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DJI Mavic 3 – Is It Worth the Price?

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The very first DJI Mavic Pro was announced in September 2016 and launched in the latter half of 2016. Its small size and foldable design made me amused. I had Mavic Pro for two years. Mavic Pro for 2 years and was impressed by its capabilities. I also was awarded the architectural photography competition in Hungary using an image I created by using the drone.

The moment it was announced that the Mavic 2 Pro was released it was such an impressive upgrade that I could not resist. I immediately purchased it! The addition of more sensors, a longer flight time and one” CMOS sensor was the perfect fit to my bag of gear. I flew with it for more than 100 hours, and produced some of my top aerial photographs. I have never received a complaint from my customers. If the light is strong, you can produce stunning photos and video footage using this tool, just like many of you are.

Mavic 3. Specifications and initial impressions

There are three major upgrades that got me thinking about DJI’s latest drone for photography : Mavic 3. Mavic 3:
1. larger sensor
2. Secondary, telephoto lens
3. bigger battery, with longer flight time

1. A bigger sensor will provide more ISO capabilities. When using this camera, the Mavic 2 Pro for photos I’d stick to ISO100 nearly all the time. I would use ISO400 only during the late blue hour.

Thanks to the Mavic 3, I am capable of increasing the ISO to ISO800 with extremely usable results.

One issue I noticed during my first shoot at twilight with Mavic 3 Mavic 3: the larger sensor can produce blurry images faster when exposed for longer durations. It’s true that the Mavic 2 Pro had no problems with exposures of 2 seconds but Mavic 3 Mavic 3 has to stay at a minimum of one second to capture sharp images. But, I felt at ease using Mavic 3. Mavic 3 about 10-15 minutes later into my evening time than using Mavic 2 Pro. Mavic 2 Pro.

2. The telephoto lens I used in the initial couple of flights that it was not usable. It simply wasn’t sharp enough. With the DJI software update that came out earlier in the season (FIRMWARE v01.00.0500) The Mavic 3’s telephoto camera became significantly sharper. This lens was among the primary reasons I was ecstatic about the DJI Mavic 3‘s new model. The view that 162mm lenses can offer from the air is something that could have been had only with larger and higher-priced setups prior to. I am awestruck by the pictures when I see the images on a smaller screen. In my opinion , if you add three images to the series of a structure. Unfortunately, if you view them in a single row on a huge screen , they appear like phone pictures. Why? It’s because the Mavic 3 only shoots images created using the telephoto lens JPEG. This is something I would like to see DJI will alter in the near future.

3. It’s battery replacement is massive! I’d definitely buy it to supplement mine Mavic 2 for the battery by itself. The duration of flight has increased, but it also gives you plenty of freedom to fly than you think initially. If you have three minutes to reach the correct position to capture the first shots and return the drone in the final. Mavic 2 Mavic 2 can spend about 20 minutes in the air. I generally fly with the battery for about 18 minutes, so you can calculate by that. From that when we subtract six minutes of positioning time and time to return, there’s 12 minutes for the actual task. When using the Mavic 3, I’ve spent between 27-30 minutes flying using the battery (it could last longer however, I’ve used the Mavic 2’s battery empty, and they get bigger after 70-80 times and I’ll be trying to avoid this issue with the Mavic 3). That means that even though we have only 1.5 times the flight time, we have nearly two times more time to do creative tasks and this is evident. When it comes to leisure usage, I particularly like to shoot top-down panoramic images (Mavic 2 examples below) In this case, it usually takes about five minutes to be in a location, and I usually do that time before I can bring the drone back home. The time spent shooting to between 8 and 10 minutes. By allowing for a flight time of 30 minutes you get 20 minutes of creativity that I haven’t yet tried yet however I’m looking forward to the experience.

In addition to the battery upgrade, we also have more sensors along with the sensor on the sides. They are operational in the normal flight mode, and not just when in tripod mode, as they did with Mavic 2. Mavic 2. The drone is more steady in the air. It is able to deal with wind better and is able to ascend quicker.

Mavic 3 video

Our team has been working on many short films in recent times and that the capabilities for video on Mavic 3 are just as important to me as its photography capabilities. I believe that Mavic 2 Pro was a great camera. Mavic 2 Pro made amazing quality videos, with the exception of the late-blue hour footage in most instances. In Mavic 3, this is not a problem anymore. It can be used in the event that it’s absolutely necessary. If it’s dark, then it’s not a problem to create video.

One of the biggest changes to the video specs is framerates. While I could fly at a slower speed prior to the upgrade, I was too fast to get an even outcome. Today, I shoot at 50fps. In post, we can reduce it to 50%, and still get the 25fps we require. This isn’t a game changer but it’s a handy tool to use. It is also possible to shoot slow-motion footage but I feel it’s not as important for us.

The only issue I could find is that Mavic 3 has no optical zoom. Mavic 3 only has digital zoom. Its Mavic 2 Pro had an option known as “HQ” that allowed us to capture 4K video by simply taking the sensor’s center 1:1. This resulted in an equivalent focal length of 38-40mm which we utilized frequently. This way we could get even better and higher quality images than the wide-angle picture. When using the Mavic 3, if we require a more narrow viewing angle we have only digital zoom until we change cameras. The telephoto lens can be equivalent to a 7x zoom, and lets us use the parallel effect in a stunning way. The video on this camera is only utilized in 4k at 30fps and fully automatic mode which limits its use however, the view angle is so unique that the sacrifice is worth it with the correct lighting and for the correct “task”.

Conclusion

Through this test, I’m not looking to convince anyone to go out and purchase a brand mavic 3 or a Mavic 3. The goal was to provide a little piece of information that can assist you in deciding whether you’re in need of this or don’t. There are many distinct advantages that come with this brand new drone, however there are some problems. I’m hoping this Mavic 3’s shortcomings will be fixed with software updates later on like they have so to date.

As the Mavic 2 Pro had been on the air for over 120 hours it became finally time to get a new one. For me I felt that it was the DJI Mavic 3 was a easy purchase. After I included it in my collection, my Mavic 2 Pro has retired from my cabinet. However it is essential to consider your personal preferences. If you own an Mavic 2 Pro or the new DJI Air 2S and you utilize it for general overviews it is not necessary to upgrade. For me I think the Mavic 3 was worth the cost!