What Can the DJI Mini 2 Do?

Do you own a DJI Mini 2 and are wondering what you can do with it? Worry not, for I’ve got you covered.

As a person who has used the DJI Mini 2 for a while now, I can assure you that there’s a lot you can do with a DJI Mini 2 for personal projects or paid work as long as you know what you are doing.

So, what can the DJI Mini 2 do?

You can use the DJI Mini 2 for hobbyist and professional photography and videography, practicing and teaching others how to fly, fishing, inspecting your home, delivering stuff for fun, and even playing games.

The DJI Mini 2 is one of the best cheap drones. That was before they released the DJI Mini 3 Pro.

But the DJI Mini 3 Pro is quite expensive, especially if you don’t already have a controller, and if you have less than $500 to spend, the DJI Mini 2 is still the best beginner drone you can have.

Besides, it’s one of the few professional-grade drones that weigh less than 250 grams, which means you don’t have to register it unless you will be using it for commercial purposes.

But don’t buy it and shelf it because you think you need a drone worth thousands of dollars to get the whole experience. With that in mind, below is how you can get the most out of your drone.

Learn or teach someone how to fly a drone #

As already mentioned, the DJI Mini 2 is the perfect beginner drone.

Featuring altitude hold, GPS navigation and stabilization, and an easy-to-setup process, you can deploy the drone into the air within a few seconds, even without prior experience with drones.

Notwithstanding that, I’d still advise you to learn how to fly drones first through a course or a simulator.

But once it comes to gaining hands-on experience, the DJI Mini 2 can help you with that. Once it’s in the air, it hovers, allowing you or the student to practice the yaw, roll, throttle, and pitch.

If you already know how to fly a drone, you can use it to practice (there’s always room for improvement!) or teach your kids, friends, etc., how to fly drones.

Photography and Videography #

That’s right. While the DJI Mini 2 may not be as advanced as the Mavic 3, the ultimate professional photography drone, it’s still great.

Featuring a 4K resolution at 60fps and a 12MP camera, the DJI Mini 2 produces photos and videos good enough for hobbyists and professionals.

What’s more? You also get intelligent flight modes like Quickshots and Spotlight. Another feature that videographers love, especially vloggers, is the Follow Me feature.

While this feature is not inbuilt into the DJI Mini 2, DJI later released an SDK update, allowing this drone to work with third-party software like Litchi. So, you can make the DJI Mini 2 follow you as you skate, hike, bike, or jog.

But be careful since it still lacks obstacle avoidance; only use the Follow Me feature in areas with no obstacles.

However, if you really want to get the most out of your Mini 2 in terms of photography and videography, I’d advise you to take courses in photography and videography to learn the various principles of cinematography, the angles, the accessories you will need (e.g., ND filters), and to also learn to edit.

» MORE: Best Drone Courses Taught by Experts

Without the skill, you won’t get those cinematic shots even if you have a Mavic 3.

If you’re not sure about what type of footage you can get with a DJI Mini 2, check out these videos:

Travel with your drone #

Are you planning to go on a vacation or travel around the world? The DJI Mini 2 can help you capture these precious moments, and you could even get paid for it if you record excellent footage and post it on your YouTube channel or on stock footage websites.

Drone footage is everywhere nowadays, and movie producers and advertisers are always incorporating such videos in their work, and they sometimes buy this footage from stock footage websites.

Photogrammetry and mapping #

Photogrammetry is another excellent field you can get into with your DJI Mini 2.

Now, you may not come up with high-quality, geo-rectified outputs like you would with an Inspire 2 or a Phantom 4 Pro, but you can come up with simple 2D maps and orthomosaics that you can share with people for free.

Besides, this prepares you for the more serious equipment you will use if you choose to make a career out of photogrammetry.

One of the ways you can use the DJI Mini 2 for photogrammetry is by using apps like Map Pilot Pro, made by the people behind Maps Made Easy, one of the first companies to make photogrammetry possible with drones.

All you have to do is create a Map Made Easy account, download the Map Pilot Pro, create a flight plan of where you want to fly, and launch the drone into the air.

While there are paid versions, this app is free, and you only need a compatible drone and a compatible mobile device to get started.

Once it’s done collecting the images, you can download the images and stitch them together into an orthomosaic on the Maps Made Easy software.

Other apps you can use to do photography and mapping using the DJI Mini 2 include:

• WebODM
• CivilTracker
• Litchi
• You can also use the outputs from the DJI Mini 2 for processing in DroneDeploy and Pix4D, some of the best software for professional photogrammetry.

Inspect your home or property #

Were you just hit by the recent hurricane and want to assess the damage before the insurance guys come? Let your DJI Mini 2 help you with that.

Insurance companies often use professional-grade drones to assess the damage, but you can deploy your Mini 2 and keep the images for reference. A 4K camera and a 1/2.3 sensor will provide more than enough detail for such a task.

Besides, having a drone saves the trouble of going up there, where you could end up causing even more damage or even hurting yourself.

Another way you can use the DJI Mini 2 is to fly around your yard, farm, or ranch just to make sure everything is in place. The 6.2-mile range and 31-minute flight time make this possible even when you have vast acres of land to cover.

Deliver stuff #

Now, the DJI Mini 2 cannot come close to delivering payloads as the Zipline drones do in rural Africa, or like the Amazon Prime delivery drones, but it can carry small stuff.

With a payload of 0.24 kg, you can carry a smartphone, a small can of beer, a pet toy, or anything you could think of.

Of course, this would mainly be for fun and a way to get creative when using a drone, surprise your friend, or cheer up a loved one.

You can use a simple string to carry the payload, but if you want to make it fancier, you can get a payload drop mechanism.

This device can fit in a wide range of drones and is remote-controlled, allowing you to drop the payload at the destination remotely.

Pay attention to the various regulations on payloads and dropping mechanisms.

Also, pay attention to the reduced drone performance. The DJI Mini 2 has a payload mode that kicks in when it detects extra weight, limiting how long and fast it can fly.

» MORE: What Is Payload Mode on a DJI Mini 2?

Fishing #

Do you love fishing? Then the next time you go on a fishing trip, don’t leave your DJI Mini 2 at home.

» MORE: How to Fish with a Drone

Besides taking cool shots of the area you will be fishing, you can use the DJI Mini 2 to fish. How? You can use the payload drop device mentioned earlier to drop the bait at a desired section of the water body.

The DJI Mini 2’s camera can also help you scout for areas with lots of fish to increase your chance of getting some fish. This allows you to cast further away from the shore without going in with a boat, and you can also deploy the drone when in a boat to find areas with more fish.

Besides, since the drone is a few feet above the water and quieter, it will be more stealthy than moving around to the area with fish on a boat.

Below are some videos showing people fishing with a DJI Mini 2:

Play games #

It doesn’t have to be always serious business with your drone. You can use it to have fun too. And one of the ways to do that is to play games with it.

» MORE: 5 Fun Games To Play With Drones

Below are the most common games and how the DJI Mini 2 fits in:

• Hide and Seek – You can ask your kids to hide, like in a regular hide-and-seek game, but this time you look for them using a drone. It will be tough to beat an aerial view, which will keep the game interesting.
• Racing – Now, the DJI Mini 2 isn’t exactly a racing drone, but if you have several friends who also own a Mini 2, the playing field is level, and you can all compete to get to the finish line. You can also spice up the game by adding the Statues game, where a curator faces away from you, and when they turn to face the pilots, each of the pilots has to stop immediately. Adding barriers and building courses to fly through is also an excellent way to improve your flying skills as you compete.
• Navigation – This is where a friend can scout for areas and map a route for the pilot to follow through landmarks and coordinates. Just make sure the route is within areas that you are allowed to fly.
• Drone I Spy – This is where one person scouts an area and identifies an object. Then, another participant has to find this object in the zone the drone spied, and the only clue they get is the first letter of the object. They have to do it in a designated time frame.

Conclusion #

Don’t let your DJI Mini 2 gather dust on the shelf because you don’t know what you can do with it. And if you were thinking of buying one and weren’t sure of its capabilities, I hope this article inspires you to go for it – it’s worth it!