Triple-Camera DJI Mavic 3 Pro Takes Flight

Even though it’s just shy of 18 months in market, DJI announced this morning a pair of upgrades to its best folding drones, the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine.

The new Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine make one big change from the original double-camera Mavic 3, as the Pro series adds a third camera stack, a 70mm telephoto that rests comfortably in between the 24mm main camera and 166mm.

It’s an interesting upgrade for sure. In our review of the Mavic 3, we called out the so-so picture quality from its 166mm telephoto camera as a questionable selling point for creators, while lauding it as a selling point for structural inspections and other enterprise applications. It also does more to set the upmarket drone apart from the recently announced Mavic 3 Classic, a version of the drone with just the main wide angle Hasselblad camera, starting around $1,600 with a remote.

DJI’s Top Folding Drone

Apart from the new camera, the Mavic 3 Pro matches the original feature-for-feature. The drone has a huge battery for up to 43-minute flights, and its main camera uses a Four Thirds format sensor and a Hasselblad color profile for great-looking footage without the need to grade color. A 10-bit flat profile, D-Log M, is included for editors who prefer to handle their own color correction.

The Mavic 3 Pro’s propeller arms fold for easier storage and transport.
(Credit: DJI)

The Mavic 3 puts obstacle sensors all around its airframe for 360-degree coverage, good enough for it to autonomously navigate through complex environments and perform pre-planned waypoint flight missions without worry. GPS is included as an additional safety measure and precise positioning for steady performance and automated return-to-home in the case of an emergency.

(Credit: DJI)

The obstacle sensors also come into play for subject tracking. The Mavic 3 Pro extends support for Active Track to the 70mm telephoto camera, so you can get a tighter view of a selected target while the drone follows its movements. Tracking with the 166mm still remains elusive, though you can use Spotlight and point of interest with it to perform orbits and other automated shots.

The Mavic 3 Pro supports both 8-bit H.264 and 10-bit H.265/HEVC recording and saves footage to 8GB of internal storage or microSDXC cards. The Pro Cine version adds support for more efficient ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes 422, and ProRes 422 LT compression, along with 1TB internal storage and a 10Gbps Thunderbolt connection. The drone’s main camera manages 5.1K50 footage, while the two telephotos top out at 4K60.

The Mavic 3 Pro includes the DJI RC as its remote.
(Credit: DJI)

For stills, the Hasselblad Four Thirds camera supports 20MP pictures, while the Type-1/2 CMOS sensor in the 166mm tele camera has 12MP resolution. The new 70mm telephoto uses a Type-1/3 chip with a Quad Bayer array for your choice of full-size 48MP shots or downsampled 12MP. All three cameras supports JPG and Raw DNG capture.

The Pro version includes the DJI RC by default. The RC has a built-in touch screen, so you don’t have to attach a smartphone or tablet to fly the aircraft, and sells for $309 on its own. The Pro Cine goes further, it includes the DJI RC Pro ($1,199 separately), which has a brighter screen and a few extra buttons. Both remotes support O3+ transmission, a DJI system with up to a 9.3-mile range and 1080p60 transmission.

Pricing and Availability

You can get the Mavic 3 Pro with the DJI RC Pro by opting for the $3,899 Fly More Combo or the $4,799 Cine edition.
(Credit: DJI)

The Mavic 3 Pro is available to order today for $2,199 with the DJI RC remote for May delivery. DJI is also making it available in a Fly More Combo, which includes three batteries and a shoulder bag for $2,999. A third version, a Fly More Combo with the DJI RC Pro remote, is $3,889. The Mavic 3 Pro Cine is sold exclusively in the Mavic 3 Pro Cine Premium Combo for $4,799.

There’s no word from DJI on the status of the original Mavic 3, on sale at press time for $2,049. The new edition comes at a slight premium. Meanwhile, the Pro Cine edition debuts at $200 less than the current Mavic 3 Cine. We asked DJI if the Mavic 3 would stay in market or enjoy a price cut, but did not receive a response.

Fly More Combo and the Pro Cine drone include a shoulder bag
(Credit: DJI)

We’ve received a Mavic 3 Pro for review, but not in time to evaluate it before the announcement. We’ll put be sure to put its midrange telephoto camera through its paces, but in the meantime you can read our review of the regular Mavic 3 for more detail.