Photography has been a passing hobby of mine for several years and over the past few months I’ve been watching several drone pilots and impressed by the pictures and video footage they can obtain. The DJI range of consumer drones seems to be very popular with amateur pilots, and after a little research I decided on the DJI Mini 2 SE, it seemed to meet my budget and given my inexperience was recommended as a beginner drone.
The DJI Mini 2 SE is a marvel of modern drone technology, packing advanced features into a compact and user-friendly package. Weighing under 249 grams, it’s incredibly portable and exempt from registration in many regions, making it an ideal choice for both beginners and seasoned drone enthusiasts. With a 31-minute maximum flight time and 10km video transmission, the Mini 2 SE ensures you can capture stunning 2.7K footage even in challenging conditions, thanks to its Level-5 wind resistance. Whether you’re exploring the great outdoors or capturing memories at a family gathering, the DJI Mini 2 SE is your perfect flying companion, ready to elevate your aerial photography to new heights.
What’s in the box?
- The Drone
- The controller
- Battery (Installed in the Drone)
- Charging cable, USB C
- Cables to connect a phone to the controller, 3 different cables provided support for both iPhone and Android
- Spare propellers
- Screwdriver
One thing to note is that the drone requires an SD card to store photos and or video recorded during flight which isn’t included.
Test Flight
So, after charging the drone and controller, you’ll need to install the DJI Fly app on a suitable smartphone. One mistake I made was to assume the relevant app store is the place to get this from, well it’s not, you have to go to the DJI website and download it from there. The link is shown below, but there should also be a QR code in the documentation supplied with the drone which will take you to the correct location.
DJI Fly – Download Center – DJI
If you’re on Android the link allows you to download the APK files, otherwise, on iPhone, the link seems to point you to the app store.
I’d also recommend downloading the manual and just having a read through of the pre-flight checks, followed by how to get started, it was fairly straight forward however and the DJI Fly app is quite intuitive and there were no problems connecting to the drone. Ensure you follow the on-screen instructions, download any updates and you should be good to go.
Well after my test flight, I felt confident I could control the drone and was ready to go out into the wild and get some real-world flying hours in.
First Flight
My daughter is a keen horse rider, and most weekends she is down at the local stables helping out. Quite often she and other riders go out on what they call a ‘Hack’ which is a ride out in the wild on the horses. The most recent ‘Hack’ was a walk along the beach, which I took the opportunity to film. Enjoy.
I hope you enjoyed my first foray into the world of the drone pilot, I’ll be sure to document further adventures going forward.
Stay safe
TSP Admin