Excellent New Drone for Boating - DJI Mini 2

[Hurricane]

I've been out in the garden this afternoon with the Mavic Air 2.
The last time that I flew it, the Spotlight feature was so good that I thought I would try out the Auto Tracking and see if it is any better than the old Mavic Pro.
It still isn't that good but I think the software on the DJI Fly is a little more intuitive.

So, value for money at the moment, the Mini 2 has the edge.

I've been thinking about the Intelligent Flight Modes - only available on the Mini by using Quick Shots.

But on the Mavic Air 2 the Intelligent Flight Modes have been upgraded.
I really like the new version of the Spotlight Mode.
This is where the drone keeps the subject of the photo/video in the centre of the frame.
As the subject moves around, the drone stays put but keeps the subject centred.
Using this mode, you can also fly the drone around. Again, it keeps the subject in the centre.
So, I imagine that you can do both - i.e. move the subject and the drone.
For example a running video following the boat but manually positioning the drone around the boat as you go.
As I say, the beauty of this approach is that Spotlight mode is really easy to set up.

People will probably say this is exactly what Active Track does.
But I've found the Active Track always seems to end up chasing the subject so you only get back view.
I'm sure Active Track can be made to work but the Spotlight Mode works so well, that I thought a bit of manual intervention would produce the desired results.
It is very difficult to get smooth panning and tilting when to are manually flying the drone.
So, I'm hopeful that this (new to me) Mavic Air 2 will produce better videos.

 

[vas]

does generally DJI upgrade f/w to add features to older models Mike?
iow, what are the chances (from past experience) that this improved as you say feature of IFM will pass on mini2, or shall I wait for mini3 ?

V.

 

[Hurricane]

does generally DJI upgrade f/w to add features to older models Mike?
iow, what are the chances (from past experience) that this improved as you say feature of IFM will pass on mini2, or shall I wait for mini3 ?

V.

I think the simple answer is - only sometimes.
When the Mini 1 first came out, you couldn't change the shutter speed when it was shooting video.
Initially, they expected people to just use the automatic settings.
They have changed that with a firmware upgrade so that you can now set the shutter speed and the ISO manually.
Of course, the Mini 2 has this option from the start.
There are other upgrades that they did to the Mini 1 but nothing else was very significant.
If you are expecting Intelligent Flight Modes in the Mini 2 to appear with a firmware upgrade - think again - they don't want to hurt the sales of the Mavic Air 2.

The reason that manual shutter speed during videos was added is that it really affects the quality of the video.
In order to get "motion blur" which I understand makes a more natural shot, you have to ensure that the shutter speed is a multiple of the video frame rate.
You can do that manually by setting the shutter rate to twice the frame rate and adjusting the ISO to get a good exposure.
If the ISO gets too high you have to add an ND filter to reduce the amount of light entering the camera.
I believe thats the theory anyway.

As part of that upgrade, they allowed you to "lock" the exposure so that the automatic exposure doesn't cut it.
If you are panning or tilting the camera into a brighter/darker view (ground to sky for example), you don't want the exposure changing during the clip.

Long answer but, as I say, sometimes they will add a feature during a firmware/software upgrade.
There is also a geofence no fly zone database that they keep updating but that is separate to the main firmware.

 

[jrudge]

Three points there J

Catching
Originally, I thought exactly the same as you.
But it is REALLY easy.
Yes - the downward sensors do have an effect but if you hold your hand out flat and manually land it (left stick down) into your hand, the drone thinks that your hand IS the land.
As a result the downward sensors are disabled as it approaches your hand.
If you just hold your hand out without the stick down (for landing) you are correct - it will fly away from your hand.
As soon as it touches your hand simply hold it and continue to hold the down direction on the joystick until the drone shuts the motors off.
It is really simple - juts try it.

I was using the drone yesterday and tried down stick and indeed it lands on your hand.

Thx for the suggestion

 

[jrudge]

does generally DJI upgrade f/w to add features to older models Mike?
iow, what are the chances (from past experience) that this improved as you say feature of IFM will pass on mini2, or shall I wait for mini3 ?

V.

I think there are 2 issues

1. the mini does not have forward looking sensors etc for collision avoidance ( so those features are off limits)

2. the rest as Hurricane says is simply protecting their more expensive drones. The tracking etc is just software - and I can do some of that now so it defiantly has the capability - so sadly I would doubt they would add a "follow me" type feature - which is a shame!