DJI has unveiled its latest drone called the Mavic 3, boasting a 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad camera with 28x hybrid zoom, along with omnidirectional obstacle sensors with a maximum 200-meter range and redesigned batteries that provide up to 46 minutes of flight time. The new drone also gets upgraded hardware and software that can process 5.1K video at 50 frames per second with heightened low-light sensitivity, as well as support 4K/120fps for higher-quality results for slow-motion footage.
There’s also an enhanced Mavic 3 Cine edition that offers Apple ProRes 422 HQ encoding for richer video processing, along with an internal 1TB SSD onboard for high-speed data storage.
“Creating the Mavic 3 was an arduous journey for our engineers who tackled complex technical problems to serve the goal that the Mavic series has always met – build professional-quality imaging and flight technology into a compact consumer drone,” said Ferdinand Wolf, Creative Director, DJI Europe.
“The result is incredible. Mavic 3 enables users to effortlessly make epic shots without compromising on small size, stunning performance, pervasive flight safety, and dazzling image quality. We are confident that this drone will astonish videography and photography enthusiasts, as well as professional production houses and media workers around the globe,” he adds.
According to DJI, the Mavic 3’s higher video definition allows for smoother footage and more generous cropping possibilities, as well as slow-motion video at 120fps, while a larger image sensor gives the drone higher video resolution and dynamic range that more effectively suppresses noise in low-light environments. Also, a native dynamic range of 12.8 stops helps retain more details in both highly-lit and shadowy situations, preserving rich visual information with a greater sense of depth and elevating imagery to a professional level.
Additionally, an adjustable aperture of f/2.8-f/11 is available to meet the needs of aerial photographers in a wide variety of lighting scenarios to get sharper and clearer images. Weighing just 12.5 grams, the 24mm equivalent autofocus prime lens has an 84° FOV to capture more details with sharp clarity, while the Mavic 3’s second camera features a 162mm tele-lens with 28x Hybrid Zoom (digital + optical) and aperture of f/4.4 that can freely bring distant objects visually closer, offering the user more dynamic perspectives and creative possibilities at a distance.
The Mavic 3’s new Vision Detection Auto Focus technology also makes for quick focusing, allowing the Hasselblad camera to work with multiple vision sensors on board to capture distance data to optimize focusing speed, as well as a deeply accurate color palette thanks to the unique Hasselblad Natural Color Solution (HNCS) that was previously introduced on the Mavic 2 Pro.
With professional imaging performance, the Mavic 3 records aerial videos at high resolutions and frame-rates, capturing up to 1 billion colors thanks to the 10-bit D-Log color profile, offering natural color gradations and advanced flexibility in postproduction. Moreover, Apple’s ProRes 422 HQ encoding provides for a maximum data rate of 3772Mbps, giving professional users a powerful tool to satisfy post-production needs in their daily business.
To handle the large amounts of data from the ProRes codec and high frame rate videos, the Mavic 3 Cine comes with a built-in 1TB SSD. There’s also a new 10Gbps Lightspeed Data Cable for a smoother export experience and rapid transfer of date files.
Known for their leading drone safety features, DJI has equipped the Mavic 3 with improved obstacle sensing and navigation systems to give drone pilots the guidance they need to stay safe, wherein APAS 5.0 combines inputs from six fish-eye vision sensors and two wide-angle sensors to provide seamless, continuous obstacle sensing in all directions, creating safe flight routes even in complicated environments.
The drone also now features an omnidirectional obstacle sensing system that provides for more intuitive subject tracking courtesy of upgraded ActiveTrack 5.0 that now allows users to sense obstacles even in Normal mode.
Previous versions 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. However, the ActiveTrack 5.0 now allows the Mavic 3 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.
The Mavic 3 comes with a powerful positioning algorithm that improves hovering precision with signals from GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou satellites. This enables the drone to lock onto multiple satellite signals faster than ever. The increased positioning precision also makes it less likely to drift in the air and more stable when shooting long exposures and timelapses.
The Mavic 3 also features other important safety systems like geofencing to alert drone pilots when they fly near sensitive locations, altitude limits to ensure pilots are aware of altitude restrictions and the AeroScope Remote ID system that allows authorities to identify and monitor airborne drones in sensitive locations. The Mavic 3’s integrated AirSense system also warns pilots of nearby airplanes and helicopters transmitting ADS-B signals so they can quickly fly to a safer location.
DJI set a benchmark for drone endurance in 2016 with the Phantom 4 and the original Mavic Pro, which each featured maximum flight times approaching 30 minutes. In the succeeding years, new drone models have slowly increased those times thanks to incremental improvements in flight technology.
With the Mavic 3, DJI has reshaped every element of the drone’s flight envelope and power management to enable drastically longer flight times – up to 46 minutes in ideal conditions – giving unprecedented freedom for aerial photographers to shoot dynamic scenes.
DJI also developed motors and propellers with higher energy efficiency, a higher-capacity battery and reduced the weight of the drone’s structure, as well as streamlined the shape of Mavic 3’s arms, body and gimbal for improved aerodynamics, with wind tunnel testing showing a 35% reduction in drag compared to previous generations, allowing faster top speeds.
DJI’s Return To Home (RTH) system has enhanced the safety of its drones for years, automatically directing a drone back to its starting point if it runs critically low on battery or loses connection to the controller, allowing it to ascend high enough to clear any obstacles in its path, fly back in a straight line and descend straight down to the home point.
The 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, while 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’s O3+ is an upgraded transmission system that delivers stable, smooth and clear video transmission even under challenging conditions, such as flying a drone in an environment with strong signal interference. With a maximum control range of 15km, O3+ enables the Mavic 3 to fly further and transmits signals with higher stability and less video lag, offering the pilot a greater piece of mind during flight.
Also, the Mavic 3 is DJI’s first drone that 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, while O3+ also makes the drone more responsive to the pilot’s control. Furthermore, a new layer of flight safety is offered by the DJI Cellular Transmission Dongle, allowing the Mavic 3 to seamlessly coordinate the O3+ transmission system with 4G networks for a smooth, stable connection when O3+ signals are blocked by buildings, trees, or other structures. This allows users to have a safer and more reliable flight experience when photographing buildings flying at low altitudes or navigating through obstacles.
The Mavic 3 also offers a new array of Intelligent modes for creating and editing compelling photos and videos by controlling the flight path and camera movements in compelling new ways thanks to the following features:
Lastly, DJI’s Care Refresh is now available for the Mavic 3, covering various accidents, such as water damage, collisions, and flyaways. For an additional charge, DJI Care Refresh offers up to two replacement units within one year, including coverage for one flyaway incident.
The two-year plan provides three replacement units in two years, including coverage for up to two flyaway incidents and an extension of the original warranty period by one year (extension durations vary by region). Other services of DJI Care Refresh include factory maintenance, exclusive repair discounts, free shipping and rewards for safe flight.
The Mavic 3 is available for purchase from DJI’s website and from authorized retail partners in the following configurations:
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