The second Smart Photo mode is dubbed Hyperlight, which handles low-light situations. To judge by DJI’s promo materials, this is essentially an HDR photography mode specifically optimized for low-light scenes. It purportedly cuts noise and produces more detailed images. The final smart mode is HDR, which takes seven images in rapid succession, the combines elements of each to make a final image with a higher dynamic range.
One last note about the camera: The shape of the camera has changed, so if you have any lenses or other accessories for previous DJI drones, they won’t attach to the Air 2.
Automatic Flight for the People
Like previous models, the Mavic Air 2 folds up into a shape that’s easier to carry.
Photograph: DJIIf you dig through older YouTube videos there’s a ton of movies that play out like this: unbox new drone, head outside, take off, tree gets closer, closer, closer, black screen. Most of us just aren’t that good at flying, and the learning curve can be expensive and steep. Thankfully drone companies began automating away most of what’s difficult about piloting a quadcopter, and DJI is no exception.
The company has added some new automated flight tricks to the Air’s arsenal. DJI’s Active Track has been updated to version 3.0, which brings better subject recognition algorithms and some new 3D mapping tricks to make it easier to automatically track people through a scene, keeping the camera on the subject as the drone navigates overhead to stay with them. DJI claims the Point of Interest mode—which allows you to select an object and fly around it in a big circle while the camera stays pointed at the subject—is better at tracking some of the objects that previous versions struggled with, like vehicles or even people.
The most exciting new flight mode is Spotlight, which comes from DJI’s high-end Inspire drone used by professional photographers and videographers to carry their DSLR cameras into the sky. Similar to the Active Track mode, Spotlight keeps the camera pointed a moving subject. But while Active Track automates the drone’s flight, the new Spotlight mode allows the human pilot to retain control of the flight path for more complex shots.
Finally, the range of the new Mavic Air 2 has been improved, and it can now wander an impressive six miles away from the pilot in ideal conditions. The caveat here is that you should always maintain visual contact with your drone for safety reasons. However, you aren’t going to be able to see the Mavic Air 2 when it’s two miles away, let alone six.
Despite a dearth of competitors, DJI continues to put out new drones and improve its lineup as it progresses. The Mavic Air 2 looks like an impressive update to what was already one of our favorite drones, especially considering several features—the 60 fps 4K video and 34 minute flight time—even best those found on the more expensive Mavic 2 Pro.
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