DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom fly into our radar, land in the PH

DJI refines its Mavic line to give its users more flexibility to create better videos and photos. And if you’ve been waiting for a refresh to DJI’s Mavic Pro, you get two options now. One offers more room for professionals who need more latitude when it comes to post production and another, as The Verge says, offers “greater compositional flexibility.” You get a bigger sensor, built for videos in the Mavic 2 Pro and zoom lens in the Mavic 2 Zoom.

Before we explore the unique feature set for each drone, let’s look at the new features that they share. These second generation Mavics are said to be slightly bigger and heavier than the previous iteration but they retain the same foldable, portable design of the Mavic. They also use the same props as the Mavic Pro Platinum, which lets these drones fly rather quietly. Both get a 31-minute flight time (which is three minutes more than the Mavic Pro’s), 72kph max speed, low noise design, and 10 more sensors that its Advanced Pilot Assistance System (APAS) obstacle avoidance system takes advantage of to make sure you avoid as many accidents as possible. Both get 8GB internal storage, which serves as backup storage more than anything, and a video transmission boost courtesy of OcuSync 2.0. While this allows for a 1080p live feed for up 8km (DJI reminds pilots to fly their drones within their line of sight). What this video transmission system promises is that it boosts the connection between the drone and the controller, even when used in urban areas. It makes use of both 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequencies to help avoid interference.

These drones are the first DJI drones that can shoot in HDR and both come with a new feature called HyperLight, which can supposedly handle low-light photography better. There is also a new Hyperlapse mode (which Instagram users might be familiar with) that takes photos at set intervals and stitches these together to create a speedy time-lapse video. ActiveTrack is said to be improved in the Mavic 2s with promises of “precise recognition, trajectory prediction, and faster tracking.”

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DJI takes advantage of its majority stake in Swedish camera maker Hasselblad by putting in a Hasselblad sensor into the Mavic 2 Pro. The L1D-20c is a large 20-megapixel 1-inch CMOS sensor with adjustable aperture of f/2.8 – f/1.1. It’s not just about what you shoot though but what you can do after it. The Mavic 2 Pro can shoot in both H.264 and H.265, the latter allows you to shoot in true flat profile, D-log M. You also get 10-bit HDR Video. DJI promises you get four times the amount levels of color per channel with the Mavic 2 Pro so you get as much to work with post production.

Now, if you want to get closer to your subject, the Mavic 2 Zoom is the option for you. You get a 24-48mm optical zoom camera that can take up to 4x lossless zoom FHD video with its 2x optical zoom and 2x digital zoom. With its 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor you can take 12-megapixel stills, which you can bump up to a 48-megapixel composite with this drone’s Super Resolution mode. What it does is take nine photos that it stitches together to achieve this effect. It takes one reference file at the wider 24mm focal length and then combines it with eight photos it takes with the zoomed-in 48mm lens. The Mavic 2 Zoom also gets a new Dolly Zoom mode, which is a technique used by some acclaimed Hollywood directors and an old industry trick. It takes advantage of the zoom on the drone by zooming in as it files away or towards its subject to create a sort of warped effect. This mode joins the other QuickShot presets you can play around with.

To get your hands and all these tech, you’re going to shell out the big bucks. The DJI Mavic 2 Zoom goes for P76,300, while the DJI Mavic 2 Pro retails for P98,800.

A Fly More Kit, including two additional batteries, a multi-battery charging hub, a car charger, a battery to power bank adapter, two pairs of propellers and a carrying bag, retails at P23,100. A gimbal replacement service exclusively for Mavic 2 will be available soon. The DJI Mavic 2s are now available for purchase at store.dji.com and the four DJI Flagship stores.