What should I buy- Skydio2 or MavicPro 2

[Dale from Miami]

Thrilled to join this forum and find out all I can about this new drone and whether or not it is for me. All input welcomed. I am now deciding between moving up from aMavic Air (I've owned 2 years, 2 crashes due to trees), to either Mavic Pro 2 or Skydio 2. What should I get? I do lots of both video and stills , videos and photoshop.

 

[AntDX316]

Both

 

[parkgt]

I have a M2P and am waiting on the S2. I wouldn't want to be without the M2P and may feel that way about the S2 after I use it.

I think it depends on you primary use. For general flying and great video and photos especially if dusk or night shot are of interest the M2P is the way to go. If you are OK with only daylight shots the S2 has some neat abilities.

Only you know!

 

[UNIXman]

Totally agree with Parkgt. Recently, most of my flying is being done BELOW treetop level, through intricate terrain, whilst flying past big objects like pines. Much prettier footage.

de KØUNX, Jim, in Jefferson County, Colorado

 

[Dale from Miami]

Totally agree with Parkgt. Recently, most of my flying is being done BELOW treetop level, through intricate terrain, whilst flying past big objects like pines. Much prettier footage.

de KØUNX, Jim, in Jefferson County, Colorado

I am deathly afraid of trees. Both crashes were from those da...ed trees! I was lucky as hell to find the Mavic Air in a tangle of bushes at the bottom of a baobab tree in Madagascar- almost ruined my entire trip. It smashed a front sensor which has been taken care of by DJI very nicely. I tried to do a circle on the pre-sets and thought my height was ok but it wasn't. For that reason alone, I am fascinated by the Skydio2. I rarely, if ever, fly at night. I want a good camera for daytime and avoid crashes that would not happen if I had top and side sensors too.

So what are you opinions now???

Thanks in advance.

 

[parkgt]

I am deathly afraid of trees. Both crashes were from those da...ed trees! I was lucky as hell to find the Mavic Air in a tangle of bushes at the bottom of a baobab tree in Madagascar- almost ruined my entire trip. It smashed a front sensor which has been taken care of by DJI very nicely. I tried to do a circle on the pre-sets and thought my height was ok but it wasn't. For that reason alone, I am fascinated by the Skydio2. I rarely, if ever, fly at night. I want a good camera for daytime and avoid crashes that would not happen if I had top and side sensors too.

So what are you opinions now???

Thanks in advance.

Unless you have an S2 on order you will most likely be waiting six months or more to get one. Can you wait that long?

You could find a used M2P and fly it for six months while watching how the S2 does. You could then stay with the M2P or sell it for not much of a loss.

If you are even remotely interested in the S2 get one on order, you can always get your $100 back.

 

[Dale from Miami]

Unless you have an S2 on order you will most likely be waiting six months or more to get one. Can you wait that long?

You could find a used M2P and fly it for six months while watching how the S2 does. You could then stay with the M2P or sell it for not much of a loss.

If you are even remotely interested in the S2 get one on order, you can always get your $100 back.

Thanks a lot. I had no idea that there was a back log or a wait list. I will pursue that immediately.

 

[AntDX316]

I mean, if you want to have fun rather than just stick to after photos and video, you get a DJI Mavic 2 Zoom with DJI RE Goggles. The experience is like no other.

 

[Radio]

I think a lot of folks are going to be asking the same question of themselves as you Dale.
I also did not realize the scale of the back log.

 

[leenanj]

WooHoo, got an email from Skydio saying they are on track
for my November shipment of the Skydio 2.

I first thought the Skydio would be in addition to my Mavic but
I doubt the mavic will be used much after seeing the videos
of the Skydio in action.

Even under manually control you can't crash it no matter how
hard you try to fly it into something.

I may still need the mavic for antonymous waypoint missions
at least till Litchi comes out for the Skydio. That is
assuming Skydio releases a SDK for there bird.

 

[Radio]

Leenaj, will be great to hear how you make out with the new bird, especially since you have a history with the Mavic.

 

[parkgt]

[QUOTE="leenanj, post: 64, member: 63"

I may still need the mavic for antonymous waypoint missions
at least till Litchi comes out for the Skydio. That is
assuming Skydio releases a SDK for there bird.
[/QUOTE]
A message from Litchi yesterday confirms that they currently do not have plans to support the Skydio. They already have enough problems keeping up with the DJI platforms.

 

[leenanj]

[QUOTE="leenanj, post: 64, member: 63"

I may still need the mavic for antonymous waypoint missions
at least till Litchi comes out for the Skydio. That is
assuming Skydio releases a SDK for there bird.

A message from Litchi yesterday confirms that they currently do not have plans to support the Skydio. They already have enough problems keeping up with the DJI platforms.
[/QUOTE]

I am sure if the Skydio becomes popular enough, and I think
it will, then Litchi will jump all over it assuming Skydio
releases a SDK. Other than DJI most drone manufacturers have
not released a SDK for there drones.

Skydio has some hi tech software at this point driving there birds
and there not about to open that up for third party developers
to steal. Not sure if the SDK would allow this or not.

They may just keep developing their own in house software.
So far they are doing a pretty good job of it.

 

[wco81]

I have a M2P and don't foresee buying this, less than a year after the M2P.

But I'd like to see this startup sell and deliver and continue to develop their technology.

Seems like this is more for the GoPro market or people who like to film themselves and the autonomous modes will enable that.

For now, M2P would seem to have better photo and video quality given the larger sensor. But when the Skydio 2 comes out, I will be interested in the reviews, especially the HDR video and photo.

While their main focus seems to be on obstacle-avoidance and autonomous flying, it seems Skydio 2 may have more processing power on board than any of the Mavics if it's processing that much data for its flying modes.

Could the processors do more with image processing, maybe deliver computational photography results like Google and Apple?

Seems like a tall ask for a small startup company, which may not even be able to deliver the product.

But who knows, maybe if they are successful with this product, they can get some more image processing engineers and try to be more ambitious with computational photography.

I would guess with all the sensors and processing power, they may not be able to put as much of the COGS towards a 1-inch sensor.

Or maybe their strategy is that the sensors for flying allows Skydio 2 to get a lot of the photos and videos that competing drones wouldn't be able to and that may ultimately please their customers more than a bigger camera sensor, which may or may not deliver better PQ overall.

 

[Radio]

Yes their marketing is directed toward autonomous flying and obstacle avoidance which I feel this is a very exciting direction. I think the new bird will open a number of new venues and push the other companies in the market,
only good for us.

 

[DrZ]

After having nothing but mechanical problems with Mavic Air and dealing with rude unattentive DJI customer service I gladly ordered an American made drone. Comments on this forum appear to be written by DJI or their minions. Hope things will change or I recommend a new drone and possibly a new forum. Watch for negative slurs to this post to prove my point

 

[Radio]

Hmmm, I for one am not a" DJI employee or minion", just an interested drone owner who looks forward to the future of drones and the developing market. Being a Real Estate agent I have the 107 to look forward to for photography, winter project to study for.

 

[VEGASROBBI]

Here's my 2 cents. If you're a good pilot and want an excellent AP camera DJI fits the bill.

Do not depend on DJI obstacle avoidence or autonomous modes; if safe autonomous flight and next level obstacle avoidence is important to you hold out for Skidio.

I feel the ability of the S2 to fly through complex environments by pushing the stick forward will be a game changer for search and rescue, inspections, AP....

Something DJI has evaded for years.

 

[Teck]

I'm new here.
I like to have both M2P and S2.
Each has its own strong capabilities.
Looking forward to Leenanj to provide us more exciting info when he got his new S2.
Cheers!

 

[Waldo Pepper]

Thrilled to join this forum and find out all I can about this new drone and whether or not it is for me. All input welcomed. I am now deciding between moving up from aMavic Air (I've owned 2 years, 2 crashes due to trees), to either Mavic Pro 2 or Skydio 2. What should I get? I do lots of both video and stills , videos and photoshop.

Definitely get both, if your budget allows. I have the Mavic 2 Pro, and on the 2nd batch release for the Skydio 2.

Try to avoid getting a used Mavic 2 Pro, even if it’s a deal too good to pass up. the older batteries are starting to swell. With a new Mavic 2, you’re getting the improved battery.

I use theMavic 2 Pro for research, and those extremely long distance flights needed to capture impossible footage.
Good luck,
Paul