Worth having both Mavic 2 pro and zoom?

[Foley909]

Just curious how many of you guys own both the zoom and M2P? I was offered a good deal on a zoom but already have the Pro? For those who have both, which do you prefer?

 

[TruGreen]

i prefer the pro. but the zoom is still nice as well

 

[Johnmcl7]

I chose the M2P for the large 1in sensor so for my use I have no interest in the Zoom.

 

[VanP]

I have the M2Z and love it but do wish I had the M2P for evening flights. The 1 inch sensor does much better at night. Overall the pro produces higher quality pictures and video. For someone that just wants to fly and be able to zoom in on their subject when needed and have decent pictures and video the M2Z will not disappoint. Having both would be nice. Other than the zoom feature, I really do not see much advantage to buying a zoom if you have the M2P.

 

[GFields]

I have the Phantom 4 Pro v2, the M2Z, and Air 2s. They all have a place in my work. I use the M2Z less than the others. though

 

[CanadaDrone]

In my opinion, no. The M2P is the way to go for most usage cases.

The Zoom is not a lot but you give up a lot to get it - it is only a 2X zoom (24-48mm). The aperture is unfortunately not constant (and also not adjustable), so when you zoom mid-flight it drops from F2.8 to F3.8 and you need to return home to change your ND filter if you want to maintain your current exposure, which is a huge disadvantage and major pain in the a$$. If you don't want to swap ND filters, you need to change either the ISO or shutter speed by almost a full stop value which is not ideal, and will create uneven footage during the exposure change if you zoom mid-shot. You are also stuck with a fairly poor 12MP 1/2.3" image sensor (~4 times smaller than the sensor in the M2P), and that sensor is also diffraction limited already at F3.8 in the 48mm equivalent setting.

With the M2P you get a 1" 20MP Sony image sensor, constant & adjustable aperture, and 10-bit H265 DLog video capability, all of which are a massive step up from the M2Z. It also has another trick up it's sleeve regarding the 'zoom'. It has two 4K shooting modes, one called FOV (28mm equivalent) and one called HQ (40mm equivalent). In effect, this gives you a 1.43X zoom with no loss in quality (it actually gets better as it uses a 1:1 pixel readout). So it's not quite 2X, but you get close, along with all the other benefits of the better camera/sensor and none of the disadvantages. If you are also into still photography, the difference is even larger in favor of the M2P.

Especially with the other drones on the market now like the Air 2, Air 2S etc., the M2Z is IMO the least desirable value proposition in the whole lineup right now unless you are desperate for a 2X optical zoom that still doesn't get you anywhere near a telephoto range.

 

[EsaT]

M2Z is indeed victim of that small and outdated sensor, if you care anything about image quality.
Considering all factors it was kinda meh already when released.

And that lot higher quality 1" 20MP sensor already gives cropping room for "digital zoom".