DJI – Expedition Greenland: Ski Mountaineering with Jimmy Chin
The professional mountain photographer and filmmaker who is known for working at some of the most remote places on earth, Jimmy Chin, has been recently involved in a new film. This time, Chin collaborates with DJI to explore its flagship drone, the DJI Mavic Zoom, taking it to an expedition which follows the climber Alex Honnold as he became the first person to ever solo climb the 3,000ft El Capitan Wall at the Yosemite mountains.
In his 20-year career, Chin is still inspired by the challenge of exploring new places and visiting mountains in remote places. For this Greenland trip where he films using the Mavic Zoom drone by DJI alongside a normal DSLR kit, Chin films the massive mountain grip through the 4K lens of the Mavic 2 Zoom, capturing full footage of the adventure.
As he described the drone, it is a “multi-tool” that can be used for everything from high production value shots to scouting locations. For those who don’t know, the DJI Mavic 2 comes in two versions – the high-end ‘Pro’ version that has a 1-inch sensor and the less expensive and more flexible ‘Zoom’ drone which he used in Greenland.
From high-production value to “dolly zoom” scenes and tracking shots to scouting locations and routes, Chin noted that it might take hours to get up to a certain peak – but with the Mavic 2 Zoom the hours are made easier and more remote, allowing him (and the entire team) to go in search for great-looking sceneries and look out for hazards in a remote way.
Chin also points out to the fact that in such extreme conditions, gear needs to be reliable and easy to use. That is why the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom exceeds his expectations. In his own words, Chin stated:
“You need equipment that’s intuitive, and which you don’t have to spend a bunch of time figuring out how to make it work” because, as he says, “a lot of your mental bandwidth is taken up by making sure you’re being safe.”
As one can tell from seeing the videos, the aerial tracking sequences that show Deslaurier descending down the mountain slopes were among the favorite shots from the trip for Chin. Obviously, these are very difficult angles to get when you are high up in the remote areas – but for Chin – they were a challenge that he took and worked on with a great deal of passion and expertise.
Traditionally, these shots are also seen as high production value shots, and “being able to create them with a drone that can be carried in the top of your pack is incredible,” according to Chin. Aside from praising the portability and flexibility of the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, Chin also praises the quality of the video that it can capture.
“You need a camera which offers high quality, because shooting in a location like Greenland, you know it might not be possible to ever go back. Every shot is potentially a once-in-a-lifetime shot,” he confidently said.