DJI Mavic mini drone

[Alfred Molon]

I'm curious about your thoughts on this new drone. You
get smartphone image quality (no RAW, just 12MP, not so
great dynamic range), but on the other hand due to its
low weight (249 gram) it's below the registration
requirements in many countries.
And because of its small size you can carry it around in
your camera bag (as you would with another lens) just to
have it available in case you need it.
Sometimes a medium quality drone image is better than no
image at all.
--
Alfred Molon

Olympus 4/3 and micro 4/3 cameras forum at
https://groups.io/g/myolympus
https://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

[Alan Browne]

On 2019-11-01 05:17, Alfred Molon wrote:
> I'm curious about your thoughts on this new drone. You
> get smartphone image quality (no RAW, just 12MP, not so
> great dynamic range), but on the other hand due to its
> low weight (249 gram) it's below the registration
> requirements in many countries.
> And because of its small size you can carry it around in
> your camera bag (as you would with another lens) just to
> have it available in case you need it.
> Sometimes a medium quality drone image is better than no
> image at all.

It was inevitable that DJI come out with such.

Don't focus on the still image quality, most people will be making video
with this, and the video quality is far more than adequate for most
people. Indeed I bet a lot people dial it down to 1080p just to make
the editing chore less of a hassle while making very nice video just the
same.

"just 12 MP" is adequate to make fairly large prints (~70 x 50 cm or
even larger) that should present well as long as you stand at an image
viewing distance and not a pixel peeping distance. Fixed aperture at
f/2.8. But at such a wide FOV that won't present any DOF issues for the
intended use. Summary: good light will produce good images.

Here in Canada, it ducks under the 250g limit and so does not require
pilot license nor drone registration. (I have such licenses and
registrations as well as the FAA registration (need for later ambiguous
at present)).

This will result in a lot of people out there flying willy nilly and
doing things that are not wise or legal (tresspass and privacy for example).

I assume that DJI will nevertheless enforce geofences (even if their geo
fences aren't great, they should prevent most people from doing dumb
things near airports). These can be over-ridden in other DJI drones
though it's tedious for most people and requires acknowledging legal
liability).

A detail in their video that caught my eye was the "4 km HD transmission
range" implying to users that it would acceptable to operate at such
distances. (I predict many lost drones as people don't configure them
correctly and/or make unfounded assumptions about the "Fly Home" ability
in some circumstances.

As to carry around that is its greatest appeal. I've taken my Mavic Pro
on trips (flights and car travel) and it is very portable at 750g. This
new Mavic is tiny in comparison. I confess temptation.

--
"Even with the brain dead, the pig's heart keeps on beating...
sort of like ... pick a Kardashian."
-Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown

[Alfred Molon]

In article <k8qdnco8Gsm01yHA...@giganews.com>,
bitb...@blackhole.com says...

> Don't focus on the still image quality, most people will be making video
> with this

I see. So you use the drone more for video than for stills?
--
Alfred Molon

Olympus E-series DSLRs and micro 4/3 forum at
https://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/

[Alan Browne]

On 2019-11-01 13:30, Alfred Molon wrote:
> In article <k8qdnco8Gsm01yHA...@giganews.com>,
> bitb...@blackhole.com says...
>> Don't focus on the still image quality, most people will be making video
>> with this
>
> I see. So you use the drone more for video than for stills?

I do stills too. The video is much more compelling.

[RichA]

Drones have been hobbled by nightmare bureaucracy. People flew (in some cases, big heavy aircraft) radio-controlled planes and helicopters as hobbyists for DECADES, but drones have been hit by horrific rules.

[newshound]

On 02/11/2019 00:08, RichA wrote:

>
> Drones have been hobbled by nightmare bureaucracy. People flew (in some cases, big heavy aircraft) radio-controlled planes and helicopters as hobbyists for DECADES, but drones have been hit by horrific rules.
>

There's a reason for that, though. You need serious skills (and time,
and money) to fly larger RC planes and helicopters. Any idiot can fly a
drone.

[-hh]

newshound wrote:
RichA wrote:
> > Drones have been hobbled by nightmare bureaucracy. People flew

> > (in some cases, big heavy aircraft) radio-controlled planes...

Did that in my younger days. Only a few ready-to-fly kits, so lots of your
time was spent in the workshop building the aircraft. Then lots of crashed
airplane frames while learning how to fly...and more rebuilding time. All
during, one had to deal with the temperamental PITA nitromethane fueled
motors and the discovery of injuries from trying to hand-start those motors,
so even more money spent to not get a finger sliced off...a 12v electric starter
and portable car battery to haul around to wherever you were going to be flying.
Even with only one airframe ... they aren’t small (my first starter was a named
“something 56”, for a 56 inch wingspan - just under 5 foot), the car trunk has gotten
pretty full by now, so if you & your buddy we’re going out, you’re now taking two
cars or thinking about your next car to be a cargo van.

> > and helicopters as hobbyists for ...

Hell no, those damn things were even more expensive and incredibly hard to
learn how’s to fly them.

> > DECADES, but drones have been hit by horrific rules.
>
> There's a reason for that, though. You need serious skills (and time,
> and money) to fly larger RC planes and helicopters. Any idiot can fly a
> drone.

Indeed; it was damn expensive: a basic four channel radio cost $250, plus 4
servos @ $50 each at 1980 prices would’ve cost $1400 today, and that’s just
the control system that goes inside...I forget how much the gas motors cost, but
with stuff like your ground kit too, figure you’re at roughly half the novice’s
starting flyaway cost, so $3K at today’s prices. I found that taking up scuba diving
was a cheaper hobby...but if Rich wants some of my old R/C crap, I think it’s
still stashed up in a corner of the attic...converted it to R/C boats for awhile because
they were cheaper to crash.


-hh

[Alan Browne]

Depends on the idiot and the drone and what the goals are.

[Alan Browne]

On 2019-11-01 20:08, RichA wrote:

> Drones have been hobbled by nightmare bureaucracy. People flew (in some cases, big heavy aircraft) radio-controlled planes and helicopters as hobbyists for DECADES, but drones have been hit by horrific rules.

Drone rules, in Canada at least, have backed down from TC's initial
stance to something workable in most cases.

Most R/C flyers in Canada fly under the auspices of a local club, said
club often under MAAC [Model Aeronautics Association of Canada]. And
their rules are well defined, mature, safety oriented and narrow in
scope. MAAC developed their sensible safety rules over the decades that
apply to R/C flying and the technological roots from which they sprang.

The prior drone rules from TC were inspired by and with the
collaboration of the radio control world (above) that TC consulted in
the early phases.

- pilot in the loop - he's responsible for a/c stability and
control-ability at all times.
- clear visual line of sight to the a/c
- controlled environment under membership and training and supervision
for beginners
- control link management

To name a few.

TC and MAAC, esp. in the early drone years had no understanding of the
drone community which is in the main for photography - not the "joy of
flight" and development as MAAC members generally practice. (This
excludes the "racing" community entirely who are still way out in the
cold where the rules are concerned).

Drones (most that people fly such as the Mavic in question) are pilot
outside the loop (ie: let go of the controls and it just hovers - it is
always, 100% of the time, on autopilot - the user is just pushing the
autopilot controls). Stability is guaranteed by the flight control
system in the drone at all times. Many drones (such as that above) also
have collision avoidance sensors to make accidents less likely in the
hands of beginners and experts alike. (Misunderstanding the limits of
these sensors is a recipe for drone loss, but I won't go into that here...).

It took TC a long time to understand that. I was in meetings with them
and other drone flyers (and other licensed pilots and MAAC members) to
help them clearly see the differences. Indeed I made it clear to them
that their arbitrary weight/use classes (that they proposed at the time)
were not only already badly dated by the march of technology but that
they would be soon superseded by drones such as the subject drone.

So, now in Canada there are 3 "levels" of drone pilot licensing that
cover most use cases. There are also classes of safety for the machines
(wrt to flying over people for example).

Nothing perfect of course, but the shrinking of the no fly areas, the
increase in operating altitude, the lessening of other restrictions in
the latest rules is closer to sanity than the prior MAAC inspired rules.

I wrote the license for the base level over lunch w/o studying and
passed. But then I'm a commercial pilot so it was very easy for me.
Someone who doesn't know aviation regulations, maps and theory of flight
will not be able to pass w/o study and/or training.

Will I do the 1st level commercial license for drones? Maybe. It would
give me far more operational freedom. Maybe in the spring.