GEAR MINI TESTS
We take DJI’s new vlogging drone to the skies to see how useful it is for pro filmmaking, plus two Calibrite products, Rode’s Wireless Go Gen 3 and more
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
DJI NEO £169/$199 dji.com
Although DJI’s super-affordable 4K Neo is marketed as the ultimate selfie or vlogging drone, don’t write it off before you really think about what a small, simple UAV could do to up your production values. Everyone knows that fast-paced commercial shoots can benefit from a few seconds of footage offered by the unique perspective of a drone, either as an establishing shot or following a subject for a few seconds. The problem is that this all takes time. To get those shots, you need to first learn to fly safely and control the drone properly, get your official permission to fly by studying and taking an exam if your drone weighs more than 250g – which all serious ones do. Then you need to unpack it, often assemble it, link it to your phone and/or controller, wait for the GPS signal to be stabilised. Finally, you’ll get round to shooting a few seconds of footage – if you have the time that is. But if you’d like something small to keep in your bag that pretty much flies itself, the Neo could be the drone for
you. Especially considering it costs just £169/$199 for the bare drone itself – that’s all you need for fast, basic shots. The Neo is DJI’s lightest and most compact aircraft and it doesn’t need a remote control. Since it weighs just 135g/0.3lb, you don’t need any kind of certificate to fly it. It features AI subject tracking to shoot 4K ultra-stabilised video and has a flight time of up to 18 minutes from a single battery. A spare battery is just £32/$39. It’ll fly indoors or out, with full- coverage propeller guards to give some protection against the odd mishap. And as it doesn’t have obstacle-avoidance technology, you may just need them. The beauty of the Neo is that it can be launched and landed on the palm of your hand, and you do not need to learn the basics of flight control to use it for many shots. To fly it, hit the power button and then simply press the mode button to select the shooting mode. The Neo will automatically do the rest without the need for a remote control – you’re up and shooting within a few seconds. Of course, if you have a remote and know how to fly a drone, you can just use that. Or pay a little extra and buy one included in one of the Neo kit bundles that are available.
But the joy and simplicity of remote-less flying is that you can turn the drone on, set the mode and it should fly, take video and then return to your palm after shooting in record time. You place the Neo on your hand with the camera facing the subject. After it recognises the subject and the voice prompt finishes telling you which mode is set, it takes off automatically and starts filming. And, since the AI algorithms follow the subject within the frame, this is ideal for filming cycling, running or skateboarding. But you can’t get it to follow a car as only humans are supported for subject confirmation. The Neo is designed for the selfie generation, so they can quickly get shots of themselves on location without any extra kit. Walk, cycle or jog along and the drone will follow. It even smooths your skin out for a glamorous look, if you want, though most serious users probably won’t! Key is the different modes: Follow, Dronie, Circle, Rocket, Spotlight and Custom – the only mode you need to set using the DJI companion app on a phone. Custom modes include Helix, Boomerang and Direction Track. All these should be pretty familiar to DJI users as most of its drones already
PROPS TO DJI All you need is the drone and spare battery to go flying
UP AND AWAY! The Neo can lift off from your hand and come back to your palm after each shot
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PRO MOVIEMAKER
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