Anyone here into them? I see where they released the Air 2S today. Appears to be quite a deal.

Air 2S

A photographer on one of my climbs gave one to my boys, a Mavic. They enjoy fooling around with it but is more of a toy to them than anything.

The tech is pretty amazing. It can stay almost dead stable in quite a bit of wind, and it’s camera it great at locking on to people and trucks and UTVs and boats and such so the drone can follow them around.

It probably beams the video straight back to the chinks so we don’t point it at anything important.

glad I don't see them things out here. This is what I think of them flying over anything but their own property or that which they have permission to fly over.

I've used a Mavic Air since 2018.

These will be SOP on police stops in 5 years
Video will bypass the department and go straight up IAD database.
Soon as the patrol vehicles come to a stop the drone will lift off the charging station and video everything. Facial recognition, infrared, thermal...

My kid and his buddy have had there top of the dji drones since they came out ..my 2 kids got me the 249g Minnie. Good times I tell ya ! My boys has 4000k telephoto. He's even got a chit hook for it and flew up to the next guy on the street and gave him a beer !

I've been using a phantom 3 advanced for several years. Picked it up as a duck scouting tool when my Dad got too old to be beating thru 200yds of cattails just to see if there was a pond to hunt.

1984 is here.

I’ve got both the Mavic Air and the Mavic Mini. I tend to fly they Mini more just cause its cheaper if I crash it. I’m suprised I haven’t yet.
There’s a lot of uses for one—farming, ranching, surveying, construction estimates etc. I use mine mostly for scenery shots while fishing. It would be great for hunting but I would never do that as it is totally illegal.
If I can fly one anyone can—indeed got a couple of local boys that play games a lot on computer and its amazing what they can do with one.

I have a Mavic Mini 2. I have a lot to learn about them yet but it takes some very good photos and video when I do it right.

What range can one control one of these, didn't see it in the specs.

I just got one and am surprised just how much I like it. I put mine in sport mode and crashed into a tree, just yesterday I sent it to dji. Hopefully it’s fixed quickly.

It's very easy to overshoot your abilities. Of course the 1st thing anyone wants to do is find out how far away it can get. I had my Mini 2 out to over 2 miles line of sight. At that range, any obstruction at all will result in a loss of signal. Also at that range, the limiting factor isn't the signal, it's the battery. I took it straight out and back to about 2 1/4 miles and it came in running on static and all the low battery signals screaming. It was probably only a hundred yards short of autolanding itself in a field.
When filming video, you want to keep your eye on the subject to get the shot you want...and you run it into a tree or something. Don't try for fancy shots until you can fly it like an expert.

They tell you to not fly in cold weather. When it gets down in the 30's, your battery life is cut by 1/3. Keep your extra batteries in your pocket.
IMPORTANT: don't recharge a cold battery. Let it warm up to maybe 50 or more. Recharging a cold lithium battery will damage it and it won't take a full charge any more. That applies to your battery powered tools, too. Some chargers won't charge them when they're too cold.

Pretty good stuff there JW.

The FAA requires them to be kept in the operator's line of sight but most of them can be controlled 7+ miles out.

DJI Mavic 2 Pro here



There is a bit of a learning curve, but it takes some pretty spectacular photos........

These "stills" are straight out of the drone, no post photo processing.........

















Note the water trough near the bottom middle starting about 30 seconds into the video clip.



Here is the same water trough from a ground level with a ground blind set up where my Expedition is parked under the Oak Tree........







ya!

GWB

Do passenger flights and conventional aircraft flying over your place cause you concern as well?

Very nice!

My nephew just got one, I don't know what brand it is but he said his woman paid $400 for it at Best Buy. The video is really nice and I think it has a 2+ mile range. He said if it's out where you can't see it and the battery starts to get weak it will bring itself back to your location to be charged without being told. Do these do the same?

These look pretty cool and I've been thinking about getting one for a while now.

ETA: Just texted him, it's the Mavic mini so I guess they do.

I got the Mini 2 so I can carry it in a day pack. It's very small and light. The larger ones can go a lot farther and faster but they can get pretty bulky.

A word of caution............
I bought a Mavic pro and could not get it to take off from my house.
Turns out it will fly too high because I live in a flight path of the airport that is 2 miles away..........
Nice toy that I have to take somewhere else to learn how to fly.

FWIW,

I shoot Canon.

Although I luv my Mavic 2 pro, a Tamron G2 150-600 Or Sigma of the same, Super-Telephoto lenses would be more practical.

Unless things have changed,

If your Drone weighes over 1/2 lb, it has to be registered with the FAA. and according to the rules you must keep a copy of that registration in your wallet/on your person any time you have your drone in your possession. Also your registration number must be visible on the drone plus be in the battery compartment.

Don't know if it is the same now, but before I could turn on my Mavic, I had to take a test and pass before the software would let me fly.

No where did I find out how to turn it on. I guess I'm a dummy but I'd bet I invested 20 hour in figuring out how get licensed, take the test to allow me to fly, download the DJI Go sofware and do all the software updates to fly the danged thing.

It took me a good while to figure out how to turn on both the craft and the controller and get them to pair. Finally I figured out you had to push down on both the drone battery and the controller for 1 second, release, and then hold down for three or four seconds in order to turn each on.

Another limiting factor, one is severely limited to where you can fly. Most resorts and time-shares have on their web pages, "NO DRONES" allowed on the premises. In Texas, you cannot legally operate a drone in City or State parks or WMA's. Flying Drones in National Parks is also verboten.

It is illegal to fly over areas where there are congregations of people, or sporting events.

Getting licensed is a beotch, and exposes you to all kinds of rules that a non-licensed operator hs to contend with.

But having said all that , I do enjoy mine!






yup!




GWB

No, those don't hover around scoping out folks backyards at 50' above ground level either. Where I live, they're generally at 25k' or higher. Sometimes the medevac chopper flies by within sight, probably at 500', on the way to the hospital and back.

Neither do the Air National Guard jets that fly over every few days bother me.

To me, the drones are no different than putting a camera on a pole to reach over a privacy fence to look at the neighbor's teen daughters sunbathing.

I certainly do wish they had made and enforced rules for them to stay only over places they had permission to fly.

Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's ethical.

I have a Mini..Lots of fun and no neighbors.. ..This my first flight around the house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma1YhybsxcI&list=UUKJGmhZYkPVR3TXD9AIYyMg&index=20&t=33s

100%

I try to observe the Dwight Yokum rule......

I typically only fly mine when ...........






ya!

GWB

Flying the Cascades last winter.

Mighty fine stuff guys!

ya!

GWB

Drones and shooting..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePMrKDS2yxs&list=UUKJGmhZYkPVR3TXD9AIYyMg&index=11

Those mountains look awesome!

Studying for the part 107 license is an eye opening experience. Once you understand how to read a sectional chart you’ll be amazed at how much controlled air space there is in this country. If you’re using the DJI app it has even more restrictions in it.

Someone in our area thinks it's a good idea to use theirs to play chicken with the cars on the local interstate. I just barely evaded one coming through my windshield at 70 MPH last weekend while working. To say it caught me by surprise as it was coming towards me would be the understatement of the year.

The Mavik Air2 seems to be the cats meow for the everyday guy that wants one to use for amateur pictures and that will have good flight time. I have been going to get one but the better half thinks we need new carpet more than I need a drone.

Another reason to get a Mini or Mini 2. It's 1 g. under the weight limit for registration so none of the above is necessary. They designed it specifically for that reason and they're selling a bunch of them. Just go fly it.
I'm also near the flight path for an airport but I'm good under 400' altitude. I'll get a warning but no flight restrictions. I've never had it that high, though. It gets pretty windy up there.
One place I did get a flight restriction was last fall during a wild fire. I was several miles from the fire but the FAA had put temporary flight restrictions all around it. I couldn't even take off. They don't want people flying drones around where there might be tankers flying, of course, but this extended well away from that area. It has to pick up the restrictions through the GPS satellites. It's not receiving any other signals that I know of.

Speaking of altitude: you set the RTH altitude (return to home). If your battery gets weak or you lose the signal. It will stop where it is, climb to the preset RTH altitude, and come back. You set the altitude high enough to avoid anything that might be in the way of it's return. If there are tall trees or buildings that could be in the way, you might consider setting it at 150' or more. The trick is that it uses the takeoff point for the zero point and goes up from there, not from the ground where it is at the time. If you're flying in the hills, and it has to RTH, you have to think about the elevation of those hills so you don't crash it. Quite often you'll be flying in the hills and the takeoff point will be from the bottom. You have to consider those hills when you set the RTH altitude. If you're flying up a narrow valley, you need to clear those hills if it RTH's.
If you've lost the signal, often when it gets up the RTH altitude or gets a little closer to you, you'll regain the signal and can take over again. You can cancel the RTH command any time that you have a signal. You can also change the RTH altitude setting while it's in flight so if you discover something taller than you anticipated, you can avoid it.

I need to find someone here in my area that has one and would be willing to give me some in person instruction. Or sell it and get a mini

good on you GWB

Mavic Pro or Air ? If you're on FB there are a ton of groups and should be easy to find someone to show you the basics.

If it has enough juice. If not, it will land where ever it's about to run out. Which can be very bad, because it doesn't care where that is. (over water, in traffic lol)



The Mini's don't have collision avoidance, so it's very easy to fly it into things. You can do that even with the ones that do, but with the Mini's it's easier still.

Anyone snag one of the new 2s yet?

You guys have some great footage. A coworker has a few DJI drones, but for some reason his video is lower quality. Now sure what hes doing. He has a place in the Philippines and is moving there this year....lucky to retire early lol. Anyhow heres his Mavic 2 Pro....maybe its just how he uploaded to youtube???

I’m certainly no expert. Don’t even have a drone, but I am considering one. After watching several recent YouTube videos on the subject, IT SEEMS that the FAA is really cracking down on the “commercial use” of drones ... which apparently DOES require a drone pilot’s license. AND ... according to the FAA ... “commercial use” can be something as simple and innocuous as posting your drone footage on YouTube ... even if you aren’t really being paid for the footage or using the drone for business purposes. One couple had a simple vanity YouTube channel where they play some of their photographs, including drone footage. Some anonymous viewer ratted them out to the FAA, and they literally got a phone call from an FAA investigator telling them the fines could be $100,000.00.. Bottom line: the guy went and got his license before he flew his drone again.

Yes.

It looks like he uploaded it at 360p, which is far below the quality the current DJI drones are capable of.

I think its 480...youre right. Thing looks like its got good range and really stable. Ill have to ask him why he uploads at low quality.

Skydio???

Ok I see the two front legs and both set of props on topside. Soooooooooooooooooooooooo which one is it???????????????????????????????????????