Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-07-18)

48 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

T

hankstoitsattractiveprice,small

size,easeofuseanddecentimage

quality,theoriginalDJIMavicAirwas

apopulardroneforfirst-timepilots.

Sincethen,however,DJIhasintroducedthe

MavicMiniwhichat40x82x57mm(when

folded)and249gisalotsmallerandlighter

thantheAir.

Ratherthancrowdthesmallerendofthe

market,DJIhasdecidedtomaketheMavicAir 2

bigger,beefierandabitmoreseriousthanthe

originalAir.Consequently,at570gtheMavic

Air 2 isnoticeablyheavierthantheoriginal

MavicAir(430g),andwhenit’sfoldedit

measures180x97x84mmratherthan

168x83x49mm,butit’sstillconveniently

portable.Mostimportantly,the12MPsensor

inthenewdroneisa1/2-inchCMOSdevice

ratherthana1/2.3-inchchip,whichshouldbe

goodnewsforimagequality.

Gettingstarted

BeforeyoucanflytheMavicAir 2 youneedto

unfoldthearmsandmountthepropellers.

Theseattacheasilywithabayonetmountbut

it’svitalthattherightpropellersareonthe

rightarmsastheyworkinmatchedpairsand

aremarkedaccordingly.

YoualsoneedtodownloadtheDJIFlyapp

toyoursmartphoneandcreateaDJIaccount.

Then,afterchargingthecontrollerandthe

dronebattery,connectyourphonetothe

controllerusingtheappropriatesuppliedcable.

It’sbesttodoallthepreparationsomewhere

withadecentWi-Fisignalbecauseoncethe

controlleranddronearepoweredupand

connectedwirelessly,therearefirmware

updatestodownload.Withthatdone,puta

microSDcardinthedrone’sslot,formatitvia

theappandattachthetwocontrolstickstothe

controller.You’renowreadytoturneverything

offagain,foldupthedronearmsandheadto

yourtake-offpoint.

T a k e - o 

Oncethedroneispreparedforflightand

connectedtothecontroller,theDJIFlightapp

takesyouthroughsomepre-flightchecksto

makesurethateverythingissafe.Withthat

doneyou’rereadytotaketotheair.

DJI Mavic Air 2

DJI’slatestdronemakesasignicantstepupfromthe

originalMavicAir.AngelaNicholsonchecksitout

Ataglance

£ 769

£949FlyMoreCombo

●Dronewithintegratedcamera

●Flighttime 34 minutes

●12MP1/2-inch(6.4x 4.8mm)CMOS

sensorwith48MPmode

●Maxvideoresolutionof4K(3840x2160)

at24/25/30/48/50/60fps

●24mmequivalentf/2.8lens

●3-axisstabilisation

Camera

The12MPcamerais

mountedin a stabilising

gimbalatthefrontof

thedrone

Propellers

Thefourpropellersattach

tothearmswitha

bayonetfit

Testbench DRONE TE ST

If you’re new to fl ying, I recommend keeping

the controller’s fl ight mode switch set to

‘Tripod’ or ‘Normal’ mode. ‘Sport’ mode

speeds things up dramatically, so it’s handy if

you want to ascend or descend the drone

quickly, but it’s best to treat it with caution in

the early days. Also, if you’re shooting video,

slow and steady usually produces more

watchable footage.

The Mavic Air 2 has object avoidance

sensors that point forwards, backwards and

downwards. They work well but it’s important

to bear in mind that there are no sensors on

the sides or top of the drone, which means

there’s nothing to stop you fl ying sideways into

objects or colliding with overhead objects like

tree branches.