Is the DJI Mini 4 Pro good enough for professional work?

[Yaros]

I'm looking into upgrading my trusty old Air 2 and choosing between the Mini 4 Pro and Air 3.

The Air 3 seems a bit expensive, and it doesn't have a 1 inch sensor for that price.

I find the Mini 4 pro better at value per price, as native vertical video is something I would benefit from, especially for hotel promo videos, etc...

So I want to ask owners of these drones, how are they?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

They both have the same sensor, an they both got a boat load of new updates today.


The key for me is although the Mini 4 can handle some heavy winds, its so very fragile.

If you going to really fly a lot you should choose the Air 3 , its a mini tank with a better overall design, an when you add our Wet Suit is incredible in the Rain / snow and handles heavy winds nicely.

Other than how fraigile they are, and that you can sqeeze the legs an crack them , I dont see a lot of difference except that the Mini 4 Pro is not recommended in bad weather , unless fully protected. The Sensors are just to fragile to rain and snow and burn out easy.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[BobaFut]

To me, the main value of the Air3 is the 3x lens, which is an absolute game changer IMO. I have a Mavic 3 Pro and probably use the 3x lens the most because of the parallax and compression effects you get with it just add that bit of "wow" factor you don't get with a wide lens. It can also give you more flexibility with airspace. If you have the money and weight isn't a factor, then the Air3 will be a much more versatile platform for professional work.

 

[MS Coast]

In my opinion, the Mini 4 Pro is a superb small drone. The flight characteristics are great. The Ocusync 4 drone/controller signal is far more robust than earlier versions. Flight duration is spectacular. Video and photo quality is far more than adequate for most applications, including much commercial work.

Unless I need the 3X and 7X lenses on the Mavic 3 Pro, the Mini 4 Pro is the one I take when I go out the door.

Other than how fraigile they are, and that you can sqeeze the legs an crack them ,

I just squeezed an arm on the Mavic 3 Pro and the Mini 4 Pro. They both flex when squeezed laterally, the Mini a bit more easily. I'm sure I could crack each. Overall, I don't see the Mini 4 Pro as particularly more fragile than the other Minis or the Air and Mavic 3 models. If you fly any of them into a wall, they'll break.

I dont see a lot of difference except that the Mini 4 Pro is not recommended in bad weather , unless fully protected. The Sensors are just to fragile to rain and snow and burn out easy.

Who recommends any DJI drones for bad weather flying?

How are the Mini 4 Pro sensors more fragile than the sensors on other drones? I've heard of no instances of sensors "burning out" on the Mini 4 Pro. Has anyone else observed that problem on the Mini 4 Pro or other DJI models?

How can the sensors be protected from moisture without covering them and interfering with their function?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

This might explain things better.

Mini 3 Pro the fastest drone to be comprimised in the Rain.

The Mini 3 Pro holds the Phantomrain.org Record for the fastest comprimised drone in the rain with out a Wet Suit at less than 30 Seconds. The alert popped up stating that optical sensors had burned out , something to that effect , I remember the message was jarring what ever the alert said...

mavicpilots.com

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Protect the Mini 3 and Min 4 vision sensors..

 

[Dusty DJI]

This might explain things better.

Mini 3 Pro the fastest drone to be comprimised in the Rain.

The Mini 3 Pro holds the Phantomrain.org Record for the fastest comprimised drone in the rain with out a Wet Suit at less than 30 Seconds. The alert popped up stating that optical sensors had burned out , something to that effect , I remember the message was jarring what ever the alert said...

mavicpilots.com

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Protect the Mini 3 and Min 4 vision sensors..

I'd rather not put to chance anything happening to a 1500.00 drone ( Air3 ) due to wanting to fly in extreme weather. Sorry. I personally think if you want to do that, get a waterproof fishing drone.

 

[Wreckhunter]

I'd rather not put to chance anything happening to a 1500.00 drone ( Air3 ) due to wanting to fly in extreme weather. Sorry. I personally think if you want to do that, get a waterproof fishing drone.

You are so very right,and nailed it on the head with your reply.

 

[Wreckhunter]

You are so very right,and nailed it on the head with your reply.

With a wet suit the life of that costly drone will be shortened .How can it not be.

 

[zeusfl]

Every product has his customers. I seen the value of having a wetsuit a day I was recording few customers and taking timelaps and in less than 5 minutes the weather changed (Living in FL) and I just was unable to Land quickly because traffic and I had to land in pouring rain. I do not want to miss my shots.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I'd rather not put to chance anything happening to a 1500.00 drone ( Air3 ) due to wanting to fly in extreme weather. Sorry. I personally think if you want to do that, get a waterproof fishing drone.

lol , our journey into drones started with the Swell Pro water proof drone and a man in the UK who made them , but bad design and a rotten camera system , left little to work with.

DJI is already making very water resistant drones , and with a little help from the Wet Suit to support the weak links , you now have several drones that can Dominate the Extreme Weather .

If your a Professional making money with your drone, than being able to fly without the worry of Weather to beat you down is Priceless. It stops you from having to extend a weeks worth of work into months waiting for those Marry Popins like days to fly.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your drone in the Rain, an Capture the $$$$

 

[JimSteadman]

In my opinion, the Mini 4 Pro is a superb small drone. The flight characteristics are great. The Ocusync 4 drone/controller signal is far more robust than earlier versions. Flight duration is spectacular. Video and photo quality is far more than adequate for most applications, including much commercial work.

Unless I need the 3X and 7X lenses on the Mavic 3 Pro, the Mini 4 Pro is the one I take when I go out the door.


I just squeezed an arm on the Mavic 3 Pro and the Mini 4 Pro. They both flex when squeezed laterally, the Mini a bit more easily. I'm sure I could crack each. Overall, I don't see the Mini 4 Pro as particularly more fragile than the other Minis or the Air and Mavic 3 models. If you fly any of them into a wall, they'll break.



Who recommends any DJI drones for bad weather flying?

How are the Mini 4 Pro sensors more fragile than the sensors on other drones? I've heard of no instances of sensors "burning out" on the Mini 4 Pro. Has anyone else observed that problem on the Mini 4 Pro or other DJI models?

How can the sensors be protected from moisture without covering them and interfering with their function?

This is the second time this week where someone asserts that the sensors 'burn out' on the Mini 4. Maybe if you cover them up and therefore prevent them from doing what they are there to do, they fail to do their job. But then I guess if you cover the lens on the camera the camera wouldn't work either.

 

[MS Coast]

This might explain things better.

Mini 3 Pro the fastest drone to be comprimised in the Rain.

The Mini 3 Pro holds the Phantomrain.org Record for the fastest comprimised drone in the rain with out a Wet Suit at less than 30 Seconds. The alert popped up stating that optical sensors had burned out , something to that effect , I remember the message was jarring what ever the alert said...

mavicpilots.com

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Protect the Mini 3 and Min 4 vision sensors..

No, the same questions remain unanswered.

 

[Wreckhunter]

lol , our journey into drones started with the Swell Pro water proof drone and a man in the UK who made them , but bad design and a rotten camera system , left little to work with.

DJI is already making very water resistant drones , and with a little help from the Wet Suit to support the weak links , you now have several drones that can Dominate the Extreme Weather .

If your a Professional making money with your drone, than being able to fly without the worry of Weather to beat you down is Priceless. It stops you from having to extend a weeks worth of work into months waiting for those Marry Popins like days to fly.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your drone in the Rain, an Capture the $$$$

Why is what he said considered something to be laughed at,I happen to fully 100% agree with him.
if you are a professional making money with your drone,what are you really going to be able to see in pouring rain
with water dripping off the camera lens.
And I don't want to hear about the wet suit protecting the camera also.
Hey but its your product,whatever.

 

[Dusty DJI]

Why is what he said considered something to be laughed at,I happen to fully 100% agree with him.
if you are a professional making money with your drone,what are you really going to be able to see in pouring rain
with water dripping off the camera lens.
And I don't want to hear about the wet suit protecting the camera also.
Hey but its your product,whatever.

I'm assuming, for Professional work, it means to get the work done just before the sky opens up to a torrential downpour and allows you to land your drone. Maybe. But unless the plastic absorbs water, I can't see routing the water away from sensitive areas would work 100% of the time. Water has a way of getting into areas where it shouldn't. Not saying the wetsuit is a bad product, just not for me. But then, I'm in the high desert where it doesn't rain a lot and gets to be 95-110 degrees in the summer. This wet suit would not work well for me. I do like the idea of the rescue jacket though, since I fly around the river... but I haven't purchased anything like that. Probably won't

 

[Droning on and on...]

It's always amusing to watch people criticize as impossible, useless, etc. out of ignorance that which others are accomplishing, using, and succeeding with.

 

[Droning on and on...]

I'm assuming, for Professional work, it means to get the work done just before the sky opens up to a torrential downpour and allows you to land your drone.

Bad assumption.

Professional work is anything someone will pay you for. The timeliness of the media may be its greatest value, and whether shot in sunny skies or a downpour is utterly irrelevant.

Example? A surveillance video. Someone wants to see if someone shows up somewhere at a particular place and time. Quality of the image only has to be good enough to show this. Given the locale, a drone is the easiest, cheapest way to do it.

Don't fool yourself into thinking you know every way someone might be willing to pay for drone footage. None of us have that good and complete of an imagination.

 

[Dusty DJI]

It's always amusing to watch people criticize as impossible, useless, etc. out of ignorance that which others are accomplishing, using, and succeeding with.

From another post, I am going to assume this was directed toward me.
I never said it was impossible, useless, etc. I questioned its validity of protection 100% of the time. I also question how this skin is going to protect a sensor still exposed. I also said it was not for me. I am not trying to discourage anyone from buying this product.
And... I am not ignorant of what other people have experienced with this product. Good for them. Good for you. Not for me.

 

[Droning on and on...]

From another post, I am going to assume this was directed toward me.
I never said it was impossible, useless, etc. I questioned its validity of protection 100% of the time. I also question how this skin is going to protect a sensor still exposed. I also said it was not for me. I am not trying to discourage anyone from buying this product.
And... I am not ignorant of what other people have experienced with this product. Good for them. Good for you. Not for me.

No, it was several people casting doubt on whether there was any use for capturing media in the rain, if there was use in a professional setting, etc. All comments were from people with no experience.

Since the skepticism is trivially proven false, I find it amusing that people, otherwise totally ignorant to the narrow issue at hand, make such colorful assertions with such confidence. @Phantomrain.org has been in business for many years, successfully, waterproofing drones. Going back to the Phantoms, I believe.

So a few questions might have contributed far more to the signal-to-noise ratio in the thread, learning could have occurred, instead of some useless sarcasm about dripping lenses that maybe got a chuckle.

I am not a customer of @Phantomrain.org's. I'd like to be – I have a lot of respect for the guy, and think his niche is cool. I just have no need. Doesn't get in the way of understanding others do.

 

[Yaros]

Ended up going with an Air 3 Fly More Combo RC2.

 

[Wreckhunter]

No, it was several people casting doubt on whether there was any use for capturing media in the rain, if there was use in a professional setting, etc. All comments were from people with no experience.

Since the skepticism is trivially proven false, I find it amusing that people, otherwise totally ignorant to the narrow issue at hand, make such colorful assertions with such confidence. @Phantomrain.org has been in business for many years, successfully, waterproofing drones. Going back to the Phantoms, I believe.

So a few questions might have contributed far more to the signal-to-noise ratio in the thread, learning could have occurred, instead of some useless sarcasm about dripping lenses that maybe got a chuckle.

I am not a customer of @Phantomrain.org's. I'd like to be – I have a lot of respect for the guy, and think his niche is cool. I just have no need. Doesn't get in the way of understanding others do.

Nice that one was directed toward me,and no it it not useless sarcasm its called the truth.
Sorry you can't handle it.
Done