To shoot a panorama on the DJI Mini 5 Pro, switch DJI Fly to photo, open the shooting modes, choose Pano, pick a panorama type, and tap the shutter. The drone rotates and tilts on its own, takes a series of photos and stitches them. The Mini 5 Pro also adds Free Panorama, which DJI describes as stitching multiple images around a subject or area you select manually.
Panorama types
DJI Fly offers preset panoramas plus the Mini 5 Pro's new free mode:
| Type | What you get | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Sphere | A full 360° "little planet" style image | Sharing as an interactive 360 |
| 180° | A very wide horizontal strip | Coastlines, skylines |
| Wide Angle | A wider, taller frame than one shot | Landscapes that don't fit |
| Vertical | A tall frame from sky to ground | Towers, waterfalls, cliffs |
| Free Panorama | You choose the subject or area | Odd shapes, custom framing |
The preset names are the ones DJI Fly uses on recent Mini drones such as the Mini 4 Pro. If a type is missing on your Mini 5 Pro, update DJI Fly and the firmware.
Best panorama settings
- Exposure: set it on the brightest important area, then lock it. In Auto, use EV -0.3 to -0.7 for skies. Varying exposure between frames causes visible bands.
- White balance: set it manually so color doesn't shift across the stitch.
- Format: keep the original frames if DJI Fly offers the option, so you can re-stitch at full quality.
- ISO: 100 in daylight. At dusk, keep the shutter short enough for the drone to hold steady.
- Wind: shoot in calm air. Gusts move the drone between frames and cause ghosting.
Shooting tips
- Fly higher than nearby obstacles. The drone rotates in place, so make sure nothing is close in any direction.
- Don't touch the sticks until the drone finishes. Moving mid-pano ruins the stitch.
- Watch for moving subjects. Cars, boats and people can appear twice or be cut in half.
- Shoot in soft light. Very bright sun on one side and shade on the other is hard to blend.
- Use Vertical for tall subjects, instead of tilting the whole drone back.
Stitching and editing
The drone saves a stitched JPEG to the album. For better results, stitch the original frames in Lightroom (Photo Merge, Panorama) or PTGui. RAW frames give more room to recover highlights in the sky. To share a Sphere pano as an interactive 360 image, keep the full stitched file rather than a cropped export.
Vertical shooting vs Vertical pano
The Mini 5 Pro's gimbal can rotate 90° for true vertical photos and video. That gives one tall frame from the full sensor, ideal for social posts. A Vertical pano stitches several frames for even more height and detail. See Mini 5 Pro vertical video.
Fixing a bad pano
- Seams or ghosting: wind or movement. Re-shoot in calmer air.
- Bands of brightness: exposure wasn't locked.
- Pano won't start: read the prompt in DJI Fly, which says what's blocking it, and exit any intelligent flight mode first.
For settings to pair with panos, see best Mini 5 Pro settings. For more ideas, read drone landscape photography tips, or shop the DJI Mini 5 Pro.
Related guides
- How to shoot a hyperlapse with the DJI Mini 5 Pro
- How to shoot panoramas with the DJI Mini 4 Pro
- How to shoot vertical video with the DJI Mini 5 Pro
- Best DJI Mini 5 Pro camera settings for photo and video
- DJI Mini 4 Pro photo and video quality: what to expect
- DJI Mini 5 Pro LUT: D-Log M to Rec.709 color grading
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