I agree, engineers always want to do something good. and not very smart managers constantly interfere with them!

ICDroneSE Posted at 11-12 09:58
Give the Mavic Mini a shot. Go out into an open field and play around with it for 5, 10 hours. Take as long as you need. Get a feel for the drone and the area you're flying in. You'll soon realize that OA isn't a big deal and you can fly just as safe without it. OA only helps when you fly head-on into an object and if you're doing that, you're doing it wrong. Trust the display on the app and recognize that there is some latency between the video feed and the controls.

As for hand catching. I was afraid of doing it at first. But the Mavic series has got to be the easiest to hand catch. I've caught the Phantom 3 series in my hand and it wasn't bad but definitely more difficult due to the legs that you have to hold onto. For the Mavic Series, you grip the center of the body and it's completely stable.

I am still thinking about pulling the trigger or not. Mainly for the reasons I stated before:
Lack of front sensors and (basic) 4K.

The price of the Mini is 40% of the price for the Skydio II. Truth been said, if the drone had 4K I would be fine with it as it could replace my M2P on long hikings when I carry a heavy load. Being 'only' 2.7K I would need to upscale to fit my other footage and that bothers me (in addition to not been able to lock the exposure). As it is now, the Mini is mainly a toy. Other folks that prinarely use portable devices for reviewing their footage might be fine with the lower resolution.

I might wait for the new Air or Mini Pro or whatever small factor new drone DJI decides to launch. Don't know yet...

hallmark007 Posted at 11-19 03:06
I think you only come here to insult, you like OA that’s great but in the main most are happy to have the mini at the price and weight, it also has WiFi so you wouldn’t like that either.
I and all other users of the mavic mini are also entitled to their opinions and it clearly shows that OA or the lack of it hasn’t stopped many from buying it.

First of all, I am not insulting you, I believe that is out of context. In my case, it is the 1st time I see anything from you so my apologies. Now, I might be criticizing your behaviour with any folk not agreeing with some DJI policies (like artificially limiting the Mini to 2.7K while it can clearly shoot 4K no problem).

The fact that the Mini is below 250gr is absolutely GREAT. Wifi and lower built quality was expected at this price and weight. However and as I stated before, many of us, with higher image quality expectations were expecting some basic 4K (25-30 fps). The Mb/s are also low BUT ok for the price.

Omitting front sensors is a weird decision for a drone targeting new customers. I stated that many people would gladly give away 10mn of battery time (smaller battery = less weight) to compensate for the added weight of the minuscule OA.

Closing, from the snapshots you've posted, it is clear that our image expectations are very different from mine and that is ok for YOU. So if you want a cool little drone to play around and that can still take decent photos / videos for reviewing in a portable device, the Mini is simply FANTASTIC (I might still buy it as I am a fan of the brand).

However, many of us in this and other forums were hoping for the specs I listed above. Perhaps we will get surprised by DJI soon. Have a good day.

ICDroneSE Posted at 11-12 10:03
Seems like the guys complaining haven't even flown a drone and just want all the features. The Mavic mini is packed with features that are crucial and that you will want. After you get over the learning curve and figure out that OA isn't crucial, you'll want to fly for longer. If they put OA in and had 15 minutes of flight time, you'll learn how to fly without OA and then find yourself stuck.

As for the controller. Stop complaining. The Mavic controllers are by far some of the best in the market. Most other companies give controllers that look like xbox controllers and are less portable. What were you expecting? As a previous Phantom 3 SE owner, this controller is a blessing.

And you are assuming that many folks complaining here are new to drones...

If I've learned one thing at my age and profession is that expectations are closely related to needs and those are extremely individual. What is normal for the Spider is chaos for the Fly...

You cannot say that this or that feature are a must while this one isn't. It all depends on your PERSONAL needs as a drone operator / photographer / videographer. I believe what I stated is still in the realm of 'logical':

- The Mini can and should shoot 4K video (it has a solid Ambarella processor and much better cooling / airflow thant the Pocket / Action)
- The weight of the sensors is ridiculous (8-10gr)
- 20-25mn of flight time would have been a good compromise if sensors were included (the battery weighs 100gr approx.)
- Having USB-C for faster charging times instead of Micro-USB would have made no difference

Obviously at the end, the only thing I can do is accept it and buy it or ignore it.

El Diabolico Posted at 11-20 00:37
First of all, I am not insulting you, I believe that is out of context. In my case, it is the 1st time I see anything from you so my apologies. Now, I might be criticizing your behaviour with any folk not agreeing with some DJI policies (like artificially limiting the Mini to 2.7K while it can clearly shoot 4K no problem).

The fact that the Mini is below 250gr is absolutely GREAT. Wifi and lower built quality was expected at this price and weight. However and as I stated before, many of us, with higher image quality expectations were expecting some basic 4K (25-30 fps). The Mb/s are also low BUT ok for the price.

Well that’s your opinion and you don’t hold back giving it, incidentally I haven’t seen any of this obviously highly professional work you do with Mavic 2 and Osmo, I have seen one video posted here , but that video while more suited to social media was extremely long and about average for around here, you may have posted other stuff you’ve done with M2 but I haven’t seen it,  maybe you’ll post some of your work that you have done with M2.

I think that there are as many opinions, as uses, types of jobs.

Somebody who does pro work for broadcast, expects more and wishes DJI to add certain functions.
Sombbody who does pro work for "small" clients/projects/personal, is probably OK but wishing they add a few more things, like RAW, manual video, FLAT video profile, 24fps. (Easy)
Somebody who doesn't need broadcast quality, is Ok with the features, period.

hallmark007 Posted at 11-20 02:55
Well that’s your opinion and you don’t hold back giving it, incidentally I haven’t seen any of this obviously highly professional work you do with Mavic 2 and Osmo, I have seen one video posted here , but that video while more suited to social media was extremely long and about average for around here, you may have posted other stuff you’ve done with M2 but I haven’t seen it,  maybe you’ll post some of your work that you have done with M2.

Actually I can't as I don't normally do 'professional' drone work. I do professional photography and that is why my image quality expectations are different from yours. Regarding the long video of Pines Cliff, I stated it was a short test to try a few things. The final version is in the hotel's possession and will be uploaded on their website (I will post a link here as soon as it happens).

* I shot a wedding there and they kindly asked me to take some video as well as I had my drone with me during my holidays.

I am obviously not wishing to enter a 'mine is bigger' argument with you but I will post a few of my 'snapshots' for clarifying the image quality requirements. Obviously I am aware of the 1" limitations on my M2P and the 1/2.3" possible 4K output on the Mini.

El Diabolico Posted at 11-21 02:21
Actually I can't as I don't normally do 'professional' drone work. I do professional photography and that is why my image quality expectations are different from yours. Regarding the long video of Pines Cliff, I stated it was a short test to try a few things. The final version is in the hotel's possession and will be uploaded on their website (I will post a link here as soon as it happens).

* I shot a wedding there and they kindly asked me to take some video as well as I had my drone with me during my holidays.

It’s a bit strange that you would ask others to show their work with drones or dji equipment which I have, but you hide your own.
All you have shown is some landscapes that frankly are typical from photography workshops and are ten a penny, we’ve all been on the long exposure workshops to Iceland , the portrait while the subject is good the photograph skill to take it and develop it is not there.
What you have shown is similar to the work of any good hobbyists with reasonable skills in LR.
Disappointed you haven’t shown your pro work from all your drones etc .

hallmark007 Posted at 11-21 02:57
It’s a bit strange that you would ask others to show their work with drones or dji equipment which I have, but you hide your own.
All you have shown is some landscapes that frankly are typical from photography workshops and are ten a penny, we’ve all been on the long exposure workshops to Iceland , the portrait while the subject is good the photograph skill to take it and develop it is not there.
What you have shown is similar to the work of any good hobbyists with reasonable skills in LR.

That's ok Hallmark, I understand i touched a nerve there.

Can you please highlight in what sentence exactly I refer to 'pro' drone shots? and actually I asked YOU not OTHERS.
2nd, I will have to accept that my work is "similar to the work of any good hobbyists with reasonable skills in LR", that is your opinion and you are entitled to it BUT if that characterizes my skill level... where does that put you and your level?
How can you be so critical of other's expectations regarding image quality and DJI products when you obviously only shoot for fun? i understand that for lifting the drone in the air and randomly shooting a village you don't need 4K.
Closing, perhaps you should spend your time and money attending one of those "typical landscape workshops", you could learn a thing or two ;) If you've being already as stated well... it didn't worked very well I guess?

ps. FYI, the 1st photo from Venice was among a series that was awarded the 3d place between thousand of submited images in 500px a few years ago in the Travel Category.

El Diabolico Posted at 11-21 03:54
That's ok Hallmark, I understand i touched a nerve there.

Can you please highlight in what sentence exactly I refer to 'pro' drone shots? and actually I asked YOU not OTHERS.

I have been on two workshops to Iceland twice, but I wouldn’t profess from attending that I’m a professional photographer, I would have to give some credit to those who are career professionals, you said your work was the work of a professional but posted photos that as I said many before you have taken on workshops.
It seems that somehow you think that hobbyists who don’t operate for career or profit are somehow inferior to professionals, I am just saying that I have seen many hobbyists take the same snapshots you put up but in a much more professional way, those snapshots don’t in anyway distinguish you as a pro and as I said they are ten a penny and those who have shot them before you would not be overly enamored by them and I’m certain to use your own analogy they might think you are only doing this for fun .

When you set out to mock someone, make sure your not setting yourself up for similar, people around here tend to try help others, not beef themselves up to be something they obviously are not .

BTW the first one in Venice is one I have seen many times before, it’s not new or innovative, but I suppose it’s obviously important for you to somehow big up yourself at every chance you get .

These two won two awards for me but hey I was only doing it for fun .

hallmark007 Posted at 11-21 04:51
I have been on two workshops to Iceland twice, but I wouldn’t profess from attending that I’m a professional photographer, I would have to give some credit to those who are career professionals, you said your work was the work of a professional but posted photos that as I said many before you have taken on workshops.
It seems that somehow you think that hobbyists who don’t operate for career or profit are somehow inferior to professionals, I am just saying that I have seen many hobbyists take the same snapshots you put up but in a much more professional way, those snapshots don’t in anyway distinguish you as a pro and as I said they are ten a penny and those who have shot them before you would not be overly enamored by them and I’m certain to use your own analogy they might think you are only doing this for fun .

Hallmark, I will leave it here. I believe the majority of folks will be able to take their own conclusions regarding our 'art'.

2nd, I have absolutely nothing against hobbyists neither expressed anything against a specific group of people. You are again and again trying to generalize and use phrases out of context when I was specifically addressing my disconcern against DJI decisions and later on, when you attacked me, YOU AND YOU ONLY.  

For some reason, you like to patronize and criticize anyone that have different needs or opinions than yourself. Obviously you have a different idea on the way people sees you in this forum. After all the personal attacks that you've suffered, all the mockery, all the times folks with higher and valuable knowledge have corrected you, after being banned several times, etc. You still insist on your personal war / 'holy' task to protect DJI at any cost and attack forum members.

Closing, I don't really understand what are you trying to prove with your snapshots... there are levels in every game / job / art. You call me an amateur while I do photography for a living and then you post some family photos to make your point valid... ARE YOU BLIND or an ONLY CHILD???

El Diabolico Posted at 11-21 06:11
Hallmark, I will leave it here. I believe the majority of folks will be able to take their own conclusions regarding our 'art'.

2nd, I have absolutely nothing against hobbyists neither expressed anything against a specific group of people. You are again and again trying to generalize and use phrases out of context when I was specifically addressing my disconcern against DJI decisions and later on, when you attacked me, YOU AND YOU ONLY.  

I think it’s the pot calling the kettle black, you’ve just spent your time generalizing in that post.

Regarding getting banned yes I was twice for a week and I have no problem with that if I did something wrong than that’s fine.

But people in glass houses and all that,  you were banned for life from this forum and that wasn’t from general back and fourth arguments but some of the most outrageous bad language and personal attacks on other people .

I think the problem for you here is your ideas here on this thread got short shrift from almost everyone who just simply don’t agree with you, but you decided as you have done before to single me out .

hallmark007 Posted at 11-21 06:30
I think it’s the pot calling the kettle black, you’ve just spent your time generalizing in that post.

Regarding getting banned yes I was twice for a week and I have no problem with that if I did something wrong than that’s fine.

Sure man, you got me. Sorry.

El Diabolico Posted at 11-21 02:21
Actually I can't as I don't normally do 'professional' drone work. I do professional photography and that is why my image quality expectations are different from yours. Regarding the long video of Pines Cliff, I stated it was a short test to try a few things. The final version is in the hotel's possession and will be uploaded on their website (I will post a link here as soon as it happens).

* I shot a wedding there and they kindly asked me to take some video as well as I had my drone with me during my holidays.

Like your two Eiffel tower shots.  Different.  
Not usual, walked back, tower only shot.
Venice Canal shot is unusual, in it looks abandon.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 11-21 09:40
Like your two Eiffel tower shots.  Different.  
Not usual, walked back, tower only shot.
Venice Canal shot is unusual, in it looks abandon.

Thanks, it was very difficult to make a photograph with hundreds of folks around so I had to improvise... the funny thing is that I took all Paris shots with a Pentax Q-S1 that has the same size sensor as the Mavic Mini.
Venice was shot at 04:00 in the morning, ND 15 stops, no boats, no traffic ;)

El Diabolico Posted at 11-22 08:07
Thanks, it was very difficult to make a photograph with hundreds of folks around so I had to improvise... the funny thing is that I took all Paris shots with a Pentax Q-S1 that has the same size sensor as the Mavic Mini.
Venice was shot at 04:00 in the morning, ND 15 stops, no boats, no traffic ;)

Wondered if you got up extra early to get Venice shot; without all boats, traffic, natives, and tourists.
Well worth the effort.