DJI - Mavic 2 Pro

It's terrible. I'll do you a favor and take it off your hands. Seriously though, it's still a great unit today. Just keep an eye on the batteries - we've had a few swell recently and need replacing.

In your budget what you'll be looking at is essentially a phone camera on a capable drone. 1/2" chip, fixed focus, nailed to a 2.8 iris and glass the size of a dime. You'd have to step up to a used Mavic 2 (1" cmos hasslebald camera) or greater for a decent sized sensor that shoots raw or log gamma.

Keep the Air 3s , Mavic pro 2, Neo 2 & Flip. sell the rest & get the Avata 360... Then seek out a therapist

3 Pro or 4 Pro. Any of the mini / air line will be a downgrade from M2P.

Getting back into it those are the three I’d go for. Have some diy quads, Mavic 2 Pro, and original Avata. Picked up a Mini 5 Pro and Neo 2 for ~$1500 with extra batteries and the RC2 controller and I’d be tempted by the 360 lol.

I've basically stopped using my Mavic and use my Mini 3 Pro for most things now. Wind resistance isn't quite as good, but image quality is more than good enough and being under 250 g makes flying a lot easier (in Canada, might be different where you are). Some people assume 'bigger is better'. I've seen that in photography, where my Nikon D800 with huge lens gets more respect than a smaller camera. (So sometimes I'll being the bigger camera for show, use it for a few pictures while mostly using a smaller camera, and let people assume that the best pictures were taken with the bigger camera when in reality all the pictures came from the smaller easier-to-carry camera.)

I've printed several feet wide from both my Mini 3 Pro and my Mavic 2 Pro. I shoot a lot of 360° panoramas, and those are about 18,000 pixels wide which gives me a lot of room for cropping a print. (23,000 pixels with the Mavic 2.) One thing I suggest you look at are drone regulations in your country. In Canada a drone 250g or heavier requires at least a basic RPAS pilot certificate and there are a lot of restricted areas. An advanced certificate would open up more areas to flying but there are still more restrictions than there are with sub-250g drones. (Which is why I've hardly flown my Mavic in ages.) So depending on where you are and what you want to photograph, that could be a significant factor.

I view my drones as cameras with 120m tripods. :-) Depending on where you live, being under 250g may make a large difference in both where you can fly and what licensing you need. The Mini 5 Pro is quite possibly over that limit\* and while some jurisdictions may be relaxed about a few grams difference some aren't. I have a Mavic 2 Pro (which has a 1" sensor and Hasselblad camera), a Mini 3 Pro, and a new (unused) Mini 5 Pro — and I'm thinking that the 5 might have been a mistake (because where I live (Canada) the weight is a factor). It may end up replacing my infrequently-used Mavic for trips out to the boonies where I can legally fly it. I almost never shoot video. It's a different way of thinking which I haven't mastered. A good retirement project to look forward to, though. The camera on my Mini 3 Pro is good enough to take photos that I've enlarged and hung on my wall, not to mention sold. Low-light performance is decent enough for the light levels I fly in (never darker than twilight). Good call on the fly-more kit. You'll want extra batteries and props, and the carrying bag is nice. If you opt for a Mini 3/4 Pro get a better screwdriver than comes with the kit. Get the version with the RC Controller with the built-in screen. Less faffing around with cables, keeps your phone free for other tasks (and you don't have to remember to turn off notifications so you don't get distracted while flying), and doesn't run your phone down. \*Officially 249.9 g +/- 4 g.

Stewart and Alina have some footage of tests they did on the Mini 3 Pro in Scotland, with winds so strong you can lean into them. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3nOB8Pr4Hg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3nOB8Pr4Hg) I have both a Mini 3 Pro and a Mavic 2 Pro. Both are pretty good in wind. The Mavic handles gusts better, as its greater mass means it doesn't move as far before the active position holding kicks in. For videos they both do just fine, for panoramas where I need multiple shots from the same point (to avoid Parallax errors) the Mavic is a bit better. OTOH, the Mini is a lot easier to carry!

I use a Mini 3 Pro. I also have a Mavic 2 Pro but the Mini is good enough to print large so that's what I use most of the time because it's easier to carry (and sounds quieter).

How large is "large" for your prints? I've printed shots from my Mini 3 Pro 4' wide and you can't tell them from shots from my Nikon D800. (Well, other than being in the air!) I also have a Mavic 2 Pro (first Mavic with a Hassleblad camera) and in good light there's very little difference between the images. The Mavic performs better in low light, but I'm surprised at how well the Mini does. I usually use my Mini now. Partly because it's lighter and easier to carry, but mostly because where I live (Canada) has looser regulations for drones under 250 g, so I can fly more places. Depending on where you fly this could be significant.

Anyone have a reputable seller in the US or Canada to recommend? Time to punt my Mavic 2 Pro and 3 Pro.

No module required. A firmware update added the remote id feature on the mavic 2 pro.

If you want something good and not care about price get the mavic but if you do care about price then get the dji mini 3 or 4 pro remember to ALWAYS do the training flight simulater when you buy a new drone you will need to

Nice! One of the best drones DJI ever made. Just make sure to keep an eye on your batteries’ cycle counts (anything above 150-200 and I relegate my batteries to “baby” status where I don’t fly fast with them or over water, remote woods, etc) and watch for signs of swelling. As for filming tips, I’d say just get out there and start flying — in a wide open field if this is truly your first drone — and slowly build up your skills. If your coming from a photography/video background the camera part will come easy to you, but if not you’ll be able to to learn that as well through YouTube tutorials and just plain old trial and error. My number one tip for filming cool shots would be focus on the movement — sometimes faster isn’t always better and how flying lower to the ground/obstacles (while more risky for sure, don’t rush into these type of shots before your skills are there) will produce more dynamic shots. Here’s a [video I put together several years back with my Mavic 2 Pro](https://youtu.be/f3TRiqnf0xk?si=UVywNAlUjl8YUTDR) that showcases a bit of what I’m talking about.