For the photographer vs UA operatator Pro vs Con

[Flyby]

I”m a photographer, not a pro but someone who travels lots. So portability, noise (annoyance factor vs straight up DB) and ease of use are important but not if the photo is crap

I’m about 2-3 months away from buying my first drone. Air/MP2??/Anafi. I’m primarily interested in photos but travel videos would be used as well. I’m not doing this professionally but do have lots of interest in my art....

After researching a bit it seams that the Anafi is the photographer’s choice, Air the traveler/selfie/short distance and MPP the travel videographer’s choice.

That about right? And yes I’ve read about the rumoured MP2 and would likely wait a bit to see. Ain’t competition good?

 

[aft3rmath]

Im probably biased as the anafi is the first drone ive had with a high quality camera, also the 21MP camera is higher than any hand held camera I currently have but the pictures so far are absolutely amazing. Majority of the reason i bought this drone was for photography, especially while travelling. Spent weeks watching videos, reading posts etc comparing it to Mavic Pro and Air. Were a lot of negative comments prior to release and just after release but took the risk and couldnt be happier. Havent had any issues and photos/videos are beyond expectations. Spending a lot of time practicing and using pro mode on the camera to get the best photos ready for an overseas trip in a couple of months.

 

[FlyHigh]

I'm a professional. So heres the deal. You are going to get a mixed bag of replies. You want the truth? By professional standards the Anafi, Mavic pro, Mavic air, etc are all along the lines of using a cell phone for pictures. Even the Phantom 4 pro is pretty terrible by professional standards. If I really want nice photos i'm using an inspire with an x5, x7s, etc. And if i'm really really serious we can talk about flying a full frame camera on something like an alta. So you are going to hear the Anafi is great, the anafi is terrible etc etc. But the truth is $700 doesn't get you much in the high end camera world, so you can imagine what you're getting for a $700 camera... that flies.

 

[aft3rmath]

Im probably biased as the anafi is the first drone ive had with a high quality camera, also the 21MP camera is higher than any hand held camera I currently have but the pictures so far are absolutely amazing. Majority of the reason i bought this drone was for photography, especially while travelling. Spent weeks watching videos, reading posts etc comparing it to Mavic Pro and Air. Were a lot of negative comments prior to release and just after release but took the risk and couldnt be happier. Havent had any issues and photos/videos are beyond expectations. Spending a lot of time practicing and using pro mode on the camera to get the best photos ready for an overseas trip in a couple of months.

After reading FlyHigh's comment i should have noted im not a professional so my standards are much lower

 

[enderffx]

Well i am also a Pro and i tell you that the DNG's of MP, MA and Anafi are very usable if you know your way in Image Editing.
I also handle Phase One and Leica S and all these but believe me if you cant make the DNG's out of those drones look good you are not in the right job.
Low LIght excluded these are great.
Anafi has the best low light response and sadly right now the worst control over the parameters.
It needs a lens correction. Until i make one myself or someone else does i use the DJI/FC200 setting with "60" as Intensity and i am fine.

The only thing really missing for these cameras is a variable Aperture and thats tough.
In that respect they are like mobile cams but laos those have approcahed professional level.
Most effects you can achieve by using Aperture settings can be reproduced in post.

As low noise & weight & Quality are my main priorities i sold MP & MA and kept the Anafi.
DOnt get me wrong, the DJI's have a higher build Quality and higher sensor integration (thus they are more "locked in" but my priotiies clearly lead to the Anafi.

Ender

 

[Wowwowwo]

Mind to show us some techniques?

Now if parrot can fix the low light eis video problem.......

 

[musashi77]

I'll start this by stating that I am not a professional photographer.... but I like to think I am .
Comparing the Anafi or even the Mavics too high qualtiy DSLR is just not worth it, Sending up a full lens camera takes serious $$$ and commitment even for a pro. I dont think anyone at this price range is seriously expecting it to compare to a full frame lens.

I think if portbility is high on your list then you can't go any better then this, the camera (albeit a phone camera) is pretty sharp and think sharper then my Phantom 3 and definitly easier to take anywhere. You wouldnt want to do a lot of cropping (or any at all) but Im really happy whats coming out of it and it will be travelling with me pretty much everywhere I go on trains, planes and automobiles... couldn't say that with the Phantom.

 

[mariocuzo]

I”m a photographer, not a pro but someone who travels lots. So portability, noise (annoyance factor vs straight up DB) and ease of use are important but not if the photo is crap

I’m about 2-3 months away from buying my first drone. Air/MP2??/Anafi. I’m primarily interested in photos but travel videos would be used as well. I’m not doing this professionally but do have lots of interest in my art....

After researching a bit it seams that the Anafi is the photographer’s choice, Air the traveler/selfie/short distance and MPP the travel videographer’s choice.

That about right? And yes I’ve read about the rumoured MP2 and would likely wait a bit to see. Ain’t competition good?

Hi,
If portability and noise is your must, then the anafi is the way to go.
I'm in Mallorca at the moment and I have my anafi with me.
I have managed to get it up in the air this morning close to the beach.
People could only see someone with a controller looking up in the sky but they couldn't hear a thing ?
I haven't checked my photos yet but I believe I've shot some good ones.
From a professional point of you all these "cheap" drones will never give you the full frame DSLRs/mirrorless results.
But you can take some really nice shots with AEB.

 

[Flyby]

Thanks for the thoughts so far. I'm not expecting full frame DSLR quality shots although I'll never complain if I could get them I'm also not likely to blow any of these up to greater than 20" wide and even if then it would be for either a living room shot or a decal for a bathroom wall. So a little noise that's only seen by other photographers is probably just fine. I've actually taken one of my favourite shots with my iPhone. Yes it's noisy but at dawn as we were scrambling into our river canoes just before a storm in the amazonian basin Peru, it was all I had time to shoot with. That old adage of "the best camera is the one you have with you" can play into it. Ironically I had my full camera pack on my back at the time but there was no time to take it out and shoot with it.

I'll shoot jpg + raw all the time I think. jpg for the immediate social media stuff where it basically doesn't matter and raw for later.....

 

[AnafiPilot]

FreeFlight 6 does not give camera status in the HUD. It it not possible to check the camera shutter speed, ISO, and white balance at a glance. This is not photographer friendly.

Telemetry is available at a glance, which is pilot friendly.

Downloading DNGs yields a file stripped of necessary information. Photoshop and LR5 display "This file may be damaged." This is not photo editing friendly.

Parrot has work to do to make the Anafi media production friendly.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

FreeFlight 6 does not give camera status in the HUD. It it not possible to check the camera shutter speed, ISO, and white balance at a glance. This is not photographer friendly.

Telemetry is available at a glance, which is pilot friendly.

Downloading DNGs yields a file stripped of necessary information. Photoshop and LR5 display "This file may be damaged." This is not photo editing friendly.

Parrot has work to do to make the Anafi media production friendly.

The DNG problem was solve in one of the updates. DNG files work perfectly in lightroom or photoshop.

 

[dmbrody]

I know some professional photographers. More than a few of them use drones to scout in extreme locations. Instead of climbing a ridge, they send up the drone to see whether the view is worth the hike. Huge time saver for them.

Of course they inevitably use their drones to snap a few shots, so the camera quality does matter and everyone I’ve spoken too is highly attracted to the Anafi. One in particular prefers the layout of the camera settings. He feels they are easier to get to and more “normal” like any other digital camera. Not sure what that means.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

I know some professional photographers. More than a few of them use drones to scout in extreme locations. Instead of climbing a ridge, they send up the drone to see whether the view is worth the hike. Huge time saver for them.

Of course they inevitably use their drones to snap a few shots, so the camera quality does matter and everyone I’ve spoken too is highly attracted to the Anafi. One in particular prefers the layout of the camera settings. He feels they are easier to get to and more “normal” like any other digital camera. Not sure what that means.

I actually find the camera settings hard to navigate LOL
Guess I am just used to my Autel X-Star App camera settings. I hate being up in the air and looking for a setting and cannot find it. Like anything new I will get used to it sooner or later.

 

[AnafiPilot]

Imagine if the HUD displayed the shutter speed, even in Auto, and clicking on it brought up a slider or scroll down menu, allow immediate entry into manual mode and setting the shutter speed...

 

[dmbrody]

I actually find the camera settings hard to navigate LOL
Guess I am just used to my Autel X-Star App camera settings. I hate being up in the air and looking for a setting and cannot find it. Like anything new I will get used to it sooner or later.

I’ll ask why he likes it better specifically. What’s more “normal” about it. Maybe it’s becasue changing the settings doesn’t cover up as much of the screen?

I should think the lack of a histogram is a major negative.

Speaking of histograms, I’m going to test something out today. Frame up the general view I want to make sure is exposed properly. Screen shot that. Switch to the Lightroom app, then check the histogram of the screen shot. I can use “Hey Siri, open Lightroom cc” to make the workflow easier/faster.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

LOL
Sounds like a plan I guess. Lets just keep after Parrot to make it happen in the App.

 

[dmbrody]

LOL
Sounds like a plan I guess. Lets just keep after Parrot to make it happen in the App.

Well. We can forget that idea. It turned out to be horribly inconvenient.

First the app froze up. Force quiting and relaunching the app didn’t work. I had kill the app AND disconnect the iPhone cable. Then reconnect the iPhone cable and click the Allow dialog. I did get the full app functionality back, but meantime the Anafi decided to land in my wife’s vegetable garden (low battery). I managed to run and hand catch it, but may have crushed a couple tomatoe plants in the process.

0 out of 10. Do not recommend.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Well. We can forget that idea. It turned out to be horribly inconvenient.

First the app froze up. Force quiting and relaunching the app didn’t work. I had kill the app AND disconnect the iPhone cable. Then reconnect the iPhone cable and click the Allow dialog. I did get the full app functionality back, but meantime the Anafi decided to land in my wife’s vegetable garden (low battery). I managed to run and hand catch it, but may have crushed a couple tomatoe plants in the process.

0 out of 10. Do not recommend.

Just to funny but this is how we learn. LOL

 

[Wernerjb]

I'm a professional. So heres the deal. You are going to get a mixed bag of replies. You want the truth? By professional standards the Anafi, Mavic pro, Mavic air, etc are all along the lines of using a cell phone for pictures. Even the Phantom 4 pro is pretty terrible by professional standards. If I really want nice photos i'm using an inspire with an x5, x7s, etc. And if i'm really really serious we can talk about flying a full frame camera on something like an alta. So you are going to hear the Anafi is great, the anafi is terrible etc etc. But the truth is $700 doesn't get you much in the high end camera world, so you can imagine what you're getting for a $700 camera... that flies.

Well I'm a pro too and have been for 40 years. I use over the counter Drones for making travel books and Calendars. I started with the Q500 and after editing the DNG images in lightroom they were more than good enough up to a double spread or for 12x12 inch calendars. I'm not saying they are as good as what my Nikon 850 camera produces - but good enough for what I need at this point.

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