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DJI’s Mavic Air lightweight drone
By Brady Betzel
Since the first DJI Phantom
was released in January of 2013, drones have found a place in our industry. Turn on almost any television show airing on National Geographic and you will see some sort of drone videography at work. Over the last decade, DJI and GoPro have revolutionized how everyone shoots.
Nowadays drones are expected to be a part of every cameraperson’s kit. Once DJI released their second-generation flagship drone, the Mavic Pro, the quality of footage and still frame images went from prosumer-level to professional. One thing that has always been a tough sell for me with drones is the physical size of the unmanned aerial vehicles. The original DJI flagship drone, the Phantom, is a little big; you essentially need a duffle-sized backpack to carry it and its accessories. But now DJI has upped the ante with a smaller footprint — the Mavic Air.
The Mavic Air is absolutely the best drone I have ever had my hands on — from being the size of a few iPhones stacked on top of each other to recording high-quality footage that is 100% being used on television shows airing around the world. It’s not only the easiest drone to use with or without a remote, but it is by far the best picture I have seen from a consumer-level drone for under $1,000.
The Mavic Air is small, lightweight, and packed with amazing technology to help itself avoid slamming into the sides of buildings or trees.
While there are super high-end drones flying Red Monstros around, sometimes there are restrictions that require the crew or cameraperson to downsize their equipment to only what is vital. So a drone that takes up a fraction of your carry-on luggage and will still yield 4K footage acceptable for broadcast is a win. Obviously, you won’t be getting the same sensors that you will find in the octocopters carrying Red cameras, but DJI has come a long way with its Mavic Air.
Digging In
The Mavic Air has many features that set it apart from the pack. SmartCapture allows anyone to fly the drone without a remote, instead you just use a few specific gestures from your hands. An updated slow-motion feature allows the Mavic Air to shoot up to 1080p, 120fps for those uber-epic sweeps in slow motion. There are multiple Quickshot modes you can find in the DJI app — like the two newest: Asteroid and Boomerang.
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