The YouTube video below compares the resolution of the Mavic 2 Pro FOV (full field-of-view) and HQ 4K video modes to other DJI drones, such as the Mavic Air, Mavic 2 Zoom and the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0.

In these tests, the Phantom outperforms all of the other DJI drones in resolution and clarity, including the Mavic 2 Pro. Understandably this caused a bit of an uproar among drone enthusiasts, especially those who just bought the Mavic 2 Pro with its ‘Hasselblad’ camera and 1-inch sensor.

Many people expected the video footage from the Mavic 2 Pro to be on par with the Phantom 4 Pro, but as you can see in the video that is not quite the case. The video maker suggests that DJI has most likely used  line-skipping or possibly pixel binning to either create a barrier between the Mavic 2 Pro and the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 and future Phantom 5 series as a marketing decision.

Or, they decided to go this route to prevent the 1-inch sensor from overheating, which seems like a possibility considering the small packaging of the camera on the Mavic 2 Pro. It is even suggested that this may be the real cause of DJI’s decision to delay the release of the Mavic 2 Pro. We took a closer look at the video and reached out to DJI for an answer. Here’s what they had to say.

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It happened before when we wrote about these leaked photos earlier this year. DJI reached out to us and told us that these two silver colored Phantoms were not prototypes of the new Phantom 5, but a one-off for a commercial customer. Now after Billy wrote about these new photos of seemingly the same two drones, DJI contacted us again to reaffirm that these are not, in fact, Phantom 5 prototypes.

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Over the last few days, some people with a sharp eye had spotted a controller in some of the visuals from DJI that looked very different. The company had already mentioned that a new remote controller for the Mavic 2 is on the way and that it will have an integrated screen. Today, it seems that we have found the first photo that actually shows the controller with the display visible. One of the directors who worked on the footage from Jimmy Chin’s trip to Greenland posted this photo on Facebook and later on deleted it after realizing his mistake. Luckily it was online long enough for one of our readers to capture it.

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Today, we are glad to announce that Gabriel Kocher better known as Gab707 will be joining DroneDJ as a contributor with exclusive content related to drone racing as well as with his unique perspective of the latest news and developments in the FPV world. As a means of introducing Gab707, we thought that a short interview that we conducted last week would be the right place to start. Welcome on board Gabriel!

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The “See the Bigger Picture” event from DJI has been postponed but more and more photos are making their way to the public domain. Today, we received a tweet from one of our readers in Germany, who spotted a photo of the new DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Edition on the German DJI website. The photo seems to be erroneously uploaded to the site as a thumbnail of a DJI Mavic Air video. The new photo provides us with a more detailed view of the entire unmanned aircraft as well as the bottom side of the highly anticipated foldable drone from the Chinese drone maker.

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Breaking News: Just now, we were notified by one of our readers that the new DJI Mavic 2 is already listed in the latest Argos catalog with photo and details. The Chinese drone maker will be launching two version of the popular foldable drone: the DJI Mavic 2 Pro with a 1-inch sensor and the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom with a 24-48mm zoom lens and ‘Dolly Zoom’ effect similar to the Parrot Anafi. The new DJI Mavic 2 was originally planned to be launched during a special event “See the Bigger Picture” in NYC on July 18th, but that was postponed for reasons that are still unclear to us. The fact that DJI’s latest foldable drone now appears in the catalog of an English retailer must indicate that the official launch cannot be far off. Update 7/29/18: see also the new photo of the DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise Edition

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Last Monday we reported on how mountaineer Rick Allen was successfully rescued, after being presumed dead, from Broad Peak (26,400 ft) in Pakistan. with help of a DJI Mavic Pro drone. Needless to say that everybody involved, is happy to report that Rick made it back to safety with only minor injuries. This is the latest, but far from the only, rescue mission in which a drone played a crucial role in saving someone’s life. What sets this story apart though, are the extreme conditions (altitude and temperature) in which the DJI Mavic Pro was able to fly. From K2’s basecamp, Bartek Bargiel who piloted the drone was able to answer some questions in a short interview with DroneDJ.

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Only minutes ago new photos surfaced online, showing the new DJI Mavic 2 ‘Enterprise’ edition. In a previously leaked photo, we already got the impression that the new Mavic 2 would allow for interchangeable gimbal/camera options, but the ‘Enterprise’ edition seems to take that flexibility to a whole new level. It makes sense for DJI to use the compact foldable Mavic platform and allow for different payloads to be mounted. The new photos also show parts of the drone we have not yet seen before.

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Just now we received an email with what seems to be the first real photo of the upcoming DJI Mavic 2. Interestingly enough this new drone from DJI is called the Mavic 2 and not the Mavic Pro 2, meaning that there might indeed be two different models as some people have speculated online. The two different camera/gimbal combinations visible in the photo do seem to indicate that. Let’s take a closer look.

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Last week, I flew from New York to the Netherlands with a stopover at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, where I noticed DJI’s marketing campaign “Now it’s Epic”, to promote their Mavic Air drone. We got in touch with JCDecaux, one of the world’s largest display advertising companies, to find out more about the drone makers latest campaign, and they informed us that the 10-second-long promotional video runs at five different airports around the world and is planned in conjunction with DJI’s partnership with TripAdvisor to promote what is supposed to be the ultimate travel drone.

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On May 7th, Chris Murphy, the Junior Senator from Connecticut had sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, expressing his concerns over an additional purchase of 16 DJI drones in addition to the hundreds of DJI’s drones already purchased by U.S. government agencies and the Department of Defense. In his letter, Murphy mentions that at least three separate agencies have found that the commercial unmanned aerial systems (UAS) from the Chinese drone manufacturer pose a potential national security threat. He urges the DoD to cut Chinese drone-maker DJI out of its business and suggests that the department works with domestic drone makers instead, even if they may require some assistance. A source close to the matter has indicated that the DoD has stopped using DJI as of May 24th as a result of Murphy’s letter.

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Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen various photos pop-up of two grey/silver DJI Phantom drones with an interchangeable lens system. Many people, including us, had been hoping that this was indeed a prototype of a new DJI Phantom drone with interchangeable lenses. Potentially an amazing setup for any serious photographer, who appreciates the flexibility and quality of fixed focal length or prime lenses, but without breaking the bank. Sort of a mini Inspire 2 / Zenmuse X7 combo. However, without saying that such a drone may never be introduced, DJI did state in an email to DroneDJ that these photos do NOT show a new DJI Phantom 5 drone, but a one-off custom built drone for one of their enterprise customers. Bummer, I know…

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It was only yesterday that we showed you a screenshot of what seems to be the new DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. Today we are excited to share with you what seems to be a first official image of new drone.  It appears that the official launch date of this new product is May 8th, which of course at the time of me writing this, in China it already is. It is very hard to tell, but based on the lo-res photo it seems that this new drone may, in fact, have the silent propellers we first saw on the DJI Mavic Pro Platinum Edition. We later saw these new props also surface in an FCC filing.

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DJI’s VP of Policy and Legal Affairs, Brendan Schulman talks about the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Congress and how new upcoming regulations may impact hobbyist drone pilots. Brendan has been part of the Aviation Rule Making Committee (ARC) to create a report with recommendations for the FAA. This report addresses among other things, remote identification. Brendan is also working with other stakeholders from the manned aviation world, the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) and DJI customers on a proposal for Congress to create an online test or tutorial for recreational drone pilots and to prevent section 336 from being repealed.

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Yesterday, we had the chance to talk to DJI’s Managing Director of North America, Michael Perry at the AUVSI Xponential 2018 in Denver, Colorado. Michael spoke to us about the new Zenmuse XT2 dual-sensor thermal camera as well as the payload SDK and DJI’s push into the commercial drone market. We also spoke about how drones can help save people lives around the world and of course we asked him about what else consumers can expect from DJI this year.

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Earlier this evening two new photos were posted on Twitter that show two silver-colored DJI Phantom drones with interchangeable lenses. They seem to be the same two Phantoms we have seen before. One photo shows a 50mm f/2.8 DJI lens detached from the lens mount. We are still unsure at this point what kind of DJI Phantom this might be. But it is hard not to get excited about a new quadcopter with an interchangeable lens system that might not break the bank like the Inspire 2 and Zenmuse X7 lens combo does.

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Yesterday some detailed photos surfaced of what may be the new DJI Phantom 5 or Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. Today, we come across additional photos of the same drone, with one caveat, this time there are two grey aluminum Phantoms visible in the photos. Are these drone the new DJI Phantom 5 or the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0? Take a look and let us know what you think in our poll!

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Last Friday, DJI received FCC approval for what seems to be a newer or different version of the controller of the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. Back in March, we reported on the DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 as well as the controller (version number GL300L1801). The one for which DJI got FCC approval last Friday carries number FCC ID SS3-GL300K1801 and it is unclear at this point whether this is a newer version or a different version of the controller.

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DJI Enterprise will make an announcement at 11:15 am PST and we will cover the event live here on DroneDJ.

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Talking about being back in the game! OsitaLV just tweeted a photo that may show the new DJI Phantom 5 drone. As was rumored before the unmanned aerial vehicle has an aluminum color. It is hard to say based on the photo whether this is plastic in an aluminum color or if it is the real thing. The photo does seem to show the interchangeable lens system we have seen before.

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The latest rumor on the DJI Mavic Pro II (or DJI Mavic Pro 2) is that it may be delayed until late spring, i.e. June. That would be a disappointment for many as the previous launch date of the DJI Mavic Pro II was in three weeks from now (March 22nd). We were expecting the Mavic Pro II to be the first new drone to be released after the Mavic Air introduction. Pushing the launch date back to June opens up the possibility of another DJI product to be launched in March. The Spark 2 maybe?

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DJI’s Mavic Air was announced last week to a flurry of great reviews. We’re currently putting together our review but spoiler: We can say that this is the drone to get in the ~$800 price range.

A short recap on specs:

• Capture 4K Video and 12MP Photos
• 3-Axis Gimbal-Stabilized Camera
• GPS- & Vision Position-Based Navigation
• 8GB of Internal Storage/up to 256GB via microSD
• FlightAutonomy with Obstacle Detection
• Top Speed of 43 mph in Sport Mode
• ActiveTrack Subject Tracking Modes
• Up to 21 Minutes of Flight Time
• Foldable, Portable Body

One way to save money is buying the Fly More combo but that’s not saving money off the original DJI Mavic Air, it is saving over $200 on accessories when purchased at the same time. 

The good news is that we’ve done some digging and negotiating to get the lowest price offers from various resellers on the Mavic Air. Head below for the breakdown…

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Finally, the adventure unfolded! Today is the day of the official announcement of the all-new DJI Mavic Air. We now know all of the specifications of this drone that slots right in between the current DJI Mavic Pro and DJI Spark and priced at $799.  As usual, many specs had already been leaked through different channels and we tried our best to gather them and present them to you. However, today is the day, so let’s get started!

Last updated at 1:54pm, EST

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Today we’ve discovered the first photos and specifications of the DJI Mavic Air drone which will be officially released tomorrow morning at a special DJI event in New York City. We will be on the scene there as well at 9AM ET so expect full coverage here on DroneDJ.

The below photos and specifications come to us from multiple tipsters who’ve been correct in the past. Also, the photos and specs seem to corroborate information we’ve already received from other sources. The new photos also show some of the features we have seen before, such as the swooping lines in the official DJI invitation and in the DJI teaser video.

One of the photos is a banner showcasing the new drone highlights some of the main features of this new unmanned aerial vehicle from DJI, such as the 4K60 video, 32-megapixel panorama mode, and 4 foldable legs.

Last updated: 12:47pm EST

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