The DJI Mavic 2 Pro & Zoom have a secret camera trick up their sleeve

The DJI Mavic 2 series introduces two brand new cameras that not only shoot better images than the original Mavic Pro, but also have their own special characteristics. The Mavic 2 Pro carries a 1-inch sensor that can take 20mp photos while the Mavic 2 Zoom carries a 24mm-48mm camera that can optically zoom in two times without losing any quality. Here’s something I bet you don’t know: the gimbal can pan.

A truly redesigned gimbal

If you’ve ever flown the original Mavic Pro or Mavic Pro Platinum, you most likely know all about the flimsy, fragile design of the gimbal. It was small, thin, and sometimes wasn’t able to stand the test of high winds, quick movements, and small crashes. I can’t even remember how many pictures I have seen across social media of pilots with dangling camera. With both Mavic 2 drones, the gimbal has been redesigned from the ground up into something that feels strong and rugged.Rather than one single mounting point above the camera, two arms hold the new cameras in place making a stronger design.

New panning feature

With this redesign, they also gave the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom a new feature, a panning gimbal. This means with the drone hovering, you can point the camera in almost any forward direction that you want. Most DJI drones are able to pitch up and down but if you want to look side to side, you have to rotate the entire drone.

To pan the gimbal, simply hold down on the screen and drag left and right, you’ll notice the gimbal can move in any direction your finger moves, even up and down! The DJI Inspire 2’s camera is able to rotate 360 degrees and rotates in the same method; by long pressing on the screen and dragging your finger. The gimbal pitch wheel can also be used to yaw the camera while holding down the C1 button, but unfortunately this is not available on the Mavic 2. In order to pan the gimbal, you must drag your finger on the screen which limits the kind of footage you’re able to shoot.

This small little upgrade to the gimbal is huge, and I’m not sure why DJI did not mention it a their release event as it’s a feature I know some photographers and videographers would love to use.

What do you think about this “secret” feature DJI didn’t focus on? Let us know in the comments below.

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