Is the Mavic Air good enough?

[hiflyer201]

Surely the issues with soft focus isn't user error?

Hey...just sayin...you don't even have a drone and you're talking about soft focus? Are you going to use your drone to re-make "Last Year at Marienbad"? It's a compromise honestly but I think you know that and you are having a good time pulling chains. Jerks are always good for a laugh

 

[deathmajor]

I think your expectations of drone technology are too high.

The gray color issue you're describing is definitely there and the H.264 codec, even with 100mbps, makes color grading quite a chore. I would argue though that it's one of those "once seen, it cannot be unseen" things and if you don't know to look for it, you simply won't see it. None of my clients have complained.

Reading your post, I think you have unrealistic expectations. If you would like to fulfill all of your expectations, I would wait ~5 years for the ~MA6. It is not sarcasm, but sounds to me an experienced photographer comes in with no experience with drones and looking for a drone to produces an untouched quality definetely under budget, <$1.000. The commercial drone industry is simple not at the level yet, to meets with your price and quality expectation at the same time, so you may want to spend more money toward for example inspire series and forget compact size or expect limited quality (against your expectation), get the portable size and budget filled. I definetely think that you should rethink your expectations otherwise you will be unsatified with your under $1.000 drone....

Thank you, I really appreciate your answers.

I don't believe that I'll have to wait six iterations for a drone with decent phone quality videos but I've decided to wait for the next one. I've probably used 30-40 cameras in my life with varying quality/budgets and I'm fully satisfied with my $220 phone considering the small format but I've never stumbled upon a camera which completely removes color. Imagine going on an expensive trip and spending hours shooting only to travel home and discover that all the footage is gray and imho unusable. The viewer might not care but it's sort of like the arrow in Fedex - once you know it, you'll never see it the same again.

The step from Mavic Pro to Mavic Air was amazing in many ways and I'm sure we'll continue to see amazing improvements in the year to come.

 

[AussieDrone]

Watch "DJI Mavic Air BEST Settings vs Pro | Tutorial" on YouTube

This is a good comparison between the MP and MA. I thought this is a good review...

 

[DougT]

What seems to have been missed is that the majority of video and stills uploaded for our pleasure, particularly on You Tube, are a compressed compromise. On your monitor at home the images should, if you are any good as a photographer, appear quite remarkable. I have been astounded by the quality of the images produced by the Air. You can always spend more, but it is the person behind the lens that makes an image great, not necessarily the equipment they use.
I have taken professional photographs for decades and now one of my sons is a film director/producer. He regularly uses a Mavic Air for footage.
Whole feature films are made on iPhones, surely that is a hint?

 

[SkyWizard]

It has a lot of different flight modes and settings that affect the quality of the pictures. Using all of the features that it has actually takes a bit of photography knowledge which not all drone enthusiasts posess. Im now slightly dissapointed in myself that I can't remember the things I learned in high school photo class.
The life of the batteries is greatly affected by how much you push it's performance, which is substantial, Ive caught up to and taken stable picures of sailboats going fast in heavy wind. But if you get an efficient launch routine down and your just cruising around taking pics, youll get a good amount of time out of each battery.
As for fly-aways, Ive been using mine for almost a year now and have not once seen it do anything unusual.
All in all I love my mavic air and after reviewing the capabilities of the mavic 2, I still think the MA is a great drone. Personally, I dont desire the M2 at all. After the next best thing comes out after that is when Ill be looking into upgrading, until then the mavic 2 is just not worth the price for me since I have a MA.

 

[bazuchan]

I think question is can MA be better with same size and price. In opinion it certainly can. But there is currently no better drone given limitations. And waiting is stupid thing to do.

As for stated problems I had following:
1. Props in the footage. I get this with certain speed and wind direction. I really hate it. Btw my M2P has this problem too.
2. Some "grayness" when shooting at sunset/sundown or in fog. I take it as expected and again my M2P has it too.
3. Video aliasing. I can see it easily on some patterns. But it didn't bothered me enougth to study the problem.

 

[Darrell2]

I have a P4p and a Mavic Air and when I go somewhere I take the air it is compact and you can put in your back pocket. If the you are okay with your $200 phone then use your phone. But I will tell you even if you wait till the next one comes out you will find fault in it to. You sir will not be happy no mater what you buy. I'm not up on the MP, or the MP2 or the zoom but with the air I don't need my remote or my phone. If me and my family is on a trip I can use gesture and fly by hand. And if it is a move you want of your family then go get you one of those $3000 drones they to are probably 30% off to it is Christmas. Good luck to you sir I hope you find that perfect little drone that takes that perfect little picture like your $200 phone.

 

[mstuartk]

I've considered getting a drone for a year and this weekend they are selling MA Fly More Combo for $843 which is basically 20% off its regular price here. That's about my threshold to get a drone for hobby and family videos so I was about to buy it immediately.

Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of problems. Weird saturation issues in the shadows, stuttering videos, wobbly lines when panning, low resolution, purple discoloring, soft images (lens issue?), out of focus images, shadows from propellers, loud noise, really short range in Europe, dying batteries, drones that are running away, etc. Overall my first DSLR I had back in 2005 and my current $220 phone delivers better results. Video reviews seem to love it but I'm starting to question how much time they actually spent looking for these issues or if their main task was to get a cool looking video for YouTube while getting affiliate commission.

So.. Is the Mavic Air mature enough for usable videos and photos or would it be better to just wait 1-2 years for MA 2 or even MA3? I would love a drone but it would be wasteful of me to get a beta drone that delivers underwhelming results and runs off after a week. I've genuinely tried to study other peoples results but they love the saturation slider which (in my view) ruins the photos and I never know if poor videos are down to user error or poor hardware. I would hate to repeat my mistake of buying an early EVF camera which was just unusable due to the lag.

Its noisy! Who wants a drone that is noticably louder than the average device?

 

[Darrell2]

I don't hear that in my video come to think of it I didn't notice it in any of my videos and I know where it is.

 

[mcascone]

I had a mavic pro and was just astounded with its performance and video quality. I crashed it into the carribean ocean and am now looking to replace it with an M2Z. I don't need the Pro 2. However I'm on the fence if I should just get the air. I care at least as much about portability as video quality, probably more. If the air had comparable quality to the MP, that's good enough for me at half the size.
The one thing that makes me hesitate is the reports of poor RF performance - range, interference, latency, etc. That would be a deal killer for me if I couldn't trust it to be fly-able if there's interference.

It's not so much the theoretical longest range, or top speed that I'm looking for, but reliability. I never had an RF issue with the MP where I wasn't aware of what the issue could be, usually that I was too low and too far away, etc. But the one time I tried to fly it using just the phone WiFi, it was useless. That's what's making me hesitate on the Air.

That and the fact that a new Air may come out before I actually have a chance to fly whatever I might buy soon.

Thoughts on the RF performance question?
Thanks.

 

[SkyWizard]

I had a mavic pro and was just astounded with its performance and video quality. I crashed it into the carribean ocean and am now looking to replace it with an M2Z. I don't need the Pro 2. However I'm on the fence if I should just get the air. I care at least as much about portability as video quality, probably more. If the air had comparable quality to the MP, that's good enough for me at half the size.
The one thing that makes me hesitate is the reports of poor RF performance - range, interference, latency, etc. That would be a deal killer for me if I couldn't trust it to be fly-able if there's interference.

It's not so much the theoretical longest range, or top speed that I'm looking for, but reliability. I never had an RF issue with the MP where I wasn't aware of what the issue could be, usually that I was too low and too far away, etc. But the one time I tried to fly it using just the phone WiFi, it was useless. That's what's making me hesitate on the Air.

That and the fact that a new Air may come out before I actually have a chance to fly whatever I might buy soon.

Thoughts on the RF performance question?
Thanks.

The reliability of the signal is the only real complaint I have about the MA. The more I fly it, the more I can almost 'feel' when Ill encounter interference and avaoid those scenarios.
The signal is noticably more reliable in 5.8 mode however. I just recieved a "range extender" in the mail which is just a dome shaped piece of plastic with foil on the inside that sits on your remote. I havnt used it yet, but they are reviewed highly. Im just curious how Dji could have made such an amazing machine and overlooked an augmentation that simple with that much benefit.

 

[webfishnz]

I purchased my first drone, a MA, in March this year and I have been delighted with it. You've all heard the adage "the best camera is the one you have with you". Well the MA is the drone you can pack quickly and easily to take almost anywhere.

Two cons are slightly less flight time than MP and slightly noisy, but the pros well and truly outweigh that.

 

[savan.b]

I have used both Phantom 4 and MA. I would pick MA any day of the week over Phantom 4. MA produces amazing videos in 4K. I would highly recommend it. Given your budget, this is the best you can buy IMHO.

What settings do you use for video and photo?

 

[CanadaDrone]

What settings do you use for video and photo?

You can't use a catch all setting for exposure for either photo or video. Every scene will be different so you need a good understanding of basic photography/videography principles.

For video you want D-Cinelike 0, -3, -2 if you're going to grade it or apply a LUT. The Air cannot shoot true RAW video but this is the closest you can get.

For photo, RAW (DNG) and process after the fact will always provide the best results.

 

[Drgnfli]

I've considered getting a drone for a year and this weekend they are selling MA Fly More Combo for $843 which is basically 20% off its regular price here. That's about my threshold to get a drone for hobby and family videos so I was about to buy it immediately.

Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of problems. Weird saturation issues in the shadows, stuttering videos, wobbly lines when panning, low resolution, purple discoloring, soft images (lens issue?), out of focus images, shadows from propellers, loud noise, really short range in Europe, dying batteries, drones that are running away, etc. Overall my first DSLR I had back in 2005 and my current $220 phone delivers better results. Video reviews seem to love it but I'm starting to question how much time they actually spent looking for these issues or if their main task was to get a cool looking video for YouTube while getting affiliate commission.

So.. Is the Mavic Air mature enough for usable videos and photos or would it be better to just wait 1-2 years for MA 2 or even MA3? I would love a drone but it would be wasteful of me to get a beta drone that delivers underwhelming results and runs off after a week. I've genuinely tried to study other peoples results but they love the saturation slider which (in my view) ruins the photos and I never know if poor videos are down to user error or poor hardware. I would hate to repeat my mistake of buying an early EVF camera which was just unusable due to the lag.

Give me your Email address so we can 'talk'...
[email protected]

 

[AussieDrone]

You can't use a catch all setting for exposure for either photo or video. Every scene will be different so you need a good understanding of basic photography/videography principles.

For video you want D-Cinelike 0, -3, -2 if you're going to grade it or apply a LUT. The Air cannot shoot true RAW video but this is the closest you can get.

For photo, RAW (DNG) and process after the fact will always provide the best results.

Thanks for your answer, save me typing.

@savan.b here is a link to a good video with some suggested settings.

Watch "Mavic Air | Cinematic Settings | How To Find YOUR Best Settings" on YouTube

 

[Dutch_Dress]

I really love my MA, bought the combo package few months ago. And if you are not known with drone flying its a good starter one! The noise it makes is a sign that it still in the air, so no complains from me about that.

The only complain I have, I live in a flat boring country :’) and flight restrictions around here are very restricted (NL)

The MA have it all for a beginner in drones. Good camera, nice quality, it’s compact and easy to fly.