Magic 2 Pro vs Inspire 2

Jpats13 · Feb 9, 2019

Hello All,

About a year ago I bought an Inspure 2. It was my second drone and I have really loved flying it. Lately thought I’ve been putting serious thought into a Magic 2 Pro (M2P). My biggest problem with my Inspire 2 is the size. I am a big traveler and unless I want to drop $500 on a big hard case, there’s no way I can take it on an airplane. With the M2P I feel like travel would be so much easier. Right now on my Inspire 2 I’m running the X4s. My two biggest concerns with getting the M2P would be image quality and stability. Is the image quality with the new 1 inch hassleblad camera comparable to the X4s? Has anybody had any problems with M2P stability in high wind situations? Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advanced.

Best,
Jake

macoman · Feb 9, 2019

See this video:

Jpats13 · Feb 9, 2019

macoman said:
See this video:

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Thanks for linking that video. They make some very good points. But it's hard to compare because their Inspire 2 is running the X7 so video quality is much better than mine running the X4s. But with everything I'm reading and watching, it seems I would be well served with a Mavic 2 Pro. Would you agree?

Tree_Top_Flyer · Feb 9, 2019

Jake,

There is a multi-page thread talking about long exposures (as long as 8 seconds) with the Mavic Pro in the photo section. There are some very nice examples in the thread. I think that the ability of the Mavic 2 Pro to make long exposure photographs is a good indication of the Mavic 2 Pro's stability.

Credit to SteveCA for the photograph below:

SteveCA said:
This was an 8 second exposure, iso 100, F 2.8, taken with a 3 stop gradient ND filter in Northern California.

Joe

ems12 · Feb 9, 2019

Jpats13 said:
Thanks for linking that video. They make some very good points. But it's hard to compare because their Inspire 2 is running the X7 so video quality is much better than mine running the X4s. But with everything I'm reading and watching, it seems I would be well served with a Mavic 2 Pro. Would you agree?

For traveling? YES 100% no doubt about it the M2P is better than the I2 for traveling hands down.

There are subtle/noticable differences in image quality, but this is a trade off for portability.
Unless your traveling for a Hollywood studio and need near perfect cinematic footage then there is no comparison.

You can fit a M2P, 5 batteries charger everything you need to run it plus the Ipad and it all fits in a standard carry on roller.

Honestly for travel the M2P beats the pants off the Phantom 4 Pro as well.

As for image quality photos are astounding.

SteveCA · Feb 9, 2019

I’ve shot with the inspire 2 with the x7 camera and the Mavic 2 Pro. Video quality is far superior on the x7. For long exposure photography I found the Inspire impossible to use for shots longer than 1/4 second while my MP 2 Pro has no problems with multisecond exposures all day long, even in 25 MPH winds. Here is a 4 second shot taken in 25MPH winds

LapetusOne · Feb 10, 2019

I sold my Inspire 1 Pro because the M2P is superior in almost every respect. I used my I1P professionally for gigs domestically and internationally for over 3 years and it worked great, but the size and time to setup was always a drag. It requires more time, energy, and effort to use that bird on shoots.

I was wanting an I2x7 but the cost kept me from jumping in. When the M2P came out and I saw that it had 10bit video I was sold. I immediately sold my Inspire 1 Pro and got the M2P and haven't regretted it once.

Can the M2P replace the I2x7, hell no. But can it cover about 90% of what the I2x7 can do? Yes.
If I was shooting $500k car commercials then I'd use an Inspire x7 for sure, but for what I'm doing, the M2P is more than enough.

Here's what I got last time I used it on a shoot:

Here's a better version in 4K:
I was able to capture 4 times the amount of footage and images because of it's portability and flight time. I could launch the M2P from tiny boats and hand catch the thing without fear of loosing a finger. I could launch in under 2 minutes on a whim as apposed to 10-15 with an Inspire. It's quieter too so it draws less attention. The flight times are insane, I was averaging 28min per flight and never felt pressured or as if I don't have enough time to get the shot. The intelligent flight modes helped me get shots super fast too.

Lastly, the footage is wonderful and grades beautifully with C200 Raw footage. The photos are just amazing too.

I can't recommend the M2P enough, it's the perfect tool for what I'm doing right now. The I2x7 is an amazing bird, but I can't see how it would have made my footage exponentially better to the point of justifying it's cost and the logistics of bringing it on a shoot.