DJI Mavic Air 2
- Thread starter red hilux
- Start date
sharkcaver
Well-Known Member
unfortunately the smart controller isnt compatible for the MA2 as yet.
sharkcaver
Well-Known Member
Downlowded the update yesterday and went for a fly. Not real happy with 4x zoom at 1080p. Also my flight control seems very laggy now. Full forward stick and it keeps going for quite a bit longer, same as descending. Normal mode, not sport. Anyone else found this?? But I have worked out sphere pano's 
red hilux
Well-Known Member
Awesome shot dudeDownlowded the update yesterday and went for a fly. Not real happy with 4x zoom at 1080p. Also my flight control seems very laggy now. Full forward stick and it keeps going for quite a bit longer, same as descending. Normal mode, not sport. Anyone else found this?? But I have worked out sphere pano's
View attachment 69132
sharkcaver
Well-Known Member
Nice. That FPV gives an interesting effect too.
Skurfer
Active Member
Took a quick 20 minute drive from home to check out a waterfall I know was there but had never seen as there is as far as I know no walking tracks in. There is a motorbike single track close by which I have ridden before so might walk along that and bush bash the rest of the way in one day.
Was a little bit naughty as I didn't have line of sight to the drone as I was at a road about 400m from the valley and flew into it carefully. Stressful not being able to see the drone or where you are flying except for a small phone screen especially dropping it into a steep valley lined with trees. Don't think I'll do it again. Might be easier on a larger screen like an iPad or something.
Was a little bit naughty as I didn't have line of sight to the drone as I was at a road about 400m from the valley and flew into it carefully. Stressful not being able to see the drone or where you are flying except for a small phone screen especially dropping it into a steep valley lined with trees. Don't think I'll do it again. Might be easier on a larger screen like an iPad or something.
Ol' Harley
Active Member
Been toying with one of these myself lately, tossing up between the DJI Mini 2, the DJI Mavic Air 2, and the Air 2S. If anyone has any thoughts on these, happy to hear from you.
sharkcaver
Well-Known Member
Go the MA2s. Much better sensor and ocusync 3. Not worth quabling over the $200 difference between it and the air 2. If on a budget, the mini would suffice, main disadvantage for me is lack of active trac. The flymore combo for all types is well worth the extra spend too. Care refresh, well that is an individual thing. I never bothered.
That said, I still love my MA2, but would love the MA2s better. I dont have a spare $2100 though to play with.
MrMiller
Active Member
I’ve got the Mavic Air 2 and rate it highly… it’s features and capabilities are beyond my skill set so far but I’ve managed to get some really good clips and pics quite easily. It’s also a bit of fun just flying the thing! Like an rc car but much more! As @sharkcaver said, fly more combo is a must. You’ll need the extra batteries without a doubt. I use one full battery to scope out a few compositions and use another to actually take the photos. You don’t want to be rushed or stress about battery life when you’ve got a couple of grand buzzing around a hundred meters up and a kilometre away. It’ll return to home or auto land if the battery gets too low… but you don’t want it auto landing on the side of a cliff or into the ocean.
Ol' Harley
Active Member
Folks;
Many thanks for the info and the feedback, all. It's much appreciated by this slightly technologically-challenged ol' fella.
I'll probably go with one of the Air 2S to start with, I think, and after a year or so when I've figured out what makes it start and stop, I'll upgrade to something with a bit more capability.
Good thoughts on the "fly more" option too, hadn't thought about some of that.
Cheers!
Many thanks for the info and the feedback, all. It's much appreciated by this slightly technologically-challenged ol' fella.
I'll probably go with one of the Air 2S to start with, I think, and after a year or so when I've figured out what makes it start and stop, I'll upgrade to something with a bit more capability.
Good thoughts on the "fly more" option too, hadn't thought about some of that.
Cheers!
Skurfer
Active Member
I have an Air 2. Bought it when they came out. For the extra couple of hundred I would buy the 2S now. Don't bother with the Mini. A mate has one and it is next to useless if there is any sort of breeze/wind. The thing is just too light and small and just won't sit in the same spot and just get blown around where are my Air 2 is just solid, even in a fair bit of wind.
I got the refresh and used it once due to taking out a branch I didn't see after a moment on inattention and it did a happy dance on the ground. Ripped off the gimbal, 1 leg and lots of scratches. When you send it in for the refresh, you can opt to get a free quote and just pay that if the repair is cheaper than getting a new one under refresh and my repair came to about $500. Got a new one for $149 so already ahead. Also crashed it on a beach doing a tracking shot of my car in a fair bit of wind and 1 of the legs folded in slightly I think due to the wind speed (was gusting 40kmh on the bom ap), putting the drone out of balance and sending it on a 45 degree angle at full power due to it trying to correct itself into a sand dune. Lucky to get out of that one due to it only being about 10m above the dune at the time so not having a great distance but got a heap of sand through it due to the happy dance in the sand.
I tell people, only buy one if you are in a good enough financial position to lose it completely never to return and not be too bummed about it. They do have software fly away problems, birds love to chase them and knock them out of the sky, they don't float so will sink straight away if knocked out of the sky over water, get stuck high up trees easily, batteries can become dislodged, can get out of balance due to a leg moving/propellor coming loose and you can be far enough away to not be able to ever get it should something happen (think vic high country where even being 200m away from a ridgeline would be no chance of walking to get it.
But I love mine. I don't do a lot with the footage but take it on all my trips. Actually use it probably 90% for photos. Just gives me something to do plus you can have some really good looks around at things that you would never be able to walk close enough to.
Gives you a chance to take some cool quick shots like this that show off a bit more than a photo can
I got the refresh and used it once due to taking out a branch I didn't see after a moment on inattention and it did a happy dance on the ground. Ripped off the gimbal, 1 leg and lots of scratches. When you send it in for the refresh, you can opt to get a free quote and just pay that if the repair is cheaper than getting a new one under refresh and my repair came to about $500. Got a new one for $149 so already ahead. Also crashed it on a beach doing a tracking shot of my car in a fair bit of wind and 1 of the legs folded in slightly I think due to the wind speed (was gusting 40kmh on the bom ap), putting the drone out of balance and sending it on a 45 degree angle at full power due to it trying to correct itself into a sand dune. Lucky to get out of that one due to it only being about 10m above the dune at the time so not having a great distance but got a heap of sand through it due to the happy dance in the sand.
I tell people, only buy one if you are in a good enough financial position to lose it completely never to return and not be too bummed about it. They do have software fly away problems, birds love to chase them and knock them out of the sky, they don't float so will sink straight away if knocked out of the sky over water, get stuck high up trees easily, batteries can become dislodged, can get out of balance due to a leg moving/propellor coming loose and you can be far enough away to not be able to ever get it should something happen (think vic high country where even being 200m away from a ridgeline would be no chance of walking to get it.
But I love mine. I don't do a lot with the footage but take it on all my trips. Actually use it probably 90% for photos. Just gives me something to do plus you can have some really good looks around at things that you would never be able to walk close enough to.
Gives you a chance to take some cool quick shots like this that show off a bit more than a photo can
Last edited:
Ol' Harley
Active Member
Thanks very much mate, some good points here. I have heard some horror stories about some of them just taking off towards the horizon for no obvious reason, so yeah, I'm mindful of how much I spend at the outset.
The wind factor is a good thought too, as is sand, as I'm planning to use mine for some beach / coast shots.
Cheers!
sharkcaver
Well-Known Member
mini 2 is supposedly a quantam leap over the mini, more powerful motors to cope with wind and ocusync 2.0 rather than wifi. That said, still no active trac on the mini 2. all in all the MA2s seems the better option to me unless you want to look at the mavic pro. Other brands apart from DJi to consider too.
Evo has a good rep in the community and @Karl Fehlauer loves his ximi x8
Evo has a good rep in the community and @Karl Fehlauer loves his ximi x8
Karl Fehlauer
Well-Known Member
Here is a video with my Fimi X8 2020 - a budget drone but it does what I want / need for now - I may upgrade to the Air 2S one day but not in any hurry.
Karl
Karl
Ol' Harley
Active Member
Thanks again folks. I haven't looked much at the Evo range, might have to cast a bit of an eye over that...
Cheers!
Cheers!
red hilux
Well-Known Member
Denmark is a lovely area
Ol' Harley
Active Member
Les PK Ranger
4x4 Earth Contributer
Think you'll find the MA2s is about top of the line in consumer drones right now, apart from maybe some of the M2P features and higher wind capability.
The compactness of the MA2s and the very good stability in decent wind makes it an easy choice, along with fantastic signal reliability.
Totally different drone for different need.
The DJI range outperform the Evo2 in cinematic video, while the Evo is far an above DJI for tracking capability.
Besides, you might struggle to find anything Evo2 in Oz, maybe never.
Haven't looked recently, but demand in the US can't even be met.
Drones and 4WDn go together very well.