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Mavic Air Noise Concern

Rustedfrog8

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I am going to purchase my first mavic in a couple of weeks. Right now I am between the air and the mini. I know the air is better in almost every way. However, I am very concerned about the noise of the air. How much does the sound of the air effect how often you fly your drone? I know difference will probably depend on why I want one. Several reasons. Number one, I shoot pistol matches across the country and want to start filming them with a drone. Number two, I want something to take on family trips. Number three, I want to get my 107 license because I see realtors in my area post on facebook from time to time that they are looking for a drone pilot for projects. Thank you for any advice you can give.
 
It would seem that target or silhouette pistol shooting would be boring. Action shooting could be good, but to be legal (after you get your 107) you’ll need permission from competitors to film them legally.
 
I shoot action pistol. I tried silhouette and was bored out of my mind. I mainly just want to film myself and some of the guys I shoot with for our separate YouTube channels. We are looking at getting more sponsors and one of the questions often asked is “do you have a YouTube channel?” But I worry the noise of the air may bother other people. Right now I use a Q500 4K. And it’s to just to big to keep dragging around.
 
Hmm, a drone could be distraction for competitors in the pistol shoots.
Suppose you could hover out near targets and capture hits with the drone, and use a regular camera on tripod to combine the shooter and results in split frame footage, that would be cool.
Have you checked with organisers about using a drone to film the matches ?

I would think a Mavic Mini or M2P would be a better choice.
Maybe a M2Z with the zoom so you can film targets (or shooters) from a more distant point, thereby keeping safer distance from projectiles (almost eliminate noise).
The MM is about same lower noise (and / or pitch) level as an M2, you can travel easier with it and get flying sooner.
Other advantages of lower cost to start out, and travel outside the US you don't have to muck around registering in most cases (just follow local rules to fly).

Later you can start the RE trial with a MM, and upgrade to the more wind stable M2P if needed.
RE people are probably out to bargain hunt drone flyers, so maybe do some research on what they are happy to pay before looking at that for part 107.

If the pistol people are going to benefit from any footage you take, you may need part 107 anyway.
 
I shoot action pistol. I tried silhouette and was bored out of my mind. I mainly just want to film myself and some of the guys I shoot with for our separate YouTube channels. We are looking at getting more sponsors and one of the questions often asked is “do you have a YouTube channel?” But I worry the noise of the air may bother other people. Right now I use a Q500 4K. And it’s to just to big to keep dragging around.
Understand... was active in unlimited silhouette... but the local club kept wanting me to pay for repairs to the targets... shot a hot loaded .375 JDJ Contender... so I went back to hunting with it.
 
At nationals a couple years ago the guy from shooting illustrated had a drone recording a lot of the big name shooters. None of them complained about the noise, however, one older guy on the squad in front of them threw an absolute fit. No one knew why. Until a week later when he filed a complaint with USPSA. He said that every time the drone was flying and he could see it it set his hearing aid off like crazy.

I am kind of thinking that where I’m at the mavic mini would be the best drone for me. I just hate that it doesn’t have a follow me feature. Since I do shoot alone quite a lot and want to film myself as well that would have been really nice.
 
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Hmm, a drone could be distraction for competitors in the pistol shoots.
Suppose you could hover out near targets and capture hits with the drone, and use a regular camera on tripod to combine the shooter and results in split frame footage, that would be cool.
Have you checked with organisers about using a drone to film the matches ?

I would think a Mavic Mini or M2P would be a better choice.
Maybe a M2Z with the zoom so you can film targets (or shooters) from a more distant point, thereby keeping safer distance from projectiles (almost eliminate noise).
The MM is about same lower noise (and / or pitch) level as an M2, you can travel easier with it and get flying sooner.
Other advantages of lower cost to start out, and travel outside the US you don't have to muck around registering in most cases (just follow local rules to fly).

Later you can start the RE trial with a MM, and upgrade to the more wind stable M2P if needed.
RE people are probably out to bargain hunt drone flyers, so maybe do some research on what they are happy to pay before looking at that for part 107.

If the pistol people are going to benefit from any footage you take, you may need part 107 anyway.

When I think of the video that I would want to record of a match it’s not the hits that I want. It’s the movement, the sequence. It’s more the shooters movement that makes good video at matches. I’ve seen some done that truly shows how exciting the sport can be. But most people just do boring over the shoulder phone video. I think a follow me video, or a panorama of the shooter moving through a big stage would be absolutely awesome.
 
When I think of the video that I would want to record of a match it’s not the hits that I want. It’s the movement, the sequence. It’s more the shooters movement that makes good video at matches. I’ve seen some done that truly shows how exciting the sport can be. But most people just do boring over the shoulder phone video. I think a follow me video, or a panorama of the shooter moving through a big stage would be absolutely awesome.

Saw your later post (while I was typing) about the type of course, yeah that'd be good to film in follow mode, IF that was reasonably reliable.
What about Skydio 2 ?
I know it's probably a wait (even for the first orders placed), but it'd be great for tracking such individuals.
 
Saw your later post (while I was typing) about the type of course, yeah that'd be good to film in follow mode, IF that was reasonably reliable.
What about Skydio 2 ?
I know it's probably a wait (even for the first orders placed), but it'd be great for tracking such individuals.
I really thought about the skydio 2. My problem is my budget right now is $700. With my student discount I could get a refurbished mavic air. I could even save for the refurbished fly more package. The skydio is out of what I could get for a while. It’s a thought I had for sure though. My uncle is on the first 50 preorder list and isn’t sure he is going to take it. Offered it to me if he doesn’t.
 
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Yeah, isn't cheap that's for sure.
I've managed to get mine on Amazon for 5 equal payments so didn't feel it so bad [emoji846] anyways, worth the money as it's a great piece of hardware and pretty much future proof
 
It would seem to me that as long as the drone remains at reasonable distance behind the shooter, the noise would not be an issue as most likely 100% of the competitors would have hearing protection in place. I would think the floating shadows would be more distracting!
 
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I wouldn't fly near the targets. It may become an inadvertent target! I saw some cool shots filmed directly right of the firing line. A drone can be great to use as a spotting scope for personal practice, checking the targets up close after firing.
 
Why not a Parrot Anafi ? The less noisy of small drones and it has a (electronic) zoom.
 
Why not a Parrot Anafi ? The less noisy of small drones and it has a (electronic) zoom.
I haven’t really thought of anything but DJI. Not sure why. Other than I always hear it’s the best. I talked it over with my wife and we decided on the Mavic Air. But since I have to wait while I save up I will check out some other drones. Thanks for the tip.
 
I haven’t really thought of anything but DJI. Not sure why. Other than I always hear it’s the best. I talked it over with my wife and we decided on the Mavic Air. But since I have to wait while I save up I will check out some other drones. Thanks for the tip.

Anafi has many advantages over the Mavic Air. Its camera is not better or worse but it can shoot at +90° to -90° (never propellers in-frame), flight duration is longer (real 25 min.). It is lighter than the MA and much less noisy (Mavic Air is the worst small drone to me from this point of view).
It lacks front and back sensors for OA but I don't use them anymore in my Mavic since I was blocked several times by the rising or setting sun during Litchi missions. I'm going to buy a used one today in order to complete my DJI drone collection (Mavic and Phantoms). I will tell you what I think about it as soon as the weather improves, here :)
 
Anafi has many advantages over the Mavic Air. Its camera is not better or worse but it can shoot at +90° to -90° (never propellers in-frame), flight duration is longer (real 25 min.). It is lighter than the MA and much less noisy (Mavic Air is the worst small drone to me from this point of view).
It lacks front and back sensors for OA but I don't use them anymore in my Mavic since I was blocked several times by the rising or setting sun during Litchi missions. I'm going to buy a used one today in order to complete my DJI drone collection (Mavic and Phantoms). I will tell you what I think about it as soon as the weather improves, here :)
The Air isn’t noisy at all.

The Anafi only has a two axis gimbal. For that reason alone, I can’t take it seriously.
 
The Air isn’t noisy at all.

The Anafi only has a two axis gimbal. For that reason alone, I can’t take it seriously.

I think you're wrong. The third axis in drones like Phantoms or Mavics is not very useful. It can be replaced without any loss by a good video stabilization. Actually this 3rd axis is only used in my Mavic for some anticipation when panning. I tried with and without but I didn't notice any striking difference except for speedy yaws that I try to avoid.
 
Get Air plus Master Airscrew props and noise problem sorted

Maybe a little late to the party, but regarding noise of the Mavic Air, I will have to agree with getting the Master Airscrew props. I just recently got a refurb Air FMC from DJI (make sure to check out their eBay store, was way cheaper on there, even with the student discount from their webstore), and flew it for the first time this weekend. The MAS props make a huge difference. Even if the actual volume of the sound doesn't change but a few decibels, it drops the pitch lower so it's much less annoying. The volume seems to decrease more quickly as distance increases.
 
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