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- This is the DJI Mini 2,
it is a small, compact, lightweight drone
that can fold up and fit in your pocket.
However, even though it's so small,
you can get some incredible looking footage from this drone.
So in this video, what we're gonna go through
is what makes this drone so unique
and why you'd pick this one
over all the other ones that are on the market.
All right, guys, let's get into it.
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Now before we get into the video
I just wanna mention that there's a surprise for you
at the end, so make sure you watch
till the end of this video.
So the key feature with this drone is that
it's super small and portable,
I mean, I literally did just put it in my pocket.
So when you pull the drone out of the box
for the first time, you'll notice that on the Mini two,
they actually included a strap that keeps the propellers
from flapping around.
Now that's nice because on the original Mini
you didn't have the strap so these propellers
would just kind of flop all over the place.
You know, design-wise, it's almost identical
you have the same type of propellers,
you have to use a little screwdriver to pull them on and off
your battery and your card slots
are on the back of the drone.
But one thing that I've noticed that they changed
was actually how the battery goes in and out.
It's much easier to pull this battery out
than the original Mini.
Now, the key thing is that it's 249 grams
so depending on where you're at in the world
that's actually gonna be the determining factor
whether you can fly or not
because of local laws and regulations
and so definitely check with your local laws and regulations
and see what you need to have to be able to fly your drone.
But because it's 249 grams that skirts the 250 grams,
which in different places,
that basically is the determining factor
between whether you can fly a drone or not.
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So let's talk about the camera on this drone
so it's pretty much very similar to the original Mini
however, this one shoots 4k.
So the original Mini only did 2.7K,
the Mini 2 does up to 4k 30 frames per second.
So it's a 12 megapixel, a one by 2.3 inch sensor
with an aperture of 2.8
and the field of view is 83 degrees,
which converted to 35 millimeter equivalent
is a 24 millimeter lens.
Now this camera is unique
in that it has zooming capabilities.
However, it's not a physical zoom it's a digital zoom
now the resolutions that you get with this camera
is in 4k you get up to 30 frames per second in 2.7 K,
it's up to 30 frames per second.
but if you go down to 1080P you can shoot up to 60.
So if you wanna get slow motion,
you can put it in 1080P
and be able to get some really good looking slow motion.
I came up here in the trails
and tested out the different resolutions
and the 1080 looks good.
So you don't always have to shoot 4k,
4k obviously has its benefits
but if you wanna slow down your footage
you can actually get some good-looking slow-mo
in the 1080P mode.
So the bit rate that you get out of this camera
is a 100 megabytes,
which when comparison to other drones that DGS put out,
this is very similar to the original DJI Mavic Air.
That was a 4k 30 100 megabytes camera
and this one is pretty much the same thing.
So you can actually do a lot with the footage that you get
out of this camera.
I've been playing around with it
in my color grading software
and I've been able to do some pretty cool color grades.
However, you have to make sure that in camera
you're exposing properly
because the one downside to the Maverick Mini
is that there's only one color profile.
There's no D-Log in this camera
so you don't get a flat setting
basically what you shoot out of this camera is what you get.
So when you're filming, you really have to pay attention
to your highlights and your shadows
and make sure that you're exposing properly
for your image so that when you bring it back
into your editing software,
you have nothing too bright and nothing too dark
because you can push this footage around
you can color grade it,
however, if you lose data in the highlights or the shadows
you're not gonna really be able to pull that back
for me when I've been working with it,
I'll use the auto exposure
and I'll put it to minus 0.3 minus 0.7 or minus one
and then I lock in my exposure
and I've been able to get some really cool looks.
However, if you do wanna shoot manual,
this drone allows you to shoot completely manual.
So on the app in the lower right-hand corner
you can flip between auto and manual.
In auto mode you can use your exposure compensation
to change the exposure and lock it in
or you can flip it to manual and set your ISO
and your shutter speed
to be able to completely control the image.
However, when it comes to color
what you can do is manually dial in your white balance
and this is something that I've been doing
in different lighting situations especially like a sunset
I've had to use the manual white balance
because it doesn't always get it right on auto.
One downside I've noticed though, in the app,
you have to actually go into the menu
in the upper right hand corner,
go into the camera to be able to change your white balance.
I wish it would be down in the manual settings
or somewhere in that area
where you could just flip it on and off quickly.
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So, something that's changed from the original Mini
is you can now zoom in on your footage while you're flying.
So in 4k mode, you can zoom in two times
and when you're shooting in 1080P,
you can zoom in four times.
Now, unfortunately it's only a 12 megapixel camera
so when you push in,
you're actually gonna be losing resolution.
So I did a little test here's a side-by-side comparison
this is of the exact same shot it's just some bushes
but on the left is shooting 4k with no zoom
and on the right is shooting 4k with the two times zoom
and I've flown backwards so that the frame is identical.
Now here's what it looks like when you punch in 200%,
you could clearly see that you're losing resolution
and the reason is it's a 12 megapixel camera.
So the most amount of pixels that you're gonna get
is 4,000 by 3000.
So you can't really punch in on 4,000 pixels
and just make more pixels out of that.
So essentially what's happening
is you're doing a digital zoom
which in some scenarios might be fine
because if you're publishing a social media
and resolution isn't the most important thing
this digital zoom actually does make sense.
If you're wanting to get the most pixels
and the most resolution out of every shot
then you're not gonna wanna use the digital zoom.
But what's cool about using a zoom
is that you can create some really cool parallax
and you can create different shots in camera
rather than having to put it into an editing software
and do a zoom that way.
So if you're someone who does do
a lot of social media style content
this is a quick way
to be able to get some different looking footage
and have that longer zoom lens.
So effectively a 24 millimeter lens
now becomes closer to a 50 millimeter lens
which looks awesome when you're flying a drone.
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So what about automation features?
Well, this drone has quick shots built in
you get five of them.
Now beyond that, there is no other automation
so you don't get any sort of active track in this drone,
which is unfortunate
because I would like to have active track
but I get it it's a small compact drone
if you need more automation features
definitely you're gonna wanna get the DJI Mavic Air 2.
Which, if you haven't seen my review on that drone
I'll put a link down below in the description
so you guys can check that out.
So I just wanna show you real quick,
what these five automations look like
so you get a sense of what you get out of this camera.
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Now these are great if you wanna just get a quick shot
of the location that in you're in
and get a really cool movement
without having to actually do anything on the controller.
The beauty of this is you could be standing there
on like a cliff
and then be able to get a really cool shot
that shows the entire surrounding
and you don't have to worry about flying
so the drone automatically does it for you.
These are definitely geared towards being quick shots
because when you start it, it starts recording
and when you stop it, it stops recording.
So it gives you the perfect length
that you then can take out of the DJI app
and upload it to something
like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook,
and just have this quick shot
that really shows the area that you're in
or that really gives you a cool look out of the drum.
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So photography on this drone
you only get a 12 megapixel camera
but for most situations that is more than enough.
You don't need 48 megapixels you don't need 50 megapixels
it's definitely good if you're gonna blow up your images
but just for editing a few photos
and putting them on media 12 megapixels is more than enough.
Now you get some cool panoramic modes on the Mini 2
and so what it basically does
is the drone will automatically move and take the photos.
So you can do these photos that have much better resolution
and show more of the scene
and they're super easy to use.
You just get the drone up in the sky
turn on your panoramic, whichever one you wanna do
and then the drone does the rest.
Now, one other thing when it comes to the photography
in the Mini 2 you get JPEG and you get raw.
So if you are someone who wants to do more editing
then yes, you can use the raw images
and be able to get a lot more out of these photos.
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All right, let's talk about the controller on this drone
because it's different than the original Maverick Mini.
Now the Mini 2, if you get the fly more package
you actually get this carrying pouch.
So it's a little bit different in that the original Mini
you came with like a hard case.
So this is like a softer pouch I actually like this better
it seems to fit in more things
like I just throw it in top of my backpack.
But with the fly more package
you also get this charging brick
which charges all through your batteries at once
and then also it can charge your other devices
if you're out and about
and you need some extra battery charge
there's a USB on the side.
Now the controller itself has changed
it looks identical to the Air 2.
The only difference is now in here
instead of saying tripod mode, it says cine mode
so they've changed the tripod to now cine.
However, this controller is identical
so it's actually much bigger than the drone now
the old controller was about half the size.
One downside to this controller
is that it's bigger and heavier.
However, with this, you get OcuSync
and basically never gonna lose transmission to your drone.
You can fly up to 10 kilometers away which is six miles
and still have a clear transmission using this controller
and the drone.
Now, obviously you wanna fly within line of sight
and you don't wanna be doing
something that's against your local laws or regulations
but because of the transmission being so good
you actually never lose signal.
The only time that you might lose signals
if you went behind something
and then like it just lost complete line of sight
between the controller and the drone.
However, every time I've flown this thing
it's a perfect image the entire time
it never breaks up and it's just clean
So you get a seven 720P image on your phone so it's HD
it's clear, you could see exactly what you're doing
and it looks great.
Now for the controller itself,
if you haven't seen the Air 2 controller
basically your phone just sits right here
and your antenna is now this thing that's on top.
You don't have these squiggly antennas
that are falling all over the place.
It's just a much better controller
and it feels good because the grip on the back of it
it's good, like it works well, I like it
I just don't necessarily like the size
especially if you really wanna be compact
because it's so big in comparison to the drone.
It would be cool if there was multiple controller options
where you could use a super tiny controller
and then also, you know, when you don't need something tiny
you take this out.
Now in terms of obstacle avoidance
there really is none.
The only sensors that this drone has
is on the bottom of the drone, which senses the ground.
Other than that, there's no sensors around the drone
to determine whether you're gonna hit something or not.
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So one thing that I was wondering with such a tiny drone
is how does it handle in wind?
So with when it actually is a little bit better
than the original Mini.
It's a small drone, it's still not gonna be able
to withstand major gusts of wind
but every time I've been flying
whether it's up here in the Hills or down by the beach
even with a little breeze
I've had no issues flying this whatsoever.
So depending on what kind of weather
you're planning to fly in, unless it's something extreme
this drone is gonna work great.
If you're gonna be flying in extreme weather
you probably wouldn't be using the Mini 2 anyways
you'd go for something like the Mavic 2 Pro
or something like the P4P
which is built to withstand extreme wind.
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Now I told you, at the end of this video
I'm gonna have a surprise
and I'm actually giving away a DGI Mini 2.
So I'll put a link down below in the description
to where you can find out more details about this giveaway
and guys let me know down in the comments
why you want the DGI Mini 2 and what you would use it for
if you were to get it.
So personally, I think that this drone is awesome
you get a lot packed into such a small body
and it just works well.
When I'm out flying,
I've been able to get some pretty amazing looking shots.
Now, for me, when I'm deciding
which drone I'm gonna bring out with me
I'm now gonna decide between the Air 2 and the Mini 2
because the Mini 2 is so much smaller
and I can still get such a good looking image out of it.
The air too definitely has more features
it has things like active track.
However, if I don't need all of that
I'm just gonna take the Mini 2 with me
because of its size and portability.
So guys, let me know your thoughts
about the Mini 2 down below in the comments
I'd love to hear from you guys
and guys, like I said, there is a giveaway for a Mini 2
the link will be down in the description
so make sure you don't miss that.
Now, if you need things like active track and 4k 60
or the ability to zoom in 4k and not lose resolution
then I highly suggest you check out this video right here.
This is all about the DGI Air 2
and this is one of my favorite drones to fly with.
All right, guys, I'll see you on the next one.