Updates: Released Video from DJI…. the all new Mavic Air…. Do note that it does not have 4k60fps.

I guess, many around the world could not wait for DJI to announce their latest addition to the family.  DJI will be announcing the Mavic Air in a few hour’s time with details of the new drone and also more sample video footages.

At the moment, these are the key features:

1. 3 axis gimbal with 4k60FPS recording
2. Rear facing and Front facing obstacle avoidance sensor
3. High Res 360 degree Photos (I might just get this drone for this feature).
4. 21 min maximum flight time

Will this kill off their sale for Spark or Mavic Pro? So now the only advantage of Mavic Pro is longer flight time and may be higher max speed. Will you buy this new Mavic Air?

Photo leaks found from Internet:

DJI has yet released another teaser. This time should be for an update on Mavic Pro as it “Unfolds”. Rumours mentioned that there is a chance that it may be a Mavic “Air”, where it is lighter and smaller than the Mavic Pro, but with the same features. Other rumour mentioned that it may be a Mavic Pro II where it features a 1″ camera sensor and a rear obstacle avoidance sensor. Hopefully, they continue to share the same batteries so that I can use my Mavic Pro batteries on the new Mavic Pro.

Whatever it may be, I am very excited to see what DJI is going to offer this time, and which boundaries are being pushed by them. We will know the answer on the 23rd of Jan 2018 at 10am EST.

Just 2 days ago, DJI announced the Mavic Pro Platinum and the Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian. The much anticipated additional obstacle avoidance for Mavic Pro Platinum did not happen. DJI only improved the ESC and the propellers of the Mavic Pro. With that the flight time has been increased by additional 3mins and the noise level cut down by 4 decibels.

The new propeller is also compatible with the older Mavic, and the additional 3 mins of flight time doesn’t seem much in real world application. Hence, personally, if you already owned the original Mavic Pro, there is really not much point upgrading. If you have not invested in the Mavic yet, It is really up to you to see if you want to spend the additional US$100 for the slight improvement.

As for the P4P Obsidian, it does look good. But I think that’s about it. It is similar to the Inspire 1 black and the original Inspire 1, it is identical except for color. Personally, I feel it may be easier to spot while on flight. But in a hot country, white makes more sense. As it reflects heat a lot better.  For those who have not bought the P4P, the Obsidian might be a good choice just for the “cool” factor.

I suspect something else is cooking at DJI. We should see a new generation of ESC and Drones that will have a flight time of about 45min soon.

Recently, DJI released a new firmware update to add/enhance the features of Spark.

Added features are:

1) Gesture mode photos is upgraded from 2 megapixels to 8 megapixels.

2) A new 180 panoramic mode.

3) Starting and stopping video recording in gesture mode.

In my opinion, these are very good features and it made the Spark a lot more appealing now.  Personally, I love the 180 panoramic shots. When selected, on the click of the button, Spark takes 21 photos starting from  center and for 7 columns. One column in the middle, and 3 more columns on the left and on the right. Each column is made up of 3 photos, slightly tilted up(still avoiding the propellers), straight & level and slightly silted down. During the downloading process, the DJI GO 4 app will automatically stitch all 21 photos together to give you a high res panoramic shots with little distortion when compare to iPhone panoramic shots.

So what is in it for photographers? Spark is small in foot print,  it takes half the time to setup as compared to Mavic Pro, and the ability to take the 180 Panoramic shots just gave the spark a slight advantage over Mavic Pro if taking still photos is the main priority. Spark will offer the photographer a new perspective in the kind of shots he can get.