Thinking about purchasing a drone but don't know where to start? That was me!
The best DJI drone on the market today for photography would be the Mavic 3 Pro. This drone has many bells and whistles and frankly is quite amazing. With a 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera, a 70mm tele camera, and a 166mm tele camera, the Mavic 3 Pro helps you create stunning works in various scenarios! The Mavic 3 Pro does weigh in at 958g that being said depending on your location you will be required to have a Drone License for this drone. A very cool feature on this drone is Obstacle Sensing; what sets this drone apart from another is the sensing technology called Omnidirectional which comes in handy! 43 minutes of flight time with recharge times of 70 minutes; i do suggest purchasing the "fly more kit" as it comes with extra batteries, a charging dock and some spare blades!
Mavic 3 Pro
Air 2s
Air 3
Now a competitor to the Mavic 3 Pro is the Air 3 (Air 2s was the previous version to this one) The Air 3 is really something! An impressive weight of 720g granted you still need a pilot license for this one as well - including the Air 2s. The Air 3 comes out of the box with 48MP compared to the Air 2s which only offers 20MP so they have really stepped up their game with the Air 3! The reason you should consider the Air 3 over the Air 2s is the the extras that come with it. Air 3 offers Omnidirectional whereas Air 2s only offers front, up, down, rear (Mini 3 Pro offers the same - we will get to that!) However for content creators... the Air 2s feature a larger single sensor! It has the ability to shoot 5.4K/30fps, whereas the Air 3's max 4K/60fps capabilities. Between two, there is a toss up! Do you as a content creators need to upload 5K-worth of footage onto platforms like YouTube or social sites? Or perhaps the Air 3's 4K will suffice. Personally i think 'bigger is better' the Air 3 features so much more and well i can live with 4K video. Now if i owned the Air 2s i personally would stick with it. As much as i love new features and technology i would be pretty happy with the Air 2s. If i needed to purchase a drone i personally would still choose the Mavic 3 Pro over the Air 3 or Air 2s!
Just starting out with drones and looking to 'dip your toes' into the drone world without spending to much!?
The pricing between the Mini Series is actually quite affordable to be honest, they range from about $430 - $1,300 (CAD) now im sure pricing is bound to fluctuate a bit. The price will change depending on what controller you get, none the less though, they are affordable. Another reason to consider the mini series is the weight of the drones, each one is under 249g meaning; you are not required to have a pilot license to fly one, i personally do and you can find out why in my Newest Addition Blog.
If i didn't already own the Mini 3 Pro i would have purchased the Mini 4 Pro in a heartbeat! The Mini SE, Mini 2 and Mini 3 did not make the cut for the my list. Mainly because DJI had produced something more tech savvy and offered better features; the Mini 2 series only offers downward sensing meaning, forward and backwards movement will not be detected in the event you come close to something and i don't know about you but i personally care more for forward/back sensing! The Mini 3 offers 4K@30 fps with 12 or 24MP the Mini 2 offers only 2.7K@30 fps and only 12MP. As you can see these are just some of the reasons why they didn't make the cut.
The Mini 3 Pro offers larger propellers than compared to the Mini 2 series and Mini 3, the body of the 3 Pro is also more aerodynamic giving you greater control when flying. Interesting enough the 3 Pro is also (slightly) smaller than the Mini 3 with dimensions of 145x90x62. I have smaller hands and can launch my Mini 3 Pro from my hand, i try not to but hey sometimes you just have too!
Mavic 3 Pro
Mini 4 Pro
Mini 2
Mini 3 Pro vs Mini 4 Pro
Mini 3 Pro vs Mini 4 Pro
Mini 3 Pro:
- Available for less money
- Same excellent sensor
- Similar Flight Performance
- 12km transmission distance
- 251x362x70mm (unfolded)
- Up to 4K60 video recording
- Level 5 wind resistance (10.7m/s)
- Up, Down, Forward, Backward sensing *NO side sensors*
- 2453 mAh Battery
- Still brilliant
Mini 4 pro:
- 4K100 video recording
- Omnidirectional obstacle avoidance (i want this haha)
- 60fps HDR and D Log M
- Improved slow motion
- 20km transmission distance
- 2590 mAh Battery
- 298x373x101mm (unfolded)
- Level 5 wind resistant
- Best of the best
In Conclusion....
Personally i would love to have the Omnidirectional Obstacle Avoidance, the bulbous fisheye lenses on the Mini 4 Pro are positioned at and angle rather than head-on, which again would be a nice feature to have means you can't run into something sideways... like a tree! The other thing that out performs the Mini 3 Pro is the engineering of the Mini 4 Pro; because the drone has full 360-degree coverage using the same amount of sensors as its predecessor. The Mini 4 Pro also has a light built into the bottom, similar to the Air 3 (just smaller) In use, its designed to make low-altitude hovering more stable in low-light conditions - this would be handy for when i attend fire practice in the late evening/into the night. The Mini 4 Pro also has landing feet on the front arms whereas the Mini 3 Pro doesn't, this isn't particularly a 'i need to upgrade' feature but i get why they did!
D-Log M which is found in DJI's larger drones and now the Mini 4 Pro means its far more flexible for color grading than that of the other Mini series. The Mini 4 Pro offers 100fps for recording at 4K meaning its great for all around video especially for slow-motion action scenes.
In conclusion, i would not opt for the older Mini Series. Now you can't go wrong with either option when comparing the Mini 4 Pro and the Mini 3 Pro. If you are needing that cutting edge and can spare the extra funds than opt for the Mini 4 Pro, but if you want to save some money than opt for the Mini 3 Pro
