DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

This review of the DJI Mavic Mini focuses on its abilities as a filmmaking tool

Nov 26, 2019 by John Aldred Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Perhaps it’s just that the DJI Mavic Mini is an impressive little drone, or maybe it’s the beautiful scenic views of Glencoe reminding me of my own visit there a couple of weeks ago, but this is one of the most complete Mavic 2 reviews I’ve seen so far that’s specifically geared towards photographers and filmmakers.

In this review, the guys at Drone Film Guide put the Mavic Mini through its paces, to push its capabilities and really see what this tiny 249g drone can pull off. Drone Film Guide concentrates more on the filmmaking side of things and less on the tech side of drones. But whenever a new drone comes out, it needs to be tested to find out where its filmmaking limits are.

For a $399 drone, the Mavic Mini produces some very impressive results, as you can see in the opening sequence for the review. Despite shooting only 2.7K at 40Mbps, even scaled up to 4K it looks very good. And weighing in at only 249g, it circumvents the need for drone registration in a number of countries, including the UK and USA.

They do note a few downsides, though. There’s no raw feature for photos, for a start, and shoots jpg only. This doesn’t necessarily mean that all your photos will be bad, it just means you need to think more about your shooting technique and settings because you won’t have that extra latitude in post that raw files offer. There’s also no 24fps option for shooting video, which is somewhat annoying, and exposure is automatic (although you can lock it!).

The DJI Fly app is also rather cut down and not as feature-packed as DJI Go 4. Despite a number of key features being missing, though, you can still do some of the compositing effects in post using other applications like Lightroom or Photoshop.

The review goes into a lot of depth into the different factors of the drone in the video, but overall, the footage speaks for itself. The DJI Mavic Mini is capable of producing some excellent footage if you take the time to think about how you fly and shoot it.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

DJI Mavic 3 may be announced in January, Mavic Mini at the end of this month DJI Mavic 2 Pro review shows a substantial upgrade over the original Mavic Pro First look at the DJI Mavic Air – Mavic Pro 2 on the way? “Watch this space” says DJI New video shows off the rumoured “DJI Mavic Mini” – Successor to the DJI Spark

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: DJI Mavic Mini, Drone Film Guide

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Lynsey Addario talks about being a war photographer and how it got her kidnapped… twice
This is how Instagram chooses content for your Explore tab »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • This year’s Nature TTL POTY winner puts global warming right in our faces
  • TTArtisan announces super-low-budget 500mm f/6.3 super telephoto lens
  • NASA reveals five photos of space objects invisible to human eye
  • Tamron’s 17-50mm f/4 Di III VXD lens ships in October
  • Facebook now lets you (legally) have multiple profiles

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy