I'm upgrading from the Mini 2 to the Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom platform for better wind stability and SDK support. I use the 2x digital zoom on the Mini 2 frequently as I fly around looking at wildlife. Anyone with a Zoom been unhappy with the photo or video quality from the smaller sensor and wish they had the Pro's larger sensor instead? I know there are rumors of the Mavic 3 Pro coming this year but I need SDK support now so waiting isn't an option.
Mini 2 upgrade to Zoom or Pro?
- Thread starter Kyklopes
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Go with the M2P and shoot in RAW + jpg. The RAW is a huge image easily allowing crop to desired appearance of “zooming in”. RAW may require additional software on your CPU. On my Mac they open as .DNG, but same size.
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There is no beating the Mavic 2 Zoom Feature ,
The Super Size Pictures that the Zoom takes are amazing 48 mpx and no processing needed as the drone does all the work stitching them together . We have quite a few example on our website.
If having the Zoom Feature is Critical you can not do better than the Mavic 2 Zoom and you will tire quickly of Cropping the video , when you can nail the shot in Post and see the shot while flying, that is huge.
As far as quality of the pictures they can both produce stunning results but the Pro has the advantage in the low light but not by much.
Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 2 Zoom in the Rain and Land on the Water.
The Super Size Pictures that the Zoom takes are amazing 48 mpx and no processing needed as the drone does all the work stitching them together . We have quite a few example on our website.
If having the Zoom Feature is Critical you can not do better than the Mavic 2 Zoom and you will tire quickly of Cropping the video , when you can nail the shot in Post and see the shot while flying, that is huge.
As far as quality of the pictures they can both produce stunning results but the Pro has the advantage in the low light but not by much.
Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 2 Zoom in the Rain and Land on the Water.
Sorry for the noob question, is low light really the only advantage with the Pro's camera?
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Its the only thing where I could see the difference with the Human eye as I own both drones and when something becomes apparent more than once you have to take that into consideration that the better sensor on the mavic 2 Pro does a much better job.
Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic 2 in the Rain and land in the Water.
The difference in low light is meaningful and if I lived near a cool cityscape I might chose the Pro.
I also like the manual aperture on the Pro and would use it often, but I think the 2x optical zoom is more important when looking at wildlife because I can't fly closer without scaring the critters away. Plus the 2x optical zoom boosted by the 2x digital gets 4x zoom which should help with in-flight identification of critters. If the EV difference was larger I might have to go for the Pro but with only 1 stop difference it's a wash. Perhaps I haven't considered all the variables, but unless the pilot is flying at night it feels like the Zoom is the better choice for most use cases.
You can also shoot RAW with the Mavic Zoom. The Super Resolution feature is nice because it stitches together 9 photos for up to a 48 MPixel shot. Also, when in video mode at 1080 and 24 fps, you actually get a 6X zoom on the display (video only).
That is a nice feature for the flying I like to do. How are the details at 6x? Still crisp enough to identify a badger from 150' in the air?
I'm not sure if this helps but here is a pic in Super Resolution Mode at 400 ft and at sunset with no zoom. Also, I had to reduce the size by 50% to attach the file here.
JooB
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I have both drones, the Zoom and now also the Mini 2.
Bought the Mini 2 just because of the new laws here in Europe to be still able to fly close to people.
The Zoom's camera is great and, as mentioned before, to get a zoomed perspective in flight in my opinion is a big advantage than to zoom in just in postproduction.
The reason I bought the Zoom and not the M2P was to be able to find the best composition of a photo in flight by zooming in or out. That's something you can't do in postproduction very often.
But if you plan to have a lot of low light or night shots the M2P will give you better results. But that's all.
So think about what you want to try to shoot with your drone and make your decision. For wildlife I would choose the Zoom without any discussion. Good luck!
And yes, the Zoom is much more stable in flying than the Mini 2!
Bought the Mini 2 just because of the new laws here in Europe to be still able to fly close to people.
The Zoom's camera is great and, as mentioned before, to get a zoomed perspective in flight in my opinion is a big advantage than to zoom in just in postproduction.
The reason I bought the Zoom and not the M2P was to be able to find the best composition of a photo in flight by zooming in or out. That's something you can't do in postproduction very often.
But if you plan to have a lot of low light or night shots the M2P will give you better results. But that's all.
So think about what you want to try to shoot with your drone and make your decision. For wildlife I would choose the Zoom without any discussion. Good luck!
And yes, the Zoom is much more stable in flying than the Mini 2!
Thanks for all the replies. Does anyone have a link to an example of the 2x Optical X 3 Digital = 6X Zoom with video?
Is the 6x zoom for the video shot at 1080p/24 an undocumented feature? I can't find it in the manual or online.
For taking photos, does the M2Z allow 2x optical and then a digital 2x boost to get 4x zoom? I know cropping post flight is an option but asking if there is a real-time 4x zoom available for photos.
For taking photos, does the M2Z allow 2x optical and then a digital 2x boost to get 4x zoom? I know cropping post flight is an option but asking if there is a real-time 4x zoom available for photos.
I don't know where it is documented, but I found it on page one of this thread.
mavicpilots.com
HIDDEN (or not so obvious) features on the M2 that you can share that every M2 owner should know
I have had my Mavic 2 Pro since early August and still I'm finding things about my M2 almost by accident that I wish I had known about. I would like this thread to be sort of a compliation of the possible hidden, obscure, not readily known features (or even tips or tricks) of the M2 pro/zoom...
mavicpilots.com
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I was looking for official documentation because if it's an unsupported feature it can be removed with a firmware update. Not that I see any reason for that to happen at this point.
I bought zoom my first drone had it 3 days love it cam at 100 meters
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I picked up the Zoom also for $1099 about a month ago at Best Buy. It was on sale for about a week, but no longer so.
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