Planning to purchase the Mavic 2 Pro. Any suggestions?

[Hitchy]

Planning to purchase the Mavic 2 Pro in late July. Getting a package deal that includes: DJI ultra bright smart controller, 3 batteries, car charger, charging hub, extra props, shoulder strap and bag. I'm sure I'll be getting the drone care and/or insurance also. What else do I need? I'm an amateur photographer and will primarily be using it for landscape pics. Any suggestions on how to recharge the smart controller in the field? Thanks

 

[THE CYBORG]

I can’t really help with the smart controller but it may be possible to use decent rechargeable power-bank.
One thing I would recommend you get is a set of neutral density filters.

 

[paulatkin73]

so, as of power bank - for travel it is a dead weight. fly more kit has a dji battery to an USB adapter - it is more useful, as you can use drone battery as a source.
some people do not agree with that, but i think fly more kit has sense to get, financially. pro drone has sense for photos and landscapes. ND filters - make sense for videos, i would for beginning get only a simpler one, to decide if it is needed or not - something like this:

Amazon.com : Lens Filters for DJI Mavic 2 Pro Camera Lens Set, Multi Coated Filters Pack Accessories (3 Pack) ND8, ND16, ND32, Upgraded: Works with Gimbal Cover : Gateway

Amazon.com : Lens Filters for DJI Mavic 2 Pro Camera Lens Set, Multi Coated Filters Pack Accessories (3 Pack) ND8, ND16, ND32, Upgraded: Works with Gimbal Cover : Gateway

www.amazon.com

and if found useful or more needed - get more expensive set later.

travel bag is the big topic. especially if it needs to be waterproof. bag from fly more kit works, but, it is not very big at all and does not fit much.

 

[THE CYBORG]

Only thing wrong that I can see with using your drone battery as a power bank is you would cut down flying time.

 

[paulatkin73]

Only thing wrong that I can see with using your drone battery as a power bank is you would cut down flying time.

i am only looking at it from the practical perspective of a hiker - it is more productive to have an extra flight battery to use it as an occasional power bank, rather than haul a power bank that is almost never going to be used.

 

[Randall8686]

The smart controller for me personally lasts long enough. I can go out have 4/5 flights and still come home with over 50% battery left. I carry the little USB adapter with me just in case and would top the controller up from a flight battery that i have flown. If the flight battery has 20% remaining upon landing that will be enough to give you a good charge on the controller unless you plan on flying for hours and hours i dont see it being a massive problem. You're going to need a lot of packs to flatten you're controller and topping it up with dead flight packs will be more than enough in pretty much any situation i would imagine. Unless of course you have 10+ flight packs and intend on taking them all to 0% capacity on every flight (bad for the pack)

 

[R.J.]

Planning to purchase the Mavic 2 Pro in late July. Getting a package deal that includes: DJI ultra bright smart controller, 3 batteries, car charger, charging hub, extra props, shoulder strap, and bag. I'm sure I'll be getting the drone care and/or insurance also. What else do I need? I'm an amateur photographer and will primarily be using it for landscape pics. Any suggestions on how to recharge the smart controller in the field? Thanks

PACKAGE: Nice choice on the Smart Controller and Mavic 2 Pro. I too own the M2P and SC and have not had a single issue with either. That being said the SC has its advantages like screen brightness, and coming from a note 8 which is one of the best for brightness the SC is wayyyyyy brighter (and does not overheat!) Also the ability to fly in cold temperatures with this combo allows for winter landscapes. The SC is not perfect and has a few issues and is also hard to find good reliable info if you need help on it, but I have not had many of the issues others describe and absolutely love mine. My only complaint is I want a Stabilizer to hold my Mavic 2 so I can shoot ground shots. They have one for the old Mavic that works from Polar Pro but you need the old style controller.

BATTERIES: The car charge hub is great if you need to charge on the go, yet I have only 3 batteries and have never really felt the need to fly any more than this at any one time for a job or for fun...but 3 seems sufficient to me, may be different for others. The SC has a cable that attaches to the 'battery hub' and charges off that at the same time your batteries are charging. That being said the SC batt. will outlast 3 drone batteries and have extra left.

BAG: I can almost assure you the bag your getting will probably be your first upgrade as many of the "package" bags kinda suck, but hey I have good news. Lowepro sells a bag that carries a ton and is made for drones ... The BP 250 - see pic. I love this bag and I can carry, extra charging units, My Surface Pro, a landing Pad and a lot more. Annnnnd, it is super comfortable to bike or hike backwoods with, just sayin.

ND FILTERS: Get them! Polar Pro is a reliable brand, though you are doing photography so a small set should do unless you're doing long exposure.

INSURANCE: As far as the insurance and care packages, beware that you read the fine print as to what they really cover i.e. Hull coverage...

Safe flights!

R.J.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

SD CARDS: the prevailing thought is to have 1 per battery, change out the card when you change the battery. The main reasoning for this is if you lose the drone, you have only lost the shots for that flight (not all of the flight footage/shots from the entire trip). 64GB U3 cards are really cheap these days.

 

[Hitchy]

I can’t really help with the smart controller but it may be possible to use decent rechargeable power-bank.
One thing I would recommend you get is a set of neutral density filters.

Thanks! I forgot to mention that the package has some filters in it.

 

[Hitchy]

Only thing wrong that I can see with using your drone battery as a power bank is you would cut down flying time.

Understand and thanks. I've got a phone charger battery pack that's good for three phone charges. I'm gonna check on that.

 

[Hitchy]

PACKAGE: Nice choice on the Smart Controller and Mavic 2 Pro. I too own the M2P and SC and have not had a single issue with either. That being said the SC has its advantages like screen brightness, and coming from a note 8 which is one of the best for brightness the SC is wayyyyyy brighter (and does not overheat!) Also the ability to fly in cold temperatures with this combo allows for winter landscapes. The SC is not perfect and has a few issues and is also hard to find good reliable info if you need help on it, but I have not had many of the issues others describe and absolutely love mine. My only complaint is I want a Stabilizer to hold my Mavic 2 so I can shoot ground shots. They have one for the old Mavic that works from Polar Pro but you need the old style controller.

BATTERIES: The car charge hub is great if you need to charge on the go, yet I have only 3 batteries and have never really felt the need to fly any more than this at any one time for a job or for fun...but 3 seems sufficient to me, may be different for others. The SC has a cable that attaches to the 'battery hub' and charges off that at the same time your batteries are charging. That being said the SC batt. will outlast 3 drone batteries and have extra left.

BAG: I can almost assure you the bag your getting will probably be your first upgrade as many of the "package" bags kinda suck, but hey I have good news. Lowepro sells a bag that carries a ton and is made for drones ... The BP 250 - see pic. I love this bag and I can carry, extra charging units, My Surface Pro, a landing Pad and a lot more. Annnnnd, it is super comfortable to bike or hike backwoods with, just sayin.

ND FILTERS: Get them! Polar Pro is a reliable brand, though you are doing photography so a small set should do unless you're doing long exposure.

INSURANCE: As far as the insurance and care packages, beware that you read the fine print as to what they really cover i.e. Hull coverage...

Safe flights!

R.J.View attachment 76839View attachment 76840

Thanks for all the good info. I also wanted the filters to protect my lens. Like the LP bag. Looks similar to my Canon 6D bag.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I also wanted the filters to protect my lens.

The Mavic lens ships with a clear protective filter on it, which you need to take off to use an ND filter.

Chris

 

[charlas]

The SC is usb c, so any usb c charger works, if it supports USB c fast charge then that works as well. I tend to always have at least a smallish one on me for phone emergencies so push comes to shove I can use it on the SC

 

[Hitchy]

The Mavic lens ships with a clear protective filter on it, which you need to take off to use an ND filter.

Chris

Thanks!

 

[Hitchy]

I can’t really help with the smart controller but it may be possible to use decent rechargeable power-bank.
One thing I would recommend you get is a set of neutral density filters.

Thanks!

 

[Hitchy]

The SC is usb c, so any usb c charger works, if it supports USB c fast charge then that works as well. I tend to always have at least a smallish one on me for phone emergencies so push comes to shove I can use it on the SC

Thanks!

 

[superstarpup]

Piggybacking on this as I’m looking to get an m2p.

I’m looking at using it for some amateur landscape stuff but also some real estate photography.

What’s the spool up time to become competent at flying one? I’m a decent amateur photographer but the only other drone I’ve flown has had “air hogs” written on the side of it.

What’s the realistic service ceiling at say 18ish°c temps? What kind of endurance loss does it have there?

 

[anim8r]

For landscape imagery, I'd also pick up a set of CP filters to go along with the traditional ND filters. As far as spin up time needed to learn how to fly; practice makes perfect. They aren't that difficult to fly and you should be good to go after a few hours of flying and messing around with the controls. However, getting the settings "perfect" on the camera can take a bit of trial and error, so film everything and change your settings often while you're practicing flight skills. By sure to play with the "T" (tripod) setting to get a smoother shot. There is also a cinematic function to avoid those annoying pull-ups when you're stopping your drone, just remember, stopping distance is quite a bit longer than normal.

 

[LavenderCaptain]

I've got a P3P, thinking about moving to the Mavic Pro as it's smaller ... It's impossible to be subtle lugging the P3P around in a huge hard-shell backpack... Thing I'm wondering: since it doesn't have landing gear like the Phantom, does that generally mean that I need a landing pad? Or can I get by without it? With the Phantom, I typically just took off and landed on the hard-shell backpack manually

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I always hand catch (P3P and M2P).

For take off, I use land for both and most of the time it's fine. Every once and awhile, the M2P needs a landing pad when you can't find a bald enough spot in grass, (since the props are closer to the ground than the Phantoms) or there's lots of dirt to kick up.

I just carry one of these automobile windshield shade thingees that you put on the inside of your windshield on a hot day (same thing as a much more expensive landing pad with an fancy H on it, or even more expensive photographic reflector)