Mavic Air 2?

On May 3, 2020, newshound wrote
(in articleyYednTKeUchmMzPDnZ2dnUU78bPNnZ2d@brightvie w.co.uk):

On 03/05/2020 12:28, Savageduck wrote:
Nothing wrong with that shot.
I have to say I was pretty pleased with it. I was actually framing a
bigger group of flowers and had not noticed the insect until I got home.

I picked up the 90 second hand, saving £200.

That is a good deal.

The 80mm macro does not
focus all that close, IIRC, and of course it is a good deal more
expensive.

The XF80 has near focus point of 23cm, which helps when using the lens hood which is quite long. Then there is the added benefit of OIS, and the ability to benefit from the TC adaptors, and I already have the XF1.4TC for my 100-400mm. Unfortunately the price is still steep at $1199, so I will probably wait for the next round of Fuji discount sales.

I'm planning to do macro with the 90, I have extension tubes
on order. In reasonable light I can live with the lack of OIS, some of
my shots at 1/250 are fine, but a few are not. As you say, I need to
think about using 1/500 or 1/1000 more. The extra two stops over most of
the zooms helps. I have the original 18-55, and added the 50-230, the
10-24, and the 100-400. But that is a heavy beast for taking on walks,
especially as you need the grip with extra batteries on the X-T3. I've
also just got the 16-80, but have not done much with it yet.

The extension tubes with the XF90 should work nicely. However, the XF80 is a native 1:1 macro. As far as the bulk and weight of the 100-400mm goes, I only have it with me when I have specific targets in mind, otherwise the 55-200mm does a good job where I want to keep things light.

--
Regards,
Savageduck

On 03/05/2020 14:47, Savageduck wrote:
On May 3, 2020, newshound wrote
(in articleyYednTKeUchmMzPDnZ2dnUU78bPNnZ2d@brightvie w.co.uk):

On 03/05/2020 12:28, Savageduck wrote:
Nothing wrong with that shot.
I have to say I was pretty pleased with it. I was actually framing a
bigger group of flowers and had not noticed the insect until I got home.

I picked up the 90 second hand, saving £200.

That is a good deal.

The 80mm macro does not
focus all that close, IIRC, and of course it is a good deal more
expensive.

The XF80 has near focus point of 23cm, which helps when using the lens hood which is quite long. Then there is the added benefit of OIS, and the ability to benefit from the TC adaptors, and I already have the XF1.4TC for my 100-400mm. Unfortunately the price is still steep at $1199, so I will probably wait for the next round of Fuji discount sales.

I'm planning to do macro with the 90, I have extension tubes
on order. In reasonable light I can live with the lack of OIS, some of
my shots at 1/250 are fine, but a few are not. As you say, I need to
think about using 1/500 or 1/1000 more. The extra two stops over most of
the zooms helps. I have the original 18-55, and added the 50-230, the
10-24, and the 100-400. But that is a heavy beast for taking on walks,
especially as you need the grip with extra batteries on the X-T3. I've
also just got the 16-80, but have not done much with it yet.

The extension tubes with the XF90 should work nicely. However, the XF80 is a native 1:1 macro. As far as the bulk and weight of the 100-400mm goes, I only have it with me when I have specific targets in mind, otherwise the 55-200mm does a good job where I want to keep things light.


With the XF-80, is that 23 cm from the focal plane or 23 cm from the
front of the lens? For some reason I had it in mind that it didn't
manage 1:1. Ah well, I will see how I get on with the XF90. I bought the
budget 50-230 with my first body, and find it better than some of the
reviews suggest (although I would like a 55-200). The F2 200mm prime may
have to wait a while though.

On 2020-05-02 21:16, Savageduck wrote:
With C-19 time on my hands I have been reading about the latest offering from Dji, the Mavic Air 2, and it has grabbed my interest. I think that this could be an interesting addition to my photography. My concern is whether, or not this is the sort of thing that one might tire of once the novelty wears off and it becomes an expensive ($799-$988), dust collecting paperweight.

As most of you know I am not in anyway a video shooter, and I know that this drone has stills capability together with video. I also have zero experience with drones of any type, and I was wondering if those of you who have experience/knowledge in this digital photography genre have any recommendations, and/or suggestions.

https://www.dji.com/mavic-air-2

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/review-the-dji-mavic-air-2-is-the-best-all-around-drone-for-most-people



IIRC you're a licensed (if not current) pilot, so you'll have little
issue learning to fly this. "MavicPilots" is a good source of info.

Yes, the novelty wears off quick. Why I fly mostly when on holiday in
places safe and legal to do so. Do not travel with the drone w/o
verifying local laws, rules, etc. They get "seized" at the border (port
of entry) in some countries "to be returned on your departure" but of
course are never seen again ...

I do mainly video - still shots are rarely great unless you go to a
spectacular place in the right weather and time of day.

The camera on Air 2 is decent. The very best cameras are on the higher
end Mavic (Hasselblad designed (and made?) camera). My Phantom Pro 4
has a nicer camera than my Mavic Pro - but the later is much more
portable for travel.

Video editing can be tedious when you get into color grading and so on.
Depending on the graphics processor on your computer, it can be quite
long to make even short clips if you go to higher end editing processes.

Still photography is no different than a good digital camera. There is
a limited range of apertures and speeds and ISO.

Usually good to get ND filters (at least for video).

If I were you, I would get the Mavic Mini which is much cheaper.
You try it out, and if you find yourself using it a lot, you
could get the Mavic 2 Pro, which has a substantially better
sensor.
--
Alfred Molon

Olympus 4/3 and micro 4/3 cameras forum at
https://groups.io/g/myolympus
https://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

On May 3, 2020, Alan Browne wrote
(in ):

On 2020-05-02 21:16, Savageduck wrote:
With C-19 time on my hands I have been reading about the latest offering from Dji, the Mavic Air 2, and it has grabbed my interest. I think that this could be an interesting addition to my photography. My concern is whether, or not this is the sort of thing that one might tire of once the novelty wears off and it becomes an expensive ($799-$988), dust collecting paperweight.

As most of you know I am not in anyway a video shooter, and I know that this drone has stills capability together with video. I also have zero experience with drones of any type, and I was wondering if those of you who have experience/knowledge in this digital photography genre have any recommendations, and/or suggestions.

https://www.dji.com/mavic-air-2

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/review-the-dji-mavic-air-2-is-the-best-all-around-drone-for-most-people

IIRC you're a licensed (if not current) pilot, so you'll have little
issue learning to fly this. "MavicPilots" is a good source of info.

Not quite. It was something that I always meant to do, but life got in the way. So the only pilot in my family is my father, and at 97 he isn’t flying too much these days,

I checked out MavicPilots, and that does seem to be a good info source.

Yes, the novelty wears off quick.

I guess I am able to tolerate some degree of having the new wear off. ;-)

Why I fly mostly when on holiday in places safe and legal to do so.

Well I am retired, and have plenty of open, unrestricted, non-urban space around me.

Do not travel with the drone w/o verifying local laws, rules, etc. They get "seized" at the border (port
of entry) in some countries "to be returned on your departure" but of
course are never seen again ...

I have heard some of those horror stories, so I will always stay informed when traveling. I think for now, if I go through with this purchase, I will be sticking to the USA, and areas I am familiar with.

I do mainly video - still shots are rarely great unless you go to a
spectacular place in the right weather and time of day.

It will all be new to me, a different perspective from terrestrial stills shooting, but as always first things first.

The camera on Air 2 is decent. The very best cameras are on the higher
end Mavic (Hasselblad designed (and made?) camera). My Phantom Pro 4
has a nicer camera than my Mavic Pro - but the later is much more
portable for travel.

I have been impressed with what I have seen produced with the Mavic Air 2 in various reviews, and YT videos, and those camera specs seem to be adequate for the purpose.

Video editing can be tedious when you get into color grading and so on.
Depending on the graphics processor on your computer, it can be quite
long to make even short clips if you go to higher end editing processes.

I have no illusions about that.

Still photography is no different than a good digital camera. There is
a limited range of apertures and speeds and ISO.

That much I understand. if it matches my iPhone 8+ for IQ I will be able to live with it.

Usually good to get ND filters (at least for video).

Good suggestion.

--
Regards,
Savageduck

On May 3, 2020, Alfred Molon wrote
(in . com):

If I were you, I would get the Mavic Mini which is much cheaper.
You try it out, and if you find yourself using it a lot, you
could get the Mavic 2 Pro, which has a substantially better
sensor.

I had thought about taking that route, but if I decide to dive into the World of drone photography I will probably take my chances with the new Mavc Air 2.

--
Regards,
Savageduck

On 2020-05-03 17:54, Savageduck wrote:
On May 3, 2020, Alan Browne wrote


Usually good to get ND filters (at least for video).

Good suggestion.

Not much needed for stills.

Needed for video to get the shutter speed down to about 1/(2x the frame
rate). (ie: if the frame rate is 30, then a shutter speed of 1/60 is a
good starting point). If the shutter speed is too high for the frame
rate you end up with pretty jittery/jumpy video play. (This is one of
those useful newbie rules of thumb).

W/o a filter this is hard to achieve at any available (on the drone
camera) ISO/aperture in sunny or thin to modeerate overcast.

For stills, you'll end up with pretty high shutter speeds for the
available ISO/aperture.