DJI Mavic 3 Pro with Tri-Camera System

Hot on the heels of the announcement of the Inspire 3, DJI has unveiled its new Mavic 3 Pro drones which feature a unique Tri-camera system.

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The Mavic 3 Pro is the latest addition to the very popular Mavic series and it looks to add a lot of new features and functionality. It is sure to be a popular drone as it bridges the gap between some of DJI’s more affordable options and the Inspire 3.

DJI announced the Mavic 2 Pro and the Mavic 2 Zoom way back in 2018. 3 years later in 2021, they unveiled the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine, the third iteration of drones in the popular Mavic series. They featured two different cameras and two different sensors and they could record up to 5.1K video at 50fps as well as 4K at up to 120fps. Both drones had a 47-minute flight time.

Just like the Mavic 2 Pro, the Mavic 3 Pro is available in several different configurations:

• Mavic 3 Pro Drone with DJI RC $2,199 USD
• Mavic 3 Pro Fly More Combo (DJI RC) $2,999 USD
• Mavic 3 Pro Fly More Combo (RC PRO) $3,889 USD
• Mavic 3 Pro Cine Premium Combo $4,799 USD

Just to be crystal clear (because DJI does tend to have a habit of making things confusing), both the Manic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine are exactly the same except that the Mavic 3 Pro Cine can record ProRes to a 1TB SSD.

Tri-Camera System

The Mavic 3 Pro utilizes a unique Tri-Camera System. Essentially there are three different camera and sensor combinations in a triangular configuration. The whole idea behind this is to increase the drone’s flexibility and to allow users to capture a variety of shots at various focal lengths. The three cameras, although independent of each other, are housed in the same 3-axis gimble.

The main sensor/camera combination is a 20MP 4/3 CMOS sensor with a Hasselblad camera that features a wide angle lens. It is capable of capturing up to 5.1K.

The second camera/sensor combination is a 1/2-inch 12MP CMOS with a 166mm 7x telephoto zoom. This is going to allow you to capture fairly tight shots.

The third combination is a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor with a 49MP 70mm medium telephoto zoom.

The larger image sensor (4/3″) is claimed to give the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine a higher dynamic range and more effectively suppresses noise in low-light environments. Both drones have a claimed dynamic range of 12.8 stops.

DJI states that the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine use Hasselblad’s Natural Colour Solution (HNCS), which was introduced with the Mavic 2 Pro. The Mavic 3 can capture up to 1 billion colors using the 10-bit D-Log color profile.

The previous Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine also utilized a 4/3 CMOS sensor and a Hasselblad camera. Both drones had a 28x hybrid zoom camera that featured a 1/2″ sensor, although arguably, the quality of the zoom lens left a lot to be desired.

The Mavic 3 Pro Cine essentially features all of the same capabilities as the Mavic 3 Pro, except it allows you to capture in Mavic 3 Pro Cine supports Apple ProRes 422 HQ, Apple ProRes 422, and Apple ProRes 422 LT encoding at a maximum data rate of 3772 Mbps. You can capture in all of these ProRes options when using any of the three different cameras.

To handle the large amounts of data from the ProRes codec and high frame rate videos, the Mavic 3 Pro Cine comes with a built-in 1TB SSD. A DJI 10Gbps Lightspeed Data Cable will help speed up transfers of large files from the SSD to your computer.

Recording capabilities

The Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine can both record 5.1K video at up to 50fps as well as 4K DCI at up to 120fps. They can also record 1080p up to 200fps, but that is limited to H.64/H.265.

The Mavic 3 Pro can record in either H.264 or H.265 in 10-bit. The Mavic 3 Pro Cine can record in H.264/H.265 and ProRes 422HQ. The data rate when recording 4K 120fps in ProRes 422HQ is a whopping 3772Mbps.

Below are the full recording capabilities. Please note that the Mavic 3 Cine is the only one of the two that is capable of capturing ProRes. There is no mention anywhere of whether or not the Mavic 3 Cine will be able to capture in other flavors of ProRes or ProRes RAW at some future point in time.

Main camera

Apple ProRes 422 HQ 10-bit 4:2:2
Apple ProRes 422 10-bit 4:2:2
Apple ProRes 422 LT 10-bit 4:2:2
5.1K: 5120×2700@24/25/30/48/50fps
DCI 4K: 4096×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120fps 4K: 3840×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120fps

H.264/H.265
5.1K: 5120×2700@24/25/30/48/50fps
DCI 4K: 4096×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120fps 4K: 3840×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120fps
FHD: 1920×1080@24/25/30/48/50/60/120/200fps

Medium Tele Camera

Apple ProRes 422 HQ 10-bit 4:2:2
Apple ProRes 422 10-bit 4:2:2
Apple ProRes 422 LT 10-bit 4:2:2
4K: 3840×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60fps

H.264/H.265
4K: 3840×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60fps
FHD: 1920×1080@24/25/30/48/50/60fps

Tele Camera

Apple ProRes 422 HQ 10-bit 4:2:2
Apple ProRes 422 10-bit 4:2:2
Apple ProRes 422 LT 10-bit 4:2:2
4K: 3840×2160@24/25/30/48/50/60fps

H.264/H.265
4K: 3840×2160@24/25/30/50/60fps
FHD: 1920×1080@24/25/30/50/60fps

The maximum bitrate when recording H.264 is 200Mbps, while in H.265 the maximum is 140Mbps. As a comparison, the Mavic 2 Pro was limited to 100 Mbps.

The Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine file format gets recorded in exFAT instead of the annoying FAT32 (≤32 GB). The Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine now support SDXC or UHS-I microSD cards with a capacity of up to 2 TB.

The 1TB SSD that comes with the Mavic 3 Pro Cine has the following read and write speeds:

Max Read Speed: 700MB/s
Max Write Speed: 471MB/s

These are not particularly quick speeds, but they are more than sufficient for capturing ProRes 422HQ. What you clearly need to remember is the 1TB SSD is in-built and can’t be removed. That means you can’t swap it out and keep flying. If it fills up you need to land, download the footage, erase the SSD and then start flying again.

Enhanced AF

DJI has incorporated what they are referring to as new Vision Detection Auto Focus Technology. This allows the Mavic 3 Pro and the Hasselblad camera to work with multiple vision sensors on board to capture distance data to optimize focusing speeds.

Extended Flight Times

The Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine have a claimed maximum flight time of up to 43 minutes (no wind & flying at 15.5mph / 25kph). This is slightly less than the 46 minutes of the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine.

The DJI developed motors and propellers feature higher energy efficiency. The battery has a capacity of 5000 mAh and it is exactly the same as the ones used in the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine.

What you need to be aware of is that the multi-battery charger that is available can only charge 3 batteries and not four like the one that was available with the Mavic 2 Pro.

Size & Weight

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The Mavic 3 Pro tips the scales at 958g and the Mavic 3 Pro Cine is 963g. As a comparison, the Mavic 3 weighs 895g / 1.97 l and the Mavic 3 Cine is 899g / 1.98 lb.

In terms of size, the Mavic 3 Pro and the Mavic 3 Pro Cine have the following dimensions:

Folded (without propellers): 231.1×98×95.4 mm (L×W×H)
Unfolded (without propellers): 347.5×290.8×107.7 mm (L×W×H)

Speed

The maximum speed of the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine is 21 m/s (S mode), which is just a tiny bit faster than the 20 m/s (S mode) of the Mavic 2 Pro, but the same as the Mavic 3 and the Mavic 3 Cine.

The maximum ascent speed of the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine is:

• 6 m/s (P mode)
• 8 m/s (S mode)

The maximum descent speed is also 6 m/s (P mode).

This means that the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine are not any quicker than their predecessors at descending and ascending.

As far as wind speed resistance is concerned, the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine can withstand up to 10.8-13.8/s.

Obstacle Avoidance

DJI drones have always featured impressive safety features and the Mavic 3 Pro follows in those footsteps. The Mavic 3 Pro features improved obstacle sensing and navigation systems. APAS 5.0 combines inputs from six fish-eye vision sensors and two wide-angle sensors, which continuously sense obstacles in all directions and plan safe flight routes to avoid them. DJI claims this even works in complicated environments.

The forward-facing vision system on the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine has a range of 0.5-200 m / 1.64-656′. On the Mavic 3, 0.5-200 m / 1.64-656′. The range of the downward/backward and lateral vision systems is the same as the Mavic 3.

The omnidirectional obstacle sensing system and subject tracking utilize ActiveTrack 5.0. This allows users to sense obstacles even in Normal mode. Previous iterations of ActiveTrack enabled the camera to follow a subject as it moved directly toward and away from the drone while remaining largely stationary as well as fly alongside a moving subject. ActiveTrack 5.0 allows Mavic 3 Pro to move with the subject as it moves forward, backward, left, right, and diagonally, and fly alongside as well as around a moving subject. In addition, if the subject moves too fast and temporarily goes out of frame, the visual sensors on the camera body will continue to track and frame the subject intelligently and pick it back up when it reappears. These new directions enable much more fluid and diverse drone and camera movement while using ActiveTrack.

Mavic 3 Pro comes with a positioning algorithm that improves hovering precision with signals from GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou satellites. This enables the Mavic 3 Pro to lock onto multiple satellite signals faster than previous versions. The increased positioning precision also makes Mavic 3 Pro less likely to drift in the air and more stable when shooting long exposures and time-lapses.

Mavic 3 Pro features other safety systems such as geofencing to alert drone pilots when they fly near sensitive locations, and altitude limits to ensure pilots are aware of altitude restrictions. The AeroScope Remote ID system allows authorities to identify and monitor airborne drones in sensitive locations. Mavic 3 Pro’s integrated AirSense system, first introduced in DJI Air 2S, warns drone pilots of nearby airplanes and helicopters transmitting ADS-B signals, so they can quickly fly to a safer location.

DJI’s Return To Home (RTH) system that automatically directs a drone back to its starting point if it runs critically low on battery or loses connection to the controller has been a staple of their drones for years. Previously the drone would ascend high enough to clear any obstacles in its path, fly back in a straight line, and descend straight down to the home point. Mavic 3 updates and improves this system by allowing the aircraft to automatically determine the shortest, safest, and energy-efficient route to land back at its home point. At the same time, the drone measures the wind speed of the current environment and calculates the power required for returning home based on the wind speed and the return path in real-time. This provides users with more time flying safely before triggering the RTH action.

DJI O3+ and Cellular Transmission Dongle

The DJI O3+ transmission system is claimed to deliver stable, smooth, and clear video transmission even under challenging conditions, even in environments with strong signal interference. With a maximum control range of 9.3 miles / 14.96km, O3+ enables Mavic 3 Pro to fly further and transmits signals with higher stability and less video lag.

The Mavic 3 Pro also offers a High Frame-Rate Transmission with a 1080p/60fps live feed. This means the camera view is displayed at a resolution close to what the camera actually records.

Intelligent Shooting Modes

The Mavic 3 features 7 Intelligent modes for capturing photos and videos. These include modes such as MasterShots and QuickTransfer.

Thoughts

The Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine are fairly similarly priced to their predecessors. This is good to see, especially since the Inspire 3 is significantly more expensive than the Inspire 2.

The Mavic 3 Pro Cine would arguably be the more interesting of the two options if you can afford to spend the additional $1800 USD.

Of course, pricing is all relevant, and when there isn’t any direct competition you can price products higher than if there was competition. Depending on your perspective you could look at the Mavic 3 Pro drones as either being expensive or very affordable.

There is no question that both the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine will be very capable drones. If you are a professional drone operator then it is a small cost to pay, but if you are just the occasional user, it may be more of a question mark as to whether it would be worth upgrading or not. Apart from the TriCamera System, there isn’t a massive improvement to anything else that makes The Mavic 3 Pro or Mavic 3 Pro Cine stand out from the Mavic 3 or Mavic 3 Cine.

DJI has and continues to dominate the consumer and prosumer drone market. They don’t really have anyone competition that is seriously threatening them in this space. Sure, there are companies such as Autel, but they have a tiny proportion of the market share.

What do you think of the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine? Will you be running out to buy one? Do you think they are worth the price? Let us know in the comments section below.

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