Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat; I was skeptical, bordering cynical, of the Mavic 2 Zoom. It felt, by my initial take, like too much a single-schtick-feature hobby drone. I couldn’t imagine why anyone serious would choose the Zoom over the Pro. Now I can imagine it, and I think I know the exact type of person who would get much more use out of the Zoom than the Pro.

The zoom has the ability to get closer shots from further away (obviously) but that also limits the amount of noise you need to put into a scene to get your shot and it allows you to bother whatever subject your shooting less, which is a nice addition. It gives the ability to get more compression in your images and videos which unless you are upgrading to the modular Inspire system, you wont have, which is also awesome. I still think if you are needing to create high resolution still content the Pro wins, and if you are a videographer the Zoom would win.

Now… about the zoom.

No, I don’t really care much about or for the dolly zoom feature. I get that it’s interesting but far too disorienting an effect to use regularly, or you could use it too often and ensure your footage sends people into vertigo and look like a creatively desperate amateur. Ok, maybe I dislike the dolly zoom effect. Regardless I did test it on some footage below and found that yes it can do a good job at this, if that’s your thing. But I found a much, much, better use of the zoom in this camera – cinematic reveals and pans.