Mavic Pro features vs. Mavic Air?

[Pedro]

Waypoints/missions are great if you can plan them beforehand for example, using the Litchi Hub. You can get some great footage using a mission as it can often be much smoother than controlling the drone yourself. Good luck with the Air, you'll love flying it I'm sure..

 

[shamus]

DJI Mavic Air VS Mavic Pro: Is the Pro Still Better? | MyFirstDrone

Seems like a more "Pro" comparison between the two.

 

[KiterTodd]

This video sums up the major reason I sprung for the Air.

Interesting video, thanks. I'd be surprised if some of that softness was due to the focus on the Mavic Pro. Mavic Air being fixed focus. The night shot in particular it looked like the MP was trying to focus, and not succeeding. Maybe if it was set on infinity focus it would have been a better comparison. Also the huge difference of that zoomed in mountain shot.... could that JUST be bit rate? I think something else was going on. But yes, the Air looked a lot better in that example.

 

[nuclearheli]

** Makes a nice addition to my stable, two Inspire 2’s, one Mavic Pro, and now the air. Arrives tomorrow, I am excited.

Arrived today as promised. Mavic Air Fly More. Charging the batteries then taking off. Really cool little thing, I'm impressed so far. I have to fly it of course but I can see this being my go-to drone when I travel, one if not the most important reason I bought it.

 

[Hiflyer808]

Confirmed that you have obstacle avoidance when using active track, forward and backward. Drone did fail to avoid branches several times, but still, pretty impressive. As a hiker, this is exactly the kind of capability I've been looking for: tracking hikers in a forest from in front while flying backwards. Another good thing is that he said even when it hit branches it usually righted itself and continued, and when it completely crashed not much damage done. Definitely leaning towards selling my Pro in favor of the Air, but will still wait a while for the Pro 2.

 

[Advexure]

Not sure if this review is in this thread yet but here a helpful video that really helps to show was 100mbps does with Mavic Air footage

DJI Mavic Air Camera side by side comparison

 

[thongbong]

Confirmed that you have obstacle avoidance when using active track, forward and backward. Drone did fail to avoid branches several times, but still, pretty impressive. As a hiker, this is exactly the kind of capability I've been looking for: tracking hikers in a forest from in front while flying backwards. Another good thing is that he said even when it hit branches it usually righted itself and continued, and when it completely crashed not much damage done. Definitely leaning towards selling my Pro in favor of the Air, but will still wait a while for the Pro 2.

amazing! I bet if it was flying 3 feet off the ground it would have tracked him the whole trail. Waste high would have been more cinematic too.

 

[Hossinn]

amazing! I bet if it was flying 3 feet off the ground it would have tracked him the whole trail. Waste high would have been more cinematic too.

That IS really cool. I know the Mavic Pro doesn't have rear sensors, but does it have the same tracking ability as the Air does in this video?

 

[thongbong]

That IS really cool. I know the Mavic Pro doesn't have rear sensors, but does it have the same tracking ability as the Air does in this video?

I want to say no. My mavic doesn't seem to track as well. It makes sense if you think about it. DJI has had almost 2 years since the MP to improve the tracking. They are not a company to just rest on their laurels.

 

[Hiflyer808]

Pro can track from behind but not as well and just stops at obstacles instead of going around. Will also track from in front flying backwards, but no obstacle sensing

 

[nuclearheli]

Ok I am happy. As I said in a prior thread great addition to my drone collection.

The Air came yesterday but it was so late when I got a chance to play with it I had to wait until today. Weather was miserable, overcast and cold, lousy flying weather but I couldn't wait any longer. At lunch I took the Mavic Air out to the latest Princeton University construction site just across from the Princeton Medical Center. A Mega Health Club being built with indoor and outdoor pools and crap you would never use.

Aside from the lousy weather, no blue sky and very cold temperatures I am very pleased how this little puppy performed. I was just outside of what they call "C" site on the James Forestall campus and mostly flew over A and B site's where the construction and medical center are.

Maximum range was just under 1.5 miles and I am pleased to report that I had no issues with the range. Reception was excellent, video was smooth and clean. I checked my cell phone and I had at least 7 strong WiFi signals coming from Princeton University and the Medical Center. Not an issue.

Drone was responsive, easy to fly. I flew two batteries without any issues. What can I say, I am happy with my purchase. Super easy to deploy and carry in the truck. Just what I wanted to have for those moments when you wish you had your drone handy.

Keeping my Mavic Pro, Keeping the Mavic Air, and of course the Inspire 2's are the work horses.

 

[EsiMavic]

DJI Mavic Air VS Mavic Pro: Is the Pro Still Better? | MyFirstDrone

Seems like a more "Pro" comparison between the two.

Yes for ME pro still best in battery, range, and signal

 

[Hossinn]

Ok I am happy. As I said in a prior thread great addition to my drone collection.

The Air came yesterday but it was so late when I got a chance to play with it I had to wait until today. Weather was miserable, overcast and cold, lousy flying weather but I couldn't wait any longer. At lunch I took the Mavic Air out to the latest Princeton University construction site just across from the Princeton Medical Center. A Mega Health Club being built with indoor and outdoor pools and crap you would never use.

Aside from the lousy weather, no blue sky and very cold temperatures I am very pleased how this little puppy performed. I was just outside of what they call "C" site on the James Forestall campus and mostly flew over A and B site's where the construction and medical center are.

Maximum range was just under 1.5 miles and I am pleased to report that I had no issues with the range. Reception was excellent, video was smooth and clean. I checked my cell phone and I had at least 7 strong WiFi signals coming from Princeton University and the Medical Center. Not an issue.

Drone was responsive, easy to fly. I flew two batteries without any issues. What can I say, I am happy with my purchase. Super easy to deploy and carry in the truck. Just what I wanted to have for those moments when you wish you had your drone handy.

Keeping my Mavic Pro, Keeping the Mavic Air, and of course the Inspire 2's are the work horses.

Footage looks great.

 

[AlgarveDroning]

I have not seen this mentioned in the reviews, but the lens on the Mavic Air is only f/2.8 vs f/2.2 on the Mavic Pro, so it has less light gathering ability, slower shutter speeds, more noise in low light. It is more wide angle which may be a good thing depending on your needs.

As a photographer, I find that in daytime Sun, the difference between f/2.8 vs f/2.2 is negligible. It'll come into play more at Sunset or Sunrise and even then, not majorly.

What I do like is that I see the Air has ISO 3200 vs the Pro's 1600 for Still Images. (This is reversed for video but I hardly ever shoot video so not an issue for me).

 

[Grindeddown]

Interesting video, thanks. I'd be surprised if some of that softness was due to the focus on the Mavic Pro. Mavic Air being fixed focus. The night shot in particular it looked like the MP was trying to focus, and not succeeding. Maybe if it was set on infinity focus it would have been a better comparison. Also the huge difference of that zoomed in mountain shot.... could that JUST be bit rate? I think something else was going on. But yes, the Air looked a lot better in that example.

Yeah, I posted a reply to the vid creator and he said that it wasn’t focus and it was just muddy, but you can see the Mavic Pro is focus hunting in that shot, which is a common problem for ANY camera in low light. I’d like to see that comparison again with the focus being nailed. Theoretically, the pro should perform better than the air in that kind of shot.

 

[Grindeddown]

Am I the only one who keeps seeing vids comparing the pro and air set at the “same” settings, but then wonder why the pro looks brighter and more washed out? The image is about 2/3 a stop higher in exposure because of the lens difference. For the same image, you really would need to adjust the air shutter to let in 2/3 less light to get a fair comparison.

To be fair, in this video, it seems he set things up close to properly.

 

[thongbong]

As a photographer, I find that in daytime Sun, the difference between f/2.8 vs f/2.2 is negligible. It'll come into play more at Sunset or Sunrise and even then, not majorly.

What I do like is that I see the Air has ISO 3200 vs the Pro's 1600 for Still Images. (This is reversed for video but I hardly ever shoot video so not an issue for me).

I'm looking forward to the 1" sensor foldable drone. It will be nice to finally be able to print out some aerial photos on my large format printer. =D

 

[AlgarveDroning]

I'm looking forward to the 1" sensor foldable drone. It will be nice to finally be able to print out some aerial photos on my large format printer. =D

If the 1" sensor was on a drone the size of the Air then that would be great! If not, portability means more to me on a drone than sensor size. I get acceptable pictures from my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone so the drone is just an extension of that for me. I carry around a 1" sensor Sony RX100 IV for casual use but when I want to take pictures more seriously, I use my DSLR's.

 

[thongbong]

If the 1" sensor was on a drone the size of the Air then that would be great! If not, portability means more to me on a drone than sensor size. I get acceptable pictures from my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone so the drone is just an extension of that for me. I carry around a 1" sensor Sony RX100 IV for casual use but when I want to take pictures more seriously, I use my DSLR's.

Gah I love Sony, makes me want to punch Canon in the mouth for not innovating.

 

[sebastianshaw]

Take a look at the pros and cons of the Mavic Air vs Mavic Pro. For me Mavic Air comes out on the top, because it has more powerful flight performance.