If you have a Mavic Pro 2, is it worth getting a Mavic Air 2?

[Jordaneer]

The Mavic Air 2 looks a great drone and clearly designed to fit in along side the Mavic 2 series but as a Mavic 2 Pro owner I wouldn't consider one as I bought the Mavic 2 Pro for its 1in sensor and it's been a welcome upgrade over the 1/2.3in sensor in the Mavic 1 Pro. I see frequent comments claiming that the main benefit of the larger sensor is the better high iso performance but that's more a bonus as I don't fly often at night (nor do many others looking at content here), the big advantage the larger sensor offers is much wider dynamic range which is useful with most drone photos. The image below shows how much detail can be recovered from the underexposed areas of the image:

It's certainly not for everyone and if you don't process the raw files you're not going to see as large a benefit but at the same time it's nowhere near as specialised or niche as I keep seeing being claimed. On the sensor scale a 1in sensor is still very small but it's the tradeoff for portability,

I feel like you can do a lot of this as long as you are working with raw photos, which all Mavics except the mini take.

 

[Butterfly Copper]

I think Trump just gave the US market $1200 reasons to buy one (just in the time for the MA2)

Isn't it a little bit ironic to transfer the coronavirus money directly back to China?

 

[RonRob61]

I'm torn between the Mini and Air 2.
I had the Mavic Air but I sold it recently with a good value. I really liked the air for the compact size and easy to carry while going on hiking/backpacking. But few things bothered me -
1. Loud high pitch noise
2. Camera quality not so good
3. Flight time
I was almost down for the Air 2 but it's a bit bulkier and heavier about 33% than the Air.
Now I'm torn between the Mini and Air 2 :/

seems like a no brainer to me. The mini is a toy and the Air2 has high end pro specs. As far as bulkier your talking grams! Yes, the AIr 2 cost 2x as much but it cost 1/2 as much and is at least as capable if not more so then the Mavic 2! I recently purchased a Zoom, packaged with Smart controller, $1699.00, I think I did OK but man after seeing the Air2 im kicking myself. The Air 2 is also compatible with Smart Controller and Im sure will be bundled with it right after the update which DJI says is going to be in about 2 weeks. So $1100.00 to $1200 with Smart Controller, compared to Mavic 2 Air2 has better camera, longer flight time Activetrak 3 APAS 3 and more and is $500 - $600 cheaper in a more compact package. Even being torn between Air2 and Mavic 2 is a stretch but Comparing a Mini to the Air2? You should just bite the bullet, spent 2x as much and get 10x as much. The mini is a huge downgrade from the Air you had to begin with.

 

[R1Mavic]

Interesting thing with every drone I’ve had I was a video taker. I bought the M2P and became a photographer. Hardly made any videos with it. The pics are just that good. See my Instagram

cDronetography

 

[aokusman]

I think Trump just gave the US market $1200 reasons to buy one (just in the time for the MA2)

Yep. That’s where mines going.

 

[Made2Phly]

I see no mention in the posts of M2P’s omnidirectional sensors. That, plus 1 Inch sensor is why i am about to replace my MP with M2P instead of Mavic Air 2

 

[JSM]

Really it's pretty simple:

If you want something affordable and easy, but minimalistic and so-so footage, go Mini

If you want a something better than a mini and at a discount until stock is out, but don't want to drop coin on a improved revision, go Air

If you want 4k/60fps with a decent cam and some early previews at what's to come with improved tracking, go Air 2

If you want a actual zoom lens with a decent cam, go Zoom

If you want the best camera quality and customization, go Pro 2


If you just want better than that from a DJI perspective (and without going Enterprise level) well you've got probably several months to wait for Mavic 3 series.... though I have suspicions they will likely do a silent update to the Zoom and Pro 2 to incorporate some software level updates of the Air 2 (such as Activetrack 3.0) before they phase out the Mavic 2 series.

I've heard some say they think they'll 'unlock' a 4k/60fps mode for the zoom/pro2... but as that's more hardware limitation specific, not sure such is possible. or maybe it is, I dunno... We can argue sensor capabilities all day, but in the end, even the Air 2 sensor is capable of 4k/90fps, but they've locked it to 4k/60fps, so it's plausible that the Pro2/Zoom sensors could have some locked potential up DJI's sleeves.

 

[JSM]

Funny how everyone seems to forget the Mavic Pro 2 can shoot 2.7k @ 60 fps !!!! (And the Phantom 4 shoots in 4k 60 also !!!!!)

 

[LeeHene]

As a photographer, I love my M2P. Wouldn't think of replacing it with the Air 2 but I'm curious as to what the Mavic 3 Pro will offer.

On that subject, one must consider DJI's track record for releases and their current foothold on the market. I think we're more likely see a Mavic 2 Pro V2.0 this year than a total jump to the next model.

Sorry for chasing a rabbit here...

 

[Garilla]

The 10bit colour depth on the M2P compared to the 8bit on the Air 2 is widely regarded to be superior. Also the ISO performance is better on the M2P. This is why I can't justify buying the Air 2 personally. If I didn't have anything like the M2P I'd be all over the Air 2... Just my 2 pence worth.

 

[Jiggleman]

The 10bit colour depth on the M2P compared to the 8bit on the Air 2 is widely regarded to be superior. Also the ISO performance is better on the M2P. This is why I can't justify buying the Air 2 personally. If I didn't have anything like the M2P I'd be all over the Air 2... Just my 2 pence worth.

Totally agree here, since I'm in the same boat with a M2P. But to expand on the 8-bit vs 10-bit, cuz this may or may not apply to you, but it was helpful for me to know. 10-bit is superior than 8-bit, in the sense that you have more flexibility to recover shadow and highlight details in post process. 10-bit also requires h.256 codec which requires a beefier system to work on. So if you want a faster post process workflow (or none at all), then MA2 is all you need. If you care about adding LUTs and spending time in post tweaking the image, then M2P is def worth the price difference. Not to say you can't record in h.254 in normal mode for M2P, but it would be a kind of a waste of that big sensor. Also, keep in mind that you cannot record in D-Log M in h.254. And if all this over your head, then the MA2 is perfect for you.

 

[Garilla]

Totally agree here, since I'm in the same boat with a M2P. But to expand on the 8-bit vs 10-bit, cuz this may or may not apply to you, but it was helpful for me to know. 10-bit is superior than 8-bit, in the sense that you have more flexibility to recover shadow and highlight details in post process. 10-bit also requires h.256 codec which requires a beefier system to work on. So if you want a faster post process workflow (or none at all), then MA2 is all you need. If you care about adding LUTs and spending time in post tweaking the image, then M2P is def worth the price difference. Not to say you can't record in h.254 in normal mode for M2P, but it would be a kind of a waste of that big sensor. Also, keep in mind that you cannot record in D-Log M in h.254. And if all this over your head, then the MA2 is perfect for you.

I love tweaking the h.265 in post and the extra light you get in from a 1 inch sensor is boss so for me I won't be buying the Air 2. I'm more than happy with my M2P and find it very portable. At less than 1kg I have no idea how some consider it not portable... Maybe time for some to get back in the gym and stop missing out back and leg days haha.

 

[LeeHene]

At less than 1kg I have no idea how some consider it not portable... Maybe time for some to get back in the gym and stop missing out back and leg days haha.

That's the truth! I can comfortably fit my M2P, props, remote, cords, charger, spare battery, MavMount, iPad Mini, and sunshade into a small travel bag made for men's toiletries.

If that ain't portable I don't know what is!

 

[Garilla]

That's the truth! I can comfortably fit my M2P, props, remote, cords, charger, spare battery, MavMount, iPad Mini, and sunshade into a small travel bag made for men's toiletries.

If that ain't portable I don't know what is!

Well said.

 

[swooshdave]

That's the truth! I can comfortably fit my M2P, props, remote, cords, charger, spare battery, MavMount, iPad Mini, and sunshade into a small travel bag made for men's toiletries.

If that ain't portable I don't know what is!

Well, the MA1 is the “what is”.

And I don’t want to know what you pack for toiletries. ?

 

[Johnmcl7]

I feel like you can do a lot of this as long as you are working with raw photos, which all Mavics except the mini take.

Speaking from experience, no you definitely cannot. Raw is not a magic bullet as some people think it is and what you can do with the raw files is highly dependent on the sensor that produced the raw file. Generally the bigger the sensor the more latitude there is in the raw file and the more you can do with them which is one of the reasons full frame sensors are so popular in photography with more digital medium format options which really excel at resolution and dynamic range coming onto the market in the last couple of years.

The 1in sensor is the smallest of the 'big' standard sensors (4/3, APS-C, full frame) but it's still noticeably better than the 1/2.3in compact sensors which have next to no latitude in their raw files, even at maximum there isn't much you can pull back in the shadow and highlight areas and there's a lot more noise to deal with even at low isos if you start trying to push it. I bought the Mavic 1 Pro knowing what the 1/2.3in sensor would deliver but the Phantom 4 Pro at the time was just far too big for what I used the drone for so it was one of those tradeoffs. As expected the raw files were very limited so when the Mavic 2 Pro came out, I upgraded and found the sensor was a good step up for what can be done with its raw files.

It's no criticism of the Mavic Air 2 nor any other small sensors, it's question that's coming up a lot at the moment so just trying to demonstrate what the actual advantages are of the bigger sensor.

 

[bzmot]

As a Mavic Air, now MA 1, owner, this just allowed me to now wait for the MP 3. I got my Air instead of an MP 2 because the Air was so much more portable (i.e. it, the controller, and spare batteries take up two lens pockets in my photography backpack.

The MA 2 is about the same size is the MP2, so it loses the whole advantage the MA had. At least for my usage.

It's quite a bit smaller and nearly half the weight.

 

[MPPilot]

Mavic Pro 2 = 1” sensor, Air 2 = 1/2” sensor. Why downgrade to a sensor 1/4 the size? Maybe as a less expensive replacement for a totaled MP2.

 

[LeeHene]

Well, the MA1 is the “what is”.

And I don’t want to know what you pack for toiletries. ?

Ahh, that's how the bag was labeled when I bought it at Walmart for my DX7 transmitter years ago. ?

 

[Romonaga]

1week into my Mavic 2 Pro, was a toss up between this and waiting for Air 2. I just might still add the air to my fleet.