Buy a drone or not?

[Run&Gun]

@Firehawk. Thanks, I should have checked before I bought it. I wound up picking up an Iphone 7 from Boost Mobile to load the app and surprise I can't get cellular service! (I live in a basement apt so I use wifi calling which apparently SHOULD be capable on my line but for some reason isn't working) So I have to choose between no cell service and a working drone or cell service and returning the drone :/

@Run n Gun ugh don't get me started. I long for the days of plug and play, too. I don't get it -- why can't they make an app that can run on a 32 bit system? DJI is IMPEDING potential customers from buying their products by imposing these largely unnecessary technical requirements on their customers.

Maybe just find an iPhone(or other phone) that is compatible on eBay or something like that and tether to your Android. I'm using my old iPhone X with my M2Pro and when I'm away from my house, I just tether it to my 11Pro.

[scorsesefan]

I know it's frustrating, but try to understand you are in a very small handful of people in the world.

32-bit computing is extremely old. The first iPhone had it in 2013, 7 years ago. And I think Android followed shortly after.

They of course can make an app for a 32-bit system, but I imagine they don't want to spend the time and money going backwards. The people owning and flying a drone with a 32-bit phone whom are interested in using the application are practically zero.

It's much easier to focus on the future and move forward rather than allocate resources to backward-compatibility.

True, but the phone was made in 2018... I think most people on this forum can agree with me that they'd rather put $1000 towards a lens or audio recorder than an Iphone 20 or whatever they're up to ;)

[NorBro]

Yeah, I was wondering about that...I'd be surprised if it was a top, expensive model (you don't have to answer, just wondering).

[All iPhones have been 64-bit since 2013.]

$1000 towards other gear, totally.

[rob norton]

True, but the phone was made in 2018... I think most people on this forum can agree with me that they'd rather put $1000 towards a lens or audio recorder than an Iphone 20 or whatever they're up to ;)

I'm not sure if this would work but mavic mini specs say "Android 6.0 and later". Mavic air 2 specs say "Android".

Is it possible the ma2 lets you use older androids? It could just be B&H (or DJI) being inconsistent with what they provide as a spec.

I'm probably way off but definitely worth checking out, especially if it means you get a better drone for cheaper.

I won't rest until scorsesefan gets in the air.

[scorsesefan]

Thanks, Rob. As far as I know both the Air 2 and Mini are paired exclusively to the DJI Fly app which is Android 6.0 and above. My Android is >6.0 but only 32 bit. Their phone compatibility list is very short and I wonder how they came up with it, as I'm guessing their are plenty of phones that meet the specs but aren't on the list...

[Run&Gun]

Not wanting to make it an Apple vs. Android thing, but it is much easier for most things like this with Apple, because it's a much more streamlined and smaller, tighter ecosystem with OS, software and product line, whereas with Android the variations of equipment, manufacturers and versions of OS and software are so incredibly large, it's hard to have every single permutation covered.

[firehawk]

Good point above. I'm no apple guy. Even though I now have 3 iPads, 2 iPhones and 1 old iPod, lol, all used for work. I really don't like apple. But like in the case with my phantom 4 pro+, the android version is missing features that the apple version has, and I do miss them. So it might be advisable to go apple.

[Publimix]

Buy the drone and buy an Ipad. Amen

[scorsesefan]

Does anyone know which nd filter to buy for this fixed 2.8 lens to shoot bright sunny day 24fps/48 shutter/iso 100?

[J Michael]

Sunny 16 rule says f/16 @ 100, so at 1/50 and 2.8 you would be looking at about 6 stops of ND or a 1.8.

[scorsesefan]

Sunny 16 rule says f/16 @ 100, so at 1/50 and 2.8 you would be looking at about 6 stops of ND or a 1.8.

Thanks. For some reason the ND filters for the drones don't follow the 0.3, 0.6, etc. notation. Instead they're ND32, ND64, etc. So it looks like the ND64 would be a 6 stop filter...

[NorBro]

It's the same thing; one is a ND rating (ND64) and the other is an optical density (1.8).

[AndreeOnline]

Drone ND filters are often sold as a kit, and I think it's good idea to get more than one 'theoretical' filter.

The sensors in drones are pretty sensitive to changes in light and have limited dynamic range, so your window for perfect exposure is pretty narrow. And once the drone is up it's "gone". The batteries don't last forever, so you will likely not want to fly back and forth and micro manage your setup.

That said, while you can certainly use a drone as a "camera on a virtual tripod or slider" that flies close to people and objects, more often you will shoot stuff that is farther away. In this mode, objects don't move so quickly across the screen and your footage is less sensitive to 'cheating the shutter' and using let's say 1/100 or 1/200 of a second.

If you're truly a purist and want none of that—just disregard. You images will likely be a bit softer than most other drone footage, but that can be a good thing too.

But if we extend the thought of cheating the shutter we realise that if you're shooting at 1/200 you might as well be shooting at 1/800. Any motion blur is gone anyway, if you're in aerial mode. Yes, but if the sun is out and your shutter is too fast, you might start to pick up prop shadow in the frame (depends on drone). So some base ND is always good.

Anyway, try to get a set while your familiarising yourself with it.

[scorsesefan]

Drone ND filters are often sold as a kit, and I think it's good idea to get more than one 'theoretical' filter.

The sensors in drones are pretty sensitive to changes in light and have limited dynamic range, so your window for perfect exposure is pretty narrow. And once the drone is up it's "gone". The batteries don't last forever, so you will likely not want to fly back and forth and micro manage your setup.

That said, while you can certainly use a drone as a "camera on a virtual tripod or slider" that flies close to people and objects, more often you will shoot stuff that is farther away. In this mode, objects don't move so quickly across the screen and your footage is less sensitive to 'cheating the shutter' and using let's say 1/100 or 1/200 of a second.

If you're truly a purist and want none of that—just disregard. You images will likely be a bit softer than most other drone footage, but that can be a good thing too.

But if we extend the thought of cheating the shutter we realise that if you're shooting at 1/200 you might as well be shooting at 1/800. Any motion blur is gone anyway, if you're in aerial mode. Yes, but if the sun is out and your shutter is too fast, you might start to pick up prop shadow in the frame (depends on drone). So some base ND is always good.

Anyway, try to get a set while your familiarising yourself with it.

Thanks for the info. Interesting point about it being less sensitive to cheating the shutter. I'm used to things here on the ground and doubling your frame rate for shutter speed so I'll have to experiment...

[scorsesefan]

So I took this out for my first flight today. Impressed, but you really have to nail the exposure in-camera. DR is not terrible but not too impressive. Is the dynamic range of the Mavic Air 2 any better with its flat profile or do you have to go straight to the Mavic Pro 2 to get a more flexible picture for post?