GEAR DJI AIR 2S
AIR FORCE 2!
DJI’s new large-sensor 5.4K drone sets a new standard for affordable UAVs that can be used professionally BUSINESS CLASS AIR TRAVEL
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
Y ou can’t accuse Chinese more expensive UAVs. The new, compact Air 2S drone matches, or betters, the more expensive Mavic 2 Pro in pretty much every way that matters, yet is significantly cheaper. Both have a large, one-inch sensor – and fly for 31 minutes on one battery. But while the popular two-year-old Mavic 2 Pro records drone giant DJI of holding back on technology to avoid cannibalising sales of its 4K/30p, with a range of 10km, the smaller Air 2S can fly 2km further and record 5.4K/30fps or 4K/60fps at 150Mbps. The pricier Mavic 2 Pro has omnidirectional obstacle sensing, while the Air 2S has sensors on the front, back, top and bottom, but doesn’t have sideways sensors. So, you have to be a bit more careful not to fly sideways into something. The Air 2S also has a wider lens, equivalent to 22mm. Unfortunately, the aperture is fixed at f/2.8, while the Mavic 2 Pro has one that can be altered. The only way to change the amount of light coming in on the Air 2S is to use ND filters. When purchasing the Air 2S, it makes
AIR HELLO! The new DJI Air 2S is small, but records incredible video. The Fly More kit (below) is also worth the investment
“The Air 2S is very stable in the air, quiet to use and the quality is excellent”
If you are used to flying a DJI drone, the Air 2S is a piece of cake, as all the controls are consistent. Clamp your smartphone to the included remote control and connect it via the attached cable – suitable for Apple or Android devices. Launch the free DJI Fly app and you’re good to go. It’s the best drone app we’ve seen, with all the flight info you need. The Air 2S is very stable in the air, quiet to use and the quality is excellent. The Log settings provide lots of dynamic range and the standard settings are very natural, too. It is truly amazing footage. An experienced and trained drone pilot will probably have learned many advanced moves.
sense to buy the Fly More Combo, as this comes with a set of four customised ND filters, as well as two spare batteries, a triple battery charger and custom bag. Definitely worth the extra money. The Air 2S’s fixed lens means zooming is done electronically. There is a 4x zoom at 4K/30fps, 6x at 2.7K/30fps, 4x at 2.7K/60fps, 6x at 1080p/60fps and 8x at 1080p/30fps. There is also 8GB of internal storage to store footage if your memory card is full. There’s a variety of codec options, recording in H.264 or H.265, with three video colour profiles: normal, which is 8-bit, while D-Log and HLG are 10-bit.
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