Air 3 Mavic 3 comparison

davedrone 178 · Aug 12, 2023

I've been testing out my Air 3 against my Mavic 3 for about a week now and here's what I'm finding.
Using my 65" monitor, it's extremely difficult telling the images apart at 4K 30fps straight out of the drone. (auto mode). I'm preferring the Air 3 image because it is slightly sharper, and keep in mind that the sharpness can be controlled with the "style" setting, something I wish the Mavis 3 had. That smaller sensor is performing at a much higher level than the same size sensor of the Mini 3 Pro. (which I also have to test). DJI did not disappoint with image quality but you have to see it for yourself to believe it!

Phantomrain.org · Aug 12, 2023

One thing you might want to check out is how mch faster getting thru a pano shot is, something that i am loving on the Air 3.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 3 in the Rain. land on the Water

wco81 · Aug 12, 2023

Phantomrain.org said:
One thing you might want to check out is how mch faster getting thru a pano shot is, something that i am loving on the Air 3.

Do we know if the Air 3 has a newer/faster processor than the M3?

AlanL · Aug 12, 2023

When it comes to comparing still imagery on the two platforms it's worth noting that the 70mm focal length is a really nice sweet spot that the OG Mavic 3 doesn't have. The leap between 24mm and 162mm is too big IMHO. I bought the Mavic 3 Pro just to get that 70mm option and it gets a LOT of use with my work. I think DJI did it right when they included that focal length on the Air 3.

Phantomrain.org · Aug 12, 2023

wco81 said:
Do we know if the Air 3 has a newer/faster processor than the M3?

Something is different , as its entirely faster but nothing concrete on the Processor.

davedrone 178 · Aug 12, 2023

Phantomrain.org said:
Something is different , as its entirely faster but nothing concrete on the Processor.

I know part of it is the new "stack sensor" technology. Now what we need is for the normal mode bumped up to about 33 mph instead of the 26 mph max.
There is too much of a jump between normal and "sport" mode. 26 mph to 47 mph.

GadgetGuy · Aug 13, 2023

Phantomrain.org said:
One thing you might want to check out is how much faster getting thru a pano shot is, something that i am loving on the Air 3.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 3 in the Rain. land on the Water

Not having the Air 3 myself to test yet, can you be more specific about how long a 360° pano takes to complete on the Air 3 on its main camera, including the stitching? For comparison, it's about 75 seconds total on both the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Pro.

Phantomrain.org · Aug 13, 2023

I have never used that one , but will post some numbers tomorrow and compare a few shots.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain.

GadgetGuy · Aug 13, 2023

AlanL said:
When it comes to comparing still imagery on the two platforms it's worth noting that the 70mm focal length is a really nice sweet spot that the OG Mavic 3 doesn't have. The leap between 24mm and 162mm is too big IMHO. I bought the Mavic 3 Pro just to get that 70mm option and it gets a LOT of use with my work. I think DJI did it right when they included that focal length on the Air 3.

Couldn’t agree more! Especially in Explore mode in video, the Mavic 3 Pro 70mm 3x bridges the 3x-7x gap, so the image is never degraded much past a 2x digital before the next telephoto kicks in! The 4x digital on the 24mm on the OG Mavic 3 is just too much, before it jumps to the 7x telephoto, which is why in Normal mode, they cut the digital zoom off at 3x.

If DJI can also add in a continuous zoom Explore mode on the Air 3 in a FW update, that will be the icing on the cake for the Air 3! Without Explore mode now, it takes too long to switch cameras to zoom from 1x-9x, as it is 1x-3x and then stop recording, and switch cameras (1-2 second delay), and restart recording to get to 3x-9x.

DJAluzion · Aug 13, 2023

I have had the Air3 since launch and I can tell you the ONLY area it disappoints is with photos. Once you're at 100% or beyond, if the lighting conditions outside are not optimal you will have excess noise in the image and once you try to remove the noise the image will get soft. Ive tried every way JPG, RAW in Lightroom. The Image is fine when viewing on your phone or iPad, but when you put on a larger accurate screen like a Retina iMac for editing you see how degraded the image actually is compared to the Mavic 20MP Hasselblad Cameras.

I am a Photographer and having both the Mavic 3 Classic and the Air 3, The Air 3 is considerably worse with photos.
Videos are fine and maybe that's why I see so many people say how good the videos are, but if you want to see how the photos really look put them on a larger screen for editing.

Just my findings and what I have been working with for the last 2 weeks.

tlyons · Aug 13, 2023

davedrone 178 said:
I've been testing out my Air 3 against my Mavic 3 for about a week now and here's what I'm finding.
Using my 65" monitor, it's extremely difficult telling the images apart at 4K 30fps straight out of the drone. (auto mode). I'm preferring the Air 3 image because it is slightly sharper, and keep in mind that the sharpness can be controlled with the "style" setting, something I wish the Mavis 3 had. That smaller sensor is performing at a much higher level than the same size sensor of the Mini 3 Pro. (which I also have to test). DJI did not disappoint with image quality but you have to see it for yourself to believe it!

Here's the thing: with modern sensors of sufficient pixel size, the bigger sensor only helps significantly when there is not sufficient light for the smaller sensor. Most people use drones outdoors, on clear days, during the daytime when there is plenty of light. A better question for most might be, "will I actually get benefit from a bigger sensor for what I really do or should I put the $1k diff in my IRA?"

Good luck, enjoy your drones!

wco81 · Aug 13, 2023

DJAluzion said:
I have had the Air3 since launch and I can tell you the ONLY area it disappoints is with photos. Once you're at 100% or beyond, if the lighting conditions outside are not optimal you will have excess noise in the image and once you try to remove the noise the image will get soft. Ive tried every way JPG, RAW in Lightroom. The Image is fine when viewing on your phone or iPad, but when you put on a larger accurate screen like a Retina iMac for editing you see how degraded the image actually is compared to the Mavic 20MP Hasselblad Cameras.

I am a Photographer and having both the Mavic 3 Classic and the Air 3, The Air 3 is considerably worse with photos.
Videos are fine and maybe that's why I see so many people say how good the videos are, but if you want to see how the photos really look put them on a larger screen for editing.

Just my findings and what I have been working with for the last 2 weeks.

Oh you mean DJI hasn't defeated physics?

Newer but smaller sensor isn't as good as a larger but older sensor?

Who would have guessed!

Droning on and on... · Aug 13, 2023

wco81 said:
Do we know if the Air 3 has a newer/faster processor than the M3?

I don't know, but I'm sure.

Crashdummytest · Aug 13, 2023

tlyons said:
Here's the thing: with modern sensors of sufficient pixel size, the bigger sensor only helps significantly when there is not sufficient light for the smaller sensor. Most people use drones outdoors, on clear days, during the daytime when there is plenty of light. A better question for most might be, "will I actually get benefit from a bigger sensor for what I really do or should I put the $1k diff in my IRA?"

Good luck, enjoy your drones!

Maybe, but that's not what a photographer would say, I dare say. Enjoy it anyways

. Photo-quality of the Mavic 3 Hasselblad is really poor seen from photographers perspective, be sure. The same goes for all other consumer drones including Air 3 and Mini 3 Pro.

Droning on and on... · Aug 14, 2023

Crashdummytest said:
Maybe, but that's not what a photographer would say, I dare say. Enjoy it anyways . Photo-quality of the Mavic 3 Hasselblad is really poor seen from photographers perspective, be sure.

Hardly. There are plenty of photographers that say quite the opposite.

Not surprising, given the issue is very subjective.

Crashdummytest · Aug 15, 2023

Droning on and on... said:
Hardly. There are plenty of photographers that say quite the opposite.

Not surprising, given the issue is very subjective.

Sure, but I compare those to my other cameras. Now, if only I could send up my mirrorless...

BaldyBoyBilly · Aug 20, 2023

You can. Just get out your wallet and buy a heavy lift.

Wreckhunter · Aug 20, 2023

Crashdummytest said:
Maybe, but that's not what a photographer would say, I dare say. Enjoy it anyways . Photo-quality of the Mavic 3 Hasselblad is really poor seen from photographers perspective, be sure. The same goes for all other consumer drones including Air 3 and Mini 3 Pro.

So what consumer drone has good image quality in your eyes.

Crashdummytest · Aug 20, 2023

firsthobby said:
So what consumer drone has good image quality in your eyes.

I think most photographers has more than one camera. I think even the iPhone 12 camera competes well with the DJI Hasselblad. So what about an APS-C mirrorless or DSLR, or a full-frame with quality optics? That said: I love my Mavic 3. There are no better consumer drones.

Wreckhunter · Aug 20, 2023

Crashdummytest said:
I think most photographers has more than one camera. I think even the iPhone 12 camera competes well with the DJI Hasselblad. So what about an APS-C mirrorless or DSLR, or a full-frame with quality optics? That said: I love my Mavic 3. There are no better consumer drones.

You were just saying above the Mavic 3 Hasselblad camera was really poor. Yes dJI makes great drones.Drone camera optics are what is being discussed here not iphone cams,or handheld cameras.
Lol ,so I guess my question to you still remains.