Does Pro really mean "PRO" on the Mavic

[pbj_dk]

again, it is a chase of a perfection that has no end and no beginning. each company and business operates in a particular segment where certain tools and price point makes sense. if i would do a wedding video - i do not need a $100K cinematic drone. a usual mavic pro would do just fine. same for a roof inspector, etc, etc.

Hammer on the nail ;-) The right tool for the right job. I'm a weeding/event photographer and only spices the hand-held compositions up with aerial photography. M2P is perfect for that with it's 20 MP camera, set up speed/ease-of-use/flight automatisation. I need the drone to bring my camera, where I want it, stay still and take the shot in a decent RAW quality - not for making movies in general. I'm very happy and so are my clients! Occantionally, I also use it for property mapping and roof inspections.
But the definition of a PRO film drone is something else then a M1P/M2P.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

Thanks for the share, was quite an eye-opener. But to be fair to the Mavic 2 Pro, the footage looked really good - especially when you take into account the price difference!

 

[AMann]

I'd wager 10 years from now that a 45 pound drone willl be considered a dinosaur unless something of that size is needed to carry cargo. Everything is getting smaller including cameras. We're already seeing this on a pretty large scale.

Good point, have not seen anyone flying DSLR’s anymore since mirrorless cameras became better, and the mini video cameras with larger sensors are taking over now.

 

[pbj_dk]

and from what i know it is the norm for that industry, as no one wants really to mess with huge electric multicopters that still have an extremely limited flight time and very limited lift capacity, as a good camera setup is not 3-5kg, it is a way more.
.

Then there is the psychology/selling aspect of it? The funny thing is how the customers expectations reflects on what they see as "professional"? When I pull out my M2P folded from it's tiny "man bag" I more then often get the reaction " Is that it? Are you going to take my wedding with that toy-drone?" They expected a large complicated multi-rotor drone equipped with a huge camera with interchangeable lenses - because that's what I carry around my neck: Typically full-frame camera with a 70-200 mm 2.8 or a 24-70 (they are huge and heavy). They don't know the capabilities of the drone on photo/video quality. I make sure they see the "Hasselblad" branding befor, I change to a ND filter - they know that one and await, but "Suspiciously". Happily when they get the results, they calm down :-D
PS - pardon my Deng'lish - it isn't my native language ;-)

 

[Johnmcl7]

If job gets paid, it is a "pro". Tool one uses is irrelevant. You can run with a camera on a broomstick, if you got paid - that was a pro broomstick.

This is exactly it, it's a frequent discussion on camera forums where there can be quite a bit of snobbery over whether a camera is 'pro' or not when at the end of the day, it's professional if someone is using it for a paid job and really doesn't matter.

I'd also argue that DJI aren't really meaning the Mavic is a 'professional' model literally particularly when they have a range of much more expensive drones but more just to designate it as the top of the range Mavic. Companies often use terms like 'pro', 'turbo', 'HD', 'Digital', 'SE' etc. when it's nothing to do with the product, on reading this thread it reminded of ATI's naming scheme for their graphics cards where the 9700 Pro was the top of the range model and the second top model was just the 9700. The lower model had most of the performance of the pro model just slightly lower clocks so ATI weren't suggesting one was for professional use and one wasn't as their professional range was a separate one entirely.

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

This is exactly it, it's a frequent discussion on camera forums where there can be quite a bit of snobbery over whether a camera is 'pro' or not when at the end of the day, it's professional if someone is using it for a paid job and really doesn't matter.

I'd also argue that DJI aren't really meaning the Mavic is a 'professional' model literally particularly when they have a range of much more expensive drones but more just to designate it as the top of the range Mavic. Companies often use terms like 'pro', 'turbo', 'HD', 'Digital', 'SE' etc. when it's nothing to do with the product, on reading this thread it reminded of ATI's naming scheme for their graphics cards where the 9700 Pro was the top of the range model and the second top model was just the 9700. The lower model had most of the performance of the pro model just slightly lower clocks so ATI weren't suggesting one was for professional use and one wasn't as their professional range was a separate one entirely.

I agree with everything here, I'd would also add that the naming scheme is purely marketing to get us to buy the things they want us to buy.

 

[Harro]

A good comparison would have been for both units to shoot in 4k and then compare the footage quality. Comparing a $100,000 unit to a $2,000 unit is rather pointless, like comparing a Ferrari to a Mazda Miata.

 

[Johnmcl7]

A good comparison would have been for both units to shoot in 4k and then compare the footage quality. Comparing a $100,000 unit to a $2,000 unit is rather pointless, like comparing a Ferrari to a Mazda Miata.

I suspect the point of the video was to annoy Mavic users and get their attention which seems to be working quite well

 

[Aussie Oldtimer]

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I watched until he said "what's up"
then i bailed out.

 

[RTBrown55]

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That octocopter and camera controller makes the Mavic pro look like something out of a Cracker Jacks box. Well, not that bad, but it is certainly miles away from being what that octocopter and camera set-up is.

 

[Nile Mcmillion]

As others have mentioned on here, Trent is a PROfessional Aerial Videographer. His definition of PRO is different than say, my neighbor who uses his Mavics for ranch realty videos where he needs HD quality video from 2 miles away. Or me where I need something small that will fit in a backpack and can be setup quickly for vlogging. It depends on what you do as a Professional.

 

[W2EJ]

Not having seen that kind of equipment before, I found the video to be very interesting and well done. Of course it should be with what he does for a living, and that's what made it so good to watch. The Mavic 2 Pro came out pretty well too! I sure am impressed with mine every time I fly it.

 

[paulatkin73]

Not having seen that kind of equipment before, I found the video to be very interesting and well done. Of course it should be with what he does for a living, and that's what made it so good to watch. The Maxic 2 Pro came out pretty well too! I sure am impressed with mine every time I fly it.

He did not accent on that detail, but that huge octo platform he uses usually has about of10-12 minutes of a flight time only, with a type of load he uses. So, it can indeed do an amazing stuff, but, not for a very long

 

[TheRock]

The RED Camera certainly should turn out better imaging than a MP2 Hasselblad. It is comparing apples to oranges. The RED is an amazing tool. BUT, both can certainly be used professionally without a doubt.

 

[E92Vancouver]

i know 2 local companies that do aerial cinematic for commercials - and both use very expensive gas helicopter models that carry pro grade 8K cameras. something similar to what is shown in this youtube - i did not care to find a best one, as any sample would do.

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and from what i know it is the norm for that industry, as no one wants really to mess with huge electric multicopters that still have an extremely limited flight time and very limited lift capacity, as a good camera setup is not 3-5kg, it is a way more.
like this: Panavision DXL Announced - Shoot 8K RAW on this Cinema Camera! | cinema5D

again, it is a chase of a perfection that has no end and no beginning. each company and business operates in a particular segment where certain tools and price point makes sense. if i would do a wedding video - i do not need a $100K cinematic drone. a usual mavic pro would do just fine. same for a roof inspector, etc, etc.

Heli in that video is electric. I would think the exhaust plume from a gas heli would be problematic for shooting stationary shots on a windy day.

 

[KJH]

While the helicopter in that video may be electric, gas powered helicopters have been used for aerial photography for a long time. Gas engines don't produce much smoke, if any, at operating RPMs. You may have seen glow/nitro powered helis that do produce a very thick plume of smoke. Here's one company still making AP gas helicopters: Welcome to Bergen R/C - /Index

 

[E92Vancouver]

While the helicopter in that video may be electric, gas powered helicopters have been used for aerial photography for a long time. Gas engines don't produce much smoke, if any, at operating RPMs. You may have seen glow/nitro powered helis that do produce a very thick plume of smoke. Here's one company still making AP gas helicopters: Welcome to Bergen R/C - /Index

Once upon a time they use to use real Helis to film movies. The original Hawaii 5-0 used real Helis in shots such as the zoom in on Steve McGarrett when he was on the high-rise balcony.

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[ZooCougar]

I think I saw this video. Doesn’t he clip his truck with the Alta?

The range of tasks that drones can do for commercial work these days are so diverse that I don’t think anyone can define what is pro and what isn’t.

An M2P might have an advantage over bigger drones in a dense residential or commercial area since it is much more discreet and it deploys quickly.

Otherwise those giant drones are cool as hell and I would love to try flying one.

 

[FatherXmas]

But if those emergency personnel are volunteer and not paid, they aren't "pros" either. So that makes sense...

I respectfully disagree. I went to the same fire academy and the same paramedic school as the paid guys. I trained and responded to as many calls as a lot of paid guys (I'm retired now). The level of service I, and the majority of other volunteers I have work beside are as professional (and in a few cases more professional) as any of the paid folks I've seen. So please do not say volunteer emergency responders are not pro, we are.

 

[calmar81]

I find this whole discussion superfluous. For me personally, it is always a "tag" that is pinned to a particular product line to make it "more ambitious". "Pro" is just shorter and sounds better than "Ambi".

Without changing a complete platform, a "pro" product just gets a bonus or bonuses to make it more powerful / faster / more enduring / high res etc.

The two examples that come to mind as a drone pilot and gamer alike:
Mavic 2 -> Pro
Playstation4 -> Pro

No one compares a Playstation 4 to a 10,000 Euro PC with multiple graphics cards, a multiple of memory, etc. etc. because the Platform stays exactly the same... you just get higher resolution imaging or faster load times... better frame rates.

That's how I see it.