Mavic Air 2 and Mavic 2 Pro opinions/users thoughts

[NeoXTC]

Hi all,

Was wondering does anyone have BOTH the Mavic Air 2 and Mavic 2 Pro? Do you find you're using 1 more than the other? Is it worth getting the Mavic Air 2 if you already have the Mavic 2 Pro? Is the mavic air 2 that much easier to take with you and deploy?

I'm on the fence whether I should get the Mavic Air 2. the main ones are I think

• it's faster to get it up in the air with the redesign remote, meaning I can put my phone in easier without needing to take out of case etc
• Active Track 3.0 seems really good
• More portable?
• HDR video without needing to post, (I'm an amateur videographer so doing stuff in post is bit of a learning curve for colour correction)

Any opinions discussions I'm all ears/eyes

thanks all

 

[GadgetGuy]

Hi all,

Was wondering does anyone have BOTH the Mavic Air 2 and Mavic 2 Pro? Do you find you're using 1 more than the other? Is it worth getting the Mavic Air 2 if you already have the Mavic 2 Pro? Is the mavic air 2 that much easier to take with you and deploy?

I'm on the fence whether I should get the Mavic Air 2. the main ones are I think

• it's faster to get it up in the air with the redesign remote, meaning I can put my phone in easier without needing to take out of case etc
• Active Track 3.0 seems really good
• More portable?
• HDR video without needing to post, (I'm an amateur videographer so doing stuff in post is bit of a learning curve for colour correction)

Any opinions discussions I'm all ears/eyes

thanks all

It complements the M2P at half the price, and the 4K at 60fps in good lighting is smoother if you make a lot of turns. HDR video is a gimmick. Greater dynamic range of the M2P is a much better solution if that is your goal. I have both, and decided to keep the MA2, even though the M2P is better in almost every way, except 4K 60fps. I suspect the M3P will be more like the MA2 than the M2P, and a lot pricier than the M2P. The rumored MFT sensor and lenses will require carrying a bigger payload with a large size increase. MA2 is vastly better than the Mini, and probably good enough for most that don't want to spring for the M2P. You can buy two MA2's for the price of one M2P. That makes them expendable, so you can get more impactful video, and not cry so much, if you lose one in the process!

 

[Brockrock]

I have both. The Air 2 is for just going out for fun flights and looking around, maybe taking the occasional pic of something interesting along the way. The M2P is for that very intentional photo such as a real estate shoot or the like. After all the hype IMO, the M2P takes better pics than the Air 2, and I take mostly pics.

 

[GadgetGuy]

W

I have both. The Air 2 is for just going out for fun flights and looking around, maybe taking the occasional pic of something interesting along the way. The M2P is for that very intentional photo such as a real estate shoot or the like. After all the hype IMO, the M2P takes better pics than the Air 2, and I take mostly pics.

There is only so much that computational photography can enhance a 1/2" sensor compared to a vastly superior 1” sensor that is 4x larger! It's not all about megapixels!

 

[fGene]

I don't own an M2P, although I have flown it and know what its footage looks like. Definitely has more dynamic range than M2A, and adjustable aperture plus 10bit encoder are very useful. In good light though, M2A is almost as capable, and in some ways even superior to M2P. If you think of a drone as a tool, you need to decide what requirements it needs to fulfill. If you need to be discreet and not worry as much about certain restrictions, I can't think of a better drone than Mavic Mini. On the other hand, if you prioritize video/picture quality above all else and don't care about the price too much, Inspire 2 is head and shoulders above any Mavic or Phantom. And there are still better drones if you don't care about the price at all.

To me, as M2P is almost two times the price of MA2 and 2 years older, I don't see enough advantage of the former over the latter. I honestly believe that at this point of time MA2 is overall a much better choice in terms of bang for the buck. The situation may change when M3 is introduced, but we are not there yet.

 

[Brockrock]

Another nice thing about the Air 2 is how quiet it is. I sent it up the other day in an area where I often fly where people often gather. I have had some great interaction there over the years with the P4 and M2P when folks have heard them and shown an interest. Never a negative moment. With the Air 2 though, going straight up to about 100’ and then out, nobody even heard it.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Another nice thing about the Air 2 is how quiet it is. I sent it up the other day in an area where I often fly where people often gather. I have had some great interaction there over the years with the P4 and M2P when folks have heard them and shown an interest. Never a negative moment. With the Air 2 though, going straight up to about 100’ and then out, nobody even heard it.

Agree. It certainly is smaller and lighter, so it doesn't need to create as much turbulence to stay aloft. The less attention we attract while flying, the better! MA2 is ideal compromise between capability and discretion!

 

[Jhun80]

I have both and I flew the MA2 more because it's more portable, easier to fly and it has ADS-B for more sense of safety (it's just MHO). Camera wise , I still prefer the M2P.

 

[Gastone360]

if you are not a very pro and very good in color grading, take MA2....is portable and capable. With M2P you could reach some better result but with an effort.....
I had a P4pro before MA2 and I'm quite impressed about the quality of this little drone....

 

[boblui]

HDR video is a gimmick.

What makes you think so ? do you know how those HDR video is produced ? why does the quad bayer sensor have an edge in this regard ?

I don't have the craft but from the sample HDR footages I have seen on Youtube, it's better than I have thought. Shoot directly into the sun and you can still get the circular outline of the sun without any post. I have the M2P and I know very well that the drone cannot produce those result, the sun will be an irregular patch of dead white no matter how much post is done.

 

[boblui]

I am a still guy and from sample pictures of MA2 available in the internet, the dynamic range is a bit inferior to that of M2P. The comparison I have done is opening up the shadows and compare the amount of details in JPG and RAW, I cannot see any difference in MA2's pictures but for M2P, the RAW contains significantly more details.

 

[apeel]

There are a lot of comparison videos on YouTube. However, Billy Kyle, one of my favorite YouTubers for drones just posted his thoughts on 'Mavic Air 2 vs Mavic 2 Pro' and 'Mavic Air 2 vs Mavic 2 Zoom'. Check them out here. WARNING: if you are not used to Billy, he is a FAST talker. Get ready to hit the pause button once in awhile ... LOL.

DJI Mavic Air 2 vs. DJI Mavic 2 Pro - A Hard Decision

DJI Mavic Air 2 vs. DJI Mavic 2 Zoom - More Value For Less Money

 

[fGene]

WARNING: if you are not used to Billy, he is a FAST talker. Get ready to hit the pause button once in awhile ... LOL.

I personally admire his style -- very densely packed stream of useful information, eloquently delivered. As a person to whom English is the second language I have no problems understanding him at all. First-hand comparison of HDR mode between different drones is particularly interesting, and relevant to the topic of this thread.

 

[apeel]

I personally admire his style -- very densely packed stream of useful information, eloquently delivered

I do agree also. But the pause button does come in handy for me when I am learning new stuff from him, and English is my primary (and mostly only) language.

 

[NeoXTC]

Thanks for all the opinions. it gives me a chance to reflect to see if I should get the MA2 or not hahah Already got the M2Pro. As I say I'm keen on the MA2 due to the quick deply of the controller and not have to fiddle around with phone holders/case that's on the M2Pro. Active track 3.0 seems way better than M2Pro active track 2.0 (from videos I've watched anyway).

So summing up all that I most likely will get a MA2 and see how it goes. My M2P can be for when I want the best possible photos/videos. MA2 will be for fun, quick outings, not too stress about best quality etc.

Then I have my mavic mini for travel. I think I may have too many drone if I get the MA2 as well lol

 

[boblui]

My M2P can be for when I want the best possible photos/videos.

M2P has an edge on stills but not so sure about video. The 4K FOV video of M2P is just inflated 2.7K :

.

Adding the lack of HDR video on M2P, MA2 may actually be better for video at least in some circumstances.