Mavic Air - What Don’t You Like

[Flipsonic]

Sold my P3P and in the market for a Mavic Air. I’ve seen many YouTube vids and so far this is the one for me. The main reasons are: compact, APAS, Quick Shot modes, 4K. Except for 4K, those are things I didn’t have on my P3P. I know it’s loud, battery is not as efficient , wifi interference. Just wanted to hear from your first hand experience what don’t you like about it. Maybe there is something I don’t know about. Thanks.

 

[Aerial-Pixel]

I've had one since launch date, it has been a good drone, but yes the transmission distance isn't very good and it is much louder than all the other Mavic series drones.

 

[Flipsonic]

I guess the only thing that is worrying me right now is the enhanced wifi connectivity. I can deal with the noise as it has its plus and minus. I usually don’t fly in an urban environment. But if my signal is going to cut out a lot, that may be a show stopper. I would consider MP but I really like the portability of the MA. So is the enhanced wifi something I should really worry about?

 

[Rando Pando]

Go ahead and get the Air Fly More Combo. I will go out on a limb and say you will like it! I do.

 

[Flipsonic]

I’m not too worried when flying in non urban areas as there is less wifi interference. So when you guys fly in areas where there is heavy wifi usage, what do you do? Do you scan for the cleanest channel first and set it there? I believe there is a way to do this correct? If so, how well does that work for you? I can imagine that wifi interference can pop in at anytime.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

I have never had any problems with the enhanced wifi EXCEPT the one or two occasions where I have had close proximity disconnects for seemingly no reason. It is solid if you are flying in semi urban/rural environments. The battery capacity is my biggest grip with the MA. Know what you are getting - 14 minutes of flight, may be 15 at best. If you can live with that, it is an amazing little drone. Also, the camera of the MA wouldn't even compare to that on the M2P for stills. If you shoot a lot of stills, you will be disappointed. It does well for videos though.

 

[Flipsonic]

I have never had any problems with the enhanced wifi EXCEPT the one or two occasions where I have had close proximity disconnects for seemingly no reason. It is solid if you are flying in semi urban/rural environments. The battery capacity is my biggest grip with the MA. Know what you are getting - 14 minutes of flight, may be 15 at best. If you can live with that, it is an amazing little drone. Also, the camera of the MA wouldn't even compare to that on the M2P for stills. If you shoot a lot of stills, you will be disappointed. It does well for videos though.

When you say disconnects, was it just for a few seconds then reconnected?

 

[Deleted member 94047]

When you say disconnects, was it just for a few seconds then reconnected?

No, it was a complete signal loss resulting in RTH. However, it is really an odd thing that has happened to me only twice. In both cases it happened with in one or two minutes of take off and in close proximity (I think with in a 50m radius or less in both cases - one happened at 14 m). It was a complete signal loss and the AC entered into RTH and came back to the take off point in both cases. And in both cases, I was able to regain control by restarting the remote. Both incidents happened in location where there could have been no interference - no other wifi signals, no tall trees, no tall structures, no power lines, no cell towers, not even cellular phones. So it is a mystery to me as to why the signal loss happened. But keep in mind that these were the only two incidents I have had signal wise out of 257 flights. So I would treat it as an exception.

 

[bigswifty]

I really enjoy my Air. My main dislikes are the common ones:

1. Battery/flight duration
2. The noise of it is just crazy compared to other drones I've heard

Otherwise very happy with it. I've been fine with the wifi thing, probably I don't do as challenging missions as those who find it a limitation.

Great little drone!

 

[Lastrexking]

I’ve had one since launch. I don’t get the noise issue - it’s not that bad. Maybe it’s people that have never had a drone before? Compared to the first Phantoms it’s fine.
I’ve never had any connection issues either, but I always fly in VLOS, which might be the difference.

 

[bigswifty]

I don’t get the noise issue - it’s not that bad. Maybe it’s people that have never had a drone before?

More like people who've heard a M2 I often fly both on the same day and the sound of the Air still always takes me by surprise. Still love the little Air though

 

[CyrusBlack]

I have Zero complaints about my MA. The battery life is what it is and I have the warning set at 30% so I can RTH safely. Almost thinking about getting another and stashing it for the future

 

[slup]

In short ... I'm fully satisfied with my Mavic Air

Bought my first drone ever this summer ... the intention was to expand my photo interest a bit with new perspectives (and have fun flying) & perhaps learn more about making video. Have had my photo interest for a long time now & spent pretty large money on high grade equipment so I know everything about pixel peeping, lens sharpness, sensor sizes & dynamic range issues ... and how to handle them all.

This time I didn't want to spend to much so were from the beginning looking at a Spark when a good second hand opportunity came up on a Mavic Air. So my thinking below aren't biased towards earlier experience regarding connection method, sound or battery time ... but regarding the camera specs I were very aware.

So regarding the most prominent factors brought up in the thread so far ...

Sound:
Yeah ... it's buzzy with a high pitch but mainly don't care. Don't have it as a habit to zip around people or private properties ... if I do it's on higher altitude. Bought the Master Airscrew though but mainly for the possibility to chose a bright color to easier see them when hand caching, the lower sound pitch was a bonus.

Connection method:
Once the first fear of loosing the drone went away I started to test the limits ... just to learn what's a go & what's not a go.
I live in a semi urban area with private houses and all households have their own wifi nowadays (see picture below). When I fly over this I usually get connection glitches between 700-1000 meters out if I keep the drone in LOS (line of sight). I've discovered that LOS is really important in urban areas. If I need to fight neighboring wifi signals I usually switch over to the 5.8 Mhz band. I have a university just outside the picture to the left & flying over that is always hard depending on that they probably have a really boosted wifi network beaming out everywhere there. Similar to a building behind me in the picture ... a taxi station with probably a very hefty radio communication with all the cars in the city, always connection issues within 100 meters from that building.



In suburban areas were I can keep the drone in LOS it's ok for just above 2500 meters (see clip below).

Would probably have had the possibility to fly a bit further if I had ascended up to the maximum hight of 120 meters.

So ... no I'm not disappointed about the enhanced wifi instead of occusync. Know your limitations & area and keep the drone in LOS & you should be fine.

Battery time:
Well you always want more of course ... but according to the DJI GO 4 logs I usually get 15-16 minutes flight time in non windy conditions, have in total 4 batteries. So usually a drone flying session can last for like 1,5 hour which is enough for me, no major complaints from here.

Now for the camera quality (stills mainly) which someone earlier mentioned ...

Yes it's nowadays "only" 12 Mpix ... for me that means I have to avoid cropping in post. Frame as final as you can in the air & shoot RAW. If you do that all possibilities are open. Shoot as "flat" as possible (Saturation 0, Contrast 0 Sharpness 0), exposure for the brightest parts (push the histogram as far you can to the right) develop the RAW pic gently in Lightroom, then it's no problem to print in A3 format if you want. And with a good minor noice wash even ISO1600 is usable.

Below picture is a night shoot with ISO1600 ...



And this with ISO3200



And here some daytime pics for review ...

 

[Teddy warrick]

I sold mine and got a Autel Evo and so glad I did sounds so much better and no geofencing........Good luck

 

[mcoulter]

I have had my MA since July and have logged 52 flights (8 hour 38 minutes) so my *average* flight is about 10 minutes. Yes, there are a bunch of 1 minute flights where I was just testing something... Looking at my log my longest duration flight was 17 minutes (most of my longer flights being 15 minutes). My longest distance flight was 16,236 feet (about 3 miles) which incidentally was me zipping around in sport mode . Speaking of which, my top speed was 40.7 mph so yes, it can be fun little drone!

I have ZERO regrets about purchasing it. I now have a second battery and set of ND filters and am 100% happy with it.

 

[Dale D]

Sold my P3P and in the market for a Mavic Air. I’ve seen many YouTube vids and so far this is the one for me. The main reasons are: compact, APAS, Quick Shot modes, 4K. Except for 4K, those are things I didn’t have on my P3P. I know it’s loud, battery is not as efficient , wifi interference. Just wanted to hear from your first hand experience what don’t you like about it. Maybe there is something I don’t know about. Thanks.

I love my little red Mavic Air but am now moving on up to the next level with Mavic 2 Pro after 1 1/2 years of practice with Mavic Air. I had 2 crashes with Mavic Air, one immediately after unboxing and trying it out (ran into a tree next to my house- got the arm fixed immediately), and one in Madagascar, where my guide found it. It suffered damage to right front sensor but I still was able to fly it for the rest of the trip, thankfully!

. I had DJI Refresh and DJI repaired it in a timely manner in its Houston facility. It now has 7 short test flights on it for a total of 20 minutes and is virtually brand new with new serial number, etc. I was happy with everything except the following; No Occu synych, and 12 MP images and videos. I'd rather have better communication (I lost signal a lot which scared the heck out of me) and was not happy with the images. So I think I will be soon listing it for sale.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

Now for the camera quality (stills mainly) which someone earlier mentioned ...

I was that someone, so let me chime in.

Yes it's nowadays "only" 12 Mpix ... for me that means I have to avoid cropping in post. Frame as final as you can in the air & shoot RAW.

Great advice! Why haven't I thought of this before?

Shoot as "flat" as possible (Saturation 0, Contrast 0 Sharpness 0), exposure for the brightest parts (push the histogram as far you can to the right)

With this one I am a little confused. First, if you are shooting raw, none of that should matter - or so I have been made to believe. I always shoot stills in raw format, and have never bothered to check those settings (except white balance). Am I missing something? Second, about exposing to the right, I read about that early on and tried it. The thing is, I ended up with underexposed shadows. I pull up push down the shadows in post and I end up with a lot of noise. So I gave up this method and now shoot in AEB mode in all situations where I want to maximize the dynamic range. I have found that even AEB has its limits and doesn't do that well when you are shooting facing the sun which I now generally avoid if I can but it produces better results than any other method one might use including exposing to the right.

Those are great pictures by the way, thanks for sharing.

 

[Dave Maine]

You did something wrong. Exposing to the right brings the shadows up, and you should have no need to bring them up in post. Exposing to the left causes the problem you are experiencing.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

You did something wrong. Exposing to the right brings the shadows up, and you should have no need to bring them up in post. Exposing to the left causes the problem you are experiencing.

That was an error in writing, sorry. I meant to say "push the shadows down".

 

[Flipsonic]

I had 2 crashes with Mavic Air, one immediately after unboxing and trying it out (ran into a tree next to my house- got the arm fixed immediately), and one in Madagascar, where my guide found it. It suffered damage to right front sensor but I still was able to fly it for the rest of the trip, thankfully!

Did you have APAS on? This is one of the main reason why I want to purchase it. Unless you are going side ways or going vertical when it crashed.