The DJI Mavic 3 Pro’s three cameras set a new benchmark for consumer drones, but only if you need them
Just when you thought the Mavic 3 line-up couldn’t get any better, DJI has once again taken its technology way beyond what we could have hoped for, with the release of the world’s first consumer drone with three cameras – the Mavic 3 Pro – that has the potential to be one of the best drones ever made.
Three cameras is an exciting proposition for many drone pilots, but only if they provide a level of functionality that makes them useful tools rather than headline features that ultimately fail to deliver. Adding a third camera has the potential to adversely impact the functionality of a drone, too.
I for one was sceptical when I first heard the rumors about the Mavic 3 Pro having three cameras. This was simply because the original Mavic 3 models have dual cameras; the 20MP Four Thirds main camera with a 24mm equivalent focal length and an adjustable f/2.8-f/11 aperture, which is fantastic, but the 162mm equivalent telephoto camera was painfully underwhelming.
The telephoto camera was much more limited than the main camera – with Auto only exposure for both photos (JPEG only) and video (Normal color profile in 4K at 30fps) – and was only really any good for snapshots. Functionality was subsequently improved with firmware updates to provide more control and features, but with a 162mm equivalent focal length and fixed f/4.4 aperture, while it did become more useful as a result of additional functionality, it unfortunately remained limited in scope because a 162mm camera on a drone has far fewer use cases than shorter focal lengths — it’s quite niche.Two’s company, three’s a crowd?
I’m pleased to say that I’ve been blown away by what DJI has managed to achieve with the drone’s three cameras. The two additional telephoto cameras are, I can safely say, much more functional and useful than the telephoto on the Mavic 3 / Mavic 3 Cine.
The main camera remains the powerhouse of the trio with the best image quality and the most controls and features, but the other two telephoto cameras provide a useful, yet sliding scale of these features with the 166mm telephoto camera being the more modest of the three. That said, it’s still extremely useable and despite not offering the new D-Log M color profile like the other two cameras, which will hopefully be addressed in a future firmware update, all three do offer Apple ProRes 422 HQ / 422 / 422 LT, so a consistent professional workflow can be maintained.
