Thanks for studying this text on which drone I might select: the DJI Mavic 3 Professional or the Air 3.
This 12 months, DJI has been releasing drones seemingly again to again, and I’ve had the chance to totally take a look at all the new releases.
With a selected curiosity to find the very best drone to behave as the principle workhorse for my images and videography enterprise, I’ve been utilizing the Mavic 3 Professional and Air 3 in an expert capability for 2 months.
On this article, I’ll look at the important thing variations between the Mavic 3 Professional and Air 3, the upgrades within the Mavic 3 Professional, my experiences over the past 4 to 5 weeks with every, and why I think about the Mavic 3 Professional to be the very best total “pro-level DJI shopper drone” accessible.
In case you’re a industrial drone pilot, like I’m, I might help you determine which drone is true for your enterprise wants.
Temporary Overview
Mavic 3 Professional
Launched in Could of 2023, the Mavic 3 Professional is an improve to the unique Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Basic in that it has a tri-camera system that permits for 3 totally different focal lengths.
When searching for the very best picture high quality in a DJI prosumer drone, the Mavic 3 Professional (together with the Mavic 3 Professional Cine) is the drone to accumulate when you’ve got the funds for it.
- Tri-camera system for bringing cinematic imaginative and prescient to life from various views
- A number of Shade Profiles for added shade grading flexibility
- Waypoint Missions in-app to simply plan repeatable and sophisticated routes
- Apple ProRes Video Encoding, included within the Cine model, for skilled TV and Video productions
» MORE: DJI Mavic 3 Professional Overview (I’ve NEVER flown a drone that I loved a lot)
DJI Air 3
Launched a couple of months after the Mavic 3 Professional, in July 2023, the Air 3 was a extremely anticipated improve to the highly regarded and much-loved Air 2S.
The Air 3 is a robust selection drone for pilots who’re solo content material creators and people seeking to do varied industrial tasks for purchasers.
Whereas the Air 3 has a smaller predominant digicam than the Mavic 3 Professional, it has much-needed upgrades in different facets.
- Twin-camera system, which provides viewers very good parallax results
- Omnidirectional impediment sensing to make sure the security of the Air 3 whereas in flight
- OcuSync 4 Video Transmission System for stronger, interference-free video indicators
- Enhanced monitoring and added flight modes for these seeking to movie themselves or explicit topics
» MORE: DJI Air 3 Overview – Is This the Drone for You?
Fast Verdict
As a result of I used to be searching for a drone to retire my present shopper workhorse, I’ve used each the Mavic 3 Professional and the Air 3 on varied industrial jobs.
For my functions, the Mavic 3 Professional is the clear selection for shopper deliverables.
With a full spectrum of purchasers, all of which have varied wants, the digicam on the Mavic 3 Professional is ideal for delivering the imagery my purchasers need, want, and have come to anticipate.
Whereas the Air 3 has nice high quality picture and video capabilities, the Mavic 3 Professional takes this up a notch, with a better dynamic vary for movies and better decision images.
With higher-resolution images, my purchasers are in a position to blow their photographs up for varied kinds of printing, some even utilizing the photographs for giant automobile wraps.
The Air 3 is a superb drone for content material creators, these needing a backup industrial drone, and people doing a little industrial work, relying on the business.
The Mavic 3 Professional, then again, is a full industrial workhorse, one which handles all content material calls for with flexibility and the very best high quality.
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What are the Primary Variations?
I actually take pleasure in utilizing each the Air 3 and the Mavic 3 Professional. Nonetheless, when searching for a every day driver that accomplishes every thing wanted, the Mavic 3 Professional is the go-to for my functions.
When taking varied kinds of images for purchasers, the Mavic 3 Professional carried out flawlessly.
The number of images ranged from Actual Property properties to Metropolis landmarks to landscapes for lake administration corporations, and even for corporations doing customized wraps for firm fleet autos.
What the Mavic 3 Professional has over the Air 3, for these searching for a industrial workhorse, is primarily camera-related:
- Tri-Digicam System: Just like the Air 3, the Mavic 3 Professional has each 24 mm and 70 mm equal digicam lenses. It additionally has a further 166 mm digicam lens, including one more dimension for creativity when filming video.
- Digicam high quality: That is the place the Mavic 3 Professional actually units itself other than the Air 3. The principle 24 mm digicam is a 4/3 20 MP Hasselblad digicam with glorious shade science. For professionals, having a better decision digicam, with bigger pixels than the Air 3, permits for extra dynamic vary and suppleness when working in publish and delivering content material to purchasers, as we’ll focus on shortly.
Moreover, if choosing the dearer Cine model of the Mavic 3 Professional, Apple ProRes video encoding is on the market for all three cameras.
- Adjustable Aperture (24 mm digicam): Not like many drones in the marketplace, even these dubbed as “Professional”, the Mavic 3 Professional has a much-appreciated adjustable aperture of f/2.8 – f/11, which allows rather more management over the principle digicam’s publicity.
- Dimension and Weight: That is extra of a choice factor. Nonetheless, the Mavic 3 Professional, being a heavier drone, means it’s extra secure within the air than the Air 3, making it much more ideally suited for windy filming circumstances. Its bigger dimension additionally makes it simpler to maintain inside VLOS (visible line of sight) if flying additional away from dwelling base.
» MORE: DJI Mavic 3 vs. DJI Mini 3 Professional (Which One is Proper for You?)
Mavic 3 Professional
The Mavic 3 Professional is the following iteration within the Mavic 3 line.
Initially launched in 2021, it succeeded the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Basic, and is particularly supposed for images and videography professionals seeking to ship the very best high quality content material to their purchasers.
The Mavic 3 Professional provides a medium-tele digicam at 70 mm and improves the tele digicam of the Mavic 3, rising the focal size from 162 mm to 166 mm, whereas concurrently bumping up the picture high quality.
Whereas the bodily efficiency of the Mavic 3 Professional is just about equivalent to the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Basic (relating to velocity and stability), the principle enhancements are discovered within the technically improved and expanded digicam system.
The Mavic 3 Professional continues the custom of getting 360-degree impediment avoidance safety because of the omnidirectional impediment avoidance sensors all through.
For a lot of professionals, that is important, particularly when filming sophisticated sequences in troublesome locales.
Key options of the Mavic 3 Professional:
- Triple-camera system
- Professional-level Distant Controller choice
- Hasselblad 24 mm Primary digicam
- 5.1k 50 fps; 4k 120fps 10-bit D-Log, D-Log M shade profiles
- Apple ProRes (Cine Model)
- DJI Goggles and DJI Movement 2 compatibility
- Omnidirectional impediment avoidance
- Waypoints
Our Decide
DJI Mavic 3 Professional (Fly Extra Combo)
Flagship Triple-Digicam Drone with 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad Digicam, 15km Video Transmission, three Batteries, Charging Hub, and extra.
We earn a fee for those who make a purchase order, at no extra price to you.
10/21/2023 06:46 am GMT
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DJI Air 3
The Air 3 is the successor to DJI’s fashionable consumer-level “industrial” drone, the Air 2S, and an incremental step up from the newly launched Mini 4 Professional.
The Air 3 appeals to drone fans, content material creators, {and professional} drone pilots on a funds seeking to get nice low-light photographs and 10-bit, 4k video for purchasers in varied industries, significantly the actual property market.
In most facets, the Air 3 is a serious improve over the much-loved Air 2S, even after transferring from a 1-inch digicam all the way down to a 1/1.3-inch digicam.
The standard of the 24mm and 70mm medium-tele cameras, together with their low gentle efficiency, offers the Air 3 an honest footing within the skilled house.
Together with 10-bit capabilities and 4k 100fps gradual movement, the Air 3 is nice to work with.
Air 3 key options embrace:
- Twin Cameras – 24mm and 70mm
- Omnidirectional impediment sensing
- OcuSync 4.0 Video Transmission System (12.4 miles)
- 4k 100fps, 10-bit D-Log M shade profile
- Energetic Monitor 360
- Waypoints
- Wonderful price-to-features ratio
» MORE: DJI Air 3 Newbies Information (Step-by-Step Information)
Head-to-Head Comparability
Digicam System
Winner: Mavic 3 Professional
In terms of drone images and videography, having extra focal size choices is all the time greatest. You may ask any skilled who makes use of floor cameras.
When filming, having not one however three digicam choices offers you the flexibleness to get actually artistic and inform tales in a way more dynamic manner.
Utilizing the 166 mm digicam brings a specific topic into focus whereas using the 70 mm digicam in the identical scene not solely brings focus to a specific topic but in addition establishes the instant environment.
The 24 mm large angle then places into perspective the topic in relation to your complete scene.
To raised current visible content material, the Mavic 3 Professional can shoot video in varied shade profiles in 10-bit, these being:
10-bit offers higher flexibility for shade manipulation and grading when enhancing video in post-processing, as there are just a little over a billion colours and variations to work with.
Moreover, capturing within the flatter D-Log shade profile means capturing a better dynamic vary than potential with the Air 3’s D-Log M profile.
Bettering over the Air 3’s most of capturing in 4k 100 fps, the Mavic 3 Professional can shoot at a most of 5.1k 50 fps.
With this larger decision comes the flexibility to crop in much more than 4k footage to get higher framing choices, if not completely locked in throughout filming.
4k 120 fps is totally aboard and accounted for, with the addition of FHD 200 fps for easy, ultra-slow-motion photographs.
It wouldn’t be proper if we didn’t point out right here, once more, that there’s assist for Apple ProRes 422 video encoding which caters to these capturing for skilled movie and tv manufacturing.
Outdoors of the prosumer Mavic collection, there isn’t a different prosumer drone that does this. You’d have to maneuver as much as the professional-level Encourage collection to benefit from this video encoding.
Lastly, the Mavic 3 Professional has an adjustable aperture on the principle 24 mm digicam. The aperture might be adjusted between f/2.8 to f/11 within the DJI Fly app.
That is primarily helpful for exact changes to the publicity, particularly when filming video.
When the aperture is adjusted at the side of the shutter velocity, video can extra simply conform to the 180-degree rule when attempting to include movement blur.
In some circumstances, an ND filter should still have to be used to dial within the publicity completely.
» MORE: Greatest Reasonably priced Drones with 4K Digicam
Distant Controller Compatability
Winner: Mavic 3 Professional
As a result of the Mavic 3 Professional stays on the OcuSync 3 video transmission system, there are presently extra controller choices accessible to the Mavic 3 Professional, which embrace the next:
Because the Air 3 has comparable distant controller counterparts (DJI RC 2 and DJI RC-N1), the principle differentiating issue right here could be the Mavic 3 Professional’s compatibility with the professional-level, aptly named DJI RC Professional.
From an expert standpoint, the DJI RC Professional is presently the very best management methodology for the Mavic 3 Professional as it’s a very strong and well-built, true all-in-one gadget.
Referring to the RC Professional as an all-in-one gadget is becoming due to with the ability to set up third get together apps that can be utilized to help throughout shopper shoots, corresponding to accessing drone-specific apps like UAV Forecast, B4UFLY, and Aloft Air-Management, which allows on-the-fly LAANC authorization.
» MORE: Greatest Drone Controllers
Total Efficiency
Winner: Air 3
Whereas the Mavic 3 Professional is clearly the winner in relation to the digicam, the Air 3 surprises within the efficiency division.
This could be as a result of, the place the Mavic 3 Professional makes use of the identical drone motors and airframe because the 2021 Mavic 3 collection, the Air 3 has been redesigned from the bottom up.
The Air 3 has each sooner ascent and descent speeds at 22.36 mph over the Mavic 3 Professional at 17.89 mph and 13.42 mph respectively.
The Air 3, when in sport mode, can journey at speeds near 47 mph, which is on par with the Mavic 3 Professional. Likewise, each the Air 3 and Mavic 3 Professional can resist winds as much as 26 mph.
Along with excellent efficiency and velocity, the Air 3 additionally has quieter propellers, which is because of a smaller dimension and pitch in comparison with the Mavic 3 Professional.
» MORE: Drone Motors Scorching? 5 Most-Widespread Issues (And What to Do)
Battery Life
Winner: Air 3
When out within the subject filming, minutes matter, and the Air 3’s batteries are rated at 46 minutes, whereas the Mavic 3 Professional is rated at 43 minutes.
After all, if not flying all the way down to zero % on a very calm day, these ranges will not be virtually achievable. Nonetheless, by fixed use of each drones, I can say the Air 3 did certainly final barely longer than the Mavic 3 Professional when flying all the way down to 25% on varied jobs.
The place the Air 3 actually shines, although, just isn’t essentially in how lengthy every battery lasts individually, however as a substitute how energy from every battery might be transferred to a different for longer battery life.
Utilizing the three-battery charging hub, whereas unplugged, press and maintain the black operate button, and the remaining energy from a number of batteries might be transferred to the battery with the very best remaining energy.
So, as a substitute of getting three partially powered batteries, now you can have one totally charged, or shut to completely charged, battery in your subsequent flight, extending the quantity of capturing time considerably.
An choice like this is able to totally profit the Mavic 3 Professional!
» MORE: When Ought to You Improve Your Drone? (Learn This First)
OcuSync Model
Winner: Air 3
The Air 3 operates utilizing the upgraded OcuSync 4 (O4) video transmission system, over the Mavic 3 Professional’s O3 system.
With OcuSync 4, the video sign vary has been prolonged from the earlier 9.3 miles of the Mavic 3 Professional to 12.4 miles.
Likewise, the Air 3’s transmission is at 2.4 GHz, 5.1 GHz, and 5.8 GHz, versus the two.8 GHz and 5.8 GHz bands of the Mavic 3 Professional.
This all implies that the Air 3 has a good stronger and cleaner sign operating between the drone and distant controller, which is right for each city and downtown areas.
The Mavic 3 Professional’s sign could be very robust. Nonetheless, the Air 3’s sign is a good bit stronger.
Conclusion
After two months of utilizing the Mavic 3 Professional and Air 3 commercially for repeat purchasers, I’ve to say that the Mavic 3 Professional fits the actual wants of my purchasers completely.
The digicam on the Mavic 3 Professional offers me with absolutely the flexibility and high quality wanted to provide essentially the most skilled finish outcomes to my vastly totally different purchasers, whether or not this be images or movies on-line commercials.
The Air 3 is a superb drone, particularly for content material creators and people desirous to delve into industrial work whereas on a funds.
Nonetheless, in case you are a severe skilled needing to ship the very best high quality content material and media to purchasers, the Mavic 3 Professional is the apparent selection.
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