The best travel buddy has a new name! It’s called the Mavic Air.
Thanks to DJI we have the option to buy our gear depending on our needs. DJI innovated in a way so we can pick from a large variety sized drones. First of all, I would like to categorize DJI products from my point of view. The Inspire series is for professional use no question, I consider them the big guns! They are used to film professional-grade projects. The Phantom series which I also own, Phantom 4 Pro and Mavic series are for the prosumer user, thanks to their medium size transporting in a backpack is possible! As you might have guessed the Spark is in the little drone category along with the Mavic Air.
I would like to show you an unboxing video I have made. My goal was to spice it up a little bit... so at the start, you'll have a little surprise.
Portability:
When it comes to transportation sneaking our drones in tight spaces might become a problem. Below you can check out my drone bags to get an idea how little space is needed for the Mavic Air. Unfortunately, I don’t have Mavic Airs own transport bag, I’ll use the Sparks to show that it can be transported without any problem!
Note: In DJI Sparks bag you can fit your Mavic Air its controller and there's just enough space for a spare battery.
Compared to DJI Multifunctional Backpack, there's quite a "big" difference.
Color option: Unfortunately, I cannot decide for you which color to get! But I can tell you why I have chosen the white one! I fell in love with the Inspire 1 from the day it got announced. The high quality glossy white plastic with the black arms looks insane and futuristic. I find the onyx black version stealthy like a spy plane. Nevertheless, you can pick the red color this way you’ll own the Ferrari of drones. Maybe in the near future, more colors like Blue will be added to the color palette.
Let’s dive in and discover why I consider the Mavic Air DJI’s masterpiece.
This article is going to be a bit technical but easily understandable for all. I will offer you some key aspect you need to know about this flying marvel. At the moment of writing, weather conditions are so bad that flying the Mavic is suicidal. In the upcoming weeks, a lot of articles will come with sample photos and videos in different categories "nature" "sports" "wildlife" so stay tuned!
Camera:
The Mavic Air has a 12-megapixel camera capable of shooting 4k 100mb/ sec stabilized by a 3 axis gimbal. And this is where the awesomeness begins, yes you read it right 100mb/sec recording with this tiny drone. Being able to film with a bitrate of 100mb/sec instead of 60mb/s teleports us to the prosumer league like the Phantom 4 Pro and Inspire 2. Long story short, drone videos are all about complex motions that’s why 4K 100mb/sec is necessary for recording more information. This way your video material will contain a high amount of detail a clearer picture with less digital artifacts.
The DJI Spark has a 2 axis gimbal. Maybe you’ll not realize the difference till you don’t see it compared with something stabilized on a 3 axis gimbal. I remember the times when I had the Phantom 2 with the ZENMUSE H3-2D a 2 axis gimbal, then revolution came and H3-3D appeared. A 3 axis gimbal provides better video stability because it stabilizes the camera on all 3 axis (yaw, pitch and roll). In the case of The Spark horizontal movement can become a bit jittery because of the lack of stabilization in the yaw axis.
Regarding photos, we are getting a 12 megapixel with a 1/2.3”CMOS sensor, 85 field of view in 24mm format f2.8 Aperture. Photo size is 4:3: 4056x3040 16:9 4056x2280 I would not like to mix photos and videos in this article because I'm going to make a series with a story and each article will have a separate one. So stay tuned!
We also get the beloved Sphere function first introduced with the Spark! Note: Instead of making 46 pictures the Mavic Air makes and stitches 25 pictures resulting in a 32-megapixel panorama photo. Since the forum has no 360 panorama option yet, I'm going to post a little planet view of my Hometown.
Regarding picture quality, I'm very pleased with Mavic Air camera. I made some shots at a wildlife reservation where Deer and Buffalos were present. All pictures have been edited.
Storing your work:
SD cards: The faster the better. Recording in 4K 100/mbs not only it takes up a lot of space but also fast writing speeds are necessary. I strongly recommend V30 cards. Photos are also written faster especially when shooting both .jpg and .dng. Investing in fast writing speed capable SD cards is a must! DJI surprised us with an 8gb internal memory, which is just pure awesomeness. I’m sure that all of us experienced faulty memory card issues. It happened to me several times during photographing and filming. There have been cases when I had to return from 2-3km to change the SD card losing precious flight time or missing the shot. I mainly use 16gb capacity SD cards because of data safety reasons. It’s better to lose 16gb material than losing 32 or 64. So the extra 8gb gives not only gives you a dose of calmness but also can save you in a situation mentioned above.
Note: Since 8gb memory is integrated, you won't get any additional SD card like with other DJI Products.
SPEED: Speed is one of the most important things to me. The Spark is also an awesome device, I really love it since I have declared it The Best Travel Drone last year. As I have said this before I really like that DJI takes into consideration their customers needs and surprises us every time it comes out with a new device. I consider the Mavic Air as a DJI Spark on steroids. With the Spark, speed for getting to places fast was simply not enough. In cruise mode, the spark is a bit slow. The Spark has a max speed of 50km/h in sports mode. I consider that everything above 50kmh/s is fast! Mavic Air’s speed is 68.4km/h in sports mode which has to be more than enough Especially when shooting wildlife getting to the spot and following the subjects needs speed.
Battery:
The Mavic Air comes with a 2970 mah battery and promises 21 minute flight time without wind. In reality, I set all of my drones to announce me when battery level drops to 20% this way I get approximatively 17 min of flight time and can return from any distance because safety comes first. Note: I recommend purchasing the Fly More Combo because you get a total of 3 batteries. Since you’ll take your Mavic Air with you all the time and on your trips, you’ll need a minimum of 2 batteries. In the front SPARKs battery, behind Mavic Airs and a Phantom 4 battery, to get an idea about the size of different models batteries.
Controller:
At first glance, you might think nothing has changed compared to Sparks and Mavics controller. To be sincere all the time when transporting my drones in different bags I had a slight fear, knowing that the control sticks might scratch my drone or other accessories. The option that we can unmount the sticks is a great possibility. Let me show you the difference between the two controllers.
Before flight, you need to connect your device by plugging in the correct type of input (micro-usb, lightning, usb-c) depending on the phone you use.
Compared to the Sparks remote controller sticks are smaller in size. I also find them a bit more precise but this is a personal observation.
Connectivity:
Just like the Spark the Mavic Air can also be controlled by your phone via Wi-Fi connection to a distance of 80 meters and a maximum height of 50 meters, in perfect conditions free of interference and unobstructed. It’s good to have this option but the real deal is the controller. You’ll have a 720p live view up to 4km.
Is it worth buying?
I’m going to cover all the scenarios for all who already own a drone. If you own a Spark, it’s a great upgrade, since you got used to fly your drone making the next step is a must. You still get a very portable drone with higher specs along the better image and video quality.
For those owning the Mavic and Mavic Pro. If portability is an issue and you would like a smaller drone packed with almost equivalent in some specs, video vise light years better than go for it!
Those who own Phantom 4 Pro.When doing professional work having at least one backup drone is a must in our case the Mavic Air is the best option. Regarding video specifications, it’s almost the same. What you’ll not get is the fps in 4k 30 vs 60 and the 12-megapixel camera instead of 20 and finally the lack of aperture setting.
Specific functions are in the works in different articles! This thread is going to get updated.
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