DJI Mavic 2 Zoom Drone Quadcopter with Fly More Kit Combo Bundle

5.0 out of 5 stars

By CKE - Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2018

Best DJI Drone to date

So the DJI Mavic 2 Pro is my 4th DJI Drone... I started with the original flight-by-sight Phathom 1 - I then bought a Phantom 3, and Mavic Pro. I gotta say that the Mavic 2 Pro knocked my socks off. I am still waiting for the firmware to connect my DJI RE Googles to it, but other than that I am very happy. Why am I happy? I have been waiting for a higher-end camera on a Mavic. Regardless of what people say the original Mavic Pro's camera was minimally acceptable for video. The original Mavic's camera was ok-ish in good light, but it quickly degraded. Combined with its overall lack of sharpness the footage from the Mavic Pro often looked out of place when used as b-roll and combined with pro cameras. What does that mean? I would use my GH4 (and later GH5) cameras for a majority of my footage, and then I would drop a few overhead motion shots from the Mavic Pro. As a viewer, the change in quality was rather striking. The Mavic Pro was essentially GoPro quality. The Phantom 4 has a higher end camera... but it is also a lot bigger drone (not that it matter too much). Enter the Mavic 2 Pro. While the footage shot from the Mavic 2 Pro is still inferior to a GH4/GH5 type of set-up, it does start to bridge the gap. The larger 1" sensor can handle lower levels of light while providing a much sharper lens. The resulting footage (and photos) are sharper and more saturated - this alone made the Mavic 2 a no-brainer for me. So should you buy the Mavic 2 Pro or the Zoom? For me... I would much rather have the larger sensor and higher resolution and just digitally crop the image for a zoom effect. I think it gives me a lot more flexibility. Other notes on the Mavic 2 pro - I am noticing a little better battery life - maybe 5%, but that is a guess - Also noticing more range - I was able to get 300-500 ft further with my Mavic 2. - As always... the Mavic 2 Pro is super easy to fly. It is embarrassingly easy... it is amazing that it is significantly easier to fly this drone than a high-end RC car. - Seems to be a little quieter than the original Mavic. - Loaded with sensors.... which is great... but I am not much of a daredevil when it comes to flying it close to objects. - I am very excited to try some of the new filming modes. They have just been released, so I will have to include my thoughts on an update to this review. However, filming smoot footage is a challenge, so I am intrigued with the new dolly mode and tracking capability. - Without going into a huge amount of detail, the DJI promises a lot regarding color and recording capability. I am still a little skeptical - the camera is again writing to a micro SD card (and not on a high speed external hard drive) so there are limitations to how much data that can be transferred. At some point the data has to either super -compressed or not collected. When you start filming in 4k on a 1" sensor you start to generate some very large files.... something has to give. Other notes... What DJI Drone should you buy? If you are a true professional that needs high-quality footage you probably need the DJI Inspire with the zenmuse X5 (or better) camera. The Mavic 2 Pro camera is a nice upgrade over the original, but don't expect miracles. However, if you only mildly interested in photography or video, the original Mavic or Spark may better (cheaper) option. if you are looking for an easy to fly drone that provides decent quality video and footage... the Mavic 2 Pro is a pretty good option.

3.0 out of 5 stars

By Robbyg - Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2018

Really good camera for a drone and flys really well but....

I have owned an Mavic Pro since they first came out so I was excited to get hold and play with an MP2 as soon as it came out. I went over to a fellow drone enthusiasts house as he had preordered and received his. We both sat down and went through the setting up of his drone and the first few flight. So I decided to share with the Amazon community my experience. First impressions is that it is of course larger than the older MP1 but not so large that it is glaring. What is glaring is the weight, this drone is about 50% heavier and everything is beefier and heavier including the huge battery pack. The Remote is very similar to the older MP remote with difference here and there, it is nice that the sticks can be unscrewed and stowed away. Getting to the meat of the review I have to talk about the Camera. The Camera is really nice, the picture quality on the 4K video is a lot better than the video from the MP1 plus you can control Aperture, shutter speed etc and also do some neat special effects with the Camera. The photos are also a lot better than the MP1 or the Mavic Pro Platinum. The thing potential buyers need to understand is that even though the picture is better, with the video do not expect it to look like a 4K BluRay. If you want to know what the video will look like you can get a good idea by comparing it to Netflix 4K streaming which is not all that much better than 1080P Netflix. It's about the same quality maybe something in-between the 4K on Netflix and its regular 1080P service. If you have a 4K TV there are plenty of Mavic Pro 2 sample videos for you to watch on YouTube. In a nutshell the Camera is great in comparison to the older Mavic but even with it's 1" sensor, but your not going to get DSLR type video quality or pictures. Obstacle avoidance on the MP2 is pretty darn good, actually it's superb! About the only downside is that the side sensors do not work in normal flight mode, they only work in slow flying tripod mode which is of course great for indoor flying or maneuvering in tight areas. The LED landing lights on the bottom are great if your into night flying but I am personally not all that interested in risking my drone flying it at night. The plastic that makes up the shell of the drone is tough, it feels even more durable than the original Mavic. The Gimbal is much more sturdy and feels like it could withstand a lot harder hit than the MP1. With that said I still think that a serious crash with the new drone will most likely destroy the Gimbal, so don't take chances. I only gave it 3 stars because as usual DJI has released the drone with incomplete beta firmware and now they have the huge camera debacle going on. There is nothing to Panic about with the firmware as DJI will release numerous updates over the next 6 months that will fix most of the issues. My biggest complaint in this area is that it has no Precision Landing function included in the release firmware. So if you have to hit that return to home button you better be prepared to manually guide it in for that last 30 feet of landing or else you might end up in a tree or in the water :) My biggest fear is that they will never be able to fix the camera issue. A YouTuber called Cliff Totten did some extensive tests on the Mavic 2 Pro and found that it is not producing true 4K video but is instead only using about half of the sensor. When confronted DJI has not responded to his video or numerous others including direct emails. It seems that the camera is throttled back because it does not have adequate space to cool the cameras sensor. The Phantom 4 Pro which uses the same sensor has its sensor in a package which is four times bigger with four time as much cooling. I think DJI crammed this thing into a small camera casing and then realized that it was overheating so they just halved the scan lines in use to keep it cooler. While the Camera is still very good for video this issue makes me hesitant to recommend the Mavic 2 Pro as your really not getting all of what your paying for and the 4K Video is substandard to the Phantom 4 Pro. Overall I was super impressed with drone but I cannot give it a 5 star review because of the Camera issues and it is missing so many features that are in the MP1 like flight modes and proper precision landing and some quirks that I have read about on forums but did not experience myself. I might buy one in the future but I was so happy to finally get my hands on one and be able to play with it. It certainly makes me want one.