DJI Air 3 Under 500g

[Chapperz]

Hi

Probably a stupid question but what do you lot reckon the chances are of DJI making the air 3 Under 500g and actually getting it certified with the CAA?

 

[old man mavic]

@Chapperz it would be nice if it was in the A1 open category for us here in the UK ,but you would still need to have the A2 C of C to fly it in that category

 

[Meta4]

Zero chance
You can delete the duplicate thread too.

 

[Chapperz]

Zero chance
You can delete the duplicate thread too.

That's what I was thinking

Tried to figure out how to delete the 'accidental' duplicate

 

[Chapperz]

@Chapperz it would be nice if it was in the A1 open category for us here in the UK ,but you would still need to have the A2 C of C to fly it in that category

I wouldn't mind doing the A2 cofc at all if I could fly closer than 50 metres. My main aim is to do residential property photography and videography for Estate agents and property / roof inspections... I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and get the mini 3 Pro... I'm just worried that turning up to do a job with what could be seen as a toy would come across as amateurish.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I wouldn't mind doing the A2 cofc at all if I could fly closer than 50 metres. My main aim is to do residential property photography and videography for Estate agents and property / roof inspections... I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and get the mini 3 Pro... I'm just worried that turning up to do a job with what could be seen as a toy would come across as amateurish.

Yeah, a £1,000 "toy".

I think the issue is easily explained by simply informing the client about the 250g regulation, and explaining that drone manufacturers, including DJI, are making drones in this category with the purpose of use by professionals for things like Real Estate imagery.

 

[Chapperz]

Yeah, a £1,000 "toy".

I think the issue is easily explained by simply informing the client about the 250g regulation, and explaining that drone manufacturers, including DJI, are making drones in this category with the purpose of use by professionals for things like Real Estate imagery.

Yeah good point... And yeah... If they comment then as you said... If they choose to stay quiet and see what they get for their money then they shouldn't be disappointed... That said, chances are, if they've hired you it's either through recommendations or they have seen your work online so as long as the standard is as they expect then win win

 

[old man mavic]

@Chapperz the only other way is for you to spend the money and pass your GVC, and then fly in the specific category with all that that entails with a larger drone
here are a few pics i took recently of a new climbing facility being built in a local park where i fly regularly with my Mini 3 pro straight from the SD card

 

[Droning on and on...]

Yeah good point... And yeah... If they comment then as you said... If they choose to stay quiet and see what they get for their money then they shouldn't be disappointed... That said, chances are, if they've hired you it's either through recommendations or they have seen your work online so as long as the standard is as they expect then win win

Much also depends on how it's all "presented".

Show up with a nice hardcase with the Mini well organized in proper foam cutouts, you look much more professional and the drone seems more "serious" than if you show up with a bunch of loose stuff in a backpack.

 

[old man mavic]

@Chapperz ,at the risk of saying the wrong thing ,just remember that old adage
its not the size of your equipment that matters ,but how you use it
what the drone allows you to do, is position a camera from a higher viewpoint
its still down to you to compose the shot that you want

 

[Chapperz]

@Chapperz the only other way is for you to spend the money and pass your GVC, and then fly in the specific category with all that that entails with a larger drone
here are a few pics i took recently of a new climbing facility being built in a local park where i fly regularly with my Mini 3 pro straight from the SD cardView attachment 166026View attachment 166024View attachment 166023View attachment 166022

Nice shots man...
Can I fly a mavic in the same manner as a mini 3 Pro with a GVC?

 

[old man mavic]

@Chapperz ,the GVC is more involved ,in as much as you would be required to log all your flights ,and also fly a set amount of hours in a three month period to stay current,you also need a special type of liability insurance ,what you are actually getting is an operational authorisation from the CAA, that allows you to fly in places that would not be possible without it

 

[Chapperz]

@Chapperz ,the GVC is more involved ,in as much as you would be required to log all your flights ,and also fly a set amount of hours in a three month period to stay current,you also need a special type of liability insurance ,what you are actually getting is an operational authorisation from the CAA, that allows you to fly in places that would not be possible without it

To be honest, I would happily do that but starting out I doubt I'd be flying enough hours or be making enough money to justify the cost or to be able to keep the licence. I think start small, earn a reputation and client base over a year and then level up.

But out of curiosity, how many hours is that per month?

 

[old man mavic]

@Chapperz go on one of the UK training sites
such as UAVHUB or Heli guy there are other available, and you will be able to get the most up to date info about the GVC ,off the top of my head i believe it is 4 hours of logged flight time ,but that is only my memory from a while ago
if you type in drone GVC then all will be revealed

 

[twickers14]

Great info above and have to admit got a bit lost reading it all but is the key thing trying to get close to something to film/photograph it? If so don’t a number of dji drones have zoom in/zoom out facilities? Probably missed the point, if so, sorry.

 

[Hi-Flyer]

I wouldn't mind doing the A2 cofc at all if I could fly closer than 50 metres. My main aim is to do residential property photography and videography for Estate agents and property / roof inspections... I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and get the mini 3 Pro... I'm just worried that turning up to do a job with what could be seen as a toy would come across as amateurish.

... so bring along a few photos or videos from previous M3Pro jobs - that should be persuasive enough.

 

[Chapperz]

@Chapperz go on one of the UK training sites
such as UAVHUB or Heli guy there are other available, and you will be able to get the most up to date info about the GVC ,off the top of my head i believe it is 4 hours of logged flight time ,but that is only my memory from a while ago
if you type in drone GVC then all will be revealed

I think that's a bit much for me to start with... I won't be at that level for a while.

I'm going to to start small and work my way up..... That GVC is for the heavy weights.

The mini allows me to just up and go without any issue...
Thanks for the advice though all the same, it's appreciated

Great info above and have to admit got a bit lost reading it all but is the key thing trying to get close to something to film/photograph it? If so don’t a number of dji drones have zoom in/zoom out facilities? Probably missed the point, if so, sorry.

The drones mentioned here have digital zoom not optical. The difference being that digital zoom just crops a section and blows it up... Basically, if you have a 12mp image, and crop it by 50% and blow it up to get closer, you end up with a 6mp image.

Fact of the matter is that 20mp is really the bare minimum if you want to do anything with a image.

That said, it depends on what you want to do with your image. You can blow something up and it'll look wank right up close but from say 5m away look fine. (pointalism). For me I want to sell prints to people for their homes etc so I need to be able to blow a image up and have enough dots per inch that it looks sharp and detailed up close.

 

[twickers14]

I think that's a bit much for me to start with... I won't be at that level for a while.

I'm going to to start small and work my way up..... That GVC is for the heavy weights.

The mini allows me to just up and go without any issue...
Thanks for the advice though all the same, it's appreciated

The drones mentioned here have digital zoom not optical. The difference being that digital zoom just crops a section and blows it up... Basically, if you have a 12mp image, and crop it by 50% and blow it up to get closer, you end up with a 6mp image.

Fact of the matter is that 20mp is really the bare minimum if you want to do anything with a image.

That said, it depends on what you want to do with your image. You can blow something up and it'll look wank right up close but from say 5m away look fine. (pointalism). For me I want to sell prints to people for their homes etc so I need to be able to blow an image up and have enough dots per inch that it looks sharp and detailed up close.

Got it. Thanks.

 

[Droning on and on...]

That said, it depends on what you want to do with your image. You can blow something up and it'll look wank right up close but from say 5m away look fine. (pointalism). For me I want to sell prints to people for their homes etc so I need to be able to blow a image up and have enough dots per inch that it looks sharp and detailed up close.

Digital zoom gets a bit too much of a bad rap. For stills, yes, you're losing resolution. The criticism there is hard to argue with.

However, for video it gets a bit more complicated. Whether or not digital zoom results in lost resolution depends on sensor resolution and the resolution the video is being shot.

If shooting FHD for example, the 4K sensor is being downscaled to produce the image. You can digitally zoom by up to 4x without any loss of resolution, as the sensor output is simply cropped – no pixels are being "blown up" to cover multiple pixels in the magnified image.

So, whether or not "digital zoom" is inferior to, or equivalent to optical zoom depends on what you're doing with the sensor data.

 

[Chapperz]

... so bring along a few photos or videos from previous M3Pro jobs - that should be persuasive enough.

I'm thinking a website

Digital zoom gets a bit too much of a bad rap. For stills, yes, you're losing resolution. The criticism there is hard to argue with.

However, for video it gets a bit more complicated. Whether or not digital zoom results in lost resolution depends on sensor resolution and the resolution the video is being shot.

If shooting FHD for example, the 4K sensor is being downscaled to produce the image. You can digitally zoom by up to 4x without any loss of resolution, as the sensor output is simply cropped – no pixels are being "blown up" to cover multiple pixels in the magnified image.

So, whether or not "digital zoom" is inferior to, or equivalent to optical zoom depends on what you're doing with the sensor data.

Still are my concern... I intend to sell prints and I'd rather be able to print bigger than say a A3. Which is as far as I know, about the limit for 12mp. I also intend to do estate agent work for photos of property and inspections. Something like the air 2s would be ideal but alas it's over 500g.