I just can't decide. I have a few questions, In the live view, can you tell the difference in quality between both drones? I'm not a pro, I fly more recreationally, however I do care about image quality. Sometimes I don't even record in my flights, I'm just happy with the live view, so will the pro have a better live view? like can you tell the difference without actually recording?

You won't see much of a difference in live view on your phone's screen between the two.  They both transmit in 1080p.  There may be slight color variation between the two because of the different sensors, but as far as clarity, you'll be more than happy with the picture on the Zoom.

Jmathews77 Posted at 2018-9-12 05:33
You won't see much of a difference in live view on your phone's screen between the two.  They both transmit in 1080p.  There may be slight color variation between the two because of the different sensors, but as far as clarity, you'll be more than happy with the picture on the Zoom.

What about in my phone? Like if I take a quick picture in the sky, download it to my phone, will I tell the difference?

Ali3N Posted at 2018-9-12 05:38
What about in my phone? Like if I take a quick picture in the sky, download it to my phone, will I tell the difference?

Not sure about that.  If you're talking about a pic you take and then download off of your SD card or straight from the internal memory via USB-C, then the images will have noticeable differences.  If you're talking about cached images that are saved directly to your phone during flight, then I'm not sure.  I want to say that the differences will be hardly noticeable, but that's just a guess.  Maybe someone else can chime in?

I say get the zoom version.
You won’t be able to see the difference anyway, where are you going to see those 10 bit colors? Billions of them, no tv or gadget today supports 10 bits, only 8 bits.
So it’s really pointless in my opinion. Pro is for professionals for paid work and zoom is for everybody else.
You have x4 zoom! that’s really cool feature. Dolly zoom, super resolution pictures, there’s more... ;)

Fly safe all
Alex

Alex B. Posted at 2018-9-12 10:31
I say get the zoom version.
You won’t be able to see the difference anyway, where are you going to see those 10 bit colors? Billions of them, no tv or gadget today supports 10 bits, only 8 bits.
So it’s really pointless in my opinion. Pro is for professionals for paid work and zoom is for everybody else.

There are plenty of Monitors and UHD TV's that have native 10bit panels. Most of these panels are capable of 1000+ nits of average brightness which is considered as HDR1000.

Infact, these days 10bit panels are beginning to trickle down to mainstream UHD TVs and Monitors.

You will see a difference with a 10 bit capable sensor, albeit it will be more noticeable with a 10bit capable panel.

You guys are talking all about color, but what about detail? I see some Yt vids where the Pro makes the zoom look like 360p. At night, the Pro wins it all the way, so I guess during the day it should take shadows better and the golden hour, oh the golden hour...so hard to decide.

I think Zoom is the way to go.  If your looking for better than you need to move up to a higher quality drone.

The Pro has noticeably better dynamic range, take for instance the shaded areas in (@2:47)



Its achilles heel is softness at Full FOV due to the lack of oversampling.
It can also zoom if you consider changing back and forth from HQ to Full FOV a viable solution. More akin to prime lenses.

FOV is suprisingly close:

Pro Full FOV: 77° (28mm)
Pro HQ: ~55° (39.2mm)
Zoom Wide: 83° (24mm)
Zoom Tele: 48° (48mm)

Visualizer: Nikon Lens Simulator

What the Zoom has over the Pro is buttery smooth zoom through the entire 24-48mm range. Not to mention better constant autofocus for video.

This video is quite interesting. I simply regret that there is no low light photo or video comparison, as it is in that area that we can expect to see bigger differences between the 2 models.

pjollain Posted at 2018-9-12 20:47
This video is quite interesting. I simply regret that there is no low light photo or video comparison, as it is in that area that we can expect to see bigger differences between the 2 models.

This one is a solid one.

Thank you for this second video. After watching it, if you plan to fly by night, I think the choice is very easy.

I have both MP2 PRO and ZOOM and MP2 PRO has much better camera and produces much better pictures.

Hi, Thanks for your inquiry. I would recommend checking our drone comparison on our website to see the differences between the Mavic 2 Pro/Zoom. Please see the link below.

https://www.dji.com/products/compare-consumer-drones

My first post around here so let me start with saying 'Hello' to everyone.

I have a similar dilemma and judging by the number of posts on the forums I am not the only one. :-) Personally I am leaning a bit more towards the Zoom though.

However, I am still trying to find a comparison of a Mavic Pro's 4K HQ Mode vs Zoom at 40/48mm. Just to see whether the cropped/zoomed image of a larger sensor offers similar quality to optical zoom. I know that if I go Pro I won't get all the effects Mavic Zoom has to offer including smooth optical zoom to 48mm but if they resolve similar amount of detail and offer similar picture quality when zoomed in (or cropped to HQ in case of the Pro) I think I would be more declined to get the Pro actually.
Has anyone come across such a comparison? Cheers.

To follow up on my own question. I got an answer on the mavicpilots forum: https://mavicpilots.com/threads/ ... /page-4#post-642547

One reason I can think of for Mavic 2 Zoom over Mavic 2 Pro is ability to take close-up appearing photos or videos of a subject, when you can not fly a drone closer to subject.