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Anything better than DJI Mini 2 for the price


Derka

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Want to get a drone for some footage for a mate who is out hill walking.

 

DJI Mini 2 are going for £300-400 used and seems to be fairly good in light winds and does 4k and under the 250g limit and is small. 

 

Keep reading about how DJI restrict you and have questionable privacy policies and are black listed in the US. 

 

Is there anything similar in that price range that offers similar quality footage?

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tbh derka not much for quality wise the dji softwares not that bad just doesnt let you use it in restricted areas etc which is a good thing 👍" privacy policies" was about the dji insurance claims in the states i believe where they put in a claim where they shouldnt be flying with out approval or dangerous  yes they can check your flight logs and gps data but as long as your following the rules you will be golden .

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The DJI Spark is outdated. Not even by a small measure, but vastly. 

 

For the price, nothing beats a Mini 2. Though £300-£400 seems high, you can get one for £440 new with SD card from Amazon, and that's certainly what i'd do. I've bought drones used before, it's not always a great experience - and it's hard to trust a drone that you don't know the past of. All it takes is one motor malfunction, GPS/antenna  malfunction and you either have a wreck or you'll never find it again. 

 

In regards to Software etc, @Bajadre probably is correct. That being said: who cares. You download software through the playstore, if there's a criminal data-hog in the world, then that's Google. I can understand when someone doesn't want his data to be collected/shared, but to single out certain companies due to "privacy concerns" while blasting away on google maps, playstore and what else they do.. Weird.

 

The Software doesn't let you launch in certain areas, which is a good thing. Every single drone by law should be trackable and registered to the owner, so that us decent drone pilots don't have to constantly adapt to new rules because some douchebags think it's cool to film an approaching plane at the airport (just recently in Gatwick again). You can apply for authorization for restricted non-critical areas, takes a minute while at the spot. The drones work with GPS, so of course their position is going to be known and tracked, otherwise they wouldn't function. 

 

In that price range you don't have many options, you have the china specials (FIMI Mini Pro, Hubsan Zino Mini Pro), and that's about it. Both of which are inferior to the Mini 2, in almost every way. 

 

It's a bit like comparing GoPros with chinese action cams. They take video, but stabilisation etc is just not even close. The chinese clones do fly, and they do take video, but at a lower bitrate, less responsive gimbals, jelly footage etc. 

 

To come back to the Spark, the Spark is the predecessor of the original Mini. It does NOT fall into the <250g category (A1), which already makes it completely pointless (the main reason for Mini 2 etc is to fly in A1). On top, it has a max. flight time of 16 minutes (Mini 2 = 31 min), it only records in 1080p/30 at 24mbit bitrate (Mini 2 4k/30 at 100mbit bitrate), and uses WiFi for video transmission (Mini 2 = Occusync 2). No one should look at the Spark anymore. 

 

I've had the Spark, Mini 2 and now Mini 3 Pro (as well as the Air and Air 2), the Spark at the time was fun (was my first drone in fact), and i'd get one if someone offered it for £50 so i can let my nephew fly, but other than that.. Outdated, big time. 

 

The Mini 3 is better than the Mini 2, but not for the price  (didn't matter to me, was either the Mini 3 Pro or the Air 2S - Air 2S being the better drone, but not sub 250). The Mini 2 is by far the best deal out there currently, and i think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who disagrees with that (at least, honestly). If the software is such a big concern, you can skip the original software and use Litchi, which solves that problem. 

Edited by m4inbrain
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I think his concerns over software was because the DJI Fly app from the Google play store is not there, you have to download it direct from DJI and then allow for unknown apps to run.

 

He won't be near any airports as he is into hill walking and usually nothing built up within sight. 

 

I was just unsure as it's only something I've briefly dabbled in. 

 

I think he just needs a flyer ID and put the number on the drone and he is golden?

 

Thanks guys 👍

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You need an operator ID, but don't require a flyer ID. 

 

The operator ID must be visible somewhere on the drone. 

 

edit: the flyer ID is for someone flying a drone, the operator ID is for the person who's responsible for the drone (which isn't necessarily the one who's flying). Basically, the owner.  But you don't need to register the drone (due to being  sub 250g). 

edit2: just to mention it, you're not allowed to fly in national trust areas, since you mentioned hiking. They have a strict policy of "no drones" unless you apply for a permit. Now, i will freely admit that i have, and will continue to fly in national trust areas if safe (and no danger to the environment) - but i do that on my own risk, i understand that i will potentially get fined if caught. 

Edited by m4inbrain
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Or lift off & land from a public land/footpath and go over NT land - they can't do anything about it.

 

I have Flyer ID & Operator ID as well, and also Coverdrone insurance. It's more of peace of mind.

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That's true, the statute says that you can't launch drones from NT property, but they of course don't have control over the airspace above. It's just that with hiking, you usually don't have a public footpath nearby. 

 

I've got both too, but i don't have additional insurance. I don't fly often enough (time restrictions) to justify it. 

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9 minutes ago, m4inbrain said:

but i don't have additional insurance. I don't fly often enough (time restrictions) to justify it. 

 

Same here, that's why I opted for monthly payment of £3.99 a month (started last month) and cancel when it's autumn, i.e. Oct or so. 🙂

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2 minutes ago, Tony said:

 

Same here, that's why I opted for monthly payment of £3.99 a month (started last month) and cancel when it's autumn, i.e. Oct or so. 🙂

 

That's considerably cheaper than the stuff i looked at, for a fiver a month i'd think about it too. 

Gotta check out coverdrone in that case, cheers.

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  • 2 months later...

I can't think of anything better than this for the price and functionality. I understand the desire to try something new, but sometimes it's better to trust the proven version. Due to the fact that there are many users of this model, it is very easy to get help if suddenly something goes wrong

Edited by Treoo
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