Which drone next?

[Moore887]

Not that I've mastered the spark or anything, but seeing that there are limitations with the spark in terms of smooth gimbal movement and flight time, I'm sort of chomping at the bit to get something a bit special. I'm not a brand loyal individual although it might not be a bad idea to stick with dji just for the convenience of it. I like the size and portability of the air but the pro zoom has some great features too. Flight time is important to me because it takes me an eternity to set up a good shot since I don't have a clue what i'm doing. One of the things I love about the spark is it's small size. Unlike by brother's big old drones people don't think their under attack when they see it in the air. I watched a couple of videos on a go pro drone and I think it looks fantastic but is there any future for go pro and drones?

 

[Zeljkobn]

Just mavic 2 pro

 

[webvan]

Been thinking about that myself. I'd like to stop worrying about poor range and battery life so the Mavic Pro would be a natural ;-)

 

[windryder]

Mavic Pro will probably be my next drone.

 

[AeroMirage]

I had a spark, then Mavic Air and now Mavic 2 Pro. My advice is skip the Air and go for the M2Pro.
I have also had Phantom 3s, Phantom 4, Inspire 1 and Inspire 2. M2P has me satisfied.
(I also tried an Autel Evo and a Parrot Anafi. Returned them both as they were disappointing.)

 

[Andre Levite]

Funny you should ask because I was thinking the same thing.

After having a Spark for 6 months now I'm ready to move up. I hear the Air is too loud and the MP2 is so expensive so I'm thinking Mavic Pro. I'm really lusting for longer battery life, better distance and 4K video

DJI stopped making the Alpine White MP so only limited new ones remain. Found some on clearance on Amazon. Almost $400 less than original price...

Mavic Pro Fly More Combo with 3 batteries for just $919

I'm comparing this to DJI website showing MP at $1299. I don't see any way to beat this deal other than a used model and that sounds sketchy.

Only 6 left. What do you guys think?

 

[Spark 317]

I checked...one left.

Better hurry.

 

[Andre Levite]

Not that I've mastered the spark or anything, but seeing that there are limitations with the spark in terms of smooth gimbal movement and flight time, I'm sort of chomping at the bit to get something a bit special. I'm not a brand loyal individual although it might not be a bad idea to stick with dji just for the convenience of it. I like the size and portability of the air but the pro zoom has some great features too. Flight time is important to me because it takes me an eternity to set up a good shot since I don't have a clue what i'm doing. One of the things I love about the spark is it's small size. Unlike by brother's big old drones people don't think their under attack when they see it in the air. I watched a couple of videos on a go pro drone and I think it looks fantastic but is there any future for go pro and drones?

GoPro stopped making the Karma drone in Dec 2017 after they were forced to recall every unit sold. Then they laid off (or reassigned) their entire aerial division. With no engineers left to update the software and firmware support will soon be non-existent.

GoPro will still list Karma for sale until the current inventory is sold out -- which will likely take forever. I'd steer clear. The whole company is in bad shape. Kinda sad

 

[Moore887]

Thanks for the advice on the go pro Karma. It kind of reminds me of windows phone. I was an early adapter of that and evangelized to the bitter end!

I know the mavic 2 pro has a superior camera but does it really outweigh the zoom feature? I can imagine the zoom coming in handy for photographing objects that are difficult to get close to (wildlife, sporting events etc).

 

[webvan]

Yeah unless you're a pro the zoom likely be more useful!

 

[Dave Canada]

every body here seems to be on the same page sparky is doing a great job for me with litchi but has almost reached it,s max with my business for it so i,m adding a big brother now that the price has been chopped in half since pro two came out and dji has been inpectable with back up on there product so far i,m still in amazement of the sparks capability and its loyatly to return home!

 

[Andre Levite]

Thanks for the advice on the go pro Karma. It kind of reminds me of windows phone. I was an early adapter of that and evangelized to the bitter end!

I know the mavic 2 pro has a superior camera but does it really outweigh the zoom feature? I can imagine the zoom coming in handy for photographing objects that are difficult to get close to (wildlife, sporting events etc).

The original Mavic Pro has zoom also. Up to 2.0X

Just need to switch from 4K down to 1080 to enable the feature

Here is a video demo of the MP1 zoom

 

[Spark 317]

I didn't know it did that.

Heck, the original MP is looking better with the falling prices.

I don't have anything 4k to play videos on so 1080p is fine for me.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Andre Levite]

I checked...one left.

Better hurry.

I emailed the seller. He has more stock on the way but this model getting hard to find. No longer sold on DJI website or Apple Store.

I couldn't pass up the crazy good deal. Mine arrives later this week.

Photos and video to follow!

 

[TJBC75]

I have both the Mavic Pro and the Spark. Both are fun to fly and each has pros and cons, but the pros outweigh any cons. Go for the Mavic Pro. You get a tremendous amount for your money - and since the Mavic Pro has been out for a year and a half, you also get a great drone with a lot of the initial problems worked out. Heck once you get it, splurge and buy the low noise props for $20 and you really have a great drone. Nearly equal to the Mavic Pro Platinum in terms of low noise. The Pro has features that you will probably never use, but are there for the taking. One of the great things you will notice is the distance and the solid signal you get from the MP. Very good response and the remote has a lot of information on the built in screen that you do not get with the Spark or Mavic air. The camera on the Mavic Pro may not be quite as good as the Mavic 2 Zoom, but lets be honest, how many of us need that extra detail or 60 fps frame rate in 4K? I haven't missed it and I have had the MP for about 15 months. Below is a 9 photo pano shot of a frozen lake near Chicago I took last week with the MP. Great resolution and colors. Has never let me down on over the 150 flights I have with the MP. For the money, the MP is a great upgrade and a great price. Go for it.

 

[filippus]

I own a Spark and a Mavic Pro. Love them both, fly them both. The MP is great, photo and video good enough for me. Flight time is top. The Spark is my friend for quick shots and selfies.
Stick to DJI I'd say. Quality is always good.
Sold my Mavic air because of the noise. Pity, because I loved everything else about this drone.

 

[Richard Ruckert]

Thanks for the advice on the go pro Karma. It kind of reminds me of windows phone. I was an early adapter of that and evangelized to the bitter end!

I know the mavic 2 pro has a superior camera but does it really outweigh the zoom feature? I can imagine the zoom coming in handy for photographing objects that are difficult to get close to (wildlife, sporting events etc).

From those in the know
MP Zoom if you mostly shoot video
M2Pro if you mostly shoot stills

 

[AeroMirage]

On the Mavic Pro, I have to speak from experience. I have had 4 of them (1 was a Platinum) and couldn't get a decent picture out of any of them.
Camera has serious focus issues. Plus the camera is extremely delicate. The last one, I even sent it back to DJI and they were going to change the camera, but changed their mind and sent me an entire new bird. Wasn't refurbed either. It was no better. Sold it on ebay.
I am very happy with the Mavic 2 Pro. They seem to have ironed out the issues with the new camera design.

 

[Sr Drone]

As a camera enthusiast I always appreciate the zoom capability. Helps to frame shots more easily and as mentioned before you can get a closer shot when there are proximity restrictions.