Every photographer needs a Mavic Air 2 drone
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- We review the Mavic Air 2 travel drone for RUclipsrs: does it vlog? Tony Northrup tests the 4k/60p video footage, range, hand-launching and landing and tracking based on his experiences with the DJI Mavic Mini, DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, and DJI Mavic 2 Pro. FATHER'S DAY SALE: northrup.photo coupon code 'dad25'.
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I have a Mavic Air 2 (along with a Mini, Mavic, and Mavic 2 Pro). I love it. I ordered two just to because I needed one quickly (one was back-ordered, bought a second one, the back-ordered one shipped the next day, ended up with both)...still haven't opened the second one, nor sent it back, but I am thinking about keeping it as a back-up. It's that good of a drone.
Thanks Tony for staying independent.
From my observation as a person that started getting into drones for enthusiastic purpose I'd say that Fly More Combo is actually a good deal. I don't feel confident enough, so most likely I'll smash some propellers and extra battery helped me to learn how to fly. I think you might be talking only from the professional point of view as a person with hundreds of hours in fly. And the bag is pretty handy also. I would not dismiss that option.
I totally agree with ppBIzU here. The Mavic Mini Fly more combo is a wonderful beginner's drone package especially at $500. You'll learn the controls, some FAA guide lines and aerial photography without breaking the bank. I have no complaints with my Mavic Mini and I highly recommend it for entry level droning.
@@begelson4387
I had phantom 4 , mavic air after I bought mavic mini and have to give it back after 2 days of flying, contrast points shadows poor video quality and strong wind warning. Is better get used mavic air. is a big jump for about 150 dollars more
Now I'm in with mavic air 2 and I good, but nothing is perfect. Small sensor those not help with video at night.
@@rousedvideo3380 Should one fly at night though...Like of what use is that really?...just curious.
I knew you'd hook me up Tony! I think the Mavic Air 2 is SUPER, for a few reasons. #1 is Ocusync 2.0. The entire transmission system feels INFINITELY more reliable that my original Mavic Air. #2 it can handle WIND, which where I live in Southern California is an absolute MUST! The 48Mp stills and 1080 slow motion are INCREDIBLE tools for me! I don't use 4K that much, but I'm sure if I did, that would be a game changer. #3 the battery life is OUTSTANDING! I did get the fly more combo, but I've never used all 3 batteries in 1 session. I think of the spare batteries like an ICBM, I just sleep better knowing I've got them. #4 the LED landing light is SUPER if you shoot at dusk or even sunrise, because it helps the drone get the best visualization of the launch and landing location (I always use a landing pad whenever possible). Also, helpful is keeping track of your drone if clouds come in or you end up flying later than expected. I hope there will be some serious firmware updates on some of the features they left out from the Go4 app, but otherwise, I LOVE this drone! Thanks for putting this together and for the honest review!
I ordered my mavic air 2 on the day of release, waited over 2 weeks for it to arrive and after 2 days sent it back. I was only getting a range of 430m from it.. After many back and forth with DJI lack of support, I eventually had agreement that they would take it back. but then the clanger.. they wanted me to send it back for REPAIR ????. in the end After a number of emails after this and repeating the entire process they eventually agreed to take it back and replace it. now 2 week later I'm another 3 days away from receiving my "new" drone .. Keep up the great work T&C, the honest approach will always win thru, not the fake approach that we soo more often than not
Most of my flying days, I line up numerous areas and end up going through 2-3 batteries lol
At $115 per battery, the fly more combo saved me a decent amount of money.
I also feel getting the fly more combo is much wiser if you are going to buy this drone. The extra stuff you get in the combo by itself adds up to almost $400. The difference in cost between the regular and the fly more combo is $189.
As a brand new drone pilot I bought the Mavic Mini having seen some of the footage the camera creates. I did my due diligence and purchased in full knowledge of the Minis limitations.
It is small, quiet and so easy to just pick up and take with you and I have to say it is an absolute blast to own. Biggest winner for me as a novice is the incredible quality of the video camera.
It’s terrible in high or medium winds. I replaced it with Mavic air 2. ANd now thinking of switching it to Skydio or Autel because of their self-fly capabilities.
Tony's house is a dream
I had MAVIC MINI , give back after 2 days. Got MAVIC AIR 2 and was ok a bit to sharp to much noise in shadows with iso 100! yes that really happen! And now got MAVIC PRO 2 and is great cost 400$ more, and is worth it. Better in low light and more :)
Thanks for your review Tony
i just took mine for the first flight today. I upgraded from a DJI spark. man its crazy how fast it can go in normal and sport mode. such an awesome drone.
Thank you Toney for the review. I just got my Mavic air to about a week ago. I did get the fly more combo which to me I think is worth having with the extra batteries and propellers just in case. The funny thing is I am a truck driver and I do a lot of RUclips videos I happen to forget the propeller box at home and now I’m on the road with a Mavic air to and no propellers. Fortunately I also have a Mavic many which I just flew yesterday for the first time and I thought it was pretty spunky it did very well and especially when his little sparrow or whatever it was came after it to attack it like he would attack some type of Eagle or hawk. I was able to maneuver away from it quickly even though it seem like something out of top gun with Maverick and the Russians. I’ll be passing back by my house in a few days so I can pick up my propellers and then get on to making more insane crazy RUclips videos. Thank you again Toney and Chelsea.
Good review, Tony. I was a Mavic Air owner, and loved every minute of it. Got the Air 2 and was immediately blown away by the core photographic and videography capabilities and the quality of flight control with the new controller hardware and OccuSync. OccuSync is a huge improvement in the landscapes I most often shoot (relative near you, on the Hudson River). One point worth making: in 48MP mode, it seems you lose at least a stop of brightness because the processor can not aggregate 4 pixels/samples as it does with 12MP. Therefore, at the darker shooting times, 12MP is an option over raising one's ISO unacceptably. Agreed there are other compromises. Question: did you try the screen-tap camera-pointing feature?
I know 99% of u guys won’t see this... but the 1% that does have a great day/night
Definitely thinking about getting this drone.. us small youtubers gotta keep up with the grind!
Finally I'm a 1%'er
@@TonyAndChelsea thanks for replying! :) keep up the amazing work honestly your quality into your videos is outstanding
We also found our way off the DJI early release list 😆
it do be like that sometimes
I would argue for buying the fly more combo, was on a camping trip with the mavic air 2 and the extra batteries came handy since those batteries don’t charge with regular power banks and need an outlet for it.
Thank you for your review, I had previously a DJI Mini and yes you're right, it gets really unstable on higher winds. Recently I bought a DJI Air 2 and loved every second. I found the flight control different than Mavic Mini (more sharper), love the flight range and camera it is pretty good. Sadly I lost it in the water due to pilot error (lesson learned not to rush and pay attention), but i have another one coming.
On tracking mode, I dare say is more developed to follow from a bigger distance and altitude, not on really close follow ups
Hey Tony and Chelsea. I used to watch your videos years ago when I was starting to do more portrait and beauty work and really enjoyed and appreciated your videos. Family, day job and life pulled me in a different direction but this new interest in drones brought you back into my life. Thank you for your brutally honest review and advice. I was planning on buying the fly more combo because I felt I needed the extra batteries and ND filters but I think you changed my mind. Instead I’ll just buy the drone and some higher grade filters.
Loved the barn shot and lighthouse video. Thanks for showing the artifacts in the digital images. And your title that every photographer needs this drone will be used when I justify this to my wife.
tony's channel is the best because it's not biased.
Great review, I got this drone right the 2nd day it got here, a couple of points you mentioned I'm not quite sure I would agree with you: 1. the 48 mp mode is basically a mosaic image from the same sensor and is slow because of more data to transfer so I am not sure if it does have a better image quality than 12mp mode, and 2. your advice against the Fly More option: for someone like me who doesn't have many drones (this is my 2nd one ever) and goes outdoors I think the Fly More combo is a better deal, other than the 2 extra batteries it comes with the vital bag, the charging hub, the power thingy which turns drone battery effectively to a power bank when needed and the 3 filter kit; these would cost more money than the price difference between basic and Fly More option, and I think these are essential for everyday use.
Glad for the 4k60!
Just ordered mine looking forward to my next vacation, thanks Tony
Say no to using music with lyrics while talking to the audience. Great review though.
Loll yeah dropped it in at the last second and only listened to the first few seconds sorry
I’m hopeful that future DJI updates will address our common concerns. Still, at $799 there’s nothing that compares with this little sweetie. 😷👍👍
Just got a MA2 but now starting to regret it as looking at the specs, FIMI X8 2020 seems comparable and for half the price.
Personally I really like the fly more combo, my current camera bag doesn’t have enough space for the drone and controller and batteries. But yea I do agree with you on it overall; you don’t really need it. I truly only find myself switch batteries when I forgot to charge them before flying
Awesome video. I just got my mavic air 2 and I am excited
Great info about a great drone. Appreciate the honesty in your reviews. I opted for the fly more combo because having two spare batteries charged and ready while traveling abroad is preferred.
Thank you so much for your honesty. So many of these content creators lack the authenticity needed to build a real relationship with their subscribers. I really do appreciate how you broke everything down in a way that helps people be informed about the product. Peace.
Real estate photographer here. Waiting for my Mavic Air to conk out before shelling out for another DJI drone. The Mavic Air 2 does look like the perfect drone, overall. Would love to get the Mavic Pro for low light but could buy a nice mirrorless camera for the same price. Argh!
You did a very nice job covering all of the features. I will say that I think you tended to focus a lot on the negatives. I was really surprised at the end when you said it was great and you would switch to it. I really thought you were going to say it was terrible. You spent a great deal of time talking the negatives and only would briefly mention the positives until the end of the video.
The camera tilting isn’t to avoid the props falling into shot. When you’re nose into the wind, the drone has to angle down to hold position. When you try to move forwards into a headwind it will tilt further than usual to let you fly forwards which will push the gimbal beyond the operational limits. The Inspire 2 also does this in Sports mode with a strong headwind.
You can turn the down-tilting off, at least on many of the DJI drones. If you do that, it operates fine, but gets the props in the shot. That's the basis for what I'm saying.
I have an Air 2 as well and I too have accidentally popped out the micro SD card whild handling it. It seems if you hold it moderately hard one of your fingers are usually over the cover for the card and it pushes on the cover popping out the card. Kind of annoying but something I've learned to be aware of now.
ah, that sucks. I had to delete a good video clip while I was flying to make room for more stills (because I was using the internal storage).
Nice review Tony! I just liked and subscribed! I like the background in your house. I did something similar about a year ago in my garage but looks nothing like yours. Love the rustic light fixture with the vintage Edison bulb. Man it sets it off. You have that vision. I’ll be purchasing the Mavic Air 2 here in a few weeks. Props to you sir! Blessings...
i love my mavic 2, dji is an amazing company
I am actually in support of Fly More kit. Having extra fuel in the tank is a good thing. Especially for me who is learning and enjoying it with my son. This is our first drone. Thank you for this review.
I'm on the fence on the Air2 and the Mini 2. This will be my first drone.
Nice to see my purchase justified by one of my most respected photo people. Keep up the good work Tony (and Chelsea).
You also mention the Mavic 2 Pro. The sensor on the Autel Evo 2 Pro 6k is superior. That on the Mavic 2 Pro is a three year old sensor. Dan Watson on his channel reviewed both and the better quality of the Evo 2's video is more than just added sharpness. Low light performance is much better. The US government today has apparently taken action against DJI. I had worried about this for some time as I am a DJI gimbal user.
Exceptional Review, but PLEASE don't use the Sony "dedicated" ZV-1 for another review...or vlog, or for anything. The video looks soft and the internal mics are terrible! However, you may be making me open up my pocketbook for this drone...if only DJI would allow a manual override on having the camera "shoot downward" every time the props are near the field of view...they DO know that you two are beasts at editing, right? Still, HUGE Thumbs Up as always.
I usually wait six months from the release date if I'm going to buy a new drone just so the bugs get worked out and if there's any flaws.
Thanks Tony. I ordered a Mavic Air 2 and was waiting for your input before ordering. This will be my first drone.
Great stuff Tony. However, I suggest 3 batteries. Most the time I use 2, but occasionally I'll need the 3rd battery, especially when touring by car on vacation. But it depends on your passion for flying. The other reason is when a battery goes bad, you'll have enough on your trip to make due. 3 out of 4 of my M2Z batteries went bad on a trip this week. They bulged out on the bottom, making them risky to fly, putting lots of pressure on the side clips that hold the battery in. I notice this when the drone came back on a flightg with one clip lose, uncliped! Yikes! It was easy to determine the cause, bulged battery bottom. So I inspected all 4 batteries. Today I have only one good battery, and all of them have been charged less than 40 times! Poor quality, batteries, but I love the drone.
It's a good point about the backup; I always keep an entire second drone when I really need to get a shot.
you fully guide the features of the mavic air 2, I just bought it but dare not use it. Thank you very much
Want to get a drone! Been looking at the Mavic Air 2 vs. Mavic 2 Pro. I like the 1" CMOS sensor and Omnidirectional obstacle sensing on the Pro. Now, just waiting on my rich uncle "Sam" to give me a little help paying for it. Got registered and studying for the FAA part 107 test.
Love the house and garden
Very fair review. I have a number if DJI drones from the now ancient inspire1, the P4Pro and the Mavic 2 Pro. I now have the Mavic Air 2 and agree, that in good light, this is the best value of any commercially available Drone, even from DJI.. and the M2Pro photos and video are best for lower available light video and photos. Hopefully DJI will add additional photo controls and allow you to set gimbal speed and smoothness which isn’t available in the FLY App.. one last thing.. I missed hearing the Tuba music in this review .. 😉
That is soo cool to see my home town! I grew up here. Moved here to SC in 92. Did you know, the house (very old house, not there now, but was on that property) at 4:15 on the beach/sandy point was haunted? I don't know when it was torn down, but we (a few of us kids) went in the house after we heard stories about it being haunted to see for our selves. It was abandoned at the time (in the 80s). Sure enough, when we went in, we started hearing noises, foot steps, and the sound of someone coming down the stairs. Scared the crap out of us. Was only in there for a few minutes. Long enough to fill our drawers (good thing I was wearing the brown pants), and run from there screaming the whole way! I still tell that story. If you know who lives in that (new) house, you could ask if they ever notice anything they can't explain. The house may not be there, but ghosts could still be on the property. I went to that near by elementary school. And lived rite up the street from the fire department. My bothers taught me how to ice skate on that river. I even remember that draw bridge. The bypass bridge wasn't there when I was little.
Very detailed videos as always.
Please investigate and present if there is a problem with continuous 4k60 video recording in mavic air 2. Overheating errors have been reported, when there is continuous 4k60frames video recording for more than 10-15 minutes.
Have you looked at the drones by Autel Robotics? I have an older model (similar to the Phantoms) and it had the best camera for the price. It flies well and is incredibly sturdy. The current line is the Evo series. I don’t know what their obstacle avoidance is like, but it’s the pilot’s job not to fly into things!
Your findings were interested regarding the high res images, because for me it was the opposite. My 48mp images all had weird haze in highlights and looked noticeably worse in most cases.
Edit: i should add that my standard res shots do not show the issues you raised either, they look sharp and highly usable at 1:1
that's absolutly true! 48MP is a kind of fake and only in perfect condition better than 12MP. ....Go for the Mavic Pro 2 or the Phantom 4 Pro if you focus is on foto.
Hi! Thanks so much for being an unbiased reviewer and a downright awesome resource on RUclips for budding photographers/drone pilots. I know that its a business for you but your content truly is a service as well as informative. I just watched your Part 107 video in preparation for my knowledge test, along with reading the handbooks a couple times (I know there have been some changes since you released that video.)
Anyway, I fly a Mavic Air 2 as my first drone and I am super impressed with everything it does and actually had a question about it that you sort of alluded to in this video. It's low light performance. I don't actually fly too close to sunset but I do get A LOT of noise in my videos. I know there are plugins for Pr like Neat Video that can help eliminate the noise in post but I feel like there could be settings that I should be modifying in-app while filming that could really help me out on the noise-front. Do you have any suggestions that are either Drone-specific for the Air 2 or just general best practices to help reduce this issue? I
thanks again!
Bought this one as my first drone a couple of weeks ago. Took 3 days to ship from China to Norway, didnt get any virus, im pleased. Oh, and it flies and shoot pretty nice too.
Finally a real world review! Thank's a lot :)
Hmm I've been holding out on getting a drone for awhile but this might actually be the one... Thanks for the review Tony!
Thank you for your objectivity, honesty, and independence.
I always wait until I see the independent reviewers like yourself release honest product reviews. Thank you for everything you do!
Boy are you naive.
Are you going to do a follow up review with the latest firmware that addresses those jerky gimbal movements? It seems pretty sweet. I really can’t wait to test the “spline” transitioning from motion to still.
great review Tony, disagree with battery comment, if its windy my mavic burns through battery, always end up using 2 batteries
Interesting, some french youtuber made a mini2 vs air 2 image comparaison and found that, video wise, because of pixel binding, mini2 had a better image quality. However, photo Wise, the 48mp picture was a tad better in the air2.
Thanks for the honest review, Tony! I truly admire your sincerity and honesty! All the best!
Me too!
Hi Tony. I've also been testing the active track and found that it tracks better at a bit of distance..when you are too close to the drone and the object it is trying to avoid, it will hang rather than run into either you or the object. Give it a try, I have gotten mine through some tight spots when I just took a few more steps away from it. Great video!!
The last tip about a battery life may just be the best thing about this drone for me, up to this point we had to factor in additional batteries to the price of every drone, but if I can go by with just one and not needed to buy a fly more combo, then that's just great! Thanks Tony✌
But don't we actually need it? More confused with last comment!
Looking forward to an X-T4 review from you guys! Always enjoy the insights you guys provide :)
They have made one , two moonths ago?
10:23 at that moment I looked at my copy of that book standing in the corner of my table ;)
btw, in Russia, these dji drones cost 20-30% more and don't use FCC, so they fly 50% closer which sucks a LOT
As ever, a great review from the smartest reviewers of everything photographic! From Mike across the pond in the UK. Still hunkering down, but my adventure with my new e-bike has been my saviour - using my iPhone 10 for capturing the moment! Can't wait to get my hands on the Canon R5; a much awaited for camera, having cogitated for 6 months as to making the big switch to Sony from Canon. I suspect many Sony, ex Canon folk, will be returning to the Canon fold!
If you put the MA2 on active track you would've been able to follow that boat on the river easier. Also to note if you in sports mode the MA2wont use obstacle avoidance. I've used my MA2 in the forest following be riding my bike and never had any issues like in your video. Maybe a firmware update
I was pretty excited to see that you made a video on this drone. Do you think this drone would suffice for professional real estate photography? I purchased one already yesterday and wish I would’ve seen your link before. :(
Great review!
yeah totally it's what I would use
Tony & Chelsea Northrup great thank you for the feedback. I feel a lot more confident about the purchase now.
would you mind sharing some raw footage? :) some rather extreme compression artifacts bother me so i would like to check if youtube or the drone cripples the files so much
Nice job Tony. I believe that we should always give our honest opinions in our experience with products. If they cut you off then they are to damn shady anyway and also shows they don’t really care about improving product for the consumer.
I’m just going to wait for the Mavic pro and or zoom to get its update. If all this great stuff is in the Mavic air now I can only imagine how much better the pro 3 will be.
Would you please talk about your experience / knowledge on (upcoming/existing) FAA certification process and cost for drones such as Mavic air 2?
The Xiaomi FIMI X8 SE 2020 is almost as good as the Mavic Air 2 at half the price. No, it doesn't shoot 4k at 60fps (instead at 30fps) and no it doesn't have the obstacle avoidance sensors, but it has everything else the Mavic Air 2 has. It has a 35 minute flight time, 8k range, and supports up to 256gb SD cards. It has a Sony Cmos Sensor at 1/2.6" which, if I'm not mistaken, is slightly larger than the Mavic Air 2 half inch sensor, and a 3 axis gimble. It's only $421 instead of $799.
Tony. Thank you. I agree that this is a fantastic go to drone. Needs the 48 MP bracketing option, more camera controls (S, A, ISO) on the fly, better low light options and clear battery status indicator. I also love the flight options beyond active track but wish there was more camera positioning control during such flights. Would love to have your take on the different flight / film option (hyper lapse, helix, etc). A concern is that it seems like many of these flight modes fly blind without side sensors, which makes them a real challenge. That said, the video that result are pretty slick. Also, why no Waypoint in QuickShots? The Jpg / RAW only option for RAW seems weird. It would be great if you did a full review on the control options. Grateful for your unbiased expertise.
Tony, are you going to make some space available in your house as a B&B? :)
Very nice Tony. Your reviews may not have the excruciating detail like others, but on the plus side you usually laser focus on what's really important. Also, whatever you did, the white balance in the studio is looking so much better lately.
You have a very pleasant and clear speaking voice. Thank you for posting this. You have a new subscriber.
You touched on the subject of maintaining objectivity when reviewing new gear. It must be hard for you tubers not to be swayed into posting positive reviews for the latest gear. Personally I think the more companies who ditch you the better. You have probably reached a tipping point in following where you can focus on caring for your community more than a large corporate company.
You must be joking. Ask Tony how many “gifts” he has “independently “ reviewed. And you fell for it. How sad.
dude why didnt you get the mavic 2 pro, it has a 1 inch sensor. a photographer like you would not choose a camera with lower quality, as long as the price s not an issue. the mavir air 2 looks cool but i would love the mavic 2 pro, who knows if the mavic 3 pro will ever come though
Great review. Is there not one other critical advantage of the Mavic 2 Pro - that of having control over aperture? That would make slowing the shutter speed for cinematic video so much easier than faffing about with ND filters?
If you do Hyperlapse videos, get the fly more combo. A 10 second video takes about 20 minutes.
Thanks for the review. I liked everything you mentioned except the 'no' on the Fly More suggestion. Just my opinion, but having additional batteries as well as the hub for charging them seems well worth the extra cash.
Tony you killed it again with a straight forward, honest review. Huge thanks to you my Man!
If the Mavic Air 2 had a mechanical shutter and side obstacle avoidance, it would indeed be a perfect drone all around.
Could you please do a short drone video editing episode? Very new to it.
I’m not sure how many of these comments you get to respond to: but on my Mavic air 2 I had a problem with the drone responding to the gimbal wheel on the remote. No the gimbal is not broken- yes I calibrated updated etc. spoke to DJI without any success. Returned the drone and ordered another. Any idea what the problem might’ve been?
Thank You For This Useful Report
Man, you just broke my heart. My Air 2 is on the way and one selling point was bracketed high res......I guess I should have watched more reviews. I really hope they add this in the firmware.
Yeah! I love your honesty :)
Great honest review
Did you calibrate your obstacle avoidance on your drone? I'm pretty sure it has it as I did that on my DJI Mavic 2 Pro and it made a world of difference.
Fantastic drone for the money and feature set!
I think Autel has a better camera, resolution, aperture options and dynamic range. Not to mention their auto-fly mode is so much superior. I mean it flies itself. I tried the active track function in this drone, and its pretty lame. It looses me at high speeds and also if I change directions its useless.
If portability isn't a concern would you lean towards a Phantom rather than a Mavic?
9:48 where the propellers correctly installed? i have read that by putting wrong order in the propellers this happens
Definitely looks like such a problem.
Yeah it flew before that. It was caused by a bug that DJI later fixed with a firmware update.
To my eye they look correctly installed
You can’t install the spark propellers wrong. They just won’t go on.
Thanks Tony! Great content
Love your perspective as a Photographer first and a Drone pilot second since to me a drone is only as good as the camera on it. I still use the original Mavic Pro and I've been holding out for the Mavic 3. Recently I have been considering the P4P to start doing some real Estate jobs. Since I also use the Mavic Pro as a backpack drone. I wonder if the Mavic Air 2 would be a good holdover until the Mavic 3 makes an appearance to see what camera is on it.
Any opinion on this?
PS. Thank you for your Part 107 test video. It was instrumental in me passing the test on the first try 3 years ago and I also used it to refresh for the recurrent test.
Mavic 2 pro takes amazing photos!
Thank you so so much brother! One of the best and honest MA2 review!
By the way thanks for the video - I always learn something from your channel
I love it, beautiful video thank you 👍
Good review but didn’t you say back 2-3 years ago drones were not worth investing in (Mavic air) and we wouldn’t be able to fly them? Hmmm times have changed haven’t they...
Nice jacket.