~Poll~ Mavic Air or Mavic Pro - Which one will YOU choose?

[SLVSRFR]

But the problem seems to be that all of the Air footage/reviews at the minute are from people who have been given the drone (by DJI?) to review.
I think it's best to hold off saying the footage is hands down better until we get some "real" reviews.
I also love the footage I get from my Spark, but it's the fact that I have no confidence flying the thing that puts me off wanting to get that footage with it. If the Air is the same with it's WiFi, it will put many people off.
It could be the best footage in the world but if you keep running the risk of the thing falling out of the sky whilst getting that footage because of dodgy WiFi, that saving you are making by buying the Air will soon be eaten up in repair costs.

If you've gone to a P4P+ and that is what suits you, then, to be fair, neither the Air or MP were ever going to suffice when it comes to their cameras, I wouldn't have thought.

First, that last assumption isn’t true at all. I don’t know about anyone else but I buy a flying camera for...the camera. Constantly searching for the best bang for the buck and sadly, the Mavic Pro’s RAW camera footage was/is disappointing to me. Sure with perfect conditions and a ton of post production, you can make it work to an extent. I preordered and received my first Mavic Pro in December 2016, even after seeing early videos (from DJI-supplied YouTube reviewers). I seen the out-of-focus videos from Casey Neistat, and the lack of details in things such as trees, but gave it the benefit of the doubt. I’ll admit most of my hope was based off the hype. I was lucky to not have the focusing issue but the artifacts caused by the noise reduction was terrible. At first I assumed I wasn’t affected by any of it, but the more I used it, the more frustrating and inconvenient it got. Time I saved in setting up the drone or the saved space carrying it, the more time I sat behind my computer trying to color grade/trashing half the footage I had taken. It was a give and take, not to mention the gimbal problems that took DJI 2 months to fix and the 1080p at higher frame rates that are still to this day, unusable. I had the normal Phantom 4 at the time and was really hoping for the Mavic Pro to reduce SOME quality for portability.

Secondly, there are videos up on YouTube as of yesterday that are from members that weren’t given one from DJI. Besides, Casey Neistat has always given unbiased opionions amongst DJI product line (he’s obviously biased to DJI itself). His personal favorite drone has been the Mavic Pro (over his inspire, newly crashed P4P, and spark). With his recent comparison of raw footage between the MP, MA, and P4P, he claims the Air as his new go-to and from his footage, you can clearly see why.

I think some people are quite upset that there’s a new, cheaper drone offered by DJI that has better quality than what they have and that initially cost them more. Sure the MA is a “downgrade” in some aspects compared to the MP, but if upgrades come in the form of the imaging system on a flying device that’s sole purpose is to grab footage at an overall cost, DJI will have my attention. In which with the Air, they do. If I sit here and wait to the MP2, then there’s no point in ever buying anything this day and age, if I’m always going to wait for the newest thing because of the rate technology is advancing. It’s like users who bought the Inspire 1 Pro v2 w/ X5 Camera, and then the Phantom 4 Pro came out, the footage is nearly the same with half the size and half the price.

 

[JimmyHillsChin]

First, that last assumption isn’t true at all. I don’t know about anyone else but I buy a flying camera for...the camera......

But isn't that a contridiction on my assumption then?
You are saying, for you, the most important aspect of a drone is it's camera, so it's obvious the P4P was going to best suit your needs over the MP and Air.
If I was looking for the best drone with best camera I could afford, I wouldn't be stuck with the dilemma of which to buy (MP or Air) because I'd be looking elsewhere in the DJI range completely.

It's clear the MP is a jack of all trades drone that fills a lot of what people want but with that comes the limitations and the Air is no different.

Alot of people want portability over best picture.
Some want range over portability.
Some just want best picture.

This is why DJI are a multi billion dollar company. If they included all of the above in a drone, people wouldn't be torn on whether they should upgrade from the drone they purchased 6 months ago and DJI would soon see their profits nose dive.

Judging by some of those who use their P4P for professional photography over on PhantomPilots forums, you are still going to be dissapointed with the Air's pictures when comparing them.

For me personally, I want portability over best picture and range. Like I said, the Sparks images are fine for me and it's portability means it can go everywhere with me (I do like to travel).
It's reliabilty is not so appetising though. I took it to Bali recently and had no end of connection issues.

Reading this, you'd think the Air would be a no brainer for me but the WiFi decision by DJI has put a spanner in the works.

Edging closer to the MP day by day.......

 

[SLVSRFR]

But isn't that a contridiction on my assumption then?
You are saying, for you, the most important aspect of a drone is it's camera, so it's obvious the P4P was going to best suit your needs over the MP and Air.
If I was looking for the best drone with best camera I could afford, I wouldn't be stuck with the dilemma of which to buy (MP or Air) because I'd be looking elsewhere in the DJI range completely.

It's clear the MP is a jack of all trades drone that fills a lot of what people want but with that comes the limitations and the Air is no different.

Alot of people want portability over best picture.
Some want range over portability.
Some just want best picture.

This is why DJI are a multi billion dollar company. If they included all of the above in a drone, people wouldn't be torn on whether they should upgrade from the drone they purchased 6 months ago and DJI would soon see their profits nose dive.

Judging by some of those who use their P4P for professional photography over on PhantomPilots forums, you are still going to be dissapointed with the Air's pictures when comparing them.

For me personally, I want portability over best picture and range. Like I said, the Sparks images are fine for me and it's portability means it can go everywhere with me (I do like to travel).
It's reliabilty is not so appetising though. I took it to Bali recently and had no end of connection issues.

Reading this, you'd think the Air would be a no brainer for me but the WiFi decision by DJI has put a spanner in the works.

Edging closer to the MP day by day.......

If you tell anyone that you’ve come up with an idea or item to do something that they have come accustomed to for a while, in a more efficient and more convenient way but it may slow down performance/quality just a tad, they’re most likely going to go with your idea/item.

Therefore, no it wasn't contradictory, you’re putting it like it has to be one or the other (more portability vs quality). With a drone, they go hand in hand, if that weren’t the case, the Yuneec Breeze 4K has been out for YEARS, it was small and more portable against other drones in the market and I guess you can say it had a camera, why wasn’t that a success? I stated that I buy a flying camera mainly for the camera, which goes to saying the best camera is the one you have with you, but unusable footage is still unusable footage (Yuneec Breeze anyone?). Even though the Phantom line is still a VERY portable option, just less convenient now that we have been spoiled with these drones with smaller footprints. Therefore, I had high anticipation of SUPPOSEDLY being able to fit a drone, nearly in my pocket, that had the same quality as the drone I had at the time (P4). So, I sold my P4 to buy the Mavic Pro at launch. However, the camera did NOT live up to the hype with comparisons to the Phantom 4, so much so that it turned out to be not useful at all after being spoiled with P4 footage. I actually had a difficult time getting MP footage to match my old P4 footage, which is why I went for the next bang for the buck, the P4P. Nearly identical specs to the Inspire line, nearly identical footage, at half the price. Like you said others needs/wants are different, with the MP, I just wasn’t willing to give up THAT much in quality for portability or the cool factor. A year ago, if the MP had a better camera, similar to what DJI has now released with the Air, I wouldn't have went for the P4P. Especially since the Air has better specs than the P4 with 100mbps and 4k at 60FPS. DJI has only 3 drones in their product line that shoot at those rates, one being the Mavic Air.

Of course majority of the people at Phantom Pilots are not going to go for the Air, they mainly shoot photos. An adjustable aperture and an amazing sensor is too much to give up for someone who takes aerial photos. I mainly shoot video, so seeing the Air shoot pretty good footage that looks almost as good as the P4P is exciting, that bang for the buck is there and the SMALL sacrifice in quality for more portability that I was searching for a year ago.

*Edit* Look at the comparison between the Mavic Pro and Mavic Air footage, it looks like an iPhone 4 vs iPhone 7 camera comparison and the air being relative to the iPhone 7, and is surprisingly the cheaper option (skip to 2:37 for comparison). Also, when judging YouTube reviews, don’t look at color for that can be changed in post, look at what can’t be added in post, detail. Look at how the MA processes all that data (100mbps to thank), you can actually see trees compared to the MP footage on the left that looks like watercolor or mush, if you take a photo of your family on the beach you will actually be able to see some detail in faces.

 

[Testman]

My interest is fly not photography. I Iove Mavic pro.

 

[3dndrone]

I'm thinking about to change my MP to an Air like others here.... but I still worry about the wifi connection.... I think this is tje weak point of the Air! The size is awesome. I travel a lot and with the MP I was happy the last year. But if I could change to somerhing smaler, would be great too... ****... its realy hard to decide [emoji848][emoji848][emoji848]

 

[JimmyHillsChin]

I'm thinking about to change my MP to an Air like others here.... but I still worry about the wifi connection.... I think this is tje weak point of the Air! The size is awesome. I travel a lot and with the MP I was happy the last year. But if I could change to somerhing smaler, would be great too... ****... its realy hard to decide [emoji848][emoji848][emoji848]

When I had my phantom 3 a few years back, I took it on my travels to Borneo and it was just too big. Just setting it up, I had the sense that it was going to raise eyebrows the minute it took off...and it did.
There was also the logistical nightmare lugging the big backpack about (which itself made it more obvious) and it taking up valuable luggage space.

Taking the Spark last year, I just didn't have that feeling. It was quick enough to set up (when it connected), get in the air, zip about and take the pictures.
I just didnt get that feeling it was annoying people because it is so small.
Infact, a few came over and were genuinely interested in it in a positive way that I dont think happens with bigger drones, where they think you are invading their space and privacy.

I just had too many connection issues from connecting phone to controller and controller to spark.
I had the connection problem because I was in a different country and then had to completely go through the whole reconnecting and syncing routine from scratch.
When you are on a beach with limited time, it gets very annoying, very quickly.

I shall wait till reviews come in regarding the Air's Wi-Fi because, as you say, it's size and portability is a major plus.

Now gone from " definitely getting the MP" to "Mmm maybe the Air would be better after all"

Aaaarrrrggggghhhh!!!

 

[Jake 61]

I'm going to happily stick with my Mavic. As I mentioned in another thread, I've only had it for a couple of weeks and a few days after it arrived, the MA was announced. This annoyed me at first, being a new model and cheaper, but all in, the MP does what I want it to do and does it well.
I would have been really annoyed, if I had gone for MA and found that the real life duration of a battery is only just over 15 minutes flying time because that just means having to stock up with extra batteries.
Anything else, the size, the name, the gesture control..etc, is just clever marketing to keep the sales figures up there.
Nobody is forced to buy anything out there, the choice is always our own.

 

[AlgarveDroning]

Well, I've taken the plunge and ordered the Air. Pleased with my decision.

As I posted earlier, the key for me is portability. The idea of being able to even more easily carry the drone while I am Mountain Biking or walking the local cliffs above the beaches is a huge bonus. The side-effect that it'll be thought of as less intrusive to others is nice too, especially here in a major tourist area.

I would guess the Mavic Pro 2 will have a better camera, range etc but unless it is smaller than it is currently, the Air will still suit me best.
I'll compare the MP and Air when it arrives and most likely then sell the MP, it doesn't do anything extra that I use.

 

[Siwyleeds]

I'm very curious how the mavic air sale will go. In my opinion it was not a good move to release that drone. I would never ever swap my mavic for the air. The CE range is only 2km which is not enough for me.

 

[AlgarveDroning]

I'm very curious how the mavic air sale will go. In my opinion it was not a good move to release that drone. I would never ever swap my mavic for the air. The CE range is only 2km which is not enough for me.

I think DJI have instilled some confusion by releasing an entry level Mavic before updating the Pro version.
Once the MP 2 is released, everyone will see the inherent differences between them and who their target market is. The pecking order will be restored more clearly.

DJI are obviously filling in the blanks of their model line-up for the Consumer market and only when the MP 2 is out, will it look properly fleshed out.

At the moment, we have an entry-level Mavic looking awfully competitive against it's Flagship but that is only because the Flagship is last year's model...that'll change.

 

[Siwyleeds]

I think DJI have instilled some confusion by releasing an entry level Mavic before updating the Pro version.
Once the MP 2 is released, everyone will see the inherent differences between them and who their target market is. The pecking order will be restored more clearly.

DJI are obviously filling in the blanks of their model line-up for the Consumer market and only when the MP 2 is out, will it look properly fleshed out.

At the moment, we have an entry-level Mavic looking awfully competitive against it's Flagship but that is only because the Flagship is last year's model...that'll change.

I agree with You. But i don’t think they will release MP2 anytime soon so untill then it’s confusing

 

[jbjeep]

I'm keeping my Pro. The Air looks like a great drone but it's not enough of an upgrade to swap. If I didn't have the Pro it might be a different story.

 

[kubais]

I have MP, love battery life and superb radio reach (dozens of flight over 6km) but video quality is very important for me and since MP´s video quality is for nowadays standards very bad and seeing beautiful shots from MA makes me think intensively to sell MP while guarantee and care refresh is still valid and get MA, even though it is better only in video quality (size of MP is small enough for me). What do you guys think about that?

 

[Gubernator]

I am sure DJI are marketing between the spark and Mavic Pro, and it looks to be a great craft for those getting in to aerial video and photography for the first time.

I believe the next generation of the Pro will be worth waiting for and will save my money to upgrade rather than downgrade.

Horses for courses as they say.

 

[lovec1990]

Well DJI really created a intresting situation.

If i had Mavic PRO i would not change it for Air,but im buying a new drone and if you put together specs and price Air beats Pro so Air is best choice.I think DJI will up the game with Mavic PRO 2 thats why they made Air so good so we will have a good choices across price range

 

[kubais]

I was unsure MP2 will be really released soon but it seems rumors are really active this time of the year so I will wait and see what MP2 will bring.

 

[Manna]

Greetings,

as former Phantom 3 owner (was my first one) I am looking into a transportable option and have also come across the new Mavic air.

You guys have really put together almost all pros and cons of the two options one might consider, the air and the pro.

MP:
+ audible noise
+ ocusync (range)
+ flight time (4-5min more)

(- center warm/red spot)
- horizon issue

+- video/photo quality?
(+- focusing)

Air:
++ size/portability
+ price (not a big difference)

(- center warm/red spot)
- WiFi
- audible noise

+- video/photo quality?

One thing that still makes me confused is whether the video quality of the air is superior to the pro.
There a pretty good comaprison video of the two drones from german guys (made with german precision). They conclued the Pro had better video resolution with a lot more detail, however the photo resolution is better on the air, have look yourself.
They put the two Mavics on a tripod next to each other to make the camera quality compareable:

Photo comparison @ 14:05
Conclusion: Raw similair, jpeg much better on the Air (due to in camera processing differences), scaffolding of the dome

Video comaprison @ 14:57
Conclusion: Video better on the Pro, as it preserves much more detail, they recommend to look at the water and waves and scaffolding of the dome

They also mention the Air still suffers from the warm/red center spot that the Pro also had/ still has.

 

[3dndrone]

Greetings,

as former Phantom 3 owner (was my first one) I am looking into a transportable option and have also come across the new Mavic air.

You guys have really put together almost all pros and cons of the two options one might consider, the air and the pro.

MP:
+ audible noise
+ ocusync (range)
+ flight time (4-5min more)

(- center warm/red spot)
- horizon issue

+- video/photo quality?
(+- focusing)

Air:
++ size/portability
+ price (not a big difference)

(- center warm/red spot)
- WiFi
- audible noise

+- video/photo quality?

One thing that still makes me confused is whether the video quality of the air is superior to the pro.
There a pretty good comaprison video of the two drones from german guys (made with german precision). They conclued the Pro had better video resolution with a lot more detail, however the photo resolution is better on the air, have look yourself.
They put the two Mavics on a tripod next to each other to make the camera quality compareable:

Photo comparison @ 14:05
Conclusion: Raw similair, jpeg much better on the Air (due to in camera processing differences), scaffolding of the dome

Video comaprison @ 14:57
Conclusion: Video better on the Pro, as it preserves much more detail, they recommend to look at the water and waves and scaffolding of the dome

They also mention the Air still suffers from the warm/red center spot that the Pro also had/ still has.

Thank you for this link... now I know that I stay with my Mavic Pro [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]