There are moments in photography that can be considered true ‘game-changers’ and history writers may well look back at the launch of DJI’s new Mavic Air 2 as one of these watershed moments. Why? Because the Mavic Air 2 is the first real consumer level drone to place professional-level features into the hands of the everyday photographer.
The headline features are mouth watering. From the 4K 60p video, to the 48-megapixel stills, to the long 34-minute flight time – all geared towards giving the users the best drone flying experience to date. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the specs…
Offering a versatile range of frame rates, the Mavic Air 2 is the first drone in DJI’s Mavic series to offer 4K video at 60 fps and 120 Mbps. What’s more, videographers wishing to create epic slow motion sequences can use the 4X Slow Motion in 1080p at 120 fps or 8X Slow Motion in 1080p at 240 fps modes on offer.
The video features don’t end there though as the Mavic Air 2 also offers an HDR video mode to make the most of the shadows and highlights in the scene and, for the first time, Hyperlapse can be shot at an incredible 8K quality – enabling videographers to use footage from this mode for commercial use.
When it comes to stills, the Mavic Air 2 enables photographers to shoot 12-MP frames, or move up in quality to 48-MP files. This is possible thanks to the Quad Bayer 1/2″ sensor that the compact Mavic Air 2is built around.
Additional stills features include ‘HDR Photos’ where the Mavic Air 2 automatically captures seven varying exposures of the same photograph, merging them together to bring out a highly dynamic image, ‘Hyperlight’ where the drone shoots multiple photographs and merges them to bring out a clear image with less of the noise which is great for low light situations and also ‘Scene Recognition’ where DJI say the Mavic Air 2 can ‘recognise five categories of scenes including sunsets, blue skies, grass, snow, and trees, then optimise settings to make the photograph pop by bringing out the highest degree of colour, detail, and tones.’
Despite all the big features, DJI have managed to keep the Mavic Air 2 compact and lightweight, with the new drone tipping the scales at just 570g. With a maximum flight time of 34-minutes, the OcuSync 2.0 transmission technology provides a stable HD video feed from the drone at a maximum distance of 10km. What’s more, the Mavic Air 2 is fast, offering a 68 kph top speed in Sport mode.
The Mavic Air 2 is also safe to fly and is DJI’s first consumer drone designed to include AirSense technology, which the brand explains ‘provides enhanced safety by warning drone pilots of other aircraft nearby. The DJI Mavic Air 2 is priced from $799/£769.