I have an older Mavic Pro and love using it for landscape photos and videos. I’m thinking about upgrading to something newer and smaller. At first, I was considering the Mini or Air series, but I’ve started getting curious about FPV drones. After crashing into trees while flying in a foggy forest, I thought something like the Avata would be cool. I’m not really into acrobatics or racing, though.
Can the Avata hover in place and record video looking straight down, or is it always facing forward? What features from the Mini or Air would I lose out on if I went with the Avata?
The Avata 2 can tilt its camera from -90 to +80 degrees. The main difference is that it only has a single-axis gimbal, so it stabilizes only up and down. If you want to look around, the whole drone has to turn. Also, when it’s hovering and there’s wind, the drone tilts to stay in place, which means your footage can be slanted.
It’s a great drone for certain uses and can handle decent winds, but as a camera drone, it’s limited due to the single-axis gimbal. From what you’re describing, you’d probably be happier with a Mini or Air.
I usually fly in low wind conditions, around 4-10 mph. The Avata 2 is better for indoor flying, FPV, or times when stabilized video isn’t a priority. The Mini and Air drones are more like flying cameras, giving you rock-solid video in most situations.
If you’re curious, here are some comparison videos I made in similar wind conditions:
Jai said: @Cary
FPV and situations where you don’t care about stabilized video
But the Avata does have stabilization, right? It uses software for that.
Yeah, it’s stabilized with software, but I was talking about the hardware differences. You can stabilize a 5-inch FPV drone with software too, but it doesn’t make it the same as the Air series.
If you look at my Avata footage, it’s mostly unedited except for some exposure tweaks. There’s slight stabilization compared to the goggles view (in the lower-left corner of the video). However, you lose some of the field of view because of the stabilization. It really depends on what matters more to you.
Nyle said:
I was deciding between the Mini 4 Pro and the Avata 2. I bought both and ended up returning the Avata 2. The battery life was the deal-breaker for me.
Interesting choice. Most people would probably return the M4P since it’s not as fun to fly as the Avata 2. I get it, though. For FPV fun, you could get a non-DJI FPV drone instead.
@Jai
It depends on what you’re looking for. Both drones are great for different reasons. For me, it was more about having a tool than just having fun. I already knew the Avata’s battery life was shorter, but when I saw how fast the Mini 4 Pro battery drained in real life, I decided to stick with it and returned the Avata without even opening it.