DJI MAVIC AIR 2 vs MAVIC 2 PRO - 60fps SLOW MOTION
The video above compares the DJI Mavic Air 2 and the Mavic 2 Pro at 60 frames per second. I am going to give you a lot of great tips to use at 60 frames per second, so let's get right into it.
While both of these drones shoot 60 frames per second, the Mavic Air 2 does it in 4K, whereas the Mavic 2 Pro does it at 2.7K. First off, I usually shoot at 24 frames per second, though lately have been shooting at 60 frames per second because I can speed it up or slow it down when editing. Both of these drones have a three-axis gimbal, so your footage is going to be smooth and cinematic. If you are far away from your subject, you do not really need to slow it down because the footage is already appearing very slow because you are so far away.
There are different situations where you need to shoot 60 frames per second. The first reason is if you are shooting sports or cars or doing a car chase and trying to speed up or slow down the footage. Anything that is moving really fast and you are close to that action, you want to use 60 frames per second because then you can slow it down in post-production. Or you can speed it up if you to make a cool transition from one scene to another.
This leads me to my second situation - where something is really close to you - 60 frames per second will be better than 24 or 30 fps. It does not have to necessarily be sports or car chase. For instance, if you are shooting inside or shooting a building and you are going by it or moving past it, 60 frames per second can slow things down. Whereas if you move at normal speed, it might be too fast for the viewer to take in the scene. So any time you are shooting really close to something you might consider using 60 frames per second.
The next situation is if you are shooting waterfalls or water moving really fast. Because it is hard for a person to take in all the fast moving water, you slow it down, creating a more cinematic and pleasing look. I like slowing down water, especially with a waterfall because it is moving so fast that it is good to shoot at 60 frames per second.
The next situation for using 60 frames per second is doing some creative edits, while either speeding up and slowing down your footage. I talked about this earlier with sports and car chases, but you can use this in nature and in many different scenes. You can add this in to make your footage to make it more interesting, more intriguing. It is also great for transitions or intros to videos. So while doing these creative edits, make sure you shoot at 60 frames per second that way you can speed up or slow down your footage in post production. If you only shoot at 24 or 30 frames per second and then try to speed it up or slow it down in post production, the footage will not look smooth because you are going to have frames missing. Shooting at least 60 frames per second gives you have more leniency in post production.
Now let's look at the DJI Mavic Air 2 and DJI Mavic 2 Pro. In the video above, I shot at 60 frames per second - the Mavic Air 2 does it at 4K, whereas the Mavic 2 Pro does it at 2.7K. However, I still think the Mavic 2 Pro looks a little better than the Mavic Air 2, even when upscaled to 4K. I used ISO 100. It is best to keep that down so you do not have any noise or grain in your image. I also use auto white balance and kept my aperture to f/2.8 with the Mavic Air 2 because I can't change that, it is a fixed aperture. Whereas the Mavic 2 Pro you can change the aperture. I found the best aperture between f/4 to f5.6. So I used about an f/4 for the majority of this footage, and I had to use an ND filter in order to get the proper exposure while using the proper shutter speed. My shutter speed was 120th of a second that way the footage looked smooth and cinematic. I recommend you use an ND filter if you are shooting during the day. During sunset or sunrise you may not need an ND filter because you have the higher shutter speed shooting at 60 frames per second, but I will let you be the judge.
I shot in normal mode, but I also shot in D-Cinelike mode with the Mavic Air 2, and then I color graded it as well. With the Mavic 2 Pro I shot in D-Log, which is kind of like D-Cinelike. They are kind of comparable with more muted, desaturated tones. I think the Mavic 2 Pro just looked better because it has the bigger sensor and there is too much digital sharpening on the Mavic Air 2, especially you will notice it in the water. The ripples of the water have some aliasing and moire. Whereas the Mavic 2 Pro just looked a lot more natural. Even with the trees, the Mavic 2 Pro looked more natural, and I could also sharpen it a little more in post production. To see this side-by-side, click on the video at the top.
DRONE GEAR GUIDE
If you want to learn more about these drones, I made a FREE Drone Gear Guide, which I just updated for 2021. In that guide you'll learn more about drones in this article, along with other drones for different budgets. I also included my favorite software and accessories. So don’t forget to download that drone gear guide by click on the image to the left or on the link above!
Brett “The Drone Pilot Pro” Garamella