One thing before the details: FocusTrack does not record on its own. Both manuals say you start photos or video yourself with the shutter/record button in DJI Fly or on the remote controller. It's easy to fly a perfect orbit and land with nothing on the card.
Three modes, three levels of automation
Spotlight doesn't fly the drone. You fly with the sticks and the camera stays locked on the subject. On the Mini 4 Pro, roll circles the subject, pitch changes the distance, throttle changes the altitude and yaw adjusts the framing. It works with stationary subjects and with moving vehicles, boats and people. This is the mode for a pilot who wants to keep control and only hand the camera over to the drone.
Point of Interest (POI) circles the subject at the radius and speed you set. You set the direction and speed, tap GO, and the drone starts circling at its current altitude. On the Mini 4 Pro the maximum speed is 12 m/s, and the speed can be adjusted dynamically to the actual radius. You can still nudge it with the sticks during the orbit: roll changes the circling speed, pitch the distance, throttle the altitude.
ActiveTrack follows a moving subject at a set distance and altitude, with a maximum speed of 12 m/s on the Mini 4 Pro. It only works with moving vehicles, boats and people. The sub-modes differ between models:
- Mini 4 Pro (manual v1.4): Auto, Manual and Parallel. In Auto the drone plans its own path, tracks only people and ignores the sticks. In Manual you choose one of eight tracking directions (front, back, left, right and four diagonals) on the trace wheel. In Parallel the drone keeps the same geographic orientation to the subject, for example always to its east.
- Mini 5 Pro: Manual, with the trace wheel, and Automatic Movement, switched on with the AUTO icon. Automatic Movement uses the app's default tracking parameters, ignores your custom FocusTrack settings and supports only vehicles and people. Moving a stick or touching the trace wheel exits it.
One detail from the Mini 4 Pro manual: the tracking direction only takes effect when the subject moves in a stable direction. If the subject wanders around, the drone just holds a distance and altitude.
Obstacles: Spotlight is the odd one out
This is the part worth remembering. On the Mini 4 Pro, POI and ActiveTrack bypass obstacles whatever your obstacle avoidance setting is, as long as the vision systems work normally. Spotlight is different: when it detects an obstacle, the drone hovers, whether the setting is Bypass or Brake. On the Mini 5 Pro, Spotlight brakes or bypasses according to the Bypass/Brake setting. On both, obstacle avoidance is off in Sport mode.
In practice, a Mini 4 Pro in Spotlight stops at the first obstacle and leaves you to fly around it. POI and ActiveTrack try to fly around it themselves, but only if the vision systems can see.
Both manuals list the same limitations:
- The drone cannot avoid moving people, animals or vehicles.
- Don't use FocusTrack near small or fine objects such as branches or power lines, near transparent surfaces such as water or glass, or near monochrome surfaces such as white walls.
- Be extra careful when the subject isn't moving on a level plane, changes shape a lot, is out of sight for a long time, is on snow (the Mini 5 Pro manual also mentions deserts), blends into its surroundings, or when light is below 300 lux or above 10,000 lux.
- Keep a finger near Flight Pause. Both manuals tell you to be ready to press it, or the stop button in DJI Fly, and take over manually.
Which subjects, and at what distance
DJI recommends tracking only vehicles, boats and people, and not children. "Vehicles" means cars and small to medium-sized boats. Both manuals say outright not to track a remote-controlled car or boat. They also warn that the drone can swap to a different subject if two of them pass close to each other.
Supported ActiveTrack ranges from the manuals:
| Mini 4 Pro: people | Mini 4 Pro: vehicles/boats | Mini 5 Pro: people | Mini 5 Pro: vehicles/boats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizontal distance | 4-20 m (optimal 4-15 m) | 6-100 m (optimal 20-50 m) | 4-20 m | 4-50 m |
| Altitude/height | 0.5-20 m (optimal 2-15 m) | 6-100 m (optimal 10-50 m) | 0.5-50 m | 0.5-50 m |
On the Mini 4 Pro, when tracking a person, you can set at most 15 m in the app but push it to 20 m with the sticks in flight. If ActiveTrack starts outside the range, the drone flies into it. The Mini 5 Pro manual adds that the subject should not move faster than 12 m/s, otherwise tracking won't work properly.
For people, the Mini 5 Pro detects the type of shot by itself, and you can also pick the scene manually. Skiing has its own rules: the drone tracks from behind, you can't change the direction, and distance and height can only be changed with the sticks. The manual warns not to set Standard or Cycling manually while skiing.
Starting and stopping
On the Mini 4 Pro:
- Take off. FocusTrack doesn't work while the drone is on the ground.
- Drag a box around the subject in the camera view, or turn on Subject Scanning in the Control settings and tap the subject the drone has found.
- The drone starts in Spotlight. Switch to POI or ActiveTrack at the bottom of the screen and tap GO.
- Start recording.
On the Mini 5 Pro you tap the FocusTrack icon on the left of the camera view, or select the subject on screen. The manual asks you to make sure the area is open and well lit first.
Exiting on the Mini 4 Pro has two steps: Flight Pause or Stop takes you from POI or ActiveTrack back to Spotlight, and a second Flight Pause in Spotlight exits FocusTrack.
Settings live in Settings > Control > FocusTrack Settings. For people you set the radius and height of the inner and outer circle on the trace wheel. Camera Motion has Normal (smoother changes when bypassing obstacles) and Fast (more dynamic). Near-Ground Flight allows tracking below 2 m, and the manual warns that this raises the risk of hitting something near the ground.
When FocusTrack isn't available, or gives up
From the Mini 4 Pro manual:
- In Photo mode it only works with Single shots.
- It is unavailable in Night video mode.
- ActiveTrack is unavailable when there isn't enough light for the vision systems. Spotlight and POI on stationary subjects still work, but without obstacle sensing.
- Near flight limits or in a GEO Zone it may not work properly.
- If the subject disappears behind something, the drone keeps flying at the same speed and orientation for 8 seconds to find it again. If it can't re-identify the subject within 10 seconds, it exits ActiveTrack.
- Zoom is supported up to 4x, but the real limit depends on the shooting mode: 1-2x for 12MP photos, 1-3x in 4K and 1-4x in FHD.
The Mini 5 Pro manual also notes that the vision system doesn't work at night, so treat obstacle avoidance as gone after dark.
The EU part: follow-me and 50 m
The Mini 4 Pro manual has one EU-specific line: in the EU, FocusTrack exits automatically when the horizontal distance between the subject and the drone is more than 50 m. The manual doesn't explain the number, but 50 m is the same figure that appears in the EU rules for follow-me mode.
Regulation (EU) 2019/947 defines follow-me mode as a mode in which the drone constantly follows the remote pilot within a predetermined radius. Normally the pilot must keep the drone in visual line of sight (VLOS) at all times. Follow-me mode is one of the exceptions in Article 4, and the conditions of subcategory A1 (UAS.OPEN.020) allow flying with follow-me active up to 50 m from the remote pilot. The class requirements for C0 and C1 drones in Regulation 2019/945, as amended by 2020/1058, say the same: if a drone has follow-me and it is switched on, it must stay within 50 m of the remote pilot and the pilot must be able to regain control.
Read the definition carefully. Follow-me in the regulation means the drone follows you, the pilot. If you're filming a friend on a bike while you stand still, you are not in follow-me mode in the legal sense. The normal rule applies: keep the drone in sight, or have an observer next to you. The 50 m exit on the Mini 4 Pro limits the distance to the subject. Whether you can see the drone is still up to you.
Privacy is the last point, and both manuals mention it: follow local privacy laws when you use FocusTrack. Tracking strangers is not the same as tracking a friend who agreed to be filmed.