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DJI Mavic Mini

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Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#41

Post by nobrains »

mc32 wrote: post #5
yardie wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same price as the Spark when it was released. Smaller, lighter, and longer flight time than the Spark. There really is no reason to purchase the Spark unless you need to replace another Spark. I have a Spark and I'm really looking forward to this and being out from under the thumb of the FAA (<250g). DJI has knocked it out of the park this time.

You bring up a good point about weight. I guess I was thinking an upgraded Spark would look even nicer, but the weight threshold is a good point. I’ll probably order one of these.

The DJI Spark has more flying sensors enabling it to be flown much more easily.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#42

Post by tibbon »

mc32 wrote: post #35
tibbon wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I know people are like, "Well, just follow the rules!", and they should... some people fly drones stupidly. BUT - it's worth pointing out that if you live in some cities like Boston, that it is nearly impossible to fly a drone in city limits. Or Cambridge. Or Somerville. Check out the maps on Skyvector; it's 70/SFC, until you're in Watertown, parts of Quincy of north of Lynn. The FAA says to call the tower for pe…

So even though it’s under the limit, would one recommend not being overly cautious by registering it since that could be used against a registrant if they fly it where drones requiring registration aren’t allowed to fly?

I'm not sure. This feels a little like 49cc scooters (most states have 50cc license/registration requirements). The DMV in many states will look at you funny if you try to go register one to get a plate. It's literally 1cc under, purposefully, because it's "not a motor vehicle" - despite it having a motor and being a vehicle. Using the same logic, I'd argue this "isn't a UAV/drone", despite by all other metrics it looking just like one.

But I could see people going either way.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#43

Post by spike021 »

That's actually a surprisingly great price.

Only thing I'd be worried about a bit is if they have the potential to go the same way as GoPro. DJI reminds me a lot of how GoPro was a few years ago.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#44

Post by thekid314 »

tibbon wrote: post #26
thrwn_frthr_awy wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What they are referring too is that you still shouldn't operate these drones where they are not allowed just because they weight less than some FAA weight limit.

And I know people are like, "Well, just follow the rules!", and they should... some people fly drones stupidly. BUT - it's worth pointing out that if you live in some cities like Boston, that it is nearly impossible to fly a drone in city limits. Or Cambridge. Or Somerville. Check out the maps on Skyvector; it's 70/SFC, until you're in Watertown, parts of Quincy of north of Lynn. The FAA says to call the tower for pe…

As a Somerville resident thanks for the info!

Does it just need to pass the FAA requirements or are there local police requirements?

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#45

Post by gok »

blhack wrote: post #23

Wow, very cool! As others have pointed out, being under the weight limit set by the FAA is basically THE selling point. Ethical question: are DJI the good guys here working within the rules set out of the FAA, or are they running afoul of the spirit but staying within the letter?

Is it unethical to drive just under the speed limit?

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#46

Post by tibbon »

blhack wrote: post #23

Wow, very cool! As others have pointed out, being under the weight limit set by the FAA is basically THE selling point. Ethical question: are DJI the good guys here working within the rules set out of the FAA, or are they running afoul of the spirit but staying within the letter?

Is Vespa working outside the rules/spirit of law of state DMVs by selling scooters that are 1cc under the requirement for motorcycle registration/tax/license? It seems like a pretty good analogy to me, with the main difference being a federal/state authority.

I'm really not sure; and I could see arguments either way.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#47

Post by missosoup »

dewey wrote: post #27
sneak wrote: post #15

As someone who wants hardware that does what I instruct it to after I have purchased it, regardless of the manufacturer's wishes, I don't think I can support buying DJI's otherwise-excellent products any longer. The firmware updates and activation locks and flight restrictions imposed by the DJI Go app are too onerous. If I buy a tool, and the tool now belongs to me, the manufacturer attempting to restrict my use of…

It seems like a pretty reasonable default to prevent people from flying in no-fly zones or impose height limits next to airports I think. As that’s security related and not some artificial limitation so they can up sell something else I don’t see anything wrong with that.

The way the altitude limit is imposed is idiotic. It doesn't factor terrain height, so flying around mountains is impossible.

I've been flying various multicopters for a decade and the mavic pro was the last DJI product I'll ever purchase. Every software update for DJI products restricts their functionality to a subset of what they shipped with. This has been going on for years. People buy dedicated phones/tablets for their DJI product and keep them in airplane mode to prevent this. That's nuts.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#48

Post by dogma1138 »

bsamuels wrote: post #37
blhack wrote: post #23

Wow, very cool! As others have pointed out, being under the weight limit set by the FAA is basically THE selling point. Ethical question: are DJI the good guys here working within the rules set out of the FAA, or are they running afoul of the spirit but staying within the letter?

Soon the FAA is going to require a knowledge test for recreational flyers to fly UAS heavier than 250g. The part 107 commercial UAS exam that already exists requires a lot of studying and costs $150 to take, and this falls on the easy end of your typical FAA exam. DJI is hedging that the recreational flyer test is going to be a massive barrier for recreational pilots, which is why they're pushing a <250g UAS into the…

Just to make a note it seems that this one has two types of batteries one that weights 50g and one that weights 100g.

If you use the heavy battery you go over 249g I’m also not sure if their flight stats were measured with the heavy one or the light one I’ll bet that they are with the 100g battery.

This means that under most conditions you’ll likely have 8-10min of flight time with the light battery since the advertised max flight time is often 30-50% over real world scenarios with these drones.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#49

Post by bsamuels »

I want to know how big the motors are going to be compared to the Mavic Pro. I've flown 5" race quads that were 10mph.

Traditionally DJI drones have had very underpowered motors so they can get those high flight time numbers; seeing the 30 minute flight time quote here doesn't give me much confidence that it will fly well with anything other than perfect wind conditions.

I can't wait to tear one apart and see what kinds of compromises/trade offs they've made compared to their larger drones.

Re: DJI Mavic Mini

#50

Post by mc32 »

nobrains wrote: post #41
mc32 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You bring up a good point about weight. I guess I was thinking an upgraded Spark would look even nicer, but the weight threshold is a good point. I’ll probably order one of these.

The DJI Spark has more flying sensors enabling it to be flown much more easily.

Yeah you’re right. I just wonder if they’re retiring it or if they’ll push out a new model for the holiday season —it’s getting close to the time they either release or miss out on the sales.
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