Mini 2 and Air 2: two questions only

[Foxadriano]

Hi friends, I'm approaching the drone sector and I'd like to ask you
any questions please. I'm taking interest only in 2 subjects: the little weight and the
video quality. These are two things that don't get along.
I'll use the drone in Africa to integrate the 4K video footage made
with a good camera. I'll add a few minutes only of the video
made with the drone (max 2-3 minutes). My questions are: 1) The
Mavic Air 2 has the largest sensor but if you do the math, the
difference is negligible with the Mini 2. The bitrate is 120 instead of 100
bitrate and this too is quite paltry. When I will take the video
I will probably don't setting the drone camera so well well for reason
lack of time and fatigue. 2) If I were to use HDR with
the Air 2 in making the video but then I don't activate the HDR on the TV monitor
(Sony Bravia 65 "), will I notice a slightly better video or not at all?
Unfortunately it is difficult to rate the videos on youtube. I'd like to know: the best quality of the
video you get with the Air 2 is noticeable instantly or not much?
I hope you will answer these two questions of mine in an exhaustive way, but only if you use both, Mini 2 and Air 2 drones, because only you
you can give me these tips, both for the experience you have but also
because you have them both. If you were me, which of the two drones would you buy?
Thank you.

 

[bmwbob]

Unless you need active track, object avoidance or the other features unique to MA2 the video from the Mini2 should be just fine in my mind. I had a Mini and bought the MA2 for the advance features, but the Mini video quality was excellent even at 1080!

 

[THE CYBORG]

I don’t think it will make that big of a difference but I don’t own either so that’s just speculation.
]You say you will only be using a few minutes of the video but once you start filming with whichever you buy I think you will want to use more

 

[Dbez1]

If you can afford it, get the MA2. The sensors alone make it safer, especially when you are in a hurry. Mistakes happen under those conditions and drones are crashed/lost. Sorry I can’t help you with the technical stuff. Best wishes!

 

[Foxadriano]

I was moving towards the purchase of Air 2. I like the way it shoots and I'd have taken it for that very reason ..... but .... in Europe it does't have an important certification "CE", then it would lose value and would flight restrictions.
What bad luck. You who are experts, there is nothing with the same weight and video quality of Air 2? Otherwise I would have to buy the Mini 2 reluctantly.

 

[Yeunglings]

If I'm reading things right the plan is, or was at least, to add Airsense hardware later on to the European model making it eligible for CE certification. The early adopters though are out of luck because its not something you can add later.

 

[Foxadriano]

The early adopters though are out of luck because its not something you can add later.

Maybe I don't understand well. Even if you buy it today in Europe it doesn't have Airsense hardware and therefore it doesn't have "CE" certification.

 

[Yeunglings]

Maybe I don't understand well. Even if you buy it today in Europe it doesn't have Airsense hardware and therefore it doesn't have "CE" certificationhFrom

Maybe I don't understand well. Even if you buy it today in Europe it doesn't have Airsense hardware and therefore it doesn't have "CE" certification.

Correct. From what I've read, and take it with a grain of salt, basically there weren't enough parts available due to covid to make all MA2 compliant and the EU laws maybe weren't finalized so they focused on making the US( probably the largest single market but I could be wrong) ones compliant first as the laws were already in place and launched to the rest of the world at the same time but without the sensors/ antenna/ chip or whatever because the new laws were not in effect until months after launch. As more of the needed parts become available in a high enough quantity though there might be a silent upgrade where you potentially have 2 nearly identical airframes on the shelves but one is CE compliant( AirSense sticker highlighted or a V2 or something along those lines) and the other isnt. Again, only snippets of what I've read so take from it what you want. The MA2 meets all the criteria of a C1 drone for the UK other than having an ANSI compliant unique serial number( mine has a serial number that obviously is unique or else I couldn't register it with DJI for coverage but maybe it doesn't meet ANSI standards?) and a publicly available transmission protocol. Once that is in place then it can have the CE compliant sticker and can get classified as C1 in the UK.

 

[Foxadriano]

Thank you for your reply. A last question please: If the above certification is not approved in January, what exactly will happen to Air 2? Thanks

 

[Yeunglings]

There are 2 separate threads I've been following off and on for awhile now that I'll link to because honestly as curious as I am about it I'm in the US and these clasifications and rules don't make as much sense to me as they would to you maybe. For us its basically if you're not flying for profit and under 250g you don't have to register but you need to follow the flight rules rules, over 250g but under 55lbs you have to register yourself and label all drones with your ID number. And the drones have to be less than 100mph speed capable( i could be wrong about the actual speed and can't find documentation for it at the moment). If you're trying to make money with it, or is part of your job say as an educator or to make your job easier as a building inspector, it weighs more than 55lbs, or can go faster than 100mph then you have to file for a part 107 license.

When will the Mavic Air 2 conform to the new EU regulations?

I tried to understand the new EU regulations that seem to say, that you can continue to use the "old" drones like a Mavic Air 2 until 31.12.2023 but you have to have a certain knowledge and you have to keep away 50 m horizontally from uninvolved humans (Art. 22). If I understand it correctly...

forum.dji.com

Redirect Notice

www.google.com

I've come across info in other threads or articles that are rattling around in my noggin from time to time but these are the ones that seem to be the most informed, active or asking/ debating the nuances most likely to effect you.

 

[Foxadriano]

I'm sorry but I didn't understand. So if you use the Air 2 just for fun, it looks like nothing changes, even if there isn't "CE" mark.
Sorry, but english is not my mother language and I don't have understood well.
Could you refer to the Mavic Air 2 which weighs 570 grams? I take interest on it because I'd like to buy it in some days.
Thank you.

 

[Yeunglings]

As I understand it the current batch of Mavic Air 2 in Europe aren't CE compliant and basically in about a year, I've read conflicting reports on dates and how/ when it effects people, you will have to get an A2 license witch sounds similar to the US Part 107. But if you don't have one yet and can wait then there MAY be an updated version that keeps it in the C1/ A1 category.
Class C0 – less than 250g (can be flown in all subcategories) e

Class C1 – less than 900g (can be flown in all subcategories) Mavic Air 2 SHOULD have fallen in this category but doesn't have Airsense

Class C2 – less than 4kg (can be flown in subcategory A2 or A3 subcategories) the current batch of Mavic Air 2s fall in this category but newer ones that have Airsense or something similar to make it compliant would move to C1

Class C4 – less than 25kg (flown in subcategory A3 only)


If I'm reading things right the current crop of MA2 going to be listed as a legacy drone sometime in late 2021 or 2022 only able to be flown in A3 space unless you get a license for A2 airspace.

 

[earth3rd]

I was moving towards the purchase of Air 2. I like the way it shoots and I'd have taken it for that very reason ..... but .... in Europe it does't have an important certification "CE", then it would lose value and would flight restrictions.
What bad luck. You who are experts, there is nothing with the same weight and video quality of Air 2? Otherwise I would have to buy the Mini 2 reluctantly.

I had to make the same decision, I went with Air 2 for the bigger sensor and the avoidance system. I have flown it only 3 times so far but the image quality turns heads. Its awesome and very accurate as well.