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The Camera Goes Pro That is a shame, because the jaw-dropping feature of the Air 2S is the new, substantially upgraded camera. Doubling the size of the sensor does a lot more than give your image more pixels for a more detailed picture. It drastically improves its ability to shoot in low light and smooths out delicate tonal gradients. Any photographer who moved up to a full-frame DSLR will understand the kind of difference this can make. The resulting images look significantly more lifelike, or at least have that potential after some post-processing. On top of that, the Air 2S now records in 10-bit video recording in both D-Log and HLG profiles, the former providing a lot of information for grading in standard gamuts, the latter ideal for HDR workflows. The large sensor captures 5.4K video and 20-megapixel camera raw stills. There are still Normal and jpeg options if you’re not interested in post-processing to extract all you get from the pro profiles and raw image stills. Both normal and HLG profiles provide excellent quality without any extra work. D-Log captures a lot of sensor information for an exceptional dynamic range (sort of like a raw-lite), but you have to tease it out with some color grading. As it comes out of the camera, it is noticeably flat and dull as recorded. Taking advantage of the larger sensor, DJI also expanded the available zoom range—up to 8X if you’re shooting in 1080p/30 and 4X with 4K/30. We found that 2X stays fairly clean and sharp, but if you’re moving the footage to editing software that has good upscaling algorithms, you may want to do your zooming there rather than on the Air 2S. In the 4X to 8X range, it does lose a notable amount of detail. We found the new camera software in DJI Fly for the Air 2S adds one feature we really like, the ability to provide auto-exposure with a preset shutter speed or ISO locked in. This is great for those times when your lighting is highly variable, but you want to be sure that your shutter speed is optimized for your video frame rate or to guarantee a sharp still. The DJI new ND filter set that comes with the Mavic Air 2S Fly-More Kit is also a step up, both in quality and price. It now includes four filters (ND4, 8, 16, and 32) mounted in twist-on metal frames. The greatly improved imaging and expanded vision system does come with a price increase, though not an exorbitant one. The basic kit with one battery and basic accessories is $999. The popular Fly More Kit with three batteries and loads of useful add-ons remains a very good value at $1,299. Air 2 owners will still have to decide whether to opt for a fresh set of batteries and the new ND filters or go for the basic kit and keep the batteries and accessories they have. If your focus is on photography and video, the Mavic Air 2S is enough of an improvement to justify moving up, even from a fairly fresh Air 2. From the original Air or Mini, it’s a no-brainer. At the moment, it’s the best camera in the Mavic series, given that the Pro 2 is due for an update. If you’re a licensed professional and your drone is source of income, there is a lot to be said for the Air 2S. The entire kit can fit in a backpack, with room left for a DSLR, lenses, laptop, and probably a small lunch. The image quality is easily good enough to be edited into sequences side-by-side and color-matched to mid-range pro equipment. Hollywood will probably stick with DJI’s heavy metal. But for the rest of us, the Mavic Air 2S will take us a very visible step towards achieving that Hollywood look. For more information, visit: dji.com