DJ his latest drone, the AIR 2 S might just be the best drone around for the landscape photographers among you.
Let's dive in and take a closer look.
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The air to S is basically an updated version of the air two which launched last year.
And while it's physically almost identical with this compact size, it's It's got a much improved camera with a bigger sensor that promises much better image quality here then are the main reasons why the air to s should be at every landscape photographers kit back.
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Physically you won't see any difference between the air two s and last year's air two.
It weighs roughly 595 grams or about 1.3 pounds and it has an identical footprint when it's closed or when it's open Roughly around the size of a DSLR zoom lens and actually it fits perfectly in a lens slot in my photography backpack that makes it superbe for landscape photographers just like me who want the option of getting great aerial footage and images, but don't necessarily want to drag an entire dedicated drone case.
All up the hillside with them.
It's smaller and lighter than 2016 Maverick Pro, but it is bigger and heavier than the very small DJI Maverick mini two, so this one is still the one to go for if every ounce counts.
That said the extra size of the air two s will make it a bit more stable in windy conditions.
The controller is pretty chunky being not that much smaller than the drone itself.
But it feels robust enough that you can chuck it into a bag without really worrying about damaging it.
spare batteries for the drone are pretty small so you can easily fit these in a spare side pocket on your bag without really feeling weighed down.
It can fly up to 12 kilometres from wherever you're flying from.
Although I did not test this in my time as my local laws don't allow Always make sure that you are flying within the law wherever you are.
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The main upgrade in the air to S is in its camera.
Now outwardly this unit might look much the same as its Its predecessor, but it's been equipped with a larger one inch image sensor.
Now that offers 20 megapixel still photos up to 5.4k video and I've got to say that so far I've been really impressed with the quality of footage that I've got.
Videos are packed with detail with excellent colors and dynamic range And just Well, the gimbal provides rock solid stabilization so all of my footage looks super slick and cinematic to have four or five points 4k resolution you can shoot those videos at 30 frames a second, or you can increase that to 60 frames a second if you drop it down to 4k I found shooting in auto mode gave me the best looking footage with the least amount of effort on my part, but you can switch to the Pro mode for fine control over things like shutter speed and white balance.
The more professional among you can also shoot footage in de log which will give you a lot more control over your contrast and colors when you're editing your footage in software like Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.
still images look good too, particularly when taken in raw DNG format and then adjusted in Adobe Lightroom Room afterwards.
One thing it doesn't have is the ability to flip that camera and shoot in portrait rather than landscape orientation.
That's another bit of a shame for me as I do like shooting my landscape images in that orientation sometimes, but it's also a bit disappointing particularly given the rise in popularity of vertical video on sites like Tik Tok or Instagram.
Real Really, I kind of feel that it's a bit of a missed opportunity to not let you capture vertical video from this drone.
The high resolution of the sensor means that you can also use a two times or four times digital zoom.
The effect at two times is pretty cool, particularly if you're circling around a point of interest and the effect is increased four times deep.
The image quality is reduced quite a lot.
So I tend to find that I wouldn't want to use that footage.
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JJI promises 31 minutes of flight time from a full battery, which from my own testing, I'd say is maybe a little bit unrealistic in my own mixed use ranging from just hovering, In plays through to those fast flybys and circling around a point of interest I found around 20 to 25 minutes was much more reasonable.
I said a really good amount of real world flight time from a single battery and it easily outpaces what I used to get from my Maverick Pro.
With three fully charged batteries which you'll get if you buy the Fly More Combo that will give you Comfortably an hour of air time, each time you head out.
Air to S is one of the easiest DJI drones I've flown.
The setup each time you want to fly is very straightforward and you can comfortably be up in the air in hundred minute.
That's the control scheme is exactly the same as previous DJI drone.
So if you have had an earlier model then this will all be familiar.
But if you are completely new to DJI as drones then don't worry because this is still very very easy for beginners to get to grips with.
And as with previous DJI drones including last year's air two This does have plenty of automated flight programs to help you get the best looking footage when you're out and about.
My favorite is the point of interest mode that will have the drone automatically circle around you or someone else just by tapping on them on your phone screen.
And of course, because it's got sensors all around it, it won't crash into anything wireless following you.
The auto modes are particularly handy if you're trying to get footage of yourself while you're out solo.
Or maybe you're out mountain biking with friends and you just want the drone to follow all of you without one of you having to stay behind and actually do the fly.
Hey, budding YouTubers who frequently shoot out in nature should really consider whether a drone like the air two s can add another layer of production to their videos.
So maybe the DJI air to ask doesn't have the The sorts of commercial level image quality, you'd want from say a bigger setup like the Inspire two, but it does offer great image quality for both video and stills.
It's got some awesome automated flying features, and it's all wrapped up in a package that you can just chuck into a backpack and head out into the hills.
What do you think of DGI new drone?
Does it excite you to want to get out and capture some beautiful footage of the landscape or are your feet more firmly planted on the ground?
Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below and make sure to keep it C-net's for a lot more.
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