Are you going to move from a Mavic 2 Pro to a Mavic Air 2? And why?

[Deleted member 114292]

Considering the huge price difference between both models, I hope that some of the new features like the 4K resolution at 60 FPS, the Active Track 3.0 and the Hyperlapse in 8K will be available for the Mavic 2 Pro with a firmware upgrade. Otherwise I won't see why people would invest twice more money in a Mavic 2 Pro just for a 1 inch sensor and more obstacle avoidance capabilities.

Talking about the form factor, DJI has done a big improvement between the 2 models reducing the weight by almost 400 grams while improving the battery life. That's a huge step forward for me.

I just watched some of the available footage of the Mavic Air and even if the Macic 2 Pro looks still better in terms of pictures, I can already say that the image of the Air in video mode appears to be sharper than the image of the Pro which had softness issues especially in Full FOV mode.

Not to mention that the FOV of the air is much wider than the FOV of the Pro.

That’s never gonna happen because it’s not possible the sensor can’t read out at 60 FPS
As for the 8K The hardware does not have the bandwidth for it
There’s no reason to have 8k except for marketing purposes. It’s pretty much just synthesized anyway.
And how many ma2 owners have the hardware to deal with 8k

 

[PS01]

From 1 Youtube video I've seen, I think M2P has a greater dynamic range and better low light capability due to its larger sensor. I can't see myself preferring a smaller sensor.

 

[AroundTheWorld]

This thread is a comparison between the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic Air 2 but I have a thought for all the recent Mavic 2 Zoom owners. While I can see the advantage of having a larger sensor on the Mavic 2 Pro versus the regular sensor on the new Air, I'm wondering what is the point of buying a Mavic 2 Zoom actually? The Mavic Air 2 is just superior in every way and 450 dollars cheaper no? Do you know if DJI plan to adjust the price of the Zoom?

 

[dioscuriII]

As a photographer, absolutely not. Megapixels are good but overrated. Some of my best images came from a 12MP Nikon D700. Massive pixels. It was a light sponge. Boise was amazing. The larger sensor size is really a big deal. Dynamic range and flexibility are in to a photographer. Being stuck at f/2.8 is problematic too. Controlling ISO, f/stop and shutter speed are a big deal in my world.

I am in no way hating on the new drone. But, every single time a new drone comes out people get into these pissing contests.

I fly a Phantom 4 Pro V2 for photography as well and it is amazing. I use it for stability. It is a rock. A light drone is problematic in windy situations. It is great for hauling around. But, more often than not I go out and it is breezy.

The M2P is comparable to a decent flying DSLR camera. The MA2 is comparable to a really good flying cellphone. The M2P wins. There is not a phone camera in the world that I would trade for a marginal DSLR.

For video I am sure it is pretty dang good. But, when you start printing images, you'll figure our quick how important the things I have mentioned are in your work. For the web, it's probably perfect.

 

[dioscuriII]

Camera, speed, battery life, new technology. I have the Mavic Pro 2. The $800 Air is superior in every way to my $1300+ Pro.

It's not close to being superior in every way. Read my post.

 

[Johnmcl7]

This thread is a comparison between the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic Air 2 but I have a thought for all the recent Mavic 2 Zoom owners. While I can see the advantage of having a larger sensor on the Mavic 2 Pro versus the regular sensor on the new Air, I'm wondering what is the point of buying a Mavic 2 Zoom actually? The Mavic Air 2 is just superior in every way and 450 dollars cheaper no? Do you know if DJI plan to adjust the price of the Zoom?

The Mavic Air 2 is not superior in every way when it is lacking the key feature of the zoom which is its zoom lens. The sensor is not really 48MP at all in reality and it in no way makes up for a lack of physical zoom.

 

[PS01]

This thread is a comparison between the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic Air 2 but I have a thought for all the recent Mavic 2 Zoom owners. While I can see the advantage of having a larger sensor on the Mavic 2 Pro versus the regular sensor on the new Air, I'm wondering what is the point of buying a Mavic 2 Zoom actually? The Mavic Air 2 is just superior in every way and 450 dollars cheaper no? Do you know if DJI plan to adjust the price of the Zoom?

Exactly. Everyone already knows Zoom is a gimmick. Zoom's sensor is baaad! I believe the difference in number of sale of 2 Pro vs 2 Zoom is huge. 2 Pro is very successful and 2 Zoom not so successful.
Never buy 2 Zoom! Buy Air 2 or M2P instead!

2 Zoom's zoom isn't real zoom, it's software.

I suggest DJI should scrap Zoom from Mavic 3.
Next Mavics should be 3 Pro (direct successor to 2 Pro) plus a new 3 Pro Max: slightly bigger with even bigger sensor and slightly more expensive than 3 Pro.

 

[Johnmcl7]

As a photographer, absolutely not. Megapixels are good but overrated. Some of my best images came from a 12MP Nikon D700. Massive pixels. It was a light sponge. Boise was amazing. The larger sensor size is really a big deal. Dynamic range and flexibility are in to a photographer. Being stuck at f/2.8 is problematic too. Controlling ISO, f/stop and shutter speed are a big deal in my world.

I am in no way hating on the new drone. But, every single time a new drone comes out people get into these pissing contests.

I fly a Phantom 4 Pro V2 for photography as well and it is amazing. I use it for stability. It is a rock. A light drone is problematic in windy situations. It is great for hauling around. But, more often than not I go out and it is breezy.

The M2P is comparable to a decent flying DSLR camera. The MA2 is comparable to a really good flying cellphone. The M2P wins. There is not a phone camera in the world that I would trade for a marginal DSLR.

For video I am sure it is pretty dang good. But, when you start printing images, you'll figure our quick how important the things I have mentioned are in your work. For the web, it's probably perfect.

I totally agree with everything you've said but what's becoming quickly apparent is that the misleading 48MP of the Mavic Air 2 is working incredibly well for marketing which is depressing but not surprising I guess.

The D700* is a great example because even under heavy cropping the pictures from it were fantastic, I changed to the D750 and the double resolution of 25MP was nowhere near impressive in reality as it sounded. I currently mainly use a Sony A9 for photos and an A7SII for video but sometimes it's just the A7S I have and you almost have it in your head its low resolution 12MP sensor is going to be useless for stills but while not the best, it can still produce some very high quality photos and it still wows me how it can produce incredibly clean and detailed iso 3200 and 6400 shots. I did briefly try an RX1RmkII with the same 42MP sensor as the A7RII/A7RIII cameras but even with a beautiful sharp Zeiss 35mm I struggled to get more actual usable detail out of it compared to my 25MP cameras which is in line with the reviewers comments that you need to really have great technique and setup to get the benefits of the higher resolution.

Spoiler: *D700

Putting this in spoiler tags so not to derail the thread but wow what a camera it was. I'd been shooting 4/3 up to that point but been increasingly frustrating with their flagship Olympus E-3 which has a tendency to confirm focus on a very out of focus shot, I had a good range of lenses including some of their top of the range ones which made me hesitant to change brands since it would be expensive. The arrival of a puppy and the Olympus screwing up again (many people had this issue but Olympus never admitted it) forced my hand and I bought the D700 and a few lenses. Straight away it was just incredible with its AF being vastly more capable than Olympus even when the E-3 was working well, the Olympus had struggled at iso 1600 but even 6400 was no problem for the D700 while the raw files had a huge amount of latitude for dynamic range.

 

[Johnmcl7]

Exactly. Everyone already knows Zoom is a gimmick. Zoom's sensor is baaad! I believe the difference in number of sale of 2 Pro vs 2 Zoom is huge. 2 Pro is very successful and 2 Zoom not so successful.
Never buy 2 Zoom! Buy Air 2 or M2P instead!

2 Zoom's zoom isn't real zoom, it's software.

I suggest DJI should scrap Zoom from Mavic 3.
Next Mavics should be 3 Pro (direct successor of 2 Pro) plus a new 3 Pro Max: slightly bigger with even bigger sensor and slightly more expensive than 3 Pro.

You are incorrect, the Mavic 2 Zoom has a mechanical 24-48mm equivalent zoom lens.

 

[PS01]

Best comparison between Mavic Air 2 vs Mavic 2 Pro to date.

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As a videographer I'm glad I have the M2P and won't switch to MA2.

 

[radmanzulu]

No goggles!

 

[Mousehunter]

Not replacing, but trying to justify my first purchase. I had a M2A on order. I think it is complimentary to the M2P. Smaller, lighter, less expensive, could do everything I want it to. The M2P has a better sensor and probably can handle wind slightly better. Originally I went with the M2A as I expect the M3 to be released eventually. I canceled this morning. Could and can. It will probably be months before the SDK is released for the M2A. Then when and if the M3 is released, the wait for the SDK would start again.

Since I ordered the M2A, I saw that the M2P went on sale - then I saw a refurb that was discounted off the sale price. A $500 price drop in the M2P tipped the scales. 1k for the fly more M2A vs $1250 for a M2P. Close enough.

 

[Romonaga]

What makes you not fly because of the lockdown?

I agree, now is the perfect time to fly.

 

[Romonaga]

When deciding it was time for a new hardware, I was debating between the M2P or waiting a few more weeks for the Air. I was also debating about waiting for the M3P, you know the one everyone keeps talking about, except DJI.

For me, the specs of the M2P were, IMHO better, with all new iterations, being an early adapter is not always the best.
So I went with what exists and is known as apposed to some new device that may or may not have day one issues.

And seeing how the M3P does not exists, no hype from DJI, no leaks, I prefer not to wait for vaporware.

With all of this said, I will be purchasing the Air as well, provide you early adapters work the kinks out.

 

[dioscuriII]

I totally agree with everything you've said but what's becoming quickly apparent is that the misleading 48MP of the Mavic Air 2 is working incredibly well for marketing which is depressing but not surprising I guess.

The D700* is a great example because even under heavy cropping the pictures from it were fantastic, I changed to the D750 and the double resolution of 25MP was nowhere near impressive in reality as it sounded. I currently mainly use a Sony A9 for photos and an A7SII for video but sometimes it's just the A7S I have and you almost have it in your head its low resolution 12MP sensor is going to be useless for stills but while not the best, it can still produce some very high quality photos and it still wows me how it can produce incredibly clean and detailed iso 3200 and 6400 shots. I did briefly try an RX1RmkII with the same 42MP sensor as the A7RII/A7RIII cameras but even with a beautiful sharp Zeiss 35mm I struggled to get more actual usable detail out of it compared to my 25MP cameras which is in line with the reviewers comments that you need to really have great technique and setup to get the benefits of the higher resolution.

Spoiler: *D700

Putting this in spoiler tags so not to derail the thread but wow what a camera it was. I'd been shooting 4/3 up to that point but been increasingly frustrating with their flagship Olympus E-3 which has a tendency to confirm focus on a very out of focus shot, I had a good range of lenses including some of their top of the range ones which made me hesitant to change brands since it would be expensive. The arrival of a puppy and the Olympus screwing up again (many people had this issue but Olympus never admitted it) forced my hand and I bought the D700 and a few lenses. Straight away it was just incredible with its AF being vastly more capable than Olympus even when the E-3 was working well, the Olympus had struggled at iso 1600 but even 6400 was no problem for the D700 while the raw files had a huge amount of latitude for dynamic range.

I have the D850, but it is for the dynamic range and ISO performance at night. I didn't care for the D800 for the reasons that you just stated. But, the 850 works for me... with really good glass.

 

[Brockrock]

I have had the Mavic 2 Pro for about a year now, but I also just ordered the Mavic Air 2. The M2P is awesome, and for me, it was a great upgrade to my Phantom 4 - which I still have for now, and it has been my spare. As I see it, the Air 2 is an upgrade to my P4 without buying another M2P - since I like to have a spare available - and it allows me a bit of variety. Also, I just like stuff that flies.

 

[naiku]

Had a Mavic Air 1, loved it, was looking at Mavic 2 Zooms, the Pro was above what I really wanted to spend. Then the Air 2 was announced, pre-ordered (twice actually) but seeing comparisons to the Pro 2, especially in terms of still images, which is what 99% of my flying is for, canceled the Air 2 order and picking up a Pro 2.

 

[Brockrock]

Had a Mavic Air 1, loved it, was looking at Mavic 2 Zooms, the Pro was above what I really wanted to spend. Then the Air 2 was announced, pre-ordered (twice actually) but seeing comparisons to the Pro 2, especially in terms of still images, which is what 99% of my flying is for, canceled the Air 2 order and picking up a Pro 2.

You will really enjoy it. It is awesome, and its pics are very good.

 

[Ang]

im not sure why anyone would switch to an air from a pro, or even call it an upgrade. smaller sensor, worse controller, inferior sensors e.t.c the pro is way better then the air.

 

[MGVision]

im not sure why anyone would switch to an air from a pro, or even call it an upgrade. smaller sensor, worse controller, inferior sensors e.t.c the pro is way better then the air.

Lets see: 4k 60 fps, longer flight time, 48 MP photos, improved batteries with metal hooks on both sides, air sense, normal autofocus. So yes in those terms it is upgrade.