I am absolutely thrilled with my recent purchase of the DJI Mavic 3 Drone. This drone outshines others on the market with its advanced features and superior performance. Starting with the unboxing, it was immediately apparent that this product is crafted with high standards. The build quality is robust, and the design sleek and modern, offering a glimpse of the technological prowess housed within. The DJI Mavic 3 excels in its flight capabilities. With remarkable stability and precision, it handles wonderfully, even in windy conditions. The flight time is impressive as well - a significant improvement over other models I've used in the past. The standout feature, however, has to be the camera. The drone's ability to capture ultra-high-definition videos and photos is ... MoreI am absolutely thrilled with my recent purchase of the DJI Mavic 3 Drone. This drone outshines others on the market with its advanced features and superior performance. Starting with the unboxing, it was immediately apparent that this product is crafted with high standards. The build quality is robust, and the design sleek and modern, offering a glimpse of the technological prowess housed within. The DJI Mavic 3 excels in its flight capabilities. With remarkable stability and precision, it handles wonderfully, even in windy conditions. The flight time is impressive as well - a significant improvement over other models I've used in the past. The standout feature, however, has to be the camera. The drone's ability to capture ultra-high-definition videos and photos is astounding. The images are crisp, vivid, and detailed, making my aerial photography and videography incredibly professional. The integrated Hasselblad camera, with its 4/3 CMOS sensor and 4x lossless zoom, is a game-changer in drone imaging technology. Moreover, the collision avoidance system is top-notch, adding a layer of security and confidence when maneuvering in tricky environments. The drone's automatic return feature ensures the safety of the device, should it venture out of range or run low on battery. While there's a bit of a learning curve with the DJI Fly app, I found it to be intuitive and feature-packed once I familiarized myself with it. The various flight modes and options available, including ActiveTrack and Spotlight, offer incredible control and flexibility in capturing dynamic shots. To sum it up, the DJI Mavic 3 Drone is undoubtedly a high-end, high-performance drone that's well worth the investment. It serves as an excellent tool for both beginners and professional drone users seeking to elevate their aerial footage. Its superior camera capabilities, flight performance, and safety features truly set it apart in the market. I'd recommend it to anyone who values quality, reliability, and performance in a drone.

A Game-Changing Cinematic Experience: DJI Mavic 3

As an avid enthusiast, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the incredible capabilities of various drones. However, none have taken my breath away quite like the DJI Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo Drone and Remote Control, also known as DJI RC Pro.The Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo is a phenomenal piece of engineering, combining cutting-edge technology with exceptional performance. Its sleek and elegant design, featuring a beautiful gray finish, immediately captivated me. The attention to detail in its construction is evident, making it a joy to fly and leaving a lasting impression on anyone who lays eyes on it.One of the standout features of the Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo is the included DJI RC Pro transmitter, featuring a built-in screen. This innovation eliminates ... MoreAs an avid enthusiast, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the incredible capabilities of various drones. However, none have taken my breath away quite like the DJI Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo Drone and Remote Control, also known as DJI RC Pro.The Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo is a phenomenal piece of engineering, combining cutting-edge technology with exceptional performance. Its sleek and elegant design, featuring a beautiful gray finish, immediately captivated me. The attention to detail in its construction is evident, making it a joy to fly and leaving a lasting impression on anyone who lays eyes on it.One of the standout features of the Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo is the included DJI RC Pro transmitter, featuring a built-in screen. This innovation eliminates the need for smartphones or tablets, providing a seamless and hassle-free piloting experience. The 5.5-inch 1080p screen delivers crystal-clear visuals, allowing for real-time monitoring of the drone’s flight path and capturing breathtaking cinematic shots.Speaking of cinematography, the Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo sets a new standard for aerial photography and videography. Equipped with a Hasselblad camera and a 1-inch CMOS sensor, it delivers stunningly sharp and vibrant images, even in low-light conditions. The 20-megapixel stills and 4K video capabilities ensure unparalleled visual quality, allowing creators to capture the world from a completely new perspective.In terms of flight performance, the Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo is a true champion. Its extended flight time of up to 45 minutes, combined with a maximum speed of 55 mph, offers endless possibilities for exploration and creativity. The 3-axis gimbal stabilization system ensures buttery-smooth footage, even during high-speed maneuvers, while obstacle avoidance sensors guarantee a safe and secure flight experience.The range of intelligent flight modes and features available on the DJI Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo further enhance its versatility. From ActiveTrack and Spotlight 2.0 to Waypoint 2.0 and Hyperlapse, the possibilities for capturing dynamic and compelling content are virtually limitless. These intuitive features make it accessible for both professional filmmakers and beginners alike.Lastly, DJI’s dedication to customer support and ongoing firmware updates ensure that the Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo remains at the forefront of drone technology. With each update, it continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, providing users with additional features and improvements.In conclusion, the DJI Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo Drone and Remote Control with Built-in Screen is an exceptional piece of equipment that redefines the capabilities of aerial cinematography. With its sleek design, remarkable flight performance, industry-leading camera, and intelligent features, it offers an unmatched experience for creators and enthusiasts alike. If you’re looking to take your videography to new heights, this drone is an absolute must-have.

A big thing in a small package

DJI has established itself as the trend setter and continues to set the bar in the consumer drone market not only for avid photographers and drone pilots but opens the market up to more beginners and amateurs as well because of its new enhanced safety in-flight features. Fair warning for the beginners and amateurs, after flying the new Mavic 3, you may think you are an expert drone flyer, however, don’t go out flying a lesser drone after thinking you have mad drone flying skills. More than likely this is due to the upgrades to their flagship Mavic drone encompassing both the hardware and software. The combo package is a great investment for most considering it includes everything the base model comes with along with two additional batteries for no down time, eight ... MoreDJI has established itself as the trend setter and continues to set the bar in the consumer drone market not only for avid photographers and drone pilots but opens the market up to more beginners and amateurs as well because of its new enhanced safety in-flight features. Fair warning for the beginners and amateurs, after flying the new Mavic 3, you may think you are an expert drone flyer, however, don’t go out flying a lesser drone after thinking you have mad drone flying skills. More than likely this is due to the upgrades to their flagship Mavic drone encompassing both the hardware and software. The combo package is a great investment for most considering it includes everything the base model comes with along with two additional batteries for no down time, eight additional blades in case of accidents, a pack of lens filters for the avid photographers and the perfect carrying case designed by DJI to fit everything snug and organized in a small backpack that protects your gear. Both the base model and the combo kit also include the Mavic 3 drone, a battery charger, one battery, a couple of extra blades and the standard controller for your compatible smart phone. I intentionally wanted to mention the compatible smart phone because the DJI Fly app was not available in the app store for my folding screen phone so ensure you do your research on phone compatibility.The Mavic 3 drone itself is very similar in size to its predecessor and can be held in one hand when folded up or with the blades extended and weighs right at about two pounds. I immediately noticed the eight omnidirectional sensors around the drone that can sense objects and prevent the drone from crashing into something. This is a sigh of relief for beginner drone pilots after crashing drones in the past, although not nearly as pricey or well-made as the DJI Mavic drones. These sensors also help immensely when trying to navigate through tight spaces, open environments with trees, cities with obstacles, etc. The sensors also really come in handy when you are tracking someone or something in an action style video. The drone set up was fairly simple after charging the batteries for the drone and remote, downloading the DJI Fly app, and setting everything up through the app before you take flight. The DJI Fly app will walk you through the rest of the process including setting up your account through DJI, syncing the hardware and downloading any updates to the software (as expected with just about everything electronic today).Regarding the photography details and probably the most impressive upgrade to the Mavic 3 compared to its predecessor is DJI incorporated a dual camera on the Mavic 3. Not only that, DJI collaborated with the Swedish made Hasselblad brand to design a camera specifically for their drone. The main Hasselblad camera is a professional grade 4/3 CMOS that captures beautiful, high resolution 20MP pictures with a new larger image sensor and dynamic range. This camera combined with the onboard software features Vision Detection Auto Focus technology with is very fast and responsive especially when trying to track stationary and moving subjects while the drone is also moving. Besides filming at an excellent 5.1K at 50fps or 4K at 120fps, I won’t get into any other video specs which are listed online as they are typically way too advanced for most, including myself. All I can tell you is the video looks incredible and smooth. The other smaller second tele camera lets you see the whole picture especially in open space before you decide what you would like to ultimately focus on. The tele camera is also great to view areas at a distance where the subject may not even realize a drone is in the area. The live feed to the host shows video at 1080p at 60 fps. One slight inadequacy on the standard Mavic 3 compared to the pricier Mavic 3 Cine is it only comes equipped with 8GB of internal, compared to the 1TB SSD on the pricier Cine model, however you can expand the storage using a micro-SD card. I would have included pictures in my review however you’ll find much better picture examples from the Mavic 3 camera online in stunning environments in comparison to my neighborhood park I initially tested it out in.Some other improvements DJI made to the Mavic 3 compared to its predecessors are the flight time on a single battery that claim it will fly up to 46 minutes and up to 15 km away, both about a 30% increase compared to the previous Mavic drone. And when you get close to running out of battery, which I never got close to 46 minutes in one shot during my test flights, the drone will automatically return to your home point safely using the advanced auto-return function which calculates the best route back to the home point while avoiding obstacles and saving flight time. The return function also occurs when there is signal loss or can be initiated by the user.Overall, DJI continues to impress and exceed all expectations with the improvements on the new Mavic 3 drone. In my opinion, the most impressive improvements were the omni-directional sensors, dual cameras that allow the user to see the whole picture, the collaboration with the high-end Swedish Hasselblad camera, the increase in flight time and distance the drone can travel. I would have liked to have seen more storage included on the base model considering the enormous gap between the base model and the Cine model, and a more improved remote that included a video display especially at this price point.

A flying powerhouse of technology

This is a truly an amazing piece of technology, with a hefty price tag you absolutely get your money’s worth in the DJI Mavic 3. I have owned and flown a few drones in my past, more recently I am flying a competitor’s drone (of an orange color). As soon as I unboxed and got into the hardware that comes with the Fly More package I was immediately impressed. The carrying case the Mavic 3 comes in has soft leather insides and rugged exterior fabric with actual metal clips for closure, which you don’t see often. The case itself fits everything perfectly and even has an option to convert into a backpack, super handy! I initially charged all the batteries on the included multi dock charging station, after about an hour I had all 3 batteries fully charged and ready to go, ... MoreThis is a truly an amazing piece of technology, with a hefty price tag you absolutely get your money’s worth in the DJI Mavic 3. I have owned and flown a few drones in my past, more recently I am flying a competitor’s drone (of an orange color). As soon as I unboxed and got into the hardware that comes with the Fly More package I was immediately impressed. The carrying case the Mavic 3 comes in has soft leather insides and rugged exterior fabric with actual metal clips for closure, which you don’t see often. The case itself fits everything perfectly and even has an option to convert into a backpack, super handy! I initially charged all the batteries on the included multi dock charging station, after about an hour I had all 3 batteries fully charged and ready to go, one thing I would like is if the batteries indicated they were fully charged, it seems they only just stop flashing their LEDs once a full charge has been obtained. That is mostly an aesthetic thing for me.Another item that sets the DJI Mavic 3 apart is the protective cover that clips onto the Mavic 3 to secure and protect the camera and the propellers into place, this really makes transfer in and out of the carrying case super simple and gives me the sense that the Mavic 3 camera is protected well. The cover is easy to mount and unmount as well for quick transition.Now for the flying! WOW! The Mavic 3 is so easy to fly and super fun, I felt like a little kid when I got the drone up and flying around a local beach. The Mavic 3 boasts 46 minutes of flight time in normal conditions, with some wind at the beach my first initial flight was around35 minutes total, and I was impressed. The wind did not deter the flight of the Mavic 3 at all, and it held position and flight path perfectly given the decent breeze where I was. I was also surprised at how quiet the Mavic is during flight, it wasn’t until it was 25-30 feet away that I could hear it, and even then, it was super silent. My old drone was significantly loud during initial take off and flight. The added obstacle avoidance sensors still have to be tested more thoroughly but I was able to fly this safely through wooded area’s during the day with ease, my next steps are to perform tracking through a walking trail to really see if branches and such can be avoided without direct control (once the firmware updates become available in 2022).At first, I was unsure if I would prefer to have the upgraded controller but once I got going, I think the RC remote with phone attachment was better than I expected. My older drone had a similar controller setup, but the controller itself was awkwardly heavy and became somewhat of a nuisance to hold for extended periods of flight. The RC remote is easy to hold and has a great mount for your phone (I’m using an iPhone 12 Pro Max with a case) with a small cut out for the phone to remote connection which is hidden when you store the phone mount in the RC. Very convenient and well thought out! The first thing I enjoyed was the physical toggle button for the 3 modes of flight, cine, normal and sport. This makes it all the difference for me because my old drone forced me to select these modes within the app which was not easily located and a struggle to do while in flight, the Mavic 3 is just a quick shift of the toggle button, and you are ready to transition from one mode to the next. The scroll wheel to change the pitch of the camera is smooth and helps keep video shots consistent and not jerky, I was able to shoot video at the beach early in the morning with minimal light and the camera gave me true color and added light with the adjustable aperture. The pictures and video really speak for themselves in the Hasselblad camera, I have never seen anything near as advanced or comparable to the Mavic 3’s capabilities. The Fly More combo adds some ND filters, which are great for reducing incoming light and getting more out of the camera with time lapse photos and scenery shots. They snap on and off the camera easily making a quick change that gives great enhancements to pictures and video! The zoom on the camera is very functional, up to 28x you can really get a good view of an object from a distance, easy to use on the app.Overall, the DJI Mavic 3 is an impressive piece of technology that I am thrilled to have. Truly an industry standard in recreational drones, with attention to minor details that personally set the Mavic 3 apart from the competition. A lot of things like battery placement, controller aesthetics and ease of transport go a long way. Although I would have preferred the feature enhancements shipped with the Mavic 3, I do look forward to some of the added capabilities DJI is claiming to have available. Bottom line, this is a dream to fly and I can’t wait to get outside to continue to put the Mavic 3 to good use and just have a blast while doing it!

DJI's flagship camera drone gets better

By now, DJI is as much of a household name as any company in the drone industry. From the older Phantom products to the current Mavic line, DJI's quadcopter products have come to define how most people consider a drone to look and perform. The Mavic 3 is DJI's latest iteration of the conveniently portable Mavic series, and assumes the position of their consumer flagship product. Despite being "just" an iterative release that retains the immediately recognizable Mavic design, DJI significantly improved several key specs. This keeps the Mavic 3 at the head of its class, setting a new benchmark against which other drones will be compared. However, these improvements do come at a cost (literally). The Mavic 3 also launches with some features yet to be fully implemented ... MoreBy now, DJI is as much of a household name as any company in the drone industry. From the older Phantom products to the current Mavic line, DJI's quadcopter products have come to define how most people consider a drone to look and perform. The Mavic 3 is DJI's latest iteration of the conveniently portable Mavic series, and assumes the position of their consumer flagship product. Despite being "just" an iterative release that retains the immediately recognizable Mavic design, DJI significantly improved several key specs. This keeps the Mavic 3 at the head of its class, setting a new benchmark against which other drones will be compared. However, these improvements do come at a cost (literally). The Mavic 3 also launches with some features yet to be fully implemented - at this time, expected to be added in a January 2022 firmware update. Read on for my experience with what this drone offers now (right after its launch), and look for some images attached to this review that I've created with it in a few days of testing. Hopefully, this can help you make a decision on whether the Mavic 3 should be your first - or next - drone.(In the interest of transparency, DJI provided a Mavic 3 to me for review, but the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own. I have past experience with hobbyist "first person video" (FPV) drones, but this is the first I've used that is designed as an aerial photography platform. I also have experience with mirrorless cameras for personal use, so I'm familiar, if not an expert, with "advanced" camera settings that the Mavic 3 also provides control over.)Since the Mavic 3 is foremost an aerial photography platform, the standout new feature has to be the new primary image sensor that it carries. The new sensor is a 20 MP Four Thirds format sensor, which means the Mavic 3 houses a comparable image sensor to that used in popular mirrorless cameras (such as Panasonic's GH5). I believe this is the largest image sensor integrated on a consumer camera drone to date, and larger sensors generally capture better images. It has very good specs on paper, and in practice I am very pleased with how good the pictures and video look. Videos can be recorded at up to 5.1K resolution at ("only") 50 FPS. At 4K resolution or lower, you'll be able to do 60 FPS, or even 120 FPS for slow-motion videos. (I generally have recorded at 4K 60FPS, as I found a 5K 50FPS video was just too much to play back smoothly on the computers I own.) The Mavic optionally supports capturing still images in RAW (Adobe DNG) format in addition to JPEG. Full manual controls are offered in both photo and video modes, so experienced photographers will have plenty of settings to adjust to get a perfect result. This includes control over a variable aperture, which seems to be a distinguishing feature of DJI's "pro" drones (the Mavic 2 Pro had it, but not the Air 2S). Of course, if you don't want to tweak all settings yourself, you'll get fantastic results even with the camera in full auto mode. That is how I've predominantly used it myself, and I haven't been disappointed in how any of the images or videos have looked.In addition to the big upgrade on the primary camera, the Mavic 3 also integrates a secondary camera with a smaller sensor and telephoto lens - similar to the trend in smartphones over the last few years. The secondary camera is only enabled while the Mavic 3 is in "Explore Mode." When it is, it behaves similarly to multi-camera smartphones and automatically switches the active camera based on your zoom level. The maximum zoom level is 28x, though this is achieved using "digital zoom" (so you'll see some visible pixelation from the upscaling). I was impressed by how stable the image remains when zoomed in, even at the max level. In Explore Mode, the Mavic 3 does not allow control over most camera settings - only basic exposure compensation. Explore Mode also locks you in to specific, lower resolutions for both photos and videos and disables some features (like D-Log video and RAW capture). So, the primary camera will still clearly be your go-to for the best quality and most control. The name "Explore Mode" hints at DJI's intention - that it's for inspecting details and distant scenes before repositioning the drone to get a shot with the main camera. But, that's not to say that you can't still get worthwhile stills and video using it.DJI also touts significant increases to the Mavic 3's flight time on a single battery charge over past models. DJI lists 40-46 minutes as the maximum flight time (depending on wind), which is close to a 50% increase over the Mavic 2 Pro. In my experience, I routinely had 25-30 minute flight times, and I was not even pushing the battery to its limit. I've ended all flights with the battery still above 30%, and an estimated flight time remaining of ten minutes or more. So, the official estimate seems quite plausible. And not only did DJI improve the endurance, but they improved the maximum ascent and descent performance as compared to the Mavic 2. (Top forward speed in sport mode is still basically the same, at 19 m/s or about 43 mph.)DJI has also made improvements to their flight safety systems, including improvements to the obstacle avoidance sensor coverage and the return-to-home algorithm. The position of the sensors has been adjusted to better detect obstacles to the sides of the Mavic. Although I don't have experience with previous Mavics for comparison, the drone did automatically brake itself when approaching a house and trees from every direction that I tried. I also tested the return-to-home feature over a short distance around my house, and was impressed that it maneuvered around and between some trees and shrubs instead of the traditional "up and over" pathing. DJI uses similar pathfinding sophistication to avoid obstacles while the drone is tracking a target, though I did not test this directly since the ActiveTrack feature is not available yet (more on that below). The Mavic 3 detects ADS-B beacons from nearby manned aircraft and will both warn of their proximity and overlay the relative position on the video display. (Of course, the safety systems do not take the place of pilot responsibility, so if you are unfamiliar with the FAA requirements and restriction for drone, aka "sUAS," operation then you should learn about them before operating a Mavic 3.)The DJI unboxing experience is first-rate, and feels a lot like unboxing a premium electronic device like a smartphone. Once the batteries are charged, initial set-up does take a bit of time. You'll need to install DJI's smartphone app, register for a DJI account if you do not have one, get the drone and controller turned on and connected, and then register the drone to your account. There will almost certainly be a firmware update to then install. It is all relatively straightforward, though, and I'll avoid discussing it at length due to space constraints on this review.I've generally talked about the drone itself, but since this review is actually for the "Fly More" bundle, I'll run down the bundled extras quickly. In addition to the Mavic 3, this bundle includes a set of ND camera filters, two additional batteries, a multi-battery charger, several spare propellers, and a carrying case. It's a nice set. Extra batteries are one of the best improvements to any drone experience; even though the Mavic 3 has great battery life, the extras mean you won't have to worry nearly as much about missing out on prime "golden hour" shots over battery limits. The ND filters are a nice inclusion, particularly for video. They fit the new dual-lens design of the camera perfectly. The carrying bag is very premium, with metal buckles and and nifty backpack convertibility. I can't say the bundle is critical to enjoying a Mavic 3, though. Most of these things are (or will probably be) sold on their own and you may wish to pick up just the accessories that interest you.One issue that I have to mention a bit more is the features that have not been implemented yet. Many of the advanced, semi-autonomous technologies that DJI has implemented on their previous drones are currently MIA. This includes things like "ActiveTrack," "Quick Shots," and even the Panorama mode. The buttons for these things are all visible, but they simply display a message on screen indicating that they're "coming soon." I have no real doubt that DJI won't implement these soon (the rumor is that they'll be released in January 2022), so it's a very temporary fault of the Mavic 3. However, the absence of these features might matter to someone hoping to purchase a Mavic 3 and use them over the 2021 year-end holidays. If you're reading this after January 2022, then hopefully this is no longer an issue.I have had an extremely positive experience with the Mavic 3. It really does everything as well as a hobbyist could dream of - and I imagine even most professionals would have their needs largely met. All of this tech does come at a price premium over past generations (also perhaps affected by recent supply chain and inflation issues). DJI makes some perfectly good sibling models that offer a lot of the same bang for fewer bucks, so I think that if the Mavic 3 is stretching your budget, DJI still has other great options for you. But if you're interested in getting a camera drone as a serious hobby, the Mavic 3 seems like a great investment and I don't foresee anyone being disappointed.

Fantastic Compact High End Camera Drone

DJI’s flagship, compact camera drone continues to lead the way in the industry. The Mavic 3 is DJI’s latest version of the ultra-portable Mavic series that leads their consumer product line. It’s unbelievable the amount of features and technology they were able to cram into this very portable design. I’ve owned and flown numerous other DJI products in the past and their products just keep getting better. DJI really sets the standard in this industry for how these products should perform.Upon unboxing, I was pleased at the thought that went into designing this package. Just starting off with the bag the Mavic 3 Fly More Combo comes in, there are sufficient pockets and dividers to hold everything in the kit nicely, the bag has sturdy zippers, reenforced stitching, ... MoreDJI’s flagship, compact camera drone continues to lead the way in the industry. The Mavic 3 is DJI’s latest version of the ultra-portable Mavic series that leads their consumer product line. It’s unbelievable the amount of features and technology they were able to cram into this very portable design. I’ve owned and flown numerous other DJI products in the past and their products just keep getting better. DJI really sets the standard in this industry for how these products should perform.Upon unboxing, I was pleased at the thought that went into designing this package. Just starting off with the bag the Mavic 3 Fly More Combo comes in, there are sufficient pockets and dividers to hold everything in the kit nicely, the bag has sturdy zippers, reenforced stitching, metal clasps, and the bag transforms beyond a single handle to both a messenger bag, and a full-on 2 strap backpack. This design makes this kit extremely flexible and is a great companion for your next adventure. Getting into the accessories, the fly more combo comes with 12 extra propellors, 2 extra batteries, a 3 battery sequential charging dock, and a 4 pack of ND lens filters. The Fly More Combo kit is just about the top of the line kit with exception of the Cine Premium Combo that adds an upgraded remote (built-in screen), additional ND lens filters, kicks up the internal storage from 8GB to 1TB (high speed SSD for quick transfer speeds), and supports Apple ProRes. These additional features support more of a professional level experience with the Mavic 3. Getting to the actual drone, it comes pre-assembled with propellers loaded, almost ready to fly.Getting ready for your first flight: Getting started is a little bit of a process (especially if you’ve never flown a DJI product before, so beware new users) but the process is straight forward, and the mobile app walks you through the entire thing. Once you download the app, you’ll want to sign in to your DJI account (or create a new one) and start down the path of getting things charged up, powered on, and paired. I put all 3 batteries in the charging dock and connected the remote to make sure everything would be charged up and ready to fly. The batteries do charge sequentially, not sure what the exact reasoning is behind that, but as soon as you have at least the first drone battery ready to go and the controller charged, you’re ready to power things on and pair them to your app. Once the combo pairs and shows up in your app, there’s a 99% change you’ll be prompted to update the firmware. DJI is constantly pushing out updates for firmware to fix bugs, add new features, and improve the overall experience with their flagship product.First flight: The drone effortlessly floats into the air and responds beautifully to your control input. The control response is immediate and is very easy to fly. The done is not overly loud, the camera gimbal responds instantly and smoothly to any changes in the drone position, the transmission feed was perfectly clear, and overall was just a pleasant experience. If you’re a newer drone flier, I would highly recommend keeping the drone if the Cinema setting on the controller to limit the flight speed and keep abrupt movements to a minimum. In sport mode, the drone will respond instantly to whatever it’s commanded to do, can travel just over 40 mph, and will turn obstacle avoidance off, so I’d recommend keeping that mode for clear open spaces once you’ve gotten a feel for the flight characteristics of the drone. Under ideal conditions, the battery life can deliver enough power for up to 46 minutes of flight time which is a very welcome change in these later drone models. Getting into these extended flight times allow you to plan shots, execute those shots multiple times, and still have battery to come back or fly to your next shooting spot without worry.Safety Systems: One of the major advantages to the DJI platform is the sheer amount of safety features, both in things like obstacle avoidance, and in things like checks and balances to make sure you’re only flying where you are authorized to fly. The obstacle avoidance takes some getting used to; it’s hard to trust all those sensors at first that are supposed to be protecting your brand-new drone worth thousands of dollars, but the system does a great job at avoiding things. From flying around obstacles, flying over obstacles, to simply holding short of an obstacle if it’s not quite sure what to do, the drone has your back. From things like flying in restricted zones, near airports, or around other aircrafts, the app will either prevent you from taking off without the correct authorization or will sufficiently warn you of potential danger near where you’re flying.Camera performance: I couldn’t be more satisfied with the camera on this drone. The most anticipated feature of the Mavic 3 has been the flagship Hasselblad camera. With a 4/3 CMOS 20MP sensor, resolution up to 5k, framerate up to 120 fps at 4k, 7x optical zoon, 28x digital zoom, and manual control over all the camera features, you won’t be disappointed. I shot some quick scenes at dusk and tried to capture the sunset over a portion of the industrial complex in town, and I couldn’t be more blown away at the color representation, quality detail, and performance of the sensor in this camera.A few notes: I encountered a potential hardware issue on the drone that caused a malfunction that needed to be repaired, but DJI support handled the repair free of charge and took care of the issue. Additionally, I’ve noticed that the drone takes a minute to lock into GPS and get all its sensors ready to go. You can see this status on the app. The app will allow you to take off without having GPS locked in, which could end up making a very unstable flight. I’d encourage you to triple check you have GPS locked in and the drone is ready to fly before commanding a takeoff. Finally, I’d recommend purchasing DJI Care for peace of mind on the off chance you encounter some physical damage to the drone.Overall, if you’re looking for a flagship, easily portable, compact, super high quality, easy to use camera drone platform, you don’t need to look any further. DJI continues to set the direction and lead the way in this industry. You won’t find a higher quality, compact, portable camera drone for your adventures anywhere else. This drone is an absolute beast.

Fantastic imaging

I’ve had quite a few drones over the years, not all DJI, but DJI drones have been at the top of my list since I first laid my eyes and hands on the Mavic Pro Alpine White late 2017 which is still in the family, passed down to my nephew -- and it still flies like new by the way. I’ve been out of serious drone handling personally for a couple of years but the timing was right when the Mavic 3 was released to get my hands back on the controls, get outdoors, and back into the air -- and even to pursue my Part 107 license so I can legally pilot it and produce footage for more than personal use.Mavic 3’s marketing motto is “Imaging Above Everything” which factored heavily into my own consideration to take the plunge so many of my thoughts will orbit on that point of ... MoreI’ve had quite a few drones over the years, not all DJI, but DJI drones have been at the top of my list since I first laid my eyes and hands on the Mavic Pro Alpine White late 2017 which is still in the family, passed down to my nephew -- and it still flies like new by the way. I’ve been out of serious drone handling personally for a couple of years but the timing was right when the Mavic 3 was released to get my hands back on the controls, get outdoors, and back into the air -- and even to pursue my Part 107 license so I can legally pilot it and produce footage for more than personal use.Mavic 3’s marketing motto is “Imaging Above Everything” which factored heavily into my own consideration to take the plunge so many of my thoughts will orbit on that point of interest, pun intended -- If you know you know. :-) What follows are my observations pretty much in the order I noticed them as I learned to use the drone.Stability -- From the time I first took off and went through the tutorials I was immediately and unreservedly impressed with the stability of the Mavic 3 in the air, and with the stability of the gimbal and the camera views. From the moment you take off the visuals are as stable as being on a mount, tripod, etc. I never flew it in anything more than a normal breeze but it never budged.Controls -- Having used their previous version Smart Controller I’ll confess that, although the included RC-N1 is capable and impressive in its own right, I definitely miss the all-in-one convenience of Smart Controller and will consider picking one up in the future. That said, the RC-N1 is smartly designed and works very well so long as you don’t mind giving up your phone while you use it, though nothing says you can’t use and dedicate a secondary phone to the task which is probably what I’ll end up doing. For that matter, I realized about 2 days into owning it that you can fly the Mavic 3 with just the RC-N1 controller and no attached phone at all, though your range and height will be limited in this mode. Though this minimalist mode could come in handy in a pinch I only flew it this way once, but I of course missed all the “smart” feedback of using my phone, but it’s good to know this is an option if absolutely necessary.Controller Interface, basics -- Most of the time you’ll want a phone attached to the controller to unlock the advanced features, flight modes, flight metrics, camera controls, etc. I live about 8 miles from a major airport and airplanes frequently fly over our house on landing approach. The DJI Fly app was clearly aware of exactly where I was and I was concerned at first that the app wouldn’t even let me take off, but instead it intelligently notified me that I was in a height limited zone -- 150 meters if I recall correctly -- and that was that. Not soon after taking off on my first flight post-tutorial the app notified me a manned aircraft was coming into the area, vibrated, sounded an alarm, and verbally notified me to be aware. Sure enough, just seconds later I saw an airliner coming into the area so I quickly landed the Mavic 3 and just waited for it to pass before I took off again.Image quality -- With the skies clear I took off again intent to take some initial video and photos to start to put “Imaging Above Everything” to the test. Suffice to say, when I reviewed those photos and videos post-flight, the impressive 4/3 sensor did not disappoint. I’ve attached several sample photos to this review trying to show just how well it captures colors. I wish I had this drone just a couple weeks earlier when the fall trees were more colorful but there were still a few bright red and orange standouts. In the samples I also demo the default zoom levels -- 1x 2x 4x 7x 14x and 28x. It’s important to keep in mind that only 1x and 7x are true optical images. 1x uses the default camera and then uses digital zoom for anything less than 7x. At 7x the camera makes a definite and not-so-subtle shift to the telephoto lens and then continues to digital zoom the telephoto camera up to 28x. For me this just means to keep in mind that any zoom other than 1x and 7x don’t do anything that can’t be done just as well and more flexibly in post-production editing, though doing so via the Mavic 3 may certainly be more convenient at times. Note though that although the default zoom levels are fixed at 1,2,4,7,14, and 28 you can do smooth-ish zooming with fn+gimbal control. Also note that to use zoom at all you have to be in Explore mode, selectable from the on-screen interface. Explore mode also provides access to high-frame-rate/slo-mo modes.With more advanced imaging in mind, the Mavic 3 comes with a removable filter system. By default, right out of the box, the Mavic 3 has a “clear” filter attached. Included in the FlyMore combo is a pack of 4 additional ND filters of various strength to open your photographic options. For example, the default clear filter is great for crisp photos, but sometimes you want to intentionally capture some motion blur in your image by reducing the light intake and leaving the shutter open longer without risk of over-exposure, and for that the FlyMore kit includes 4 additional filters -- ND4, ND8, ND16, and ND32 -- each respectively a stronger filter than the other. Note, these aren’t “color” filters, they are light-reducing filters which give you more headroom to capture light streaks, smooth-out the foam of crashing waves, or simply to generally soften images and videos that might otherwise be unnaturally crisp or overexposed in the intended conditions.Modes, modes, and more modes -- Speaking of modes, DJI seems to love separating features by mode, and though on one hand I can kind of understand why they do that it’s also frankly kind of annoying. The 3 basic modes to be aware of, selectable via switch right on the controller, are Cine, Normal, and Sport. Cine mode puts emphasis on smooth movement. Normal mode is -- by design I’m sure -- a solid balance of performance and features and leaves all sensors and functions in service -- obstacle avoidance being a key feature in this mode. Finally, Sport mode disables features like obstacle avoidance and is intended for when you need the drone to get from one place to another as quickly as possible, or for when you want to fly the drone in a space that’s limited or tricky. I’m a fairly conservative pilot, I like to keep all the safety and flight assistance features enabled, but of course I tried the Sport for a bit (in a wide open field) and though I didn’t clock it, the Mavic 3 was impressively fast in Sport mode. Again, just be cautious because in Sport mode you can smack it into an object or a person and do genuinely serious harm to the drone, the object, or the person. In my own experience, while in Sport mode I allowed the Mavic 3 to get too close to a fence which interrupted one of the props, which caused the Mavic 3 to drop about 4 feet to the ground, and I incurred my first scuff. Fortunately in my case nothing was harmed, but the incident was enough for me to experientially appreciate the value of the sensors.Sensors -- That said, the sensors aren’t perfect even when enabled and the documentation warns that some surfaces can’t reliably be sensed -- tree limbs, transparent, highly reflective, smooth water, patterned surfaces (think tile floors), etc. So be careful and mindful that the sensors are there to help you, and they are pretty good at what they do, but they can’t handle all situations so always be aware of your environment. Otherwise, in normal use, the sensors did a great job warning me when I was low to the ground, close to a tree or wall, or when it was nearing a person or other object near its plane of flight.Final thoughts and a unique practical application -- As I’m not Part 107 certified yet, I’m not a producer of content for others, but I do use drones for personal flights and one of the things I look forward to using the Mavic 3 for is for aerial recon of a large family property which has some terrain and areas that are just difficult or even dangerous to reach by foot -- and which is also known for snakes at certain times of the year. To that end, my primary intended application of this Mavic 3 is to use it to aerial recon and inspect our own property -- to check road conditions; spot illegal hunting, dumping, or other unauthorized presence; inspect our gates and fences; and to do visual inspections of our Internet link which, for this property, is an LTE router on a pole secured to a tree. With the 40+ minute standard flight time and optical zoom, I’ve already put the Mavic 3 to some test flights on our property for these tasks and it has exceeded my every expectation.

Great Drone for just about all uses.

So, I’ll start with the obvious, this Drone and set of kit is not cheap. If you’re only looking for a drone to take out occasionally or you’re just getting into the hobby this might not be the best starting point on price alone. However, with that said I would like to say the feature set and capabilities of this drone make it a very versatile and good all-around drone for just about any use you can think of. If your interested in serious arial photography and you don’t mind spending a bit of money you can’t really go wrong choosing the Mavic 3.For photography and video this new sensor is second to none in the drone space (besides removable gimble setups in the pro drone space that are much more expensive). I’ve had normal mirrorless cameras that don’t take ... MoreSo, I’ll start with the obvious, this Drone and set of kit is not cheap. If you’re only looking for a drone to take out occasionally or you’re just getting into the hobby this might not be the best starting point on price alone. However, with that said I would like to say the feature set and capabilities of this drone make it a very versatile and good all-around drone for just about any use you can think of. If your interested in serious arial photography and you don’t mind spending a bit of money you can’t really go wrong choosing the Mavic 3.For photography and video this new sensor is second to none in the drone space (besides removable gimble setups in the pro drone space that are much more expensive). I’ve had normal mirrorless cameras that don’t take pictures as nice as some of the once I’ve seen come from this drone and those can’t fly. The main sensor has most things you could ask for when wanting to take nice photos such as the ability to manually set the ISO settings as well as many other manual camera settings. What’s even better is even in auto mode it still takes very nice photos. But let’s be honest you don’t buy a drone to take still photography you want to take nice videos, and well this does that just as well as it’s still photography.The nice thing about the fact that the drone takes very good video and photos is the fact that for once I don’t feel rushed when attempting to get the shots I have in mind. The flight time of this thing is amazing. I was very easily able to get 39 minutes of flight time in very non-optimal conditions which is way more than I was expecting. That included almost 10 minutes of just hovering which is normally even worse for flight time. The fact that the fly more kit comes with two extra batteries (for 3 total) means I don’t think I will ever worry about if I have enough battery charge left to do whatever it is I’m planning.Talking of the flymore kit, the extra batteries are a huge plus, but I almost want to say the best part of the kit is the bag it comes with. This must be one of the nicest carry bags I have ever received with a product. Nice sturdy canvas outer and nice soft interior liner let me feel comfortable slinging this thing over my shoulder and carrying it around. But on top of that if I get tired of carrying it over one shoulder well, I can just pull out the other strap and the whole back turns into a backpack. That is one of the best Ideas I think I’ve seen in a while with an included carry bag on any piece of kit I’ve gotten in recent memory. The kit also comes with the normal extras such as a nice set of ND filters for the camera as well as extra props.Not that I think you will be needing the extra props very often. Of the features I was most impressed with the new obstacle avoidance setup for this drone is very good (I think they call it APAS 5 or something like that). There are two main modes for it stop and fly around. Lets just say they are both very good and not once did I ever feel that I was going to run into anything with the drone, even while trying to run into something. The drone nicely paths around the object (in fly around mode) or it just slowly comes to a stop and waits for better input (in the stop mode).Now with all of that said there is one glaring deficiency I did come across. As of the time of my testing (Early November 2021) there are a lot of extra software features that are just straight up not available. And there are also a few minor gripes about the “telephoto” lens on the drone as well.For the telephoto lens you are limited to auto mode for camera and video settings if your zoomed in to the 7x level where the software switches to the zoom lens you can no longer manually set things like ISO levels, your stuck in “auto” mode until you switch back to the normal camera (1x zoom). That’s not a game changer in my book as most video and pictures I would want to be taking on the amazing main camera anyway. The things that do make me say you might want to wait to pick this up until they are available is the total lack of any specialty shooting modes right now. Missing things like Active track (which has been a heavy part of the marketing I’ve seen at least) as well as no master shots, no quick shots, no time-lapse or hyper-laps, no spotlight mode, and no panorama modes at all. They are all listed as “Coming in a later firmware update” which is fine if but as of the time of me writing this review they are not there. Since those features are really a value add for a drone that is already expensive it’s a little disappointing that they are not available. (Especially when you consider that some of those modes already exist on other cheaper drones in DJI’s lineup) Other words of note are if you already have the old DJI smart controller it won’t be compatible with the Mavic 3 which could be a real bummer for some as well.With all of that said and the missing features I still think that the Mavic 3 is a very good drone. I’m not totally sure which market they are shooting for, but it really does seem like the feature set and price point, point squarely to the prosumer market. But if you have the money available or have a use case for very good quality aerial photography then this is a no brainer purchase for a drone. Once those features are enabled with future firmware updates, I think you will be hard pressed to find a better drone without stepping up to full professional level hardware. Personally, I enjoyed every minute of flight time and I’m thrilled with the quality of both the drone itself and the pictures/videos I can take with it.

Solid, impressive

I upgraded from the Mavic 3 Classic to the Pro 3 for the extra lenses and their compression. It is quite impressive what the longer lenses do for your creativity - it literally opens new worlds. My only issues affecting my score are (again) the lack of reach with the RC controller, and the oversharpening of both videa and images straight out of the camera. Even shot in raw, the image is over-enhanced. I hope this will be fixed in a future firmware update. As for the RC's reach - I have trouble controlling the drone the minute it goes beyond a roof, out of line of sight, and when flying out over the sea to photograph ships for my work, the drone loses connectivity at 2500m, and becomes unflyable at 3000m - which is way worse than what dji claim the drone can reach. ... MoreI upgraded from the Mavic 3 Classic to the Pro 3 for the extra lenses and their compression. It is quite impressive what the longer lenses do for your creativity - it literally opens new worlds. My only issues affecting my score are (again) the lack of reach with the RC controller, and the oversharpening of both videa and images straight out of the camera. Even shot in raw, the image is over-enhanced. I hope this will be fixed in a future firmware update. As for the RC's reach - I have trouble controlling the drone the minute it goes beyond a roof, out of line of sight, and when flying out over the sea to photograph ships for my work, the drone loses connectivity at 2500m, and becomes unflyable at 3000m - which is way worse than what dji claim the drone can reach. Both my Classic and the Pro 3 displayed this behaviour - I suspect the culprit is the RC controller, and the lack of external antennae. Overall though, the camera is the best I've used on a drone, the machine is solid in high winds, and flies beautifully.

The maverick marvel !

The DJI Mavic 3 is a game-changer in the world of drones! Its speed, camera resolution, video quality, and tracking capabilities are truly amazing. The drone zips through the air with agility, providing a seamless flight experience for capturing breathtaking aerial shots and tracking fast-moving subjects.The Mavic 3's Hasselblad camera with a 4/3-inch CMOS sensor and 20-megapixel resolution delivers crystal-clear and vibrant images. Its 8K video resolution ensures cinematic-quality footage with remarkable clarity and smoothness.The ActiveTrack 5.0 technology is pure magic, offering accurate and reliable subject tracking. Whether it's a fast-moving car or a person running, the drone effortlessly maintains perfect tracking.In summary, the DJI Mavic 3 is a ... MoreThe DJI Mavic 3 is a game-changer in the world of drones! Its speed, camera resolution, video quality, and tracking capabilities are truly amazing. The drone zips through the air with agility, providing a seamless flight experience for capturing breathtaking aerial shots and tracking fast-moving subjects.The Mavic 3's Hasselblad camera with a 4/3-inch CMOS sensor and 20-megapixel resolution delivers crystal-clear and vibrant images. Its 8K video resolution ensures cinematic-quality footage with remarkable clarity and smoothness.The ActiveTrack 5.0 technology is pure magic, offering accurate and reliable subject tracking. Whether it's a fast-moving car or a person running, the drone effortlessly maintains perfect tracking.In summary, the DJI Mavic 3 is a powerhouse that exceeds all expectations. If you're looking for the ultimate drone experience, this masterpiece is a must-have for both amateur enthusiasts and professional filmmakers. It opens up endless creative possibilities and takes aerial photography and videography to new heights.