It was on eone occasion, it's about a mile and a half walk to the nearest place that I can fly legitimately. Nearby is a lovely open grass area, but it's for kite flying and a nature reserve... Frustrating, you have my sympathy. Mavic 2 Pro?? That's what I'd like to move to next from the pro, as the camera is noticeably better.
Just been watching Ian In London on YT comparing DJI Mavic drones and heard him mention new flying regs coming in July. First I've heard of it... I was thinking of saving up for a used Mavic 2 Pro, but now I'm not so sure. They have broken down the weight categories further; fine,I always thought 250g to 20Kg in one group was mad. Looks like anything over 900g in transition period is way more heavily restricted, so a Mavic Pro (~750g) is OK, but a Pro 2 (910g) will not be. To fly like we can now, we'll need to do a 1 day £300 A2 course, and after transition have a drone that has a low speed mode to go nearer to people than 30m. Also restrictions on where you can fly unlicenced. Maybe this will be good and weed out unsafe and risk taking flyers, but I've not seen much enforcement of the (admittedly weak) new 2019 rules. I may have to wait for a 'super' sub 250g drone with better specs to make life easier [Mavic Mini and any with a camera that are not a 'toy' will still need to be registered]. That or wait for a new DJI [Other brands of UAV are available!] C2 compatible sub 2Kg model that can fly in slow/safe mode, none are available on the market today.
Time for a bump! I have some on-call payments coming, so I am soliciting opinions: original Mavic Pro, original Mavic Air, or Mini 2. They're all in a similar sort of price bracket (up to about £450) for second-hand Fly More combos and they've all got fairly similar specs. I could get a Mini brand new SE for less than the budget I have, but it only supports a max of 2.7K video (aka 1440p) - it's a "left field" option if I can't get any of the others at a decent second-hand price. IMO the only advantage the Mini 2 has is its weight classification - it's less than 250g so is easily portable and avoids some of the nonsense with regulations (although registration, etc, doesn't necessarily bother me - if I do get into this I might even look at doing all the stuff for commercial operations). I have a couple of Mavic Air and Mavic Pro saved in my watch list right now that are over £100 cheaper than the average price for the Mini 2, so it's starting to look hard to justify. The Mavic Pro and the Mavic Air seem to be relatively similar. The Air has better obstacle sensors and an increased video bitrate, but the Pro supports "cinematic" 4K resolutions and has a longer flight time. I think it will come down to price, if I can get a bargain on a Mavic Pro then I'll go for that. Anyone have any opinions?
Still rocking a Mavic Pro in the wardrobe... Haven't flown for over a year as I am rusty* and the new regs are really limiting where I can fly nearby. I'd be tempted to go Mini 2 to avoid a lot of the regs, but aware of its limited higher wind capability * Also lost my bottle having landed my first one in the sea 2 years ago Not so convinced by the Air; a photographer friend had an Air and it was OK, whereas the Air 2 he has now is a way better bit of kit I can send my Pro up with the Boy next month if you want a go... Added points for bumping up your Necro skills!
I had a Mavic Pro, I have a Mavic Mini and I've flown a Mavic Air. The pro was excellent, especially with the low noise props*, something the Air really needs. I haven't played with footage from the Air so I can't speak to the efficacy of the improved bitrate but footage from the pro in tripod mode was buttery smooth. Generally, the Air handled really well and it didn't feel lesser than the Pro in flight, but it was noticeably louder. I sold my pro during the lockdowns - just prior to the launch of newer models, which could've seriously dented it's value; then I dropped on a Mini for less than a hundred quid - I haven't flown it a lot but the 2.7k footage looks good, though you'll most likely notice a difference if you're cropping video - something the Pro could stand when filming at 4K. *the low noise props worked great in tripod mode, but there was (occasionally) a slight jello effect at normal flight speeds.
On a related note I couldn't get my Mini 2 controller to play nice with my Pixel 6 Pro. Used to work fine with a P30 Pro. Switching to the cable that came with Pixel worked though.
Thanks for the replies! I'll be honest, one of the things that concerns me about the Air and the Pro is the fact that they're now both quite old, relatively speaking. They both still seem to have batteries available direct from DJI, but no idea how long that will be the case and only the Air has props available on the official store. I think it's honestly going to come down to what I can get for a decent price... if I actually follow through with this . Noise doesn't really bother me, I seriously doubt anything will be louder than the custom hex I built years ago - the noise that thing made was terrifying! Yeah I've seen people mention compatibility issues with certain phones, not good if they're shipping with dodgy cables! That is a very kind, and indeed very tempting offer, thank you. Although I'd be terrified of dunking someone else's property in the drink! I shall have a think and let you know... When's he heading back up this way? I'm guessing it'll be in time for 26th Sept - that's when I start back, and I imagine both Cardiff Met and Cardiff Uni have similar term dates! Sounds like you got a bargain with the Mini there.
On the one hand my on-call payments are bigger, so my budget is higher than expected - possibly even into Mavic Air 2 territory. On the other hand, on-call payments are a month in arrears so I won't be getting payments this month. Balls. EDIT: OK, maybe not Mavic Pro 2 territory...!
WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE! Missed out on a great deal for a DJI drone with the posh all-in controller - it was basically £7 more than the controller alone - on the Big River last night, and now I'm wondering if drones could be the new hobby I obsess over for two weeks before ignoring entirely. Got my eye on the older DJI Neo (the original model, not the Neo 2) at £340 with batteries, motion controller, and FPV goggles. I know the Neo 2 is much better, but that's £509 for the same bundle. £364, meanwhile, would get me the DJI Mini 4k with batteries and the cheaper controller that you clip to your phone. A better drone with three times the battery life, but no FPV fun. (Which may trigger my motion/simulator sickness anyway...) Thoughts?
I'm a boring bar steward, so my approach here would be to wait a fortnight and if I haven't thought of a good reason not to go ahead, do it. Personally, I don't know what I'd use a drone for our how it would improve my life better than any other equivalently-expensive hobby, so I am probably the last person to listen to here!
Nope, and I'm also aware that I'd need an Operator ID as they are over 100g and have a camera. No sense faffing with all that until I've actually bought one, though! Speaking of: Mini 4k Fly More bundle is down to £275... but no FPV support.
I've had Phantom 2, Spark and now the Neo. Just the Neo by itself for £110 soon after it came out. Neo is good as selfie, follow along drone. Using phone controls, it is not really usable as traditional drone. With that in mind, which package (Neo FPV or Mini 4k) you go for depends on what you plan to use it for. Photography/video, the Mavic mini 4k will give better results and controls are more suitable.
Bit the bullet and bought the Mini 4k Fly More bundle. At £275 it seemed like too much of a bargain to ignore: three times the battery life of the Neo/Neo 2, better camera, and (theoretical, I don't think DJI has confirmed this) Remote ID support if the CAA goes ahead with plans to extend the requirement to all drones above 100g (which would make a *lot* of people's toys retroactively illegal...) Better camera, too - it's basically the same as my Stupid Content Creator Camera but with propellers. I'm a little sad I won't be living out my cyberpunk dreams with the goggles (and the Mini 4k doesn't even support 'em if I wanted to upgrade in the future, annoyingly) - but if it turns out drone flying is My New Favourite Thing Ever for more than, say, a month, I could always pick up the Neo (or Neo 2, even) so my Mini 4k doesn't get lonely... Now, to get the Operator and Flyer IDs sorted (and Flyer IDs for everyone else in the family, too...)
Before you dive in, G, there is something that might annoy you. You have get the app direct from DJI now, I believe - they don't have it on the Google play store etc.. anymore. Not sure of the reasons, but it might be a data mining thing.
Yeah, I'm aware - but cheers for the heads-up! I've already got the non-Fly DJI app installed, so I doubt the DJI Fly version will put me at any more of a risk.
I've never worried about Chairman Xi wanting to look at my decidedly average aerial footage or see where I've been! I haven't used my Mavic Pro for a while as it has been more restricted since I bought it, and need to get a Mini to continue with aerial pics. My photography hasn't gone that way and I'm staying with more conventional stuff My coordination isn't the greatest, so I haven't been tempted by FPV. I would be concerned that your motion sickness will come into play there Gareth. Unpicking the want/need is the key on this, are you a flyer or want to do video/photos? I joined the Grey Arrows forum, who are a really good resource, Ian In London on YT is good with reviews and advice, I know that you don't do YT tech reviews though...
Yeah, that was my big concern. Everyone else in the family would be able to enjoy it, tho'! I did watch a bit of footage someone had uploaded to an Amazon review, and I didn't feel too queasy - but then again, it's different seeing it on a monitor to when the display's strapped to your fizzog! Let's be honest, here: it's a toy. Sure, it'd be nice to use it for photography - but given most of my photography is of little tiny things sat on my folding table, I'm not sure it's going to be massively useful for that.
