Upgrade from MP to MP2? My thoughts.

[RayOZ]

Remember to read the fine print.

 

[mreloc]

Ok since you mentioned it, let`s consider selling ones old equipment to offset the price of a new one.

Can you give specifics about:

• Did you buy your MPP new?
• How much did you pay for it?
• What accessories did you buy with it?
• Did you buy Refresh?
• How long did you own it?
• How many cycles on the battery?
• Who did you sell it to?
• When did you sell it?

Considering the fact that most owners own multiple batteries and Mavic Pro specific accessories, the plot thickens. None of these accessories are compatible with the MP2. Unless an owner is savvy, parts his accessories out, and takes his time in selling, he is not going to lose less than 20%. Selling one on eBay, it gets worse after they take their 14% with Paypal fees.

You must have gotten off lightly, or you are a good negotiator. Used drones normally drop in value 15-20% once they have been flown. New Mavic $799, fly it once, it's worth $650-$675.

New Mavic Pro Platinum Flyless = $1099
Maybe you sold yours for = $799 (said you lost only $300 on it)
Difference between your sales price and new MP2 Zoom = $450

$450 is the cost to go from DJI's flagship Mavc, the MPP, to a new Mavic Pro 2 Zoom.

Please feel free to correct my math, since it's just conjecture anyway.

A Mavic Pro owner is in a different boat.

Paid maybe $799 new.
Worth now $600.
Loss of $199
Cost to get into the cheaper MP2Z = $1249
Cash out of pocket $649.

Most reasonable people who arent making money with their drone are sitting tight. Maybe in 6 months when the prices start to fall on the new MP2 models, they will start looking. The cooler weather is coming, and that will deter some cooler weather folks from committing until the spring.

There is a saying that goes, "You dont lose money on something until you sell it." If people hang on to their MP's, they will lose nothing but depreciation, but a brand new MP2 will depreciate too. Much more than your old Mavic.

Hemingway is calling me to tea. Gotta run...

To answer your questions-

- I bought my MPP new last November, with two extra batteries as some props and a display sunshade
- I paid $1310.40 including DJI Refresh (never used). I also bought DJI select (which gave me DJI Refresh on the M2P at 50% discount)
-I bought a case and few other goodies from Amazon for ~150
-i flew it recreationally- maybe 50 hours(?), a couple of vacations, and i learned to fly pretty confidently
-I sold it all locally at one time from an craigslist ad about a month ago for $1,150

I bought my M2P with the combo kit and DJI Refresh (50% off) for $1819, including tax

So, depreciation on my original setup was $310 - for 9 months’ practice and enjoyment. Had the M2P been available last November I would have gladly paid the upcharge then for the difference in features- for that reason, I see the increment at $310.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

All good points....

I have a bit invested in my MP (4 batts, hard case, goggles, iPad mount, etc., etc.) and even though I don't use it as much as I thought I would, for the most part, it has been much more than I actually need in a drone

I don't really need the extra few minutes of flight time since I already have 4 batts that I rarely ever run back to back

Don't need the extra speed as my MP is already faster than I need it to be in sport mode

Haven't had the need for more optical sensors since the ones it already has seem to be more of an annoyance than a safety feature

The need for a better camera isn't there either since my laptop is pretty much limited to 1080p footage

Can't remember the last time I used any of the special flight modes as I prefer to be in full control

All that being said, I've still jumped on the bandwagon and put my MP up for sale on CL with full intention of getting the latest and greatest

DJI Mavic Pro Drone Fly More Combo w/Lots of Extras (see videos)

At first, I was dead set on the 1", but now I'm actually considering the Zoom instead

I hate having to make choices like this

 

[Spy808]

Can't wait to see what kind of problems arise from the MP2... Want to see the internals of the components inside (to modify) to determine if ïmä buy one... As time progresses components get smaller and smaller... I've learned as things get tiny heat becomes an issue... Ï have a 25+yr old regular tube TV that still working fine n a 55" flat screen LED TV $1K that only lasted 5 yrs... I read n seen too many DJI drones having issues to invest another one... I have a MP1 Alpine that i modified both compasses & gps not to fail (120+ flights in)... Look at the Mavic Air for example just recently released n so many issues with fly aways... Phantoms, Sparks n Inspires too...

 

[kosamaster]

The question of upgrading has been on my mind for the last few months. My price breakdown:

Bought mpp fly more plus goggles for just under £1100
It was about 4 months old with less than 20 hours of fly time.

Looking on sites like ebay etc I think I can sell the mpp entirely (keeping the goggles for now) for £850 so barely making a loss.

To get the equivalent mp 2 Pro I would have to invest a further £400.

So for an extra £400 I am getting :

Better obstacle avoidance (not swayed by this at all)
Better photos (sounds good but I barely take any photos)
Slightly better video (great but how much better is the question )
Better ability to shoot video/photos at dusk/night (by how much?)

So far this does not seem worth an extra £400. Really curious to see how much better the video in day and night is over the next weeks as this is the key factor for me.

We are already impressed by the output quality of the mp so are these marginal gains worth it?

 

[CamoGreg]

Well, they are finally here. The newest iteration of the Mavic line, the long awaited Mavic 2 Zoom and the Mavic 2 Pro. A good number of Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, MPP, and Spark owners are out there asking themselves, should I upgrade? Before you jump online, spend your hard earned $1249 or $1449 for either of the two new models, there are some things you might want to consider.

As many members are, I am passionate about many things, three of them being new technology, aviation, and shiny new things. The new Mavics are aesthetically pleasing, and pack all of the cutting edge features one could want in a drone. They are pretty reasonably priced considering their capabilities, and what their competition is offering, and what their predecessors offer. The big question is, do you need or do you just want one? I dont need either of them for what I do. I take off, livestream some boring footage to Facebook, land, pack up, and go home. My Mavic Pro does an awesome job at that, so I would not personally upgrade. I am buying a bunch of MP2's for repair parts, but not flying them for fun.

Some factors to consider when making your decision might be:

• Do you need the enhanced obstacle avoidance or do you zoom around in sport mode?
• Do you need a Hasselblad or zoom camera, or can you get by with the MP cam with digital zoom?
• Do you need the extra 6 minutes of battery life, or could you just go buy a new MP battery for $60?
• Do you have the money to burn if you are not using it for work?
• Are you going to buy Refresh? If so, add another $129 to the price.
• Need an extra battery? You can only get them from DJI, and price is $119.
• Are you willing to be a beta tester for the MP2? There might be a few firmware fixes before it's perfect.

New drone owners might benefit from the obstacle avoidance system, but a good set of prop guards will help alot too on a Mavic Pro.

There are so many great deals on Mavic Pros out there, it is still a viable candidate for a first drone, and is a solid choice to remain in members stables for a long time to come.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck and have fun. Keep me in mind if you have a problem, and Im here to help pick up the pieces

Rob

Hey Rob ! Great analysis !

IMO I will wait sometime before buying the Pro one.

As you stated, I don’t want to be the beta tester !

Let’s wait !

 

[gnirtS]

We are already impressed by the output quality of the mp so are these marginal gains worth it?

If you're already happy with the output from the Mavic 1 then i can't see why you'd want or need to spend any extra to update so save the cash for something else.

However, for a lot of us we're massively disappointed in the Mavic 1 camera and find it laughably poor. For us, the changes are huge. A bigger sensor that can provide 10 instead of 8 bit data (this is the biggest improvement). Better log profiles, far better dynamic range, lower noise and so on might turn the terrible camera into something half decent.
But if you dont take much photo or video or are happy with the output (social media use only etc) then no, it's not worth it.

I would argue with the "slightly" better video and photo though - the spec hints the change should be huge for both photos and video. It addresses most of the shortcomings of the original setup. The gains are going to be a lot more than marginal.

 

[Ahrimaan]

As long as there is no codec problem with the Frames in Videos with the MP1 (you know the every 8 Frames the Image is rendered full) i am happy !

 

[gnirtS]

As long as there is no codec problem with the Frames in Videos with the MP1 (you know the every 8 Frames the Image is rendered full) i am happy !

Well its offering 100mbps bit rate (same as air) which should help ease off the compression somewhat.
More usefully, they're offering H265 which should have substantially better quality for the same bit rate.

What i want to see is the sharpening bug gone. I don't want mush from noise reduction with a sharpening of 0 or below.

But yes the 8th frame flicker was a pain. It meant running almost all mavic videos from NeatVideo to reduce it and adding massively to the render time as a result.

 

[Top Hat]

Well, they are finally here. The newest iteration of the Mavic line, the long awaited Mavic 2 Zoom and the Mavic 2 Pro. A good number of Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, MPP, and Spark owners are out there asking themselves, should I upgrade? Before you jump online, spend your hard earned $1249 or $1449 for either of the two new models, there are some things you might want to consider.

As many members are, I am passionate about many things, three of them being new technology, aviation, and shiny new things. The new Mavics are aesthetically pleasing, and pack all of the cutting edge features one could want in a drone. They are pretty reasonably priced considering their capabilities, and what their competition is offering, and what their predecessors offer. The big question is, do you need or do you just want one? I dont need either of them for what I do. I take off, livestream some boring footage to Facebook, land, pack up, and go home. My Mavic Pro does an awesome job at that, so I would not personally upgrade. I am buying a bunch of MP2's for repair parts, but not flying them for fun.

Some factors to consider when making your decision might be:

• Do you need the enhanced obstacle avoidance or do you zoom around in sport mode?
• Do you need a Hasselblad or zoom camera, or can you get by with the MP cam with digital zoom?
• Do you need the extra 6 minutes of battery life, or could you just go buy a new MP battery for $60?
• Do you have the money to burn if you are not using it for work?
• Are you going to buy Refresh? If so, add another $129 to the price.
• Need an extra battery? You can only get them from DJI, and price is $119.
• Are you willing to be a beta tester for the MP2? There might be a few firmware fixes before it's perfect.

New drone owners might benefit from the obstacle avoidance system, but a good set of prop guards will help alot too on a Mavic Pro.

There are so many great deals on Mavic Pros out there, it is still a viable candidate for a first drone, and is a solid choice to remain in members stables for a long time to come.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck and have fun. Keep me in mind if you have a problem, and Im here to help pick up the pieces

Rob

To me personally, I don't want to put money on this kind of thing again. The main reason,rapid devaluation.....I can't have that. I know for some folks out there it is just another toy.
I would rather put my $$$ in another Gibson Les Paul (another hobby), @ least this 1 holds it's value really well,JMHO.This doesn't I'm not changing my mind in the future.For the mean time, I will continue enjoying my MP as long as I can.

 

[GavieboyDji]

I appreciate that! But even Mr. Hemingway would consider my posts a little "long winded."

I'm keeping my Mavic Pro 1 and spark for another year let them work the bugs out I'll sit back and watch the complaints and the price drop and then I'll buy the 2.

 

[AnzacJack]

I guess for a lot of people (me included at times) just want latest tech. This is pretty much the main reason and cost or minor improvements don’t really factor. If you have tha $ available and don’t mind spending it, then the MP2 is a win.

;-)

 

[gnirtS]

Im the other way around, i dont WANT to upgrade really. My mavic pro 1 does everything i need EXCEPT for the sub standard camera. I bought the drone for photographs.

So for me my only reason for upgrading is that it addresses the most severe limitation of the mavic 1.

 

[Former Member]

I think with the addition of a superior camera targeted at photography professionals, the Mavic 2 Pro has moved from a good consumer drone to a pro-sumer drone, in the same class as the Phantom 4 Pro.

 

[mad monkey]

I opted for a different kind of shiny and new!

Ordered a galaxy note 9... New phone is more practical than new drone. I don't fly near enough for my liking..

 

[macoman]

Well, they are finally here. The newest iterations of the Mavic line, the long awaited Mavic 2 Zoom and the Mavic 2 Pro. A good number of Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, MPP, and Spark owners are out there asking themselves, should I upgrade? Before you jump online, spend your hard earned $1249 or $1449 for either of the two new models, there are some things you might want to consider.

As many members are, I am passionate about many things, three of them being new technology, aviation, and shiny new things. The new Mavics are aesthetically pleasing, and pack all of the cutting edge features one could want in a drone. They are pretty reasonably priced considering their capabilities, and what their competition is offering, and what their predecessors offer. The big question is, do you need or do you just want one? I dont need either of them for what I do. I take off, livestream some boring footage to Facebook, land, pack up, and go home. My Mavic Pro does an awesome job at that, so I would not personally upgrade. I am buying a bunch of MP2's for repair parts, but not flying them for fun.

Some factors to consider when making your decision might be:

• Do you need the enhanced obstacle avoidance or do you zoom around in sport mode?
• Do you need a Hasselblad or zoom camera, or can you get by with the MP cam with digital zoom?
• Do you need the extra 6 minutes of battery life, or could you just go buy a new MP battery for $60?
• Do you have the money to burn if you are not using it for work?
• Are you going to buy Refresh? If so, add another $129 to the price.
• Need an extra battery? You can only get them from DJI, and price is $119.
• Are you willing to be a beta tester for the MP2? There might be a few firmware fixes before it's perfect.

New drone owners might benefit from the obstacle avoidance system, but a good set of prop guards will help alot too on a Mavic Pro.

There are so many great deals on Mavic Pros out there, it is still a viable candidate for a first drone, and is a solid choice to remain in members stables for a long time to come.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck and have fun. Keep me in mind if you have a problem, and Im here to help pick up the pieces

Rob

Rob you are absolutely right sir in everything you said. I am not like these people that immediately something new is out, they buy it. I rather wait a year or two until there are third party support available, more stable firmware and also the price may get a little cheaper, who knows. But I am very happy with my MPP and I don't need the upgrade for a long time.

 

[AnzacJack]

So I wonder where the phantom line is heading. Graveyard? Or will they get te swappable lenses etc, filling the inspire 1 void?

 

[CamoGreg]

If you're already happy with the output from the Mavic 1 then i can't see why you'd want or need to spend any extra to update so save the cash for something else.

However, for a lot of us we're massively disappointed in the Mavic 1 camera and find it laughably poor. For us, the changes are huge. A bigger sensor that can provide 10 instead of 8 bit data (this is the biggest improvement). Better log profiles, far better dynamic range, lower noise and so on might turn the terrible camera into something half decent.
But if you dont take much photo or video or are happy with the output (social media use only etc) then no, it's not worth it.

I would argue with the "slightly" better video and photo though - the spec hints the change should be huge for both photos and video. It addresses most of the shortcomings of the original setup. The gains are going to be a lot more than marginal.

Since last year (when I bought the MP) I do a lot of video so the bigger sensor is really a good improvement !

 

[GaryOC]

Quite a bit of hand wringing and hashing over price in the thread, is it worth it, do we need it, are you happy, will you be happier, etc, etc. Buying drones is similar to buying high end DSLR camera gear for some of us. I see the same conversations in camera forums. I'm not rich, but I realized that life is very short. Get the things you want but don't accumulate high debt doing it. As far as spending some of your savings, nobody gets out of here alive with their money anyway.

 

[Cymruflyer]

I agree about the camera...adjustable Fstops is a nice feature (if I read it right) - The really attractive feature would be the 360 degree obstacle avoidance (having lifted into a tree branch not too long ago (and my wonderful MPP flipped completely over, but kept flying with only had a single chipped prop to show for it!).

For me, the killer feature would have been a 3D gimbal (horizontal panning). To be able to set the drone on a straight course and shoot off to the sides would be enough of a draw to make me want to switch out.

Not saying I won't...but I don't think so. Depends on how good the swap program is and how well my BT300s will work with it.

Well there is another thing to take into account on the new PRO 2,that is a killer for me, as in I do not want one now, and that is the fact that the gimbal does not rotate all the way down so that you can look straight down AND film at the same time. The new 2 can only look straight down if you only want to take still photos. If you wish to film video, then this gimbal will not be able to rotate down like that and allow filming, for some reason, if I have understood the new details correctly. From what I heard, they are only offering to pay out $300 for a Mavic Pro in the exchange programme, that sort of price is a joke.