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DJI Mavic 3: Best portable folding drone on the planet?
Being able to put a camera in the sky is part of the job for many people these days, from cinematographers to real estate photographers to wedding photographers.
And now, DJI's new Mavic 3 lets you put not one camera in the sky, but two.
Yes, two.
What follows is a first look at the DJI Mavic 3. (It arrived too late to put it in the air, but there's plenty to do unboxing and setting up this package.)
The Mavic 3 is the follow-up to DJI's Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom drones, released in August 2018. A lot has happened since then, and an update to the flagship line has been widely anticipated for some time.
The Mavic 3 comes in two models: the Mavic 3 and the Mavic 3 Cine. The only difference is that the Cine model offers support for the Apple ProRes 422 HQ codec (where you'll be burning through a gigabyte of storage for every 10 seconds of 5.1K video) and 1TB built-in SSD. The base Mavic 3 is limited to H.264/H.265 codecs with a max bitrate of 200Mbps.
If you find H.264/H.265 video not offering you the flexibility you need, then you need the Cine version. For most people, however, the Cine version will be overkill.
Let's take a visual tour of the Mavic 3.
DJI Mavic 3: Unboxing and first look
Aircraft specs
Takeoff Weight
- Mavic 3: 895 g
- Mavic 3 Cine: 899 g
Dimensions (Folded/Unfolded)
- Folded (without propellers) 221×96.3×90.3 mm
(Length×Width×Height) - Unfolded (without propellers) 347.5×283×107.7 mm
(Length×Width×Height)
Diagonal Length
- 380.1 mm
Max Ascent Speed
- 1 m/s (C mode)
- 6 m/s (N mode)
- 8 m/s (S mode)
Max Descent Speed
- 1 m/s (C mode)
- 6 m/s (N mode)
- 6 m/s (S mode)
Max Flight Speed (at sea level, no wind)
- 5 m/s (C mode)
- 15 m/s (N mode)
- 19 m/s (S mode)
Max Service Ceiling Above Sea Level
- 6000 m
Max Flight Time (no wind)
- 46 minutes
Max Hovering Time (no wind)
- 40 minutes
Max Flight Distance
- 30 km
Max Wind Speed Resistance
- 12 m/s
Max Tilt Angle
- 25° (C mode)
- 30° (N mode)
- 35° (S mode)
Max Angular Velocity
- 200°/s
Operating Temperature
- -10° to 40° C (14° to 104° F)
GNSS
- GPS + Galileo + BeiDou
Hovering Accuracy Range
- Vertical: ±0.1 m (with Vision Positioning); ±0.5 m
(with GNSS Positioning) - Horizontal: ±0.3 m (with Vision Positioning); ±0.5 m
(with High-Precision Positioning System)
Internal Storage
- Mavic 3: 8 GB (available space is approx. 7.2 GB)
- Mavic 3 Cine: 1TB (available space is approx. 934.8 GB)
Hasselblad Camera
Sensor
- 4/3 CMOS, Effective pixels: 20 MP
Lens
- FOV: 84°
- Format Equivalent: 24 mm
- Aperture: f/2.8 to f/11
- Focus: 1 m to ∞ (with autofocus)
ISO Range
- Video: 100-6400
- Still Image: 100-6400
Shutter Speed
- Electronic Shutter: 8-1/8000 s
Max Image Size
- Main Unit: 5280×3956
Still Photography Modes
- Single shot: 20MP Photos
- Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB): 20 MP, 3/5 bracketed frames at 0.7 EV
- Timed: 20 MP, 2/3/5/7/10/15/20/30/60 s
Video Resolution
- Apple ProRes 422 HQ
- 5.1K: 5120×2700@24/25/30/48/50fps
- DCI 4K: 4096×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*fps
- 4K: 3840×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*fps
- H.264/H.265
- 5.1K: 5120×2700@24/25/30/48/50fps
- DCI 4K: 4096×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*fps
- 4K: 3840×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*fps
- FHD: 1920×1080p@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*/200*fps
* Framerates above are recording framerates. Videos will be played as slow-motion videos.
Max Video Bitrate
- H.264/H.265 Bitrate: 200 Mbps
Supported File Formats
- exFAT
Photo Format
- JPEG/DNG (RAW)
Video Formats
- Mavic 3:
MP4/MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265) - Mavic 3 Cine:
MP4/MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265)
MOV (Apple ProRes 422 HQ)
Tele Camera
Sensor
- 1/2-inch CMOS
Shutter Speed
- Electronic Shutter: 2-1/8000 s
Lens
- FOV: 15°
- Format Equivalent: 162mm
- Aperture: f/4.4
- Focus: 3 m to ∞
ISO Range
- Video: 100-6400
- Still Image: 100-6400
Max Image Size
- 4000×3000
Photo Format
- JPEG
Video Formats
- MP4/MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265)
Still Photography Modes
- Single shot: 12MP Photos
Video Resolution
- H264/H.265
- 4K: 3840×2160@30 fps
- FHD: 1920×1080@30 fps
Digital Zoom
- 4x
Gimbal
Stabilization
- 3-axis motorized (tilt, roll, pan)
Mechanical Range
- Tilt: -135° to 100°
- Roll: -45° to 45°
- Pan: -27° to 27°
Controllable Range
- Tilt: -90° to 35°
- Pan: -5° to 5°
Max Control Speed (tilt)
- 100°/s
Angular Vibration Range
- ±0.007°
Sensing
Sensing System
- Omnidirectional binocular vision system, supplemented with an infrared sensor at the bottom of the aircraft
Forward
- Measurement Range: 0.5-20 m
- Detection Range: 0.5-200 m
- Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ≤ 15m/s
- FOV: Horizontal 90°, Vertical 103°
Backward
- Measurement Range: 0.5-16 m
- Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ≤ 14m/s
- FOV: Horizontal 90°, Vertical 103°
Lateral
- Measurement Range: 0.5-25 m
- Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ≤ 15m/s
- FOV: Horizontal 90°, Vertical 85°
Upward
- Measurement Range: 0.2-10 m
- Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ≤ 6m/s
- FOV: Front and Back 100°, Left and Right 90°
Downward
- Measurement Range: 0.3-18 m
- Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ≤ 6m/s
- FOV: Front and Back 130°, Left and Right 160°
Operating Environment
- Forward, Backward, Left, Right, and Upward: Surface with a clear pattern and adequate lighting (lux>15)
- Downward: Surface with a clear pattern and adequate lighting (lux >15). Diffuse reflective surface with diffuse reflectivity>20% (e.g. wall, tree, person)
Video Transmission
Video Transmission System
- O3+
Live View Quality
- Remote Controller: 1080p@30fps/1080p@60fps
Operation Frequency
- 2.400-2.4835 GHz
- 5.725-5.850 GHz
Max Transmission Distance (unobstructed, free of interference and aligned with controller)
- 2.400-2.4835 GHz; 5.725-5.850 GHz
- FCC: 15 km
- CE: 12 km
- SRRC: 8 km
- MIC: 8 km
Max Download Bitrate
- SDR:
- 5.5MB/s (with RC-N1 remote controller)
- 15MB/s (with DJI RC Pro remote controller)
- Wi-Fi 6: 80MB/s
Latency (depending on environmental conditions and mobile device)
- 130 ms (with RC-N1 remote controller)
120 ms (with DJI RC Pro remote controller)
Antennas
- 4 antennas, 2T4R
Transmitter Power (EIRP)
- 2.4 GHz: ≤33 dBm (FCC); ≤20 dBm (CE/SRRC/MIC)
- 5.8 GHz: ≤33 dBm (FCC), ≤30 dBm(SRRC), ≤14 dBm(CE)
Battery
Capacity
- 5000 mAh
Voltage
- 15.4 V
Charging Voltage Limit
- 17.6 V
Battery Type
- LiPo 4S
Energy
- 77 Wh
Weight
- 335.5 g
Charging Temperature
- 5° to 40° C (41° to 104° F)
I will follow up with a review after I get some hours under my belt with this drone.