How to Switch Video Crop Between Horizontal and Vertical on the DJI Neo 2
Peter Leslie
21 May 2026
If you have just spotted the small icon next to the shutter button on the DJI Neo 2 camera view and you are not sure what it does, it is the video crop toggle inside DJI Fly — one tap flips the drone between horizontal 16:9 and vertical 9:16.
You might switch to vertical 9:16 to shoot straight for TikTok, Reels, or YouTube Shorts without re-cropping in post, or leave it on horizontal 16:9 for landscape edits and YouTube long-form. Most drone pilots set it deliberately at the start of a flight to match the platform the footage is heading to. The toggle sits inside DJI Fly, just to the left of the record shutter on the camera view.
Quick guide
To switch the video crop on the DJI Neo 2, go to DJI Fly → Camera view → Video mode → Crop icon left of the shutter → Horizontal 16:9 or Vertical 9:16. Horizontal gives the widescreen letterbox for landscape edits; vertical gives the tall portrait crop for phone-first platforms.
Step-by-step: How to Switch Video Crop Between Horizontal and Vertical on the DJI Neo 2
Follow these top to bottom the first time, and you will know the path off by heart the second time.
Switch the DJI Neo 2 into video mode from the DJI Fly camera view
With the DJI Neo 2 powered on and paired, look at the bottom of the DJI Fly camera view next to the shutter. Tap the Photo / Video toggle so the shutter button shows the red record dot rather than the still-camera glyph — that confirms video mode is live and the preferences along the edge reshuffle to show video options.
Check the record dot is sat next to the shutter before going further
A common slip is to tap the crop icon while still in photo mode and wonder why the toggle does nothing. The crop control only appears in video mode on the DJI Neo 2, so the red record dot needs to be visible on the shutter before you move on. Photo mode has its own aspect ratio selector and that lives in a different place.
Find the crop icon to the immediate left of the record shutter
Look just to the left of the red record button on the DJI Fly camera view. The crop icon is a small rectangle glyph that flips its orientation depending on which crop is currently selected — wide and short for horizontal, tall and narrow for vertical. It is easy to miss the first time because it sits inside the shutter cluster rather than down the side preferences row.
Tap the crop icon once to switch between horizontal and vertical
A single tap on the crop icon flips the DJI Neo 2 between horizontal 16:9 and vertical 9:16. There is no submenu, no panel, no confirmation prompt — the icon itself is the toggle. Each tap swaps to the other crop, and the icon glyph rotates so you can see at a glance which orientation the drone is sat on.
Confirm the viewfinder reframes to the new shape
The live image inside the DJI Fly camera view reframes the moment you tap the icon. Horizontal sits the image as a wide letterbox with the sensor read across the full width; vertical pulls in to a tall portrait slice down the middle of the sensor. Use the live preview to confirm the DJI Neo 2 is sat at the crop you want before pressing record.
Pick horizontal for landscape edits or vertical for phone-first platforms
Match the crop to where the clip is heading. Horizontal 16:9 is the default for YouTube long-form, landscape client edits, broadcast, and anything that lives on a desktop or television screen. Vertical 9:16 is for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Stories — anywhere the viewer is holding a phone upright.
Press the record shutter to capture the clip at the chosen crop
Hit the record shutter on the DJI Fly camera view and the DJI Neo 2 starts capturing in the orientation the icon shows. The file lands on the drone in that crop — there is no separate save step, no export shape decision later. What you record is what you get.
Check the crop icon at the start of every flight to avoid a wrong-shape surprise
DJI Fly remembers the last crop you used between flights and reboots, so a vertical 9:16 choice from a Reels session last week will still be live the next time you boot the DJI Neo 2. A two-second glance at the icon next to the shutter before the first clip of the day saves a re-shoot.
Peter's tip
My default on the DJI Neo 2 is horizontal 16:9 for almost every flight, because a horizontal clip can be cropped down to a passable vertical in post if a Reels asset turns up late in the brief — the reverse is not possible. I only switch to vertical 9:16 when the entire flight is for a phone-first deliverable and I know there will be no horizontal edit. Pick the shape that locks in the most options for the kind of work you do.
| Video crop | When it works | Where it bites |
|---|---|---|
| Horizontal 16:9 | Landscape client edits, YouTube long-form, broadcast, desktop and television viewing, anything that might need a vertical crop later in post. Keeps the full sensor width so you have lateral pixels to spare. | Drops into a phone-first feed with black bars top and bottom or a forced re-crop in the edit. Wrong default for Reels-first or Shorts-first shoots that never go horizontal. |
| Vertical 9:16 | TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Stories, anywhere the viewer is holding the phone upright. Fills the screen edge to edge at capture so the clip is ready to upload straight from the drone. | Throws away the sensor width on capture so you cannot recover a horizontal edit later from the same file. Wrong default for landscape deliverables or any shoot that might need both shapes. |
Frequently asked questions
What is the default video crop on the DJI Neo 2?
Horizontal 16:9. Out of the box the DJI Neo 2 records video in the widescreen format that matches television, YouTube long-form, and most landscape edits. Vertical 9:16 is a deliberate switch for phone-first platforms — TikTok, Reels, YouTube Shorts. Most drone pilots leave the DJI Neo 2 on horizontal and only flip to vertical when the clip is heading straight to a phone feed.
Does vertical 9:16 throw pixels away on the DJI Neo 2?
Yes. Vertical 9:16 is a centre crop of the same sensor read-out, so the DJI Neo 2 keeps the middle column and discards the wide left and right edges on capture. You cannot recover those pixels later. If you want to deliver both shapes from the same flight, shoot horizontal and crop in post — the reverse is not possible.
Is the video quality the same in horizontal and vertical on the DJI Neo 2?
Sharpness per pixel is identical. Both crops read off the same sensor at the same resolution per row — vertical 9:16 simply takes a tall slice of the centre. The horizontal frame holds more pixels overall because it keeps the full width of the sensor, but a tight subject in vertical looks just as sharp as the same subject in horizontal at 100 percent zoom.
When should I shoot vertical 9:16 on the DJI Neo 2?
Whenever the clip is heading to a phone-first platform without an edit. TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook Stories all serve vertical natively, and a horizontal clip cropped in post wastes pixels. Pick vertical at capture for those platforms. Stick with horizontal for landscape clients, YouTube long-form, broadcast, and anything you might cut for both shapes from the same footage.
Does the video crop toggle affect photos on the DJI Neo 2?
No. The horizontal / vertical crop only changes video. Photo mode has its own aspect ratio selector inside the resolution chip — 4:3 or 16:9 — and the two settings are independent on the DJI Neo 2. Confirm the camera is sat on video mode before tapping the crop icon, or you will be staring at the wrong preferences row.
Can I record vertical 9:16 and crop to horizontal later on the DJI Neo 2?
Not cleanly. Vertical 9:16 is a tall centre slice of the sensor — there is no horizontal width left to crop back out. If you might want both shapes from the same flight, record horizontal and crop the centre column in post. The opposite is not possible because the DJI Neo 2 throws away the side pixels on capture in vertical.
Does the DJI Neo 2 offer square 1:1 video?
No. The DJI Neo 2 only exposes horizontal 16:9 and vertical 9:16 for video — there is no square option in the camera view. If you need a square clip for a feed post, record horizontal and crop the sides to 1:1 in DJI Fly or your phone editor afterwards. Cropping in post keeps the option open in case you want a different shape later from the same file.
Does the video crop choice stick between flights on the DJI Neo 2?
Yes. DJI Fly remembers the last video crop you used, so a vertical 9:16 choice stays on vertical the next time you boot the drone and the app. Worth a glance at the crop icon next to the shutter before the first clip of a flight — if you swapped to vertical for a Reels session last week, the DJI Neo 2 will still be sat on vertical until you change it back.
The video crop on the DJI Neo 2 is one of those decisions that is best made before take-off rather than fought in the edit. Pick it deliberately for the platform the clip is heading to and the drone records the right shape every time.
If you want a second opinion on which crop to default to for the kind of content you produce, drop the details to peter@hiredronepilot.uk and I will come back to you directly. The video version of this walkthrough is on YouTube and the comments are open.
References
Primary source material for this article is the official DJI Neo 2 documentation and DJI Fly. External links open in a new tab.
- DJI Neo 2 — Downloads (User Manual, Quick Start Guide, firmware notes) · Camera specifications, video mode behaviour, and the crop options exposed inside DJI Fly for the DJI Neo 2.
- DJI Neo 2 — Product page (UK) · Drone hardware overview including the sensor format the horizontal 16:9 and vertical 9:16 crops read from.
- DJI Fly — App download and release notes · The app where the video crop icon next to the shutter lives. Release notes record any menu reshuffles between versions.
Peter Leslie
Founder & GVC Drone Pilot
Peter is the founder of HireDronePilot. With thousands of logged commercial flight hours, he writes about drone technology, commercial surveying tactics, and UK aviation compliance.
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