- Joined
- Sep 20, 2020
- Messages
- 152
- Reaction score
- 55
- Age
- 55
I come from a graphic design, photography, and retouching background and was interested in getting a drone to add to my photography kit.
I bought Parrot Anafi's, and then worked my way up to DJI Mavic 2 Pros, then I went to Evo II Pro.
I've given them all a fair crack.
For anyone wanting to purchase a drone, here are my simple observations of the Evo II Pro vs Anafi, Vs DJI Mavic Pro 2.
The Parrot Anafi is a cheap lightweight, quiet drone with extensive features and a camera that cannot do low light effectively without a lot of post-production due to its small sensor. The controller is easy to use, intuitive, and feels good in the hand, though it cannot handle phones bigger than 6" with a case on. loved the controller software as it was easy to use and totally understandable. For the ones I had, I had never had to call support as it seemed to just work to spec, though I was overall disappointed with its low light capabilities. The Anafi seemed to be a drone you could just shove up in the air and play with straight away.
Overall a toy with abilities and image noise.
The DJI Mavic 2 Pro is a mature but expensive, moderately larger sized, amazing flying experience drone with a great camera that can do low light, to a degree. Out of the box, the picture is a little soft but can be set to have great sharpness in the settings and if worked on further in post-production you get some pretty decent to awesome shots, though the few I had all had minor corner blur issues and the video had a barrel distortion that needed to be fixed in post. The flying experience is a massive step up from the Anafi with a quality and stylish and super smooth feel to it, though the overall experience is marred by restrictive Geo-Fencing and a fiddly controller. The software layout is well thought out and useful. Their support dept is awful to a degree that eventually made me return or sell the drones I had to look for another option.
Overall a solid platform, great camera with autocratic geofencing, and major post-purchase support issues.
The Autel Evo II Pro is a super expensive untamed stallion. It has so much potential and yet is marred by unfinished software and camera and gimbal quality control issues. If you are lucky enough to get a slightly tamed stallion with a good pedigree then you have an amazing drone with amazing sharpness let down by a little or a lot of chromatic aberration. That said, out of the box, compared to the DJI, it flys a little like a brick, though with a lot of finessing in settings you can get close to the flying experience of the DJI. Close but not to completion. The controller is, whilst initially odd in shape and size, surprisingly easy to use, being able to use it without the phone is a huge bonus though slightly limiting. The software however needs a redesign, there are lots of swiping left and right, flicking and prodding to be done to get a setting you want and to change that to something else, more flicking poking and prodding. Some settings reset after each startup. Video and stills settings are stupidly linked in color settings which is frustrating but at least you can take out your frustration by flicking pocking and prodding in a more aggressive way.
Sadly every one I have had had drifting or focusing issues, the drifting was largely fixed with a beta firmware update. Beta!!!? This whole drone system is Beta!!! From day one the online support chat was amazing. Then, 4 weeks in and 2 more drones later, speaking to support went from super responsive, to being DJI like, and then went MIA for a couple of weeks, it's like the whole company went on holiday. That said, the bit of focus I could get out of the drifting drone is a leap above DJI. Had I known there was going to be a firmware fix for the drifting, I just wish I had kept the first drone as it had the least amount of issues, the awful drifting aside.
Overall a super but unfinished drone system with (kind of) responsive support.
I bought Parrot Anafi's, and then worked my way up to DJI Mavic 2 Pros, then I went to Evo II Pro.
I've given them all a fair crack.
For anyone wanting to purchase a drone, here are my simple observations of the Evo II Pro vs Anafi, Vs DJI Mavic Pro 2.
The Parrot Anafi is a cheap lightweight, quiet drone with extensive features and a camera that cannot do low light effectively without a lot of post-production due to its small sensor. The controller is easy to use, intuitive, and feels good in the hand, though it cannot handle phones bigger than 6" with a case on. loved the controller software as it was easy to use and totally understandable. For the ones I had, I had never had to call support as it seemed to just work to spec, though I was overall disappointed with its low light capabilities. The Anafi seemed to be a drone you could just shove up in the air and play with straight away.
Overall a toy with abilities and image noise.
The DJI Mavic 2 Pro is a mature but expensive, moderately larger sized, amazing flying experience drone with a great camera that can do low light, to a degree. Out of the box, the picture is a little soft but can be set to have great sharpness in the settings and if worked on further in post-production you get some pretty decent to awesome shots, though the few I had all had minor corner blur issues and the video had a barrel distortion that needed to be fixed in post. The flying experience is a massive step up from the Anafi with a quality and stylish and super smooth feel to it, though the overall experience is marred by restrictive Geo-Fencing and a fiddly controller. The software layout is well thought out and useful. Their support dept is awful to a degree that eventually made me return or sell the drones I had to look for another option.
Overall a solid platform, great camera with autocratic geofencing, and major post-purchase support issues.
The Autel Evo II Pro is a super expensive untamed stallion. It has so much potential and yet is marred by unfinished software and camera and gimbal quality control issues. If you are lucky enough to get a slightly tamed stallion with a good pedigree then you have an amazing drone with amazing sharpness let down by a little or a lot of chromatic aberration. That said, out of the box, compared to the DJI, it flys a little like a brick, though with a lot of finessing in settings you can get close to the flying experience of the DJI. Close but not to completion. The controller is, whilst initially odd in shape and size, surprisingly easy to use, being able to use it without the phone is a huge bonus though slightly limiting. The software however needs a redesign, there are lots of swiping left and right, flicking and prodding to be done to get a setting you want and to change that to something else, more flicking poking and prodding. Some settings reset after each startup. Video and stills settings are stupidly linked in color settings which is frustrating but at least you can take out your frustration by flicking pocking and prodding in a more aggressive way.
Sadly every one I have had had drifting or focusing issues, the drifting was largely fixed with a beta firmware update. Beta!!!? This whole drone system is Beta!!! From day one the online support chat was amazing. Then, 4 weeks in and 2 more drones later, speaking to support went from super responsive, to being DJI like, and then went MIA for a couple of weeks, it's like the whole company went on holiday. That said, the bit of focus I could get out of the drifting drone is a leap above DJI. Had I known there was going to be a firmware fix for the drifting, I just wish I had kept the first drone as it had the least amount of issues, the awful drifting aside.
Overall a super but unfinished drone system with (kind of) responsive support.
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