To my mind, as good as they are out of the box, a DJI drones (I have the Air2S and the Mini 2) needs two essential accessories.
The first of these is because I prefer to use a tablet as a “viewport” with the controller as against a phone. And the second is because in the Aussie environment, it is very hard, if not impossible, to see the details of the on-screen controls, let alone the terrain being shot, when in any sort of sunlight.
Now, I have tried a few different models of controller holder / sunshade over the years that I picked up via the ‘net, initially for my original DJI Mini 1. Quite frankly, they were generally cheap and nasty. Or all the bits didn’t arrive. Or it didn’t quite fit., Or in one case didn’t even turn up so I did my dough.
Tablet / Contr
oller Holder
When I revisited this area after getting the Air2S, I decided to do it the right way and went through a reputable DJI dealer. In this case this was Sydney based Camzilla (and no, they are not paying for this and I paid proper full price for the product).
Their recommendation was to go for the Lifthor Baldur tablet holder which is compatible with devices from 7.9” to 13” (20cm to 33cm).
It consists of three main pieces – a tablet clamp, ball joint plate and an aluminium cradle for the controller. These are assembled together with 4 thumb screws.
You also get a lanyard connection point on the top and a standard tripod mounting point underneath.
All of this comes in a very nice presentation box.
I would highly recommend getting the PDF download of the assembly instructions. Without them, until you get used to it, it is a bit like those puzzles that will only fit one way but takes you hours to work it out.
Effectively what you have to do it disassemble the unit, place the controller in the cradle (after extending the antenna), add the ball joint and then reassemble the unit with the thumb screws.
I have attached the PDF here if you are interested.
The tablet clamp has a locking mechanism on it, and in practice I found you need to really press hard down to hold the tablet in place before locking as it can tend to allow the tablet to slip out if you don’t.
These days I tend to leave the controller in the cradle and just remove the tablet holder part from it. This makes it quick and easy to put it all together if I get the urge to have a fly. Oh and I also make sure the USB cable is permanently in the controller as when in the cradle, you will need flexible fingers if you need to plug it in (which I don’t have these days).
The USB cable(s) that come with the Air2S are a tad shorter than I’d like to reach the tablet, so I use a slightly longer one. In my case I use a Samsung Galaxy TAB A7 so a smaller tablet may not have this issue.
When all assembled, the whole affair is nicely balanced, especially if using the lanyard, and unless I really had to, I wouldn’t go back to the standard phone and the controller combo alone.
Sun Screen
This was a little harder to find and has resulted in the short term at least with a bit of a compromise. The sunscreen / shade I purchased is a generic type that unfolds and is attached to the tablet by elasticised straps. It isn’t perfect as it is about ½ cm not wide enough on either side, but does the job.
I was informed by the manufacturer at time of purchase (yes via the ‘net) it would definitely fit the Samsung tablet, but as usual, caveat emptor.
Conclusion
The Lifthor Baldur tablet holder is not cheap. At $199, you’d never call it that. But it is extremely high quality and should last forever. The only criticism I have is that I think they should supply a couple of spare thumb screws as they are quite easy to drop, and if out in the field, the chances of dropping one AND it falling into an inaccessible location is about 99.9%.
As I found.
The sunshade cost me $19.95, but I have since discovered (and will buy) a Lifthor sunshade that apparently fits for around $30. I am just awaiting confirmation on that from Camzilla.