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Mavic air honest photographer's review and why I am getting rid of it

and some software can help the weak camera, i use luminar and it makes the dng files pop, the micro contrast and micro sharpening really help these files, i am very happy with the files i get from the mavic now, yes variable aperture and such would be great but for now i get the most out of the files with luminar
 
I am more used to read the posts of others than participating myself, today is different!

Having failed (once again) to fly this morning because of the updates, I decided to write this review, review that has been in my mind for quite a long time now… It is not a full coverage review, but more of a list of what's really annoying with this drone. You can find plenty of marvelous positive reviews on the net to moderate mine!
DISCLAIMER: I don’t pretend to be an expert in drone flying, the following statements might be wrong, as I don’t totally master the drone nor the software (I might have missed some options…). However, being generally speaking ‘’tech-savvy'' I think it is an honest review and that, at least, I tried to do my best, please don’t send me hate messages!

I qualify myself as a serious amateur photographer: it is not my main activity but I do sell photo for advertisement or stock, mainly in the travel and adventure industry. I do own professional level photography equipment and the Mavic air was supposed to be a great addition to my kit. I must be honest and say that I bought the Magic air mainly to do aerial photography, as I am not into videography. But I certainly enjoyed the possibility of filming as well.

The magic air is my first drone: after having contemplated the possibility of doing aerial photography for a long time, I took my decision after the announcement of the Mavic air: after having read a lot on internet about it, it seemed that it was THE perfect drone for me: foldable, easy to operate, image quality seemed to be good enough.

I had not tried it myself before, nor any other model or brand: The Mavic air was my first drone experience, and I have since tried the Mavic pro.

Knowing that I paid less than 1000 $, I didn’t expect a professional grade product, and that most of my following comments would be addressed if only I had more money to spend, but I think that most of my bad experience comes from the software rather than the hardware.
Maybe I am dreaming, and I should only pay more to get what I want…

Although it is an amazing piece of technology, as a photographer, and after 3 months of use, I want to get rid of it as soon as possible, and here are the reasons why:


Camera controls (for photographer):

- Being a DSLR user, I am used to have all my controls available at the fingertips, so I can change the settings without leaving my eye from the viewfinder. With the air, changing settings is a pain in the a**…

On the mavic air, we have two ‘’fn’’ keys that we can personnalise. I would have preferred to have only one, and have an aperture or shutter-speed wheel instead, like on the mavicpro remote.
Of course you can change the settings on the app, which means not looking at your drone anymore, and try to hit the right spot on your tiny screen with your big finger (of course I could use an iPad, and the problem wouldn’t be one anymore…).

I know that the mavic pro has more controls like this, and that DJI needed to cut costs in order to sell it at the price I was able to buy it, but it is really a pain...

- Automatic controls: I wish I could have different modes, like on a DSLR : Aperture priority, speed priority, program mode.
For now, the air offers us a fully manual mode, and a full auto mode. The problem of the full auto mode is that sometimes it will raise the ISO (knowing that above 100 ISO, you would start to see noise a lot), or slow down shutter-speed to the point that your image will be blurry… There is no way (as far as I know) of choosing to have the fixed iso and change only the speed, or the other way around.

- Of course I would have loved to have control of the aperture as well…

- As I said, I didn’t bought the drone with video in mind. However, I very often shifty to the video mode, and I would have loved that the software would have separate settings options. I explain myself:
Say I am shooting photography with certain settings and I see something that I want to film: I hit the record button, the app switches to video mode and I am able to record. I can change my settings in the menu (ISO, shutter speed…).
When I am done with video, I go back to photography mode, but I need to change again my settings, because it is now the settings I used for video that are on… Meaning I need to go back to the settings again… If I need to switch from one mode to another several times, I would love that the app keeps different settings in memory: one set for photo, the other set for video.


Suggestions:
- Shutter-speed controlled by the wheel (like on the pro), with real-time visual return, like on modern electronic viewfinders.
- Semi automatic modes based on the Program mode of DSLR.
- Automatic mode with fixed ISO
- Separated set of settings for photo and video


Connexion problems:

- Very often it takes forever to connect the mavic to the controller, I don’t know why… By the time it is connected, in third of the battery is gone.
- Connexion is very unstable…During a flight in semi urban area, I will have several connexion issues during a battery worth of flying time.
- I have had one very frustrating experience, where the drone would fly away and disappear, with a lost connexion, to the point that after trying everything, I started packing my things, sobbing to the loss of my new drone… when It magically reappeared! Returned home easily (thanks DJI for this amazing feature!). I only wished I had some informations from the controller or the app...


Updates: THIS IS THE MAIN POINT OF FRUSTRATION FOR ME!
First of all I would like to say that I find it very reassuring to see that DJi continues to update it’s products and tries to resolves all the small bugs that we are experiencing : it means that they really care about it!
I live in this parts of the world where internet connection is a nightmare (we are talking about 175kb/s at its best…)

So every now and then, when I want to fly my drone, I prepare everything, unfold my drone, connect it to the controller, and then… Nothing! Because I need to update this or that…

It means:
- I cannot fly right away
- I need to spend 3 full Drone batteries in order install do the updates
- I need to use some of the battery of the controller (I don’t know why I cannot download the update without being connected to the controller and the drone running up? Every time the drones shuts down, the remote starts ringing, and the updates stops…)
This means that because of my internet speed, I am not able to do the updates correctly. (The drone runs out of it’s 3 batteries before I can manage to download the update!)
- I need to drain my phone battery. Knowing that when my phone’s battery will be under 50%, the app will refuse to download the update.

It means that before the updates are finished:
- I have lost an entire day worth of shooting (because my internet download speed is almost inexistant)
- Even if I had some more time available, I don’t have anymore battery on my devices to fly

At the end of the day, I have experienced these issues almost every time I wanted to fly… Which is very frustrating!

Meaning that since march 2018, I have managed to fly only 7 times!

Basically I bought a drone that is only capable of updating itself, nothing else… I would have saved money in buying a ‘’useless box’’ instead!

This means I cannot use my drone on any serious project in which I need to be sure I can fly!

Suggestion:
The app could send us a ‘’popup’’ message whenever an update is available: like this, we can update everything having to wait 3 hours, or maybe we could receive an email, stating that next time we want to fly, we wonM’t be able unless we do the update before! AS for now, every time I want to fly is more of a gamble…
The update could be downloaded automatically in the background, the app just ‘’popping up’’ when the download is finished and the update ready to be installed. Like this, even if the update takes 3 weeks to download because of internet speed, I can still use my drone! (It would mean allowing the drone to flight without the last update as well, which is not the case at the moment: no update, no flight!).

Small other things:

- Remote controller sounds and ‘’Bips’’: could we just have the opportunity to turn it off? Or maybe just turn down the volume? I know it is here to make us aware that we are running out of battery, or returning home, or maybe something else that we don’t know, but once we are aware of it, it is very annoying to have to endure it until the drone has landed…. Of course I could do a ‘’mechanical’’ and definitive operation with a heated needle, but we are in 2018, and a small

- Focus: as a photographer It is very frustrating not to have any control over the focus… I know the pro have a focus selection possibility, and that the air is cheaper… but still, in the end, images from the air are never sharp: not an issue in video, but definitely a No go for photo…


- Ok, this one is maybe a stretch, but is there not any way to have a variable ND/PL filter that we could manage from the app? (either physical or not…), using a rotating PL filter on a drone is almost a bad joke…

In the end, the mavic air is a great technology packed product, with a lot of fussy options and auto modes that are great for videographers, but I feel that we don’t event have the basic stuff needed for photography…

Of course my experience is very bad because of my internet connexion, in which DJI cannot do anything, except allowing me to do the updates at any other time than the time I decide to fly….

Overaal these little things ruined my experience with the drone, to the point that I am now reluctant to even think of turning it on...
After a fewweeks without using it, I prepared everything today, got ready to fly, and once again I wasn't able to...

Right now: my 3 batteries, my phone and the controller are charging, and the update was a failure (because of ''no more juice'' to perform it!).
Why don't you just allow me to fly with the old firwmare?

It has been a very frustrating and disapointing experience overall....

You stated:
" I have had one very frustrating experience, where the drone would fly away and disappear, with a lost connexion, to the point that after trying everything, I started packing my things, sobbing to the loss of my new drone… when It magically reappeared! Returned home easily (thanks DJI for this amazing feature!). I only wished I had some informations from the controller or the app..."

yet later on you complained about the BIPS when it was returning home as follows:
"Remote controller sounds and ‘’Bips’’: could we just have the opportunity to turn it off? Or maybe just turn down the volume? I know it is here to make us aware that we are running out of battery, or returning home, or maybe something else that we don’t know, but once we are aware of it, it is very annoying to have to endure it until the drone has landed…. Of course I could do a ‘’mechanical’’ and definitive operation with a heated needle, but we are in 2018
 
I read your comments and I agree for the most of it:

- Mavic air is great for videography (which is not really the subject of this topic),
- I got what I paid for (true, but can it be better? I think so)
- I could have known all this before - Maybe, but you don't see many photographer's review (I mean with photography as the main subject)
- I could skip all the updates by turning my phone on airplane... But wouldn't it be nice to receive a notification, or an email saying that there is an update to perform? (surely no one will answer to this by saying that i got what i pay for ;-)) I love the fact that DJI keeps on updating them, it means improvement of our product.

Image quality is more than average to me: images are not sharp (even with ''infinity focus''), there is a lot of diffraction, there is the ''hot spot'' issue.
Of course I do fix it in post (I use capture one pro), and I still manage to sell a lot of aerial images, so not that big of an issue.

Just the overall photography experience which is average, but once again, I got what I paid for.

What I am saying is that DJI is capable of doing better on the photography side, and I am sure they will.

To my knowledge, there is actually no other brand doing a better job for photographers, as they all have their own limitations, but still it doesn't mean it is not possible.

We could imagine a partnership between DJI and a camera manufacturer, to get the best of both world! (DJI is already working with Lacie on storages solutions, so why not?)

For those who are actually interested on the subject, and not just blaming the ''guy that don't know what he is talking about'', here are some answers I got from DJI: (I shared my message with their development team prior to posting it here)

** Thank you for letting us know. Please know that we are putting all the effort and technology available in every product we release for all our users to enjoy no matter how much they cost as it has been our vision to let you all enjoy the craft we can possible give.

About the bips of the remote control:

- You are correct, the main purpose of the RC beeping sound is to make sure that the user will be aware/notified of the warning the aircraft is giving and we truly understand that you and other users find it annoying or loud. We will forward this feedback to our Software/Engineering Team for this feature to be possibly available in the future.

About the fact that switching between photo and video mode settings:

**You are also correct, as of this writing, there's still no option for Mavic Air to separate the settings for video and photo taking. And for your suggestions, this is well noted and will forward this to our Team.

**Personally, while reading your suggestions, I truly see that these can be so useful and helpful not just for Mavic Air but also to several products we currently and will have in the future as well.

Lastly, please be assured that we will not take this lightly. From a user and technical support's perspective, I and we are looking forward to having these features turn into reality in the near future.
 
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You stated:
" I have had one very frustrating experience, where the drone would fly away and disappear, with a lost connexion, to the point that after trying everything, I started packing my things, sobbing to the loss of my new drone… when It magically reappeared! Returned home easily (thanks DJI for this amazing feature!). I only wished I had some informations from the controller or the app..."

yet later on you complained about the BIPS when it was returning home as follows:
"Remote controller sounds and ‘’Bips’’: could we just have the opportunity to turn it off? Or maybe just turn down the volume? I know it is here to make us aware that we are running out of battery, or returning home, or maybe something else that we don’t know, but once we are aware of it, it is very annoying to have to endure it until the drone has landed…. Of course I could do a ‘’mechanical’’ and definitive operation with a heated needle, but we are in 2018


True, I said this ;-)

There are connexions issues, and on this particular example, I didn't get any notification of any sort, no bips, no sounds, NOTHING.

Yet, in other times, the sound gets really annoying: once you have heard it, there could be an option to say to the controller ''OK, I heard your sound saying that your are coming home, I click here or there, and you stop ringing''.
Like this, people that still need the sound until the drone has landed can keep it ringing, and crazy people like me that don't need permanent reminder of the drone coming home can turn it off!
 
- I could skip all the updates by turning my phone on airplane... But wouldn't it be nice to receive a notification, or an email saying that there is an update to perform?
The strange thing is, DJI Go does exactly that. It simply notifies you of an available update and nothing more. I've been ignoring the latest firmware update prompt for quite a while since quite a few people had the drone drift away after updating. I'm still able to fly just fine. Pretty much the only time DJI Go restricts you from flying is if you are using a battery that you haven't updated or an active update installation got interrupted and needs completion first.
 
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Yet, in other times, the sound gets really annoying: once you have heard it, there could be an option to say to the controller ''OK, I heard your sound saying that your are coming home, I click here or there, and you stop ringing''.
Like this, people that still need the sound until the drone has landed can keep it ringing, and crazy people like me that don't need permanent reminder of the drone coming home are can turn it off!

Unfortunately you can thank the ignorant pilots for that. There's a fair amount of people who don't read the manual and take the drone up in the air 10 minutes after unboxing it. The same people would silent low battery noises if they could, and then complain to DJI when they lose their drone because they couldn't get it back in time after flying off 3 miles. These forced bleeps help prevent many petty warranty claims that can easily be prevented with said annoyances. Therefore I highly doubt such a feature to acknowledge warning bleeps would ever be implemented.
 
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The strange thing is, DJI Go does exactly that. It simply notifies you of an available update and nothing more. I've been ignoring the latest firmware update prompt for quite a while since quite a few people had the drone drift away after updating. I'm still able to fly just fine. Pretty much the only time DJI Go restricts you from flying is if you are using a battery that you haven't updated or an active update installation got interrupted and needs completion first.

It does... when you launch it. If you don't, you don't know.
(And yes, as a photographer, I always check everything the day before I need to shoot, this is not the subject).

Any other application on any smartphone will send a ''popup'' message saying ''I need to update'', which can then be done when you are in a good setting to do so...

Other softwares will automatically download the update in the background (using wifi only if you want it so), and let you know when everything is ready to perform the update.

So there are options to simplify the process.

Although you can manage to avoid the updates by turning your phone in plane mode, I think that when you forget it (like I did yesterday), then the app knows that there is an update to do, and then you don't have the choice anymore, am I right? Hence the red message instead of the ''ready to fly''?
 
Again that shouldn't be the case. See the attached image (grabbed it from the net)
This is the only pop up that DJI go will show if there's an available update. You are completely free to ignore it and choose to tap it whenever you feel is the right moment. Unless you've aborted an installation process or you haven't updated all the individual batteries (you need to install the firmware on each individual battery), then you'll indeed be warned within the camera view that the drone cannot take off unless you update the battery first. However, updating a battery should not require a WIFI connection as it simply transfers stored data from the drone onto the battery.
 

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I think that when you forget it (like I did yesterday), then the app knows that there is an update to do, and then you don't have the choice anymore, am I right?
No!
It tells you an update is available, NOT that it must be applied. You can keep it as it is for ever. Unless you've got OCD and just can't ignore a red field but that's not a problem with the app.
 
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This is not a pro camera rig. This is a balance of pro and portability. Some of your issues are user or a bad unit.

I also don’t want all this crap all over my controller. I find as an amateur it works perfectly. Even pros have no probs with it. Research before buying
 
No!
It tells you an update is available, NOT that it must be applied. You can keep it as it is for ever. Unless you've got OCD and just can't ignore a red field but that's not a problem with the app.

Right, I’ve been ignoring updates on both my pro and air since day one.. I check the features online that were changed and I’m like this doesn’t wow me so why change what’s currently working fine!
 
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I am more used to read the posts of others than participating myself, today is different!

Having failed (once again) to fly this morning because of the updates, I decided to write this review, review that has been in my mind for quite a long time now… It is not a full coverage review, but more of a list of what's really annoying with this drone. You can find plenty of marvelous positive reviews on the net to moderate mine!
DISCLAIMER: I don’t pretend to be an expert in drone flying, the following statements might be wrong, as I don’t totally master the drone nor the software (I might have missed some options…). However, being generally speaking ‘’tech-savvy'' I think it is an honest review and that, at least, I tried to do my best, please don’t send me hate messages!

I qualify myself as a serious amateur photographer: it is not my main activity but I do sell photo for advertisement or stock, mainly in the travel and adventure industry. I do own professional level photography equipment and the Mavic air was supposed to be a great addition to my kit. I must be honest and say that I bought the Magic air mainly to do aerial photography, as I am not into videography. But I certainly enjoyed the possibility of filming as well.

The magic air is my first drone: after having contemplated the possibility of doing aerial photography for a long time, I took my decision after the announcement of the Mavic air: after having read a lot on internet about it, it seemed that it was THE perfect drone for me: foldable, easy to operate, image quality seemed to be good enough.

I had not tried it myself before, nor any other model or brand: The Mavic air was my first drone experience, and I have since tried the Mavic pro.

Knowing that I paid less than 1000 $, I didn’t expect a professional grade product, and that most of my following comments would be addressed if only I had more money to spend, but I think that most of my bad experience comes from the software rather than the hardware.
Maybe I am dreaming, and I should only pay more to get what I want…

Although it is an amazing piece of technology, as a photographer, and after 3 months of use, I want to get rid of it as soon as possible, and here are the reasons why:


Camera controls (for photographer):

- Being a DSLR user, I am used to have all my controls available at the fingertips, so I can change the settings without leaving my eye from the viewfinder. With the air, changing settings is a pain in the a**…

On the mavic air, we have two ‘’fn’’ keys that we can personnalise. I would have preferred to have only one, and have an aperture or shutter-speed wheel instead, like on the mavicpro remote.
Of course you can change the settings on the app, which means not looking at your drone anymore, and try to hit the right spot on your tiny screen with your big finger (of course I could use an iPad, and the problem wouldn’t be one anymore…).

I know that the mavic pro has more controls like this, and that DJI needed to cut costs in order to sell it at the price I was able to buy it, but it is really a pain...

- Automatic controls: I wish I could have different modes, like on a DSLR : Aperture priority, speed priority, program mode.
For now, the air offers us a fully manual mode, and a full auto mode. The problem of the full auto mode is that sometimes it will raise the ISO (knowing that above 100 ISO, you would start to see noise a lot), or slow down shutter-speed to the point that your image will be blurry… There is no way (as far as I know) of choosing to have the fixed iso and change only the speed, or the other way around.

- Of course I would have loved to have control of the aperture as well…

- As I said, I didn’t bought the drone with video in mind. However, I very often shifty to the video mode, and I would have loved that the software would have separate settings options. I explain myself:
Say I am shooting photography with certain settings and I see something that I want to film: I hit the record button, the app switches to video mode and I am able to record. I can change my settings in the menu (ISO, shutter speed…).
When I am done with video, I go back to photography mode, but I need to change again my settings, because it is now the settings I used for video that are on… Meaning I need to go back to the settings again… If I need to switch from one mode to another several times, I would love that the app keeps different settings in memory: one set for photo, the other set for video.


Suggestions:
- Shutter-speed controlled by the wheel (like on the pro), with real-time visual return, like on modern electronic viewfinders.
- Semi automatic modes based on the Program mode of DSLR.
- Automatic mode with fixed ISO
- Separated set of settings for photo and video


Connexion problems:

- Very often it takes forever to connect the mavic to the controller, I don’t know why… By the time it is connected, in third of the battery is gone.
- Connexion is very unstable…During a flight in semi urban area, I will have several connexion issues during a battery worth of flying time.
- I have had one very frustrating experience, where the drone would fly away and disappear, with a lost connexion, to the point that after trying everything, I started packing my things, sobbing to the loss of my new drone… when It magically reappeared! Returned home easily (thanks DJI for this amazing feature!). I only wished I had some informations from the controller or the app...


Updates: THIS IS THE MAIN POINT OF FRUSTRATION FOR ME!
First of all I would like to say that I find it very reassuring to see that DJi continues to update it’s products and tries to resolves all the small bugs that we are experiencing : it means that they really care about it!
I live in this parts of the world where internet connection is a nightmare (we are talking about 175kb/s at its best…)

So every now and then, when I want to fly my drone, I prepare everything, unfold my drone, connect it to the controller, and then… Nothing! Because I need to update this or that…

It means:
- I cannot fly right away
- I need to spend 3 full Drone batteries in order install do the updates
- I need to use some of the battery of the controller (I don’t know why I cannot download the update without being connected to the controller and the drone running up? Every time the drones shuts down, the remote starts ringing, and the updates stops…)
This means that because of my internet speed, I am not able to do the updates correctly. (The drone runs out of it’s 3 batteries before I can manage to download the update!)
- I need to drain my phone battery. Knowing that when my phone’s battery will be under 50%, the app will refuse to download the update.

It means that before the updates are finished:
- I have lost an entire day worth of shooting (because my internet download speed is almost inexistant)
- Even if I had some more time available, I don’t have anymore battery on my devices to fly

At the end of the day, I have experienced these issues almost every time I wanted to fly… Which is very frustrating!

Meaning that since march 2018, I have managed to fly only 7 times!

Basically I bought a drone that is only capable of updating itself, nothing else… I would have saved money in buying a ‘’useless box’’ instead!

This means I cannot use my drone on any serious project in which I need to be sure I can fly!

Suggestion:
The app could send us a ‘’popup’’ message whenever an update is available: like this, we can update everything having to wait 3 hours, or maybe we could receive an email, stating that next time we want to fly, we wonM’t be able unless we do the update before! AS for now, every time I want to fly is more of a gamble…
The update could be downloaded automatically in the background, the app just ‘’popping up’’ when the download is finished and the update ready to be installed. Like this, even if the update takes 3 weeks to download because of internet speed, I can still use my drone! (It would mean allowing the drone to flight without the last update as well, which is not the case at the moment: no update, no flight!).

Small other things:

- Remote controller sounds and ‘’Bips’’: could we just have the opportunity to turn it off? Or maybe just turn down the volume? I know it is here to make us aware that we are running out of battery, or returning home, or maybe something else that we don’t know, but once we are aware of it, it is very annoying to have to endure it until the drone has landed…. Of course I could do a ‘’mechanical’’ and definitive operation with a heated needle, but we are in 2018, and a small

- Focus: as a photographer It is very frustrating not to have any control over the focus… I know the pro have a focus selection possibility, and that the air is cheaper… but still, in the end, images from the air are never sharp: not an issue in video, but definitely a No go for photo…


- Ok, this one is maybe a stretch, but is there not any way to have a variable ND/PL filter that we could manage from the app? (either physical or not…), using a rotating PL filter on a drone is almost a bad joke…

In the end, the mavic air is a great technology packed product, with a lot of fussy options and auto modes that are great for videographers, but I feel that we don’t event have the basic stuff needed for photography…

Of course my experience is very bad because of my internet connexion, in which DJI cannot do anything, except allowing me to do the updates at any other time than the time I decide to fly….

Overaal these little things ruined my experience with the drone, to the point that I am now reluctant to even think of turning it on...
After a fewweeks without using it, I prepared everything today, got ready to fly, and once again I wasn't able to...

Right now: my 3 batteries, my phone and the controller are charging, and the update was a failure (because of ''no more juice'' to perform it!).
Why don't you just allow me to fly with the old firwmare?

It has been a very frustrating and disapointing experience overall....
I agree with the constant updates being a total pain and that they could be delivered better however the manual operation of all the camera features to the level that you suggest on such a cheap drone would be unrealistic.
 
Man to be short - if you want the best for normal money, than go buy Phantom 4 PRO - that is photograph wet dream, 1" sensor with great DR and ISO, mechanical shutter with real aperture ( so you can chose 2.8,4,5.6,8 and so on - no need od ND/CPL every time or fast in flight ), you got perfect remote for almost all you need, more time in air and all for 1500˘or even less if you don't want newest v2.0..

I also came from DSLR/mirrorless world and I love my Air but more and more i see that I'll need Phantom 4 PRO also - for now I'll wait what will mavic pro 2 will be but no way thay willl manage to put 1" sensor in such a small body or what will Phantom 5 will be ( maybe with foldable legs or somehing )..

Let's say Mavic air and pro are smartphone in the air - don't expect to be like your FF or apsc dslr - I bet you love DSLR and hate mirrorless :)
 
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As to not knowing about the camera capabilities in advance, I think you should have asked here. There are several professional photographers, including myself, that would give you guidance. We might not always agree, but you can certainly get an informed viewpoint. From your various complaints, I think the Mavic Pro was the better choice for you. But there will always be something else coming along. I'm a pretty picky photographer in terms of quality, and I get what I need from the MPP. When I need additional pixels I shoot panos, when I need strong HDR I bracket, usually manually. I have made some metal prints from some of my drone landscape photos and they look terrific to my eye.
 
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I am more used to read the posts of others than participating myself, today is different!

Having failed (once again) to fly this morning because of the updates, I decided to write this review, review that has been in my mind for quite a long time now… It is not a full coverage review, but more of a list of what's really annoying with this drone. You can find plenty of marvelous positive reviews on the net to moderate mine!
DISCLAIMER: I don’t pretend to be an expert in drone flying, the following statements might be wrong, as I don’t totally master the drone nor the software (I might have missed some options…). However, being generally speaking ‘’tech-savvy'' I think it is an honest review and that, at least, I tried to do my best, please don’t send me hate messages!

I qualify myself as a serious amateur photographer: it is not my main activity but I do sell photo for advertisement or stock, mainly in the travel and adventure industry. I do own professional level photography equipment and the Mavic air was supposed to be a great addition to my kit. I must be honest and say that I bought the Magic air mainly to do aerial photography, as I am not into videography. But I certainly enjoyed the possibility of filming as well.

The magic air is my first drone: after having contemplated the possibility of doing aerial photography for a long time, I took my decision after the announcement of the Mavic air: after having read a lot on internet about it, it seemed that it was THE perfect drone for me: foldable, easy to operate, image quality seemed to be good enough.

I had not tried it myself before, nor any other model or brand: The Mavic air was my first drone experience, and I have since tried the Mavic pro.

Knowing that I paid less than 1000 $, I didn’t expect a professional grade product, and that most of my following comments would be addressed if only I had more money to spend, but I think that most of my bad experience comes from the software rather than the hardware.
Maybe I am dreaming, and I should only pay more to get what I want…

Although it is an amazing piece of technology, as a photographer, and after 3 months of use, I want to get rid of it as soon as possible, and here are the reasons why:


Camera controls (for photographer):

- Being a DSLR user, I am used to have all my controls available at the fingertips, so I can change the settings without leaving my eye from the viewfinder. With the air, changing settings is a pain in the a**…

On the mavic air, we have two ‘’fn’’ keys that we can personnalise. I would have preferred to have only one, and have an aperture or shutter-speed wheel instead, like on the mavicpro remote.
Of course you can change the settings on the app, which means not looking at your drone anymore, and try to hit the right spot on your tiny screen with your big finger (of course I could use an iPad, and the problem wouldn’t be one anymore…).

I know that the mavic pro has more controls like this, and that DJI needed to cut costs in order to sell it at the price I was able to buy it, but it is really a pain...

- Automatic controls: I wish I could have different modes, like on a DSLR : Aperture priority, speed priority, program mode.
For now, the air offers us a fully manual mode, and a full auto mode. The problem of the full auto mode is that sometimes it will raise the ISO (knowing that above 100 ISO, you would start to see noise a lot), or slow down shutter-speed to the point that your image will be blurry… There is no way (as far as I know) of choosing to have the fixed iso and change only the speed, or the other way around.

- Of course I would have loved to have control of the aperture as well…

- As I said, I didn’t bought the drone with video in mind. However, I very often shifty to the video mode, and I would have loved that the software would have separate settings options. I explain myself:
Say I am shooting photography with certain settings and I see something that I want to film: I hit the record button, the app switches to video mode and I am able to record. I can change my settings in the menu (ISO, shutter speed…).
When I am done with video, I go back to photography mode, but I need to change again my settings, because it is now the settings I used for video that are on… Meaning I need to go back to the settings again… If I need to switch from one mode to another several times, I would love that the app keeps different settings in memory: one set for photo, the other set for video.


Suggestions:
- Shutter-speed controlled by the wheel (like on the pro), with real-time visual return, like on modern electronic viewfinders.
- Semi automatic modes based on the Program mode of DSLR.
- Automatic mode with fixed ISO
- Separated set of settings for photo and video


Connexion problems:

- Very often it takes forever to connect the mavic to the controller, I don’t know why… By the time it is connected, in third of the battery is gone.
- Connexion is very unstable…During a flight in semi urban area, I will have several connexion issues during a battery worth of flying time.
- I have had one very frustrating experience, where the drone would fly away and disappear, with a lost connexion, to the point that after trying everything, I started packing my things, sobbing to the loss of my new drone… when It magically reappeared! Returned home easily (thanks DJI for this amazing feature!). I only wished I had some informations from the controller or the app...


Updates: THIS IS THE MAIN POINT OF FRUSTRATION FOR ME!
First of all I would like to say that I find it very reassuring to see that DJi continues to update it’s products and tries to resolves all the small bugs that we are experiencing : it means that they really care about it!
I live in this parts of the world where internet connection is a nightmare (we are talking about 175kb/s at its best…)

So every now and then, when I want to fly my drone, I prepare everything, unfold my drone, connect it to the controller, and then… Nothing! Because I need to update this or that…

It means:
- I cannot fly right away
- I need to spend 3 full Drone batteries in order install do the updates
- I need to use some of the battery of the controller (I don’t know why I cannot download the update without being connected to the controller and the drone running up? Every time the drones shuts down, the remote starts ringing, and the updates stops…)
This means that because of my internet speed, I am not able to do the updates correctly. (The drone runs out of it’s 3 batteries before I can manage to download the update!)
- I need to drain my phone battery. Knowing that when my phone’s battery will be under 50%, the app will refuse to download the update.

It means that before the updates are finished:
- I have lost an entire day worth of shooting (because my internet download speed is almost inexistant)
- Even if I had some more time available, I don’t have anymore battery on my devices to fly

At the end of the day, I have experienced these issues almost every time I wanted to fly… Which is very frustrating!

Meaning that since march 2018, I have managed to fly only 7 times!

Basically I bought a drone that is only capable of updating itself, nothing else… I would have saved money in buying a ‘’useless box’’ instead!

This means I cannot use my drone on any serious project in which I need to be sure I can fly!

Suggestion:
The app could send us a ‘’popup’’ message whenever an update is available: like this, we can update everything having to wait 3 hours, or maybe we could receive an email, stating that next time we want to fly, we wonM’t be able unless we do the update before! AS for now, every time I want to fly is more of a gamble…
The update could be downloaded automatically in the background, the app just ‘’popping up’’ when the download is finished and the update ready to be installed. Like this, even if the update takes 3 weeks to download because of internet speed, I can still use my drone! (It would mean allowing the drone to flight without the last update as well, which is not the case at the moment: no update, no flight!).

Small other things:

- Remote controller sounds and ‘’Bips’’: could we just have the opportunity to turn it off? Or maybe just turn down the volume? I know it is here to make us aware that we are running out of battery, or returning home, or maybe something else that we don’t know, but once we are aware of it, it is very annoying to have to endure it until the drone has landed…. Of course I could do a ‘’mechanical’’ and definitive operation with a heated needle, but we are in 2018, and a small

- Focus: as a photographer It is very frustrating not to have any control over the focus… I know the pro have a focus selection possibility, and that the air is cheaper… but still, in the end, images from the air are never sharp: not an issue in video, but definitely a No go for photo…


- Ok, this one is maybe a stretch, but is there not any way to have a variable ND/PL filter that we could manage from the app? (either physical or not…), using a rotating PL filter on a drone is almost a bad joke…

In the end, the mavic air is a great technology packed product, with a lot of fussy options and auto modes that are great for videographers, but I feel that we don’t event have the basic stuff needed for photography…

Of course my experience is very bad because of my internet connexion, in which DJI cannot do anything, except allowing me to do the updates at any other time than the time I decide to fly….

Overaal these little things ruined my experience with the drone, to the point that I am now reluctant to even think of turning it on...
After a fewweeks without using it, I prepared everything today, got ready to fly, and once again I wasn't able to...

Right now: my 3 batteries, my phone and the controller are charging, and the update was a failure (because of ''no more juice'' to perform it!).
Why don't you just allow me to fly with the old firwmare?

It has been a very frustrating and disapointing experience overall....
The controller should take less than a minute to connect to the aircraft. There is something off there.

Dissconnection issues occur with the best of drones.

You shud have ur updates ready and installed before every flight. With some firmware updates, u r still allowed to fly with just a popup that u need an update. I am sure u can get hold of a faster wifi connection.

The air cud have done with a better camera I agree. The footage starts becoming grainy at 200 ISO itself. There cud have been a little optical zoom giving u the ability to compose a shot better. Having said that look at the size of that thing.


Hope u find peace with ur drone.
 
For balance I couldn’t disagree more. I too am a ‘serious amateur’ photographer and for a grab and go solution I find the Air pretty much perfect and to be honest I don’t think the Pro offers much (if any) real world advantage.

The biggest limitation of both cameras is the fact they are fixed aperture. This means that Av and Tv modes are impossible. The best you can do with either is alter the shutter speed and this will lead to over or under exposure accordingly. Of course there are situations where you may with to tweak the EV but I’ve found the DR of the Air to be so good that it’s rare I’ve wanted to tweak it. Again, with an ND filter fitted to may want to fettle but again not often. Therefore going into the app on these odd occasions, for me at least, is not an issue.

As for a selectable focal point again remember that we have a fixed aperture so for 90%+ if shots you’ll be hyperfocal on both anyway. Again I accept there may be the odd occasion when you want bokeh etc but you’ll struggle anyway without a proper aperture iris. From speaking to a number of Pro pilots as well it would seem a good few don’t use the manual focal point adjustment anyway as it is too fiddly and it is hard to be accurate when trying to fly and judge spot on focus on the phone screen anyway.

From what I’ve read and also from comparing images I personally think the overal IQ on the Air camera edges the Pro as well. DR is certainly a noticeable step up. Given the constraints of fixed aperture on both cameras I honestly do not think that, unless you go up to the Phanton or higher and at the expense of portability, there is anything better about the Pro in real world situations.

As for image sharpness I find it perfectly acceptable and often a quick tweak in post and it’s excellent.

Overall the Air gives me the ability to capture more than acceptable shots (which 99% of the time I would not otherwise be able to get) in a package I can take anywhere with me. I am just back from a holiday in Portugal and taking something the size of a Phantom just wouldn’t have been realistic whereas the Air fitted in my hand luggage no issues at all. I have got some lovely coastal shots that I am happy to put my name to. I’ll pop some up when I’ve processed them.
 
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These forced bleeps help prevent many petty warranty claims that can easily be prevented with said annoyances. Therefore I highly doubt such a feature to acknowledge warning bleeps would ever be implemented.
True, that's the price we pay for flying a drone that, according to DJI, can be flown by the stupidest people around. The more pro a DJI drone is the less nannying you get. I find it annoying as well but I knew I was in for this buying a Mavic Pro coming from an Inspire1.
 
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True, that's the price we pay for flying a drone that, according to DJI, can be flown by the stupidest people around. The more pro a DJI drone is the less nannying you get. I find it annoying as well but I knew I was in for this buying a Mavic Pro coming from an Inspire1.
Not saying anybody here is stupid, NOOO, there are so many more users out there beside this forum. DJI just treats us all the same through the app and don't give us a choice to opt out of this nannying.
 
so you cheaped out on the drone and complain it doesn't have the functions of the Pro.

You get what you pay for.

I don't complain that my 1000 dollar Pro doesn't do what a 4000 dollar drone does.

If you buy a Kia, don't complain that it isn't a Bugatti.

If you are not preparing for flights by checking the software before you leave the house/office then you are not serious about your flights, especially if you are using it professionally. Do you show up to shoot an event without checking your gear before hand?

Are you in the U S of A? If so and you are using the drone to take pictures to sell, have you taken the steps to be able to do so legally?


You missed the point of his post completely. Then comment like a smart ***. You must be a joy to be around.
 
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