DJI announced yet another new drone this week – the Mavic Air. It is a compact drone that shoots 4K video and offers 21 minutes of flight time for $799.
DJI Mavic Air Key Features
- Capture 4K Video and 12MP Photos
- 3-Axis Gimbal-Stabilized Camera
- GPS- & Vision Position-Based Navigation
- 8GB of Internal Storage
- FlightAutonomy with Obstacle Detection
- Top Speed of 43 mph in Sport Mode
- ActiveTrack Subject Tracking Modes
- Up to 21 Minutes of Flight Time
- Foldable, Portable Body
Here’s a short overview of the new Mavic Air with some sample footage and comparisons with the Mavic Pro and Spark drones.
The DJI Mavic Pro comes with the following:
- Remote Controller
- Intelligent Flight Battery
- Charger
- Power Cable
- 3 x Pairs of Props
- Set of Prop Guards
- RC Cable (Lightning)
- RC Cable (Micro-USB)
- RC Cable (USB Type-C)
- Gimbal Protector
- Communication Cable
- USB Adapter
- RC Cable Slider (Large)
- 2 x RC Cable Slider (Small)
- Carrying Case
The Mavic Air is available with a red, white or black body. You can pre-order it here at B&H Photo.
Who would of thought that the drone popularity would go from strength to strength. However here in the UK the law’s are creeping in to make it increasingly more difficult to ‘Own a Drone’ and for you to use and capture footage which has a licence or doesn’t break the law. I am a publicity still’s photographer but needed to hire a drone and operator which come’s at a huge cost because they have to opperate within flight law’s and restricted air space. So to grab that 10 seconds of footage I needed I went to a hobbist and we quite litterally winged it for minimal cost. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.The new DJI Mavic Air does look like an easy way to have fun and shoot personnal imagery but for business use, do I want to jump through all those hoops…?
In the same exact boat… err, drone? I want to abide by local rules, laws, etc. But the costs to setup the legit way and the massive headaches involved are not worth the tradeoff for a few times per year usage. Would love to get the Mavic Air and capture some shots for professional use projects. Considering doing so. But getting licensed with the FAA to do that is more than this one-man band can handle. Already stretched too thin as it is.
I agree with both Paul and Brian comments. With the number of drones hitting the sky every day you can only expect the laws to get stricter. However, buying a drone or hiring an operator is not as expensive as they were once. The compact models such as the DJI Mavic Air and Spark changed the way we look at camera drones.
From my experience, I do not recommend the Mavic Air by DJI for professional or commercial projects due to the limited flight time. Maybe you can try out the DJI Phantom 4 or Yuneec Typhoon H that offers better specs, stability, increased flight duration, and superior wind resistance.
This thing looks beautiful and really amazing, I bought DJI GO last year but it seems like this one would totally defeat others with its amazing specs