I would love a Mavic with an APS-C or FF sensor but to put it mildly, that's not going to happen.

DJI needs to make a Mavic with a gimbal system like the Inspire 2. That would be the ultimate Mavic!

 

[Wilbur]

I'd like to see a low resolution stationary camera that gives you a split screen when the main camera is pointing down, or flying to the side.

 

[Coolwater]

What DJI did was mean and cruel. Offering 2 drones with features everyone wants in 1 unit. I can bet my bottom dollar that there will be a Mavic 3 Hasselblad 2X optical zoom next year. So what to do? Flip a coin and buy one of the current offerings and have regrets or wait for what you know will be the inevitable dragon slayer.

I have a prediction for future drones based on recent camera technologies by GoPro, Rylo and a bunch of others.... I'd bet a paycheck, DJI is going to implement this on their next Mavic. It makes total sense.
Gimbals will become a thing of the past for camera stabilization and pointing. Post processing will take care of all vibration, panning, zooming, etc. All sides of the drone are filmed using a 6-8k camera. This footage is converted into normal 4k footage in post where the vibration is auto-corrected by the editor. You will be able to pan, zoom, follow and all kinds of other things at your computer and output your final 4k creation for normal viewing. Do yourself a favor and watch the Rylo video. It's pretty amazing. (I have no stock in Rylo)
Rylo

 

[Brad de Leon]

Already doing all this with my go pro 7 black strapped to my mav pro. Unbelievable footage from large lense and 1" sensor that is properly utilized. Everything that the mav 2 promised.
That's the best plan till the mav 3 comes out.

 

[SkyWizard]

What DJI did was mean and cruel. Offering 2 drones with features everyone wants in 1 unit. I can bet my bottom dollar that there will be a Mavic 3 Hasselblad 2X optical zoom next year. So what to do? Flip a coin and buy one of the current offerings and have regrets or wait for what you know will be the inevitable dragon slayer.

Im waiting for a drone with camera modularity.
I want to see third party Optics Companies making cameras of different capabilities and certified by DJI for use on their drones.

Im suspicious one of the reasons the pro2/zoom is so expensive is because of the name brand on the camera.

 

[Mavic Pro Platinum]

Im waiting for a drone with camera modularity.
I want to see third party Optics Companies making cameras of different capabilities and certified by DJI for use on their drones.

Im suspicious one of the reasons the pro2/zoom is so expensive is because of the name brand on the camera.

DJI should have made the Mavic 2 with the quick change gimbal system as is on the Inspire, with a little ring that locks and unlocks the gimbal from the aircraft, so that if you want to change the gimbal from the Pro to the Zoom or visa versa, it could be done in seconds.

 

[Meta4]

Already doing all this with my go pro 7 black strapped to my mav pro. Unbelievable footage from large lense and 1" sensor that is properly utilized. Everything that the mav 2 promised.

Interesting ... especially since the sensor of the GoPro is a tiny 1/2.3" ... quite a bit less than the Mavic 2 delivered.

 

[gnirtS]

Good luck getting an optical zoom onto a 1" sensor in a package size and weight that'll go on a gimbal a mavic size drone can lift...
People seem to have no understanding of the physics and constraints with optics.