In a few hours, Dji is having its launch event for the Mavic Pro 2. In the meantime, their decidedly leaky marketing strategy seems to have seriously deflated the expectations with regards to the event.
DJI’s teaser
DJI was not discouraged and started sending out yesterday a sort of video teaser for the persons who are registered in their database.
To be honest, the teaser tells or shows nothing at all except some gorgeous imagery.
The latest leaks
The Mavic Pro 2 has definitely been heckled by the leaks of media campaigns released before the initial announcement foreseen in July 2018 was cancelled. Once again, a publicity was released in Germany, according to the website Dronedj. This came under the form of two zip files containing high-resolution pictures of the two Mavic Pro 2.
https://t.co/8de833nlNe #dji #mavic2 #pro #zoom @OsitaLV pic.twitter.com/tEDZnJEw4U
— Cortis Photographie (@Bcor) August 22, 2018
The interesting part is thus that we have a confirmation that one of the drones will be equipped with a Hasselblad camera and, adds the leak,
Housing a 1-inch CMOS sensor with a 10-bit color profile, the camera captures four times as many levels of color per channel compared to Mavic Pro to provide maximum flexibility for photo and video editing
This means, as previous alluded, that the camera and sensor should definitely have much more dynamic range.
The Mavic Zoom, instead will just offer a 2x zoom, with a smaller 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor.
Then again, another leak yesterday appeared to provide the full technical specs of the Mavic Pro 2. Given that this leak puts the camera on the Mavic Pro 2 at a maximum iso of 6400, it is fair to imagine that the imaging quality will be great at night (oh yeah, in most countries you are NOT allowed to fly at night!).
Other rumors
Well, we mentioned earlier about the omni-directional sensors, so that may save more than one pilot from crashing his drone. Seems the range and stability of signal will also be addressed. One of the issues with the Mavic Pro is that you often get signal lost warnings when the drone is at some distance (especially if you are hidden behind something, like trees which interfere with the signal).
The Mavic Pro 2 will standardize the low-noise propellers first introduced with the Mavic Pro Platinum. I had already adopted those propellers for my own Mavic as they provide lower noise and better energy efficiency.
Some of the photos leaked seemed to suggest that the Hasselblad camera might be detached to be used as a gimbal. How would that work with the Dji Osmo Mobile 2 already launched, is a good question. Ok, admittedly consumers needing a gimbal won’t always own a drone.
There is also talk of a Mavic Pro enterprise more geared towards professional application, such as rescue services, but specifications are still not so clear about that model.
Which drone?
It is obvious that the sweet spot for photographers is with the Mavic Pro 2 thanks to its larger dynamic range and color quality. What is yet unknown is the numbers of Megapixel in the camera, but it should be a fair bet that it would be close to the 20 MP of the Phantom 4 Pro.
Anyway, it is just a few hours away from the announcement, so stay tuned for the latest news when we get all the details about the latest Dji drone.
If you are thinking of buying a drone, you may get one from the affiliated link on this web site, and if you already own one, Dji made an interesting article for newbie pilots.