My Mavic Air records very jerky video while turning, especially if not moving forward at the same time.
I try to yaw very slowly but it is still jerky.
Is this normal?
Yawing while hovering is really not going to be very smooth, but you can do some things to make it a bit better.
1) First, make sure the jerky video isn't a result of your playback device instead of the actual recording. Especially if you are playing back at 4k or 2k/60, some machines just can't handle the playback smoothly and panning like this will exacerbate the problem. Doesn't sound like this is your problem, but just something to be aware of. Also, shooting in 2k at 60 fps will actually look smoother when doing this than in 24/30 fps.
2) As stated above, ND filters can reduce your shutter speed to a point where motion seems smoother. It depends on what type of "jerkiness" you are experiencing. If it just looks like the overall motion is not smooth, then a slower shutter speed can definitely help with that. In bright light, the Mavic Air (and other drones) will need to use a fast shutter speed (sometimes as fast as 1/1000 or more) to get proper exposure. What this does is makes frames look jumpy when playing back, almost like a stair-stepping effect. The 180 degree rules that seems to work good is finding a shutter speed of 1/(2x shutter speed). So if you are shooting at 4k/30, for example, you'd want to target a 1/60 frame-rate when shooting. 1/60 is not going to be possible in daylight without a filter. An ND8, ND16, or even an ND32 would be good choices depending on the conditions and shooting mode. You can search for Youtube videos that will help you with this.
3) Adjusting yaw movement is another option, as stated above. It can be difficult without lots of practice to slowly and consistently turn the Mavic Air, so adjusting the yaw so that it doesn't move as quickly can help. You could set it to cinematic mode or go in an adjust the actual settings. There are tutorials on how to do this as well, though I haven't tried them myself yet.
4) Generally speaking, however, unless you're intentionally shooting for a desired effect, it's best not to yaw much at all when filming. Yawing while move forward does make it look smoother, but yawing while hovering is honestly kind of painful to watch in most circumstances.
