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All things Mavic Air

jogdish

Hello,
If it's okay with the mods, I would like to start this thread to post all things related to the Mavic Air ( there are a few differences between it and the Pro, so perhaps best it have it's own thread ).

Guess I will introduce myself, first time DJI owner, got my Air and loving it, so easy to control and I have confidence in it not getting away from me. I am still getting to grips with editing movies but I don't have a very good PC. I usually take lower res small videos unedited and stills in RAW.
Personally I found the DJI manual to very lacking - I was fully set up to read a proper document with all the ins and outs, but instead it's just there to get you in the air as fast as possible, thankfully online/youtube has taught me a lot. Seagulls are a bloody curse, it's like a magnet to them.

How are other people flying? Are we all obeying the rules? Anyone paying the €1500 for the training? Range records ?

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jogdish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrr1XHZZ7m4

No idea if other regard him well, but I think he gives good assessments and is EU/(well UK) based.

tedpan

BeerFarts wrote:

Anyone know what's the deal with customs charges on these? I ordered from DJI directly which directed to the Irish part of the store and kinda expected it to come from Europe.

stuff.hunter wrote:

If comes from China with your address as final destination, DHL will charge you import VAT on collection most likely

No import duty, all taxes are included in the prices on the DJI site.

ozmo wrote:

But if the DJI site have already charged Irish vat rate on your order then there is no more to pay of course.

Correct.

stuff.hunter

got mines today, will do test flight tomorrow

tedpan

I really want one now...!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT-ChHjFoTA

stuff.hunter

tedpan wrote: »

I really want one now...!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT-ChHjFoTA

got one, worth the money

tedpan

stuff.hunter wrote:

got one, worth the money

Yeah, it's a real step up! Will hopefully save enough over the next few months and as long as my wife doesn't kill me, I'll get one

jogdish

tedpan wrote: »

I really want one now...!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT-ChHjFoTA

Wow was expecting the usual review, he is great simple to the point and shows it off, excellent review.

Seriously tempted still, sold the Air so money is there, but something in me keeps getting annoyed about the Aircraft sensor missing from EU models - even if its hardly used still irks me.

Secondly and more importantly is the missing C1 (?) cert from the EU to make it legal in 2+ years ? Anyone any advice on that - I may have my facts wrong. Worst thing is spend money for a legal rock in 2 years.

stuff.hunter

tedpan wrote: »

Yeah, it's a real step up! Will hopefully save enough over the next few months and as long as my wife doesn't kill me, I'll get one

my wife doesnt even know that I've got it mean I'm not brave enough to say anything and I'm not suicidal

thankfully she got no memory to my gadgets so she wont spot the difference between Air, which she still thinks costed me 300e and Air 2

stuff.hunter

jogdish wrote: »

Wow was expecting the usual review, he is great simple to the point and shows it off, excellent review.

Seriously tempted still, sold the Air so money is there, but something in me keeps getting annoyed about the Aircraft sensor missing from EU models - even if its hardly used still irks me.

Secondly and more importantly is the missing C1 (?) cert from the EU to make it legal in 2+ years ? Anyone any advice on that - I may have my facts wrong. Worst thing is spend money for a legal rock in 2 years.

theres alot of discussion about that on mavicpilots forum and, tbh really don't know what t think about. my thinking is that when new laws will come, MA2 will qualify as a 'legacy' drone so it wont apply to it ... otherwise DJI will face a massive class lawsuit

jogdish

An interesting review on the Air 2, as others great drone but it is the first review I have seen to mention some minor failings and actually spend time talking about stills.

Oafley Jones

stuff.hunter wrote: »

theres alot of discussion about that on mavicpilots forum and, tbh really don't know what t think about. my thinking is that when new laws will come, MA2 will qualify as a 'legacy' drone so it wont apply to it ... otherwise DJI will face a massive class lawsuit

There’s aren’t any class action lawsuits over here.

jogdish

Another (assuming) fairly honest review, TLDR great drone, not great software and bag.

Given the increased battery time and the poor bag im actually leaning towards the basic pack now. Two batt. on my air did me fine and a 3rd cut foam case from amazon.
From the above i am really leaning towards wait and see, the issues seem to be firmware and im still nervous about this C1 thing and miffed about missing hardware for the same price. Perhaps by August we might know more. So frustrating.

stuff.hunter

Oafley Jones wrote: »

There’s aren’t any class action lawsuits over here.

I meant something similar, most likely UK will kick off as first

jogdish

Re air sense, C1 class, Mavic air 2, - came across this:
"UPDATE (Friday, June 5, 2020): New European drone laws which were set to start in the UK have been delayed for a second time, the Civil Aviation Authority has announced this afternoon.

The regulations are now scheduled to commence on Thursday, December 31, 2020.

The laws were originally due to begin in July this year, but were postponed in April due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak and pushed back to a November 2020 start date. Today’s announcement has delayed them for a second time.

As a result, drone pilots in the UK will not need to comply with the new requirements before December 31, 2020.

In line with the second delay of the laws, the transitional period for legacy aircraft has been extended and will now run until January 1, 2023, instead of expiring on July 1, 2022. "
https://www.heliguy.com/blog/2020/06/05/new-uk-drone-laws-delayed/

Annoying ready to go and buy one, but not happy about the unknown/missing hardware stuff.

tedpan

jogdish wrote:

Annoying ready to go and buy one, but not happy about the unknown/missing hardware stuff.

I'd just buy it and enjoy!

tedpan

Am really close to pulling the trigger..!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfARC6RhWb4

ozmo

Me too... if it wasn't for the missing module Id have bought it already.... Anyone know any options for buying it online outside EU?

jogdish

ozmo wrote: »

Me too... if it wasn't for the missing module Id have bought it already.... Anyone know any options for buying it online outside EU?

I would advise against it, I was going to do that for my original Air, never did bought it via Amazon - anyways 9 months later gimbal started acting up, send it back got a new drone. I was only able to do that since it was an EU purchase, if you bought in the US it needs to go back to the US to get serviced. It's a pain I know.

Sultan_of_Ping

tedpan wrote: »

Am really close to pulling the trigger..!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfARC6RhWb4

Got one about 3 weeks ago and loving it.

It's my first drone and I bought it mostly to do stills and to extend my photographic "repetoire" and I've been off flying it most mornings. I've tended to fly mornings just to stay out of people's way.

I've never had a drone before so I've nothing really to compare it with, but photographically speaking it's a real gem, plus I'm trying my hand at a few video projects (as a hobby, not commercially). Using manual mode on the camera it's possible to get quite a lot out of the fixed aperture set up; I'm quietly impressed and satisfied with it.

Some observations:-

It seems very quiet - once you get it to a working altitude it's audible wihtout being particularly intrusive
It's fast in sport mode!!
I've been using it mostly on the beach/coast and it seems to do ok in blustery enough winds. I've flown in winds up to 12 m/s without issue but I'm not minded to push beyond that
Photographically, the quality of the shots is excellent, but the file size can be huge!!
Construction-wise, it feels solid and well put together
I wish the app was a bit more configurable, especially in terms of how information is displayed while flying
I got the Flymore pack and I'd recommend it - 3 batteries is easily enough for over an hour'sworth of flying time. In fact I've yet to use more than one battery to get the shots I've gone out for, leaving one battery for fun and one as a spare
Tracking seems to work well enough, but I've really only used it to fly around and video static objects. I've not used parallel tracking
I've found plenty of use for the Quickshots, but I'm thinking DJI could add a few more
Hyperlapse has worked well enough, but I think I need to pick better subjects and work a bit more on the set-up
The case with the Flymore pack is fine, but a bit quirky
The filters in the Flymore pack are fine but I reckon they won't stand up to much wear and tear.

stuff.hunter

tedpan wrote: »

Am really close to pulling the trigger..!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfARC6RhWb4

go for it mate, I love mines. Travel restrictions are gone so guess if this weekend weather will be ok, will go somewhere and fly, fly, fly

jogdish

@Sultan_of_Ping

Just some questions, you mention you got the Fly More, would you say it was worth it given that you don't really need the third battery as you say, and the bag is so so.

Had you tried the ND filters, again worth it given you say they are on the cheap side, compared to buying your own.

Sorry not trying to be negaitive or downing your post, just weighting up getting the basic+one batt. + bag off amazon. Really glad to hear about the noise compared to OG Air. Keep us posted.

Sultan_of_Ping

jogdish wrote: »

@Sultan_of_Ping

.....
Sorry not trying to be negaitive or downing your post, just weighting up getting the basic+one batt. + bag off amazon. Really glad to hear about the noise compared to OG Air. Keep us posted.

No problem - happy to answer any questions

Just some questions, you mention you got the Fly More, would you say it was worth it given that you don't really need the third battery as you say, and the bag is so so.

I would say yes, the FM pack is worth it. The drone, imo, is a great piece of kit and any time I've gone out with a plan to take certain shots I've pretty much been able to nail them first time, and in a way that generally exceeds my expectations.

Because of that, and because of the drone's endurance one battery has usually been more than enough - leaving plenty of flight time for "goofing" around and/or experimenting.

Saying that, it's nice not having to worry about endurance - I think if you have one battery there might be a temptation to push it. Whereas with three, as soon as I hit 30% battery I'm "bingo" and back for a battery change.

Also the FM pack comes with an adapter that allows you to use the battery to charge other devices using a USB cable - therefore, you have reserve power for the controller and/or your phone if you forget to properly charge either.

I don't have much experience flying drones, but to my mind it's better to have too much power than too little!

The bag is fine - decent construction and looks like it provides good protection. My only issue is that the design is a bit quirky - it's almost like whoever designed it decided that the last thing they were going to produce was a standard looking, regular opening bag!

Had you tried the ND filters, again worth it given you say they are on the cheap side, compared to buying your own.

The ND filers are fine but I'll be buying my own (Polarpro when they are released).

The DJI filters don't strike me as particularly robust and I'm assuming at some point I'll damage them because I'm a clumsy sod!

Saying that, they do the job and they do it pretty well.

I'll be getting a separate set moslty to get something a bit more robust and to get filters with polarisation.

On balance, I'd recommend getting the FM package - I think a second battery is a very good idea - not a necessity and you could get by without it, but if I'd bought it on its own I reckon it would've only been a matter of time before I went for a second battery.

Considering the cost of a second battery to the extra you'll pay for the FM pack, I thought it made sense.

The bag works for me as I carry my photography gear in a backpack so there's no room for the drone in there, so it's convenient to have a sling bag, plus I can just grab that on its own if I'm not taking my cameras out. Unless it somehow fails I can't see myself replacing it.

The filters are enough to get me going but being honest, even if they were more robust I'd still want to change them for something with polarisation.

Example of a panorama, cropped top and bottom......

jogdish

Sultan_of_Ping wrote: »

No problem - happy to answer any questions ...

Perfect thank you, think I'd do FM too, did you buy the extra DJI thingy for user caused fault replacement?
Lovely picture.

Sultan_of_Ping

jogdish wrote: »

Perfect thank you, think I'd do FM too, did you buy the extra DJI thingy for user caused fault replacement?
Lovely picture.

Thanks - that was on my second evening out with it!

No, I thought about the DJI insurance thing and decided against it.

I'll be doing most of my flying at or near the coast in wide open spaces. Plus, I'll be using it mostly for stills and I've only been using "Sport" mode to move quickly between shooting points.........I'm not planning on doing anything stupid, but there again my stupidity is rarely planned

All things considered, I decided to pass on the DJI-care thing and concentrate on using it responsibly - treating it as a piece of photographic equipment rather than a boy-toy.

jogdish

Sensible, with my original AIR every near miss, whack into a tree stupid outmaneuver etc were all in sport mode - I used to use it to either wear down a half full battery or to watch it go, its a feature for show, rarely that useful.

ozmo

There was some early reviews about how terrible it was they removed the Pause button - but I've since found out that they just moved it to be a short press of the Home button - this is a good move.

Its is for when you are doing a quick shot - circle, follow me etc - and you are done or an emergency feature if you see the drone about to hit a small branch or something - stops drone in its tracks.

ablelocks

I was all set to buy the FIMI X8SE 2020 that there's a lot of chatter about in bargain alerts, but having just done a rough calculation, to get similar to the fly more combo would end up costing about $750-800, assuming I don't get stung for customs. If I did, then that'd bring it to a minimum of $900.

the mavic air 2 at €1049 is starting to look like a better option - with better warranty support and I'd have it next week rather than some unknown time in July or even August.

stuff.hunter

ablelocks wrote: »

I was all set to buy the FIMI X8SE 2020 that there's a lot of chatter about in bargain alerts, but having just done a rough calculation, to get similar to the fly more combo would end up costing about $750-800, assuming I don't get stung for customs. If I did, then that'd bring it to a minimum of $900.

the mavic air 2 at €1049 is starting to look like a better option - with better warranty support and I'd have it next week rather than some unknown time in July or even August.

yeah, quite false economy as virtually no service / support so might cost much more on long run
go for MA2, you wont regret

jogdish

Few weeks later, any updated thoughts on the Air 2 anyone else get one? I'm still on the fence.

Sultan_of_Ping

jogdish wrote: »

Few weeks later, any updated thoughts on the Air 2 anyone else get one? I'm still on the fence.

No, I'm still enjoying mine and I don't think I've even begun to scratch the full potential of it.

Below is some footage I shot of kite surfers (with their permission & cooperation). Pretty rough as I couldn't see a thing because of the glare on the screen - hence the reason I stayed high and away from them, and the video is short. I've fashioned a sun shade for next time 👍

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdKlsHKq_Jk