"Philosophical" thought.. Do we need to upgrade to Mini 3

[laurent45]

Hi,
Beforehand, I want to emphasize that I DO NOT want to impose my way of thinking at all. Just want to share it... as it is always good to share diverse opinions.
I am owning a Mini2, and as a subscriber of many drone youtubers, I have been submerged by all those Mini 3 reviews,....
So I asked myself... should I need to upgrade ? Are we not influenced to always change to the newer model (true for smartphones) and not think enough of the environmental impacts ?
Am I not happy with photo quality .... well I am printing posters (stitching all 9 photos of wide range),.... and it is OK in my living room. Of course it might not be OK for a photo professional...
Should I invest almost twice the price of Mini 2 when, especially in Europe, it is more and more difficult to fly in very nice and touristic spots : it is either forbidden (as lot of people there) or there are already 3-4 drones in the air (and you need to worry about your drone vs the others,..). This can make us think about the future of our hobby in Europe,... as the number of drones is growing, as well as incidents (eg. last weeks in Italy : Pisa and Venice).
This leaves me with flying in mountains,... but those areas are 4-5h drive from my home.... so I cannot fly a lot and take photos....
So all this left me toughtful.....
Maybe I will not upgrade and just wait for a crash after my DJI Refresh expires.... to think again....
Well it was just some toughts... and again and foremost anyone can buy what he wants

 

[Phantomrain.org]

One thing that is really underestimated is the extra time in the air with both the Mavic 3 and the Mini 3 Pro Plus battery.

This really can change your entire way you focus, think, negotiate , take pictures ,video and mental thoughts.

To give you an example, most flights have some purpose so its a direct flight , I go up i than look at the footage an realize i need to go back and get a second flight . This now changes as I take a few minutes that I did not have before and review my pictures , video and than still have time to make changes.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water

 

[Barbara]

Thinking out loud is perfectly okay, and the decision to upgrade, or not, is yours alone. We all have our own reasons when we consider upgrading, and our situations are all different.

End use and budget are my main considerations. The drone I currently own (M2Z) satisfies my usage requirements, though the new Mavic 3 could do a better job at some things. My budget would allow an upgrade, but I really don't need it, so I stay with what I have. But that's just me.

Good luck with your musings, and in the end you'll make the right decision.

 

[SoCal2S]

It seems like an incremental upgrade in features and capability, but not a game changer. So unless you have a clear need of one of those features/capabilities in a 249g drone, I'd say it's not worth it. Then again, if money is no object, that also changes the equation. It's going to be different for each person.

 

[Rchawks]

In my case, my first drone was the Mavic Mini (not the 2). My second drone is a Mavic Air (not the 2). Sold the MM and miss having a second drone. Having a birthday soon and I’m depressed. Soooooo, depends on reviews from regular flyers before deciding for sure (back ordered).

 

[cheddar-man]

It took me many months, almost a year, to save up enough money (after selling my Phantom3A) to buy a Mini2. The last thing on my mind is "upgrading" to a Mini3 just because it's the latest thing out there. There is very little that the Mini3 has that I need.

 

[Johnmcl7]

Hi,
Beforehand, I want to emphasize that I DO NOT want to impose my way of thinking at all. Just want to share it... as it is always good to share diverse opinions.
I am owning a Mini2, and as a subscriber of many drone youtubers, I have been submerged by all those Mini 3 reviews,....
So I asked myself... should I need to upgrade ? Are we not influenced to always change to the newer model (true for smartphones) and not think enough of the environmental impacts ?

While that is true for smartphones it's clearly not the case with the Mini 3 Pro which is definitely not just an incremental upgrade over the Mini 2, I understand them keeping the Mini name since it's under 250g but it adds so much more capabilities it's more like a different line of drone entirely. I'd actually say from an environmental point of view the Mini 3 Pro is better as it's a single drone that does so much as well as staying under the 250g limit so those that previously bought a bigger drone for added capabilities and a Mini for compactness/regulations now can just use a single drone.

I think there's still room for the Mini 2 in the range and there's good reason to stick with the Mini 2 but I think it's unfair to suggest people are purchasing Mini 3's simply to have the latest model when it does offer a lot more.

 

[laurent45]

Thanks to @all for all your very interesting insights which are ALL of great value.
And far from me to judge anyone.
In one comment, there was the Mini3 Pro Plus battery : and that is true that it is a definite advantage. Because how many did I have to rush taking some picture as my battery was running out.
So yes have a extra 10-15 minutes is gorgeous. Too bad it might not be sold in the UE due to drone regulations.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Thanks to @all for all your very interesting insights which are ALL of great value.
And far from me to judge anyone.
In one comment, there was the Mini3 Pro Plus battery : and that is true that it is a definite advantage. Because how many did I have to rush taking some picture as my battery was running out.
So yes have a extra 10-15 minutes is gorgeous. Too bad it might not be sold in the UE due to drone regulations.

I was not aware you were in the UE, how many times have I been fooled by the Location ORLEANS , ugh. Lol

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[patc45 France]

Hello

a little cuckoo of a neighbor from Chécy who went to mini 3. A+patc45

 

[Chaosrider]

Hi,
Beforehand, I want to emphasize that I DO NOT want to impose my way of thinking at all. Just want to share it... as it is always good to share diverse opinions.
I am owning a Mini2, and as a subscriber of many drone youtubers, I have been submerged by all those Mini 3 reviews,....
So I asked myself... should I need to upgrade ? Are we not influenced to always change to the newer model (true for smartphones) and not think enough of the environmental impacts ?
Am I not happy with photo quality .... well I am printing posters (stitching all 9 photos of wide range),.... and it is OK in my living room. Of course it might not be OK for a photo professional...
Should I invest almost twice the price of Mini 2 when, especially in Europe, it is more and more difficult to fly in very nice and touristic spots : it is either forbidden (as lot of people there) or there are already 3-4 drones in the air (and you need to worry about your drone vs the others,..). This can make us think about the future of our hobby in Europe,... as the number of drones is growing, as well as incidents (eg. last weeks in Italy : Pisa and Venice).
This leaves me with flying in mountains,... but those areas are 4-5h drive from my home.... so I cannot fly a lot and take photos....
So all this left me toughtful.....
Maybe I will not upgrade and just wait for a crash after my DJI Refresh expires.... to think again....
Well it was just some toughts... and again and foremost anyone can buy what he wants

If there's something the Mini-3 can do that the Mini-2 can't, and you really want that thing, then get it.

Or, if you just want the Mini-3, then get it!

But if neither of those things are true...just keep flying and enjoying your Mini-2.

Tangentially, I tend to keep my cell phones for a very long time, compared to most people. I got a new one last year, but only because the previous phone wouldn't run DJI Fly.

Don't mess with a working machine!

 

[laurent45]

@patc45 Hi, let me later your thoughts after flying with the Mini 3 in our Loire valley.
@Phantomrain.org . Yes Orleans, France is far from having the rythm and charm from New Orleans (and neither the climate..)... and neither the drone freedom you enjoy so far in the US

 

[CJG]

stitching all 9 photos of wide range

Hi @laurent45 ,

Do you use the auto-panorama function in the Mini 2? Or do you shoot the 9 images manually?

If you use the auto function, have you experienced the problem that if you stitch the resulting RAW images in Lightroom Classic you get a very curved horizon (making my images at least largely unusable)?

Have you found out the best way to fix this?

If the Mini 3 Pro has solved this problem, I’ll definitely buy it (although I haven’t yet been able to find out whether the problem is fixed).

CG

 

[laurent45]

@CJG : That's a good question, and I have also this issue with the "Wide Angle" photoshot, and I do not know if the Mini 3 Pro sorts this problem out, as I do not think it is directly linked to the Mini model, but maybe more to the kind of photo. But Mini3 new owners might have the answer.
So far to stitch the 9 photos, I used the PTGUI tool, and lately I also used Lightroom Classic v10 : of course the result is not 100% perfect but it is better than with other tools.
But because of this issue, as a backup solution, I always take in addition enough photos to stitch them myself later and compare with the "Wide Angle" option. But the down side is that it takes time,.... and it reduces even more the flight time.

 

[CJG]

@CJG : That's a good question, and I have also this issue with the "Wide Angle" photoshot, and I do not know if the Mini 3 Pro sorts this problem out, as I do not think it is directly linked to the Mini model, but maybe more to the kind of photo. But Mini3 new owners might have the answer.
So far to stitch the 9 photos, I used the PTGUI tool, and lately I also used Lightroom Classic v10 : of course the result is not 100% perfect but it is better than with other tools.
But because of this issue, as a backup solution, I always take in addition enough photos to stitch them myself later and compare with the "Wide Angle" option. But the down side is that it takes time,.... and it reduces even more the flight time.

Any tips on taking 9 images manually to stitch in Lightroom, @laurent45? I seem to lose track of how much to vary the tilt, and horizontal movement, of the camera in order to get the best result. This is why the auto-function is so attractive to me!

 

[laurent45]

@CJG Hi, No real tricks in fact I just use some specific spots (a tree, a house,..) so I know what to overlap. I prefer to overlap too much as anyway the software will find out what is overlapped... than forgetting a piece of the landscape

 

[CJG]

@CJG Hi, No real tricks in fact I just use some specific spots (a tree, a house,..) so I know what to overlap. I prefer to overlap too much as anyway the software will find out what is overlapped... than forgetting a piece of the landscape

Thanks @laurent45