Hi everyone,
I'm looking to pick your collective minds. I am in the midst of searching, researching, and searching some more. I'd love to get advice from folks who have the different drones. I see pluses and minuses to all of the choices, and I'm still not sure which way I'm going to go. So far I have only had non-DJI, low-cost toys, but I've flown quite a bit over about the last five years.
My use case:
1. Not yet Part 107 licensed, but expect to be relatively soon (within a month or so, if my schedule permits);
2. I have been a hobbyist but expect some light commercial work to come my way once I am licensed; no "heavy lifting" in that regard, though (so, think maybe some real estate and some institutional video);
3. I want to be able to travel with it; I make an annual trip to Germany, and I want to be able to bring it with me (I am aware of the German rules, requirement for insurance, labeling, etc., so this point is just about bringing it along);
4. Photography and video are my primary concerns, but I want to be able to fly in more weather conditions rather than fewer weather conditions (a little wind stops me with my cheap-o drone right now, and I'd like a few more options in that regard); and,
5. I want to be able to get out and fly for longer times, not shorter ones; getting everything ready and going out for a quick flight probably isn't in the works (especially as my house is w/in an airport zone that isn't in the LAANC system and may not be for a long time, making quick, step outside the door and fly scenario not very likely). I want something that when I get a block of time, I can spend some time doing it.
Here's what I've been considering; I'm not going to go into all my thinking on these so far, though I have many thoughts (that change daily). I would especially appreciate hearing from folks who have one of the below, or even better, two or more of them:
Rob
I'm looking to pick your collective minds. I am in the midst of searching, researching, and searching some more. I'd love to get advice from folks who have the different drones. I see pluses and minuses to all of the choices, and I'm still not sure which way I'm going to go. So far I have only had non-DJI, low-cost toys, but I've flown quite a bit over about the last five years.
My use case:
1. Not yet Part 107 licensed, but expect to be relatively soon (within a month or so, if my schedule permits);
2. I have been a hobbyist but expect some light commercial work to come my way once I am licensed; no "heavy lifting" in that regard, though (so, think maybe some real estate and some institutional video);
3. I want to be able to travel with it; I make an annual trip to Germany, and I want to be able to bring it with me (I am aware of the German rules, requirement for insurance, labeling, etc., so this point is just about bringing it along);
4. Photography and video are my primary concerns, but I want to be able to fly in more weather conditions rather than fewer weather conditions (a little wind stops me with my cheap-o drone right now, and I'd like a few more options in that regard); and,
5. I want to be able to get out and fly for longer times, not shorter ones; getting everything ready and going out for a quick flight probably isn't in the works (especially as my house is w/in an airport zone that isn't in the LAANC system and may not be for a long time, making quick, step outside the door and fly scenario not very likely). I want something that when I get a block of time, I can spend some time doing it.
Here's what I've been considering; I'm not going to go into all my thinking on these so far, though I have many thoughts (that change daily). I would especially appreciate hearing from folks who have one of the below, or even better, two or more of them:
- Mavic Mini (Fly More Combo, $499)
- Mavic Air (Fly More Combo, DJI refurb, $919 at dynnex and dronenerds)
- Mavic Pro (Fly More Combo, $849 | Open box, $819)
- Mavic Pro Platinum (Fly More Combo, Open box, $1084; new at BB $1,129)
- Mavic Pro Platinum (DJI refurb, $839)
- Inspire 1 v2.0 (DJI refurb, $899 at DroneNerds; how can I not consider this?)
- I'd love an M2P or M2Z, but I think they're out of my price range for now (at least I haven't seen any in my price range)
Rob