Yesterday DJI held its first ever product launch in South Africa and we were lucky enough to attend the event.

The launch was for the recently announced Mavic 2 series of drones which includes the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic 2 Zoom and we had a chance to pilot these new, expensive drones.

Thankfully Core Group (one of the distributors of DJI products in South Africa) had the foresight to hire a few experienced drone pilots to take us through the basics so that Nirox Sculpture Park wasn’t turned into a drone graveyard.

So having never flown a drone before I stepped up to the plate and took a Mavic 2 Pro on its maiden voyage and I have to say, it was incredible.

Voice activated drones @DJIGlobal make it happen for @LeetBee #SeeTheBiggerPicture #DJIMavic2SA pic.twitter.com/3DZ46mD8vJ

— Hypertext (@htxtafrica) September 11, 2018

The Mavic 2 controller sports two joysticks, one that handles movement and the other handles direction. The controls reminded me a lot of an Xbox or PlayStation controller and it didn’t take long for me to get the hang of piloting the Mavic 2 Pro.

The thing is I can’t take much, if any credit, for my new found skill of drone piloting because DJI had just made it so incredibly simple. The drone sports omni-directional obstacle avoidance so hitting into things is rather difficult, though not impossible.

This coupled with advanced tech that doesn’t stop the drone when it changes direction means that even in the event of a close call with a tree, your footage won’t be entirely ruined.

In addition to those features the drone uses GPS to determine where exactly in the world it is and will use those co-ordinates to keep itself flying in a straight line.

The Mavic 2 controller uses your smartphone as a display and beams a live, FullHD video to your handset while it is in the air. Everything from height to speed is showcased on this display and the FullHD image gives you a better idea of what sort of footage you are capturing.

For those wondering the drone communicates via radio frequency in the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz spectrum which can be switched between in real time. This means that you’re less likely to lose connectivity with the drone while is catching sweeping cinematic shots up to 8km away.

Something I’d never realised about DJI drones is that if you take your hands off of the controller, the drone will simply remain where it was when you took your hands off of the controller. Another cool feature is that if the drone reckons its going to run out of battery it will return to a “Home” position that you can setup before taking off.

But even better than piloting the drone is letting the drone fly itself.

DJI has also included four types of Hyperlapse in the Mavic 2 series:

• Free – fly the drone freely while taking stable aerial shots
• Circle – circle around an object
• CourseLock – Fly the drone in one direction (these can be saved for comparative shots)
• Waypoint – fly to predetermined points (these can be saved for comparative shots)

The Mavic 2 Zoom has a lot more photography/videography options including things like Rocket (which records video as the drone moves upwards) Asteroid (which stitches photos together to give you a circular image) and Dolly Zoom (which simultaneously zooms in while pulling the drone backwards or vice versa).

Each of these modes sees the drone entering an autonomous mode where it flies and controls itself and it’s rather incredible to witness.

But where the Mavic 2 shines is it’s stabilisation. The camera on the Mavic 2 is supported by a 3-axis gimbal and it works like a charm. Tilt the drone as aggressively as you want and the camera will remain where you want it pointed. While there wasn’t much wind on the West Rand yesterday the odd breeze did hit the drone now and then. Despite this, footage remained dead on centre.

The Mavic 2 is a truly spectacular piece of kit but it does cost a lot of money. The Zoom fetches a price of R25 999 and the Pro for R29 999. There is also a Fly More kit which contains extra blades and batteries that will cost an additional R5 999.

That is objectively a lot of money for a drone but in the right hands the Mavic 2 can produce some incredible footage.

In the same way that a Canon 1DX Mark II is not for everybody the Mavic 2 drones are not something everyone should own. It’s a tool and in that respect it’s one I would definitely recommend you consider adding to your arsenal if you have a commercial drone company or you’re a content creator.

DJI has made vast improvements from the original Mavic and the results are noticeable.

I’m not a regular drone pilot but I know good tech when I see it and the Mavic 2 series is oozing with great features.

I want one.