DJI has announced the DJI Mavic 3 Pro. The new flagship drone has a unique triple-camera system that houses three cameras with different focal lengths.
Wide angle camera
The Mavic 3 Pro three camera systems have focal lengths of 24 mm, 70 mm and 166 mm. The 24 mm wide-angle camera is the 20 MP 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera of the Mavic 3 Series. This camera can capture up to 5.1K at 50 fps or DCI 4K at 120 fps. It also records in the new 10-bit D-Log M color mode, which supports recording up to one billion colors. In addition, D-Log M mode is much better suited for color grading. For still images, the wide-angle camera can shoot 12-bit RAW photos with a native dynamic range of up to 12.8 stops.
Medium telephoto camera
The drone’s medium telephoto camera has a focal length of 70 mm and a 3x optical zoom. It also has a 48 MP 1/1.3 inch CMOS sensor which can record video at up to 4K 60 fps video, again in D-log M. In addition, the 70 mm camera can capture 48 MP/12 MP photos.
Telephoto camera
The Mavic 3 Pro’s 166 mm telephoto camera has a 12 MP 1/2-inch CMOS sensor. It can shoot video at up to 4K 60 fps video with a 7x optical zoom. However, still, photographs are limited to 12 MP by the sensor resolution.
Intelligent features
The Mavic 3 Pro incorporates DJI’s suite of intelligent flight modes to help you capture great videos. The Hasselblad camera and the medium telephoto camera both support FocusTrack. This feature includes ActiveTrack 5.0, Spotlight and Point of Interest, enabling stable tracking shots in multiple directions. In addition, with the MasterShots feature, the drone will automatically shoot, edit and add a soundtrack to generate cinematic footage. Finally, with Quickshots, you can perform camera movements such as Dronie, Rocket, Circle and Helix.
Automated flight options
This drone has several automated flight options. With Waypoint Flight, you can preset waypoints for the drone to base a flight route on and precisely repeat routes. In Cruise Control, you can also set the Mavic 3 Pro to fly in any direction without continually pressing the control sticks. This will give smoother camera movement during long-distance manual control. Finally, the drone has Advanced RTH (Return to Home), so it can automatically determine a safe and efficient flight route back to its home point.
Other features
The Mavic 3 Pro has a battery that gives you up to 43 minutes of flight time. The drone also uses the DJI O3+ transmission system. This can transmit a 1080p 60 fps HD live feed at high frame rates at distances up to around 9 miles (15 km). In addition, the drone has safety features such as Omnidirectional Sensing and APAS (Advanced Pilot Assistance System). The drone has eight wide-angle vision sensors, which work in conjunction with a high-performance vision computing engine. This system precisely senses obstacles in all directions and plans a safe flight route to avoid them.
Mavic 3 Pro Cine
The Mavic 3 Pro Cine version of the drone can record in Apple ProRes from all three cameras rather than H.264/H.265. You can choose between ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 LT encoding. The Cine version also has a 1 TB SSD for storage, compared to 8 GB of storage on the regular Mavic 3 Pro.
What we think
The three-camera system of the DJI Mavic 3 Pro gives you much more creativity with your drone footage. The three focal lengths mean you can get three different looks to your footage, so you can shoot full sequences in one flight. Recording in D-Log M also makes it easier to grade your videos in post-production for cinematic images. In addition, the ability to shoot ProRes with the Cine version offers even higher-quality videos. The clips DJI has shared as part of the launch are stunning, so this will undoubtedly be another popular product.
Pricing and availability
The DJI Mavic 3 Pro is available to order now from DJI and its authorized retail partners. It is scheduled to start shipping in May.
The DJI Mavic 3 Pro with the DJI RC costs $2,199. It is also available as the DJI Mavic 3 Pro Fly More Combo for $2,999. This adds additional batteries, a battery charging hub and a set of ND filters. In addition, the DJI Mavic 3 Pro Fly More Combo includes the DJI RC Pro and retails at $3,889.
If you need ProRes recording, the DJI Mavic 3 Pro Cine Premium Combo costs $4,799.
