Aside from these great quick-shot functions, the drone can also shoot striking 4K Hyperlapse videos and widescreen panoramas. The Lite+ also comes with a stepped 16 x zoom function that’s useful for scouting subjects from afar, and a Defog function that adjusts the camera’s vibrance settings when shooting on a hazy day. Moreover, the latest firmware update includes both LOG and HDR. Many pros will appreciate the flat LOG colour profile, but for the rest of us, what comes straight out of the Micro-SD card is good enough. Like most higher-end drones these days, the Evo Lite+ is equipped with forward, rearward and downward obstacle sensors and this is a great thing to have on board when flying near trees and other large obstructions. Basically, if any of the sensors detect an obstacle, the phone app in the hand controller will beep loudly and the drone will come to a halt and hover.
You can also check to see if you need to update the database by going into your settings and tapping “about” at the bottom. You guys may remember the story a while back about the guy who landed his Phantom on the White House lawn. DJI took a lot of heat for allowing their drones to be able to fly practically anywhere.
To set the video format, connect the DJI Fly app with your drone, click the video icon on your right, select the resolution you wish to record (2.7K all the way for me), and match your desired framerate with your other cameras. The DJI Mavic Mini can record footage in 24FPS, 25FPS, and 30FPS on 2.7K resolution, and 50FPS and 60FPS on 1080P resolution. I made the mistake of not learning more about the settings in the DJI Fly app and use my Mavic Mini to record footage during my trip in Thailand all in 30 FPS mode whereas my regular camera is set to 25 FPS. After you made sure that you can fly in the area you are visiting, be sure to watch out for a sign prohibiting drone flying when you arrive at the location. Sometimes, like near an old monument or a crowded area, there might prohibit drone flying outright and you might get told off or worst, get arrested even if you do it unknowingly. Before you set out on to a location to fly your drone, first, make sure that your drone’s firmware and your DJI Fly app are actually up-to-date, preferably when you are on WIFI.
I wrote an in-depth article about reasons for video lag that you can find here, but I didn’t include a Fly Safe Database Update as a potential solution for the problem because I didn’t see it as a viable one at the time. If you are flying along and the Drone suddenly stops for no apparent reason, there is a decent chance you have entered a geofenced phantom 4 area. With every fly safe database update, DJI is essentially inputting more GPS coordinates for where your drone is not able to fly. THIS IS IMPORTANT – Remember how back in the day the drone would recognize an obstacle and just stop. You would then have to manually “find” a safe path that would allow you to fit your drone around the obstacle?
Now, that we’ve discussed the settings, let’s talk more on how you can improve your drone filmmaking skills. Drones are excellent tools for filmmakers to add a new perspective to our travel videos but if you follow only one flight pattern, your video might become repetitive instead. You don’t want to be out at a location and realized that you only have half a battery for your drone. With only 30 minutes of flight time per one fully charged battery, you won’t be able to fly very far with anything less than that.