Panorama photography is a photo technique that serves several purposes:
- Produce a higher resolution, which is handy for large prints
- Post interactive images on social media
- Create a surreal, distorted, creative view of a scene
A drone is the perfect tool for a panorama, as an elevated viewpoint allows for a clear view without obstacles
In this article, I will show to use the different Panorama modes on a Mini 5 Pro, including the exciting new Free mode, a true game-changing functionality
You can check here the updated prices for the different configurations of the Mini 5 Pro. It is an affiliate link, so I get a small commission when a purchase is made
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Planning a Panorama
Let’s start with a few best practices and mistakes to avoid
The stitching software requires many reference points to align the images properly; therefore, it is better to avoid scenes with a large portion taken up by uniform elements, such as water or the sky. In this case, the stitching failed
With Sphere Panos, the sun will always be in the shot. It is hard to expose correctly under these conditions. It is preferable to shoot around sunset or sunrise or with the sun covered by clouds to reduce the dynamic range, preserve the highlights, and recover the shadows
The use of polarizing filters is to be avoided, as they react differently according to the angle of light, creating severe banding in the sky
How to Shoot a Panorama
We access Panorama mode via the photo video button above the shutter, on the right part of the menu, via the icon at the bottom
The menu to the left displays five icons for the different modes:
- Free
- Sphere
- 180 degrees
- Wide-angle
- Vertical
We can only access the panorama function when the drone is flying
We can then choose the Exposure mode. The button on the lower right of the screen toggles between Auto and Manual exposure
I generally shoot videos and photos in manual exposure. For panoramas, Auto exposure can be used; however, it tends to add too much light to the elements on the ground. On most occasions, I prefer the results obtained in Manual mode; however, in low light conditions, I switch to Auto mode
The White Balance must be set to manual to avoid color shifts. With the Mini 5 Pro, I find the best value to be around 5200 Kelvin in daylight conditions, while in low light, a higher value is needed
By tapping on the area to the left of the exposure button, a small window opens. In the tab Original, we can opt to save the files of each photo composing the panorama in RAW or JPEG format
Panorama Modes
In Sphere mode, the Mini 5 Pro shoots 33 photos in rapid succession
It is a 360-degree representation; therefore, a certain amount of distortion is applied to accommodate the image to a two-dimensional representation, although the distortion is less pronounced than in previous models. The distortion adds a touch of surreal and creative feel to the image
Since the gimbal cannot rotate 90 degrees upwards, the top of the sky is extrapolated by the software, although the amount of missing sky is smaller compared to the Mini 4 Pro
180-degree mode shoots 21 photos. This mode has less distortion, useful for traditional two-dimensional views that can be cropped or reframed, thanks to the high resolution, or for large prints
In the Wide-angle mode, 9 photos are taken, three rows and three columns
Vertical mode consists of a column of three photos
Free is a new mode for lightweight DJI models. It was introduced with the Air 3s, and it is the one that will be used on most occasions, as we can specify the exact area that will be included in the image
After selecting Free at the top of the panorama menu, we move to the top left point of the desired area and tap on the Start icon or press the C1 button of the RC2 controller
We can then pan to the right and move the gimbal down to the desired endpoint and click on the same button, which has now turned into End
The software will compute the number of photos needed and the overlap between each image to include the whole area in the resulting panorama
I have been waiting for a long time for something like Free mode. It practically makes 180 degrees, wide-angle, and vertical redundant. It is the only one I use, unless I need an interactive panorama for social media or a creative one with some distortion, in which case I use Sphere
Auto-Generated Panorama
After taking the photos, the software processes the auto-generated JPEG pano for a few seconds
The resulting image is in JPEG format with outstanding quality, a noticeable improvement compared to the Mini 4 Pro. The dynamic range is excellent, with plenty of information in the shadows and highlights perfectly exposed, rich colors, and a good amount of detail even in deep crops. There is no need for further editing
In Panorama mode, it is not possible to use the 48mm Med Tele mode, the 50MP mode, or the HDR mode. But this is not a major limitation, given the quality of the auto-generated JPEG image
Users who need to push things further can choose to save each photo in RAW or JPEG format in the tab Original
In the SD card, we will find a folder named DCMI containing two folders:
- DJI, with the auto-generated JPEG panoramas
- Panorama, where we find all the photos composing each panorama.
The photos can be stitched into a panorama with a photo editor. I use Luminar Neo, my favorite editing program
Here you find the updated price of the different configurations of Luminar Neo, together with a coupon code for a 10% discount (code Vicvideopic). It is an affiliate link, so I get a small commission when a purchase is made, which helps the channel
It is possible to push things further by taking manual panoramas and assembling them with Luminar Neo In this case, it is also possible to use photos taken in Med Tele mode, 50MP mode, or HDR mode, as needed. Manual panoramas require a more demanding technique