Hope this type of post is allowed.
Right now, I'm only a spark owner. It's mostly serving me well. I'm primarily a real estate photographer and I mostly use it to take a few photos of homes as add-ons to the ground photos. It's decent for this purpose. The photos aren't great but the quality is fine for just a few exterior photos.
Recently though, I don't know what it is, but I'm getting a lot more people interested in the drone work, specifically people wanting video. I've done 3 videos for real estate agents with the spark in the last 2 years, and while they were happy with the video, I just look at them taken with a 2-axis gimble and they kind of make the perfectionist in me puke.
Not only that, but I'm starting to get more inquiries from large businesses that want super high res photos, something better than the spark. I have to turn these down.
So I've been thinking about getting the
M2P. I have some big concerns about this though. While it's a great drone, it IS now what, like 2 or 3 years old? Generally, I don't like purchasing tech in it's 2nd year, I don't like investing in something that's going to be obsolete soon. If the price was lower on it I would feel better, but I think right now it's even more expensive than when it came out. And then I could see DJI releasing the
Mavic 3 in 6 months and the value of my "new"
M2P would drop like a brick.
Even more worrying is the FAA's remote ID BS. It seems, from what I gather, that when remote ID comes, you will need a new drone and all the old drones will essentiallly be bricked. I wish DJI would make a statement or be more clear if the older drones like
M2P can be firmware fixed to be remote ID compliant, but it seems they want to leave us in the dark guessing.
Now, I'm not made of money, so a
M2P would be a big investment for me. And I would want it to last. So if it's foolish to get it now, I wouldn't. But at the same time, the spark is holding me back from the potential of making more money.
I've also been looking into the Autel Evo II. If I got it, I would wait for the 1" sensor model slated to come out in March. The specs look great, and it's my favorite color orange, so I wouldnt have to wrap it! And I like that it doesn't have the BS DJI geofencing. My area has had a lot of the geofencing zones added recently. I think it's stupid that I have to go to the DJI website and get authorization every time, when I'm already a 107 holder and get proper auth ahead of time with LAANC. Honestly DJI should just keep 107 licenses on file per account and leave it up to the pilots to get proper auth, knowing that as 107 holders, they probably play by the rules and aren't rogue pilots.
Of course, with the Evo II, the remote ID concerns still apply. That, and I don't know how reliable Autel drones are. DJI is the leader, so it seems they would have the most reliable tech. In other words, less chance for crashes or fly aways with DJI gear. I would think.
Thoughts? Anyone else in my situation?
