DJI Mavic 3 announced: Everything you need to know

The DJI Mavic 3 is finally here. DJI has unveiled the latest in its line of consumer camera drones, and this iteration packs the best camera, remote, and flight features of any Mavic to date.

Powered by Hasselblad, the Mavic 3 has a Micro Four Thirds camera sensor, shoots 5.1K video, has a secondary camera with 28X zoom, and rocks 46 minutes of flight time!

DJI Mavic 3, starting at $2,199 on Amazon

Mavic 3 overview

Most earlier Mavic drones offered mobile-class cameras and were designed for consumer pilots. The Mavic 3 departs from that a little bit. While there were clear distinctions between the capabilities of the Mavic Pro, Phantom 4, and Inspire 2 — which all released around the same time — the Mavic 3 competes more with the professional-grade Inspire 2, particularly as both have a Micro Four Thirds camera.

DJI has greatly increased the flight range, flight time, and intelligent flight features with this new drone. The Mavic 3 is rated for 30 miles of flight distance with a 15km connection range. All-direction obstacle avoidance sensors are good for up to 200 meters, which far exceeds the 40-meter detection range of previous Mavic drones.

In the end, folks who were waiting on the Mavic 3 series before they bought into the platform may opt for the more-affordable DJI Air 2S or Mini 2 if they have a limited budget. Experienced pilots that were looking forward to a superb flying camera should be excited, as the Mavic 3 is as good as you’ll get for under $3,000 today.

Mavic 3 camera

The Mavic 3 has two cameras. The main sensor is a Hasselblad Micro Four Thirds camera that shoots 20MP stills and 5.1K video at 50fps, or 4K at 120fps. The second camera is a 1/2-inch sensor that shoots 12MP stills, 4K video, and has a telephoto lens with up to 28x hybrid zoom.

Backing up the sensors is 8GB of internal storage and enough horsepower to shoot ProRes 422 HQ encoding. This is where the Mavic 3 series diverges. The base model has the 8GB of internal storage, while the Mavic 3 Cine model offers a 1TB SSD and the ProRes encoding.

Mavic 3 performance

The Mavic 3 has some exciting specifications for drone pilots. Firstly, it has a 5,000mAh battery that’s good for up to 46 minutes of flight.

I say again, 46 minutes in the sky!

Pilots can scoot along at almost 47mph, which is only a slight bump over past Mavic drones, but every bit helps sometimes. This increase in power improves the vertical speed in a big way. You’ll go up into the sky at around 18mph, compared to the 11mph of the Mavic 2 series. DJI has also adjusted the lowest speed of the propellers, allowing the drone to descend twice as fast as the Mavic 2 drones.

Should you buy the Mavic 3?

The DJI Mavic 3 comes in three packages. The standard package will get you flying. The Fly More combo, as always, enhances your flight experience, but this time around DJI has a third tier that really takes things to the next level. All of the packages include the basics you’ll need, including chargers, extra propellers, and cables.

While these are all very impressive camera drones, the price tag is a lot different than most consumer pilots are accustomed to. DJI has elevated the Mavic series from being a powerful tool for hobbyists to being a reliable tool for professional aerial photographers.

This article is a shortened version of the full article on Drone Rush. Stay tuned for more drone coverage and a full review of the new DJI Mavic 3.