The Mavic Pro is one of the finest beginner commercial drones available on the market. It was only a matter of time before their successor was revealed. It is reported that the successor will come in the form of the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom.
Following a recent leak from an Argos catalogue and TechCrunch showing the new Mavic 2, rumours have been swirling about what exactly this may entail. The announcement is reportedly imminent (August 23rd 2018). There was some form of DJI announcement previously pencilled in for July 18th but has since been pushed back. But what can we expect?
The Mavic range is notoriously accessible to both the hobbyist market and a great training drone for the commercial market. The new Mavic 2 range is only likely to add to that accessibility. With that in mind, we have compiled the top 5 reasons we believe, based on the leak, the Mavic 2 is better than its predecessor the Mavic Pro.
1. Optical Zoom
As you may have guessed by the name “Mavic 2 Zoom”, the new Mavic is likely to have an impressive zoom feature. This will allow users to create aerial zoom shots, a feature which could be useful for a number of use cases.
The Mavic 2 Zoom is set to feature a 2x optical zoom (24mm-48mm). It’s also likely to feature the “dolly zoom effect”. This is an in-camera effect that appears to undermine normal visual perception. The effect is essentially achieved by zooming to adjust the angle of view, whilst the camera dollies towards or away from the subject of the shot.
2. Enhanced Image Quality
The Mavic 2 Pro is set to come featured with the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) Hasselblad camera. The Hasselblad camera features a 1-inch sensor with no zoom. This is an upgrade on the Mavic Pro’s camera, and if you’re looking for image quality over zoom capability the Mavic 2 Pro is ideal.
Following the Mavic Pro’s camera receiving mixed reviews, the Mavic 2 Pro’s camera is, therefore, an upgrade. Hasselblad cameras have previously featured on DJI’s Matrice 600 drone. This makes the Mavic 2 Pro ideal for any budding videographers and filmmakers looking to make their breakthrough into the commercial drone market.
3. Obstacle Avoidance
The Mavic 2 is also set to feature “omnidirectional obstacle sensing”, otherwise known as “360-degree obstacle avoidance”. This gives the Mavic 2 more situational awareness than the Pro and makes it a safe-to-fly solution.
The Mavic Pro was naturally seen as the ideal training drone, but the Mavic 2 could quite easily step into its place. Drone novices often fear crashing their drone, however with this new obstacle avoidance technology, it takes a certain element of this fear away from the user.
You may also be interested in: Using the DJI Mavic as a training platform for the police.
The reported Mavic 2 launch visual
4. Longer flight time
The Mavic 2 has a maximum flight length of 31 minutes, as opposed to the Pro which could fly for up to 27 minutes. Although this is only a marginal increase, it gives it an advantage over the Pro, and particularly over the Air (21 minutes).
This would allow the Mavic 2 to be used for jobs that may need more flight time. The Mavic Pro was praised for its flight time due to its size, so it’s even more impressive that DJI has managed to not only maintain that flight time but improve it and extend it.
5. Faster in the air
The Mavic 2 is set to be capable of reaching speeds up to 45mph during flight. This is an impressive increase of 5mph over the Mavic Pro.
Combining this, alongside the extended flight time and obstacle avoidance provides the Mavic 2 with impressive flight features. This will allow it to if for example, it’s used for cinematography, to keep up with fast-paced action shots. In terms of training, it will also allow the user to practice using a drone that’s safe as well as fast.
The final release product may be very different to the current spec rumours, however this, for now, is what we have to go by. It’s looking likely the new Mavic is going to be a huge step up from its Mavic predecessors. There is reportedly an announcement due in August 2018, so keep your eyes peeled for more Mavic news coming soon.
