Droning On and On...

DougH

Just sold my Parrot Bebop 2 quadcoptor / SkyController1 / goggles combo to a distant neighbor. I demonstrated the drone for the buyer in 20-30mph winds with strong gusts, but the Bebop2 video was rock solid the whole time as is typical of the Parrot Anafi or Bebop line. And with Parrot, there's a great flight planner to execute preplanned routes, and plenty of follow me / tracking modes. But it was all too large for full-timer life in 2021. The new Parrot Anafi USA has some unique capabilities, but $7000 seems a bit high..


As a replacement I went with the newish DJI Mini 2. It's tiny, VERY quiet (you don't even notice it at 50-75 feet away), but it does 4k video, and has long range synch without pesky WiFi dropouts. I really like it since it hardly takes any space in the backpack. But... a small sensor, only 8 bit color with no profiles... no HDR, you have to adjust everything in postprocessing. And no collision avoidance, follow me, active tracking, or flight planner... it's just a basic manual drone... you have to go to one of the larger DJIs to get any of those features. Almost feels like DJI intentionally disabled the bulk of functionality expected in any camera drone, just so they could put a lower price on it ($599 for the fly more package). There's a handful of pre-canned maneuvers about a chosen object, but only for a non-moving or barely moving object. But decent wide field photography, and the small size makes up for all the shortcomings.

Having had a dozen different drones, I can recommend the Mini 2 as a first ever drone, or a handy travel drone for the nonprofessional videographer, or professional with low expectations. Especially for anyone looking for something tiny and quiet.  As long as folks understand all the limitations.

P.S. Litchi alternative app will eventually support the Mini 2 with some Follow capabilities.

DougH

Not sure how quickly a Mini 2 owner will be impacted by the new FAA Remote ID regulations if doing only recreational photography / videography.