Air 3 vs Mavic 3 Classic photo comparison

[ElNancio]

Hi there

willing to buy a drone, 2 choiches are Air 3 and Mavic 3 Classic.
Love the 70mm lenses, found in used market two drones , Air 3 with 3 batteries and dji care for 1000$, M3C only one battery and dji care 1150$, that makes me buying another battery.

Since i ve been on photography i recon Classic is a winner for that, but still i m not convinced about the 24mm focal , which i even never used in Dslr world.
There is any comparison with the SAME pics ?

I will use the drone to explore mountains , videos and for sure pictures.

thnx

 

[GadgetGuy]

Hi there

willing to buy a drone, 2 choiches are Air 3 and Mavic 3 Classic.
Love the 70mm lenses, found in used market two drones , Air 3 with 3 batteries and dji care for 1000$, M3C only one battery and dji care 1150$, that makes me buying another battery.

Since i ve been on photography i recon Classic is a winner for that, but still i m not convinced about the 24mm focal , which i even never used in Dslr world.
There is any comparison with the SAME pics ?

I will use the drone to explore mountains , videos and for sure pictures.

thnx

You can't go wrong with either choice. Air 3 is newer with OcuSync 4 instead of 3+, so better signal strength, and a choice of lenses instead of limited to only one. The Mavic 3 Classic was the poor man's Mavic 3 without the 7x telephoto. You should also now be able to buy a used Mavic 3 for about the same price as the used Mavic 3 Classic, as many Mavic 3 owners upgraded to the Mavic 3 Pro, once it came out with all three lenses. Batteries are identical among all Mavic 3 series drones.

 

[Filmarik]

Hi there

willing to buy a drone, 2 choiches are Air 3 and Mavic 3 Classic.
Love the 70mm lenses, found in used market two drones , Air 3 with 3 batteries and dji care for 1000$, M3C only one battery and dji care 1150$, that makes me buying another battery.

Since i ve been on photography i recon Classic is a winner for that, but still i m not convinced about the 24mm focal , which i even never used in Dslr world.
There is any comparison with the SAME pics ?

I will use the drone to explore mountains , videos and for sure pictures.

thnx

Tough choice. The 24mm with M43 sensor on Classic is very good indeed. But if the 24mm is not your think the 70mm is really nice middle telephoto with very natural perspective. The 70mm lens on Mavic3Pro which I believe is the same as on Air3 is pretty decent and with bit of a clever processing work the photos look very detailed and sharp. For photographing mountains the 70mm would expand your scope of possibilities for sure. For video the parallax effect can be very interesting too. Stitched panoramic landscape photos taken with the 70mm lens can look quite amazing and you could take them from elevation you could not get to easily with a camera on tripod. By stitching you significantly increase the pixel count which could be very useful if you wanted to print large and frame the photos for wall display etc.

 

[loop]

I have both. A3 is more versatile and the 48mp option will make a good choice for large landscape prints. In truth I haven't compared photo quality in detail between them. The huge Hasselblat sensor of M3C is amazing and the colours magnificent but I believe these versions the 1/1.3 sensor of A3 is equally good.
From my experience I would go with A3 for the uses you refer. More options really with comparable quality.

 

[Filmarik]

I have both. A3 is more versatile and the 48mp option will make a good choice for large landscape prints. In truth I haven't compared photo quality in detail between them. The huge Hasselblat sensor of M3C is amazing and the colours magnificent but I believe these versions the 1/1.3 sensor of A3 is equally good.
From my experience I would go with A3 for the uses you refer. More options really with comparable quality.

I tend to agree that A3 might be a better option but not for the reason you state. I do not have A3 but the IQ of the 24mm Hassy camera leaves the other 2 cameras of M3P in the dust. They are simply no match for the Hassy in terms of dynamic range, depth, clarity, purity of colors and detail. The 48MP on the 70mm is a gimick with no tangible benefit. The 48MP images show unusual artifacts, exhibit nasty color bleeding on hard edges of subjects such as buildings and to me it is more trouble than benefit shooting in this mode. But the added versatility from having two cameras with two very different focal lengths onboard is definitely a huge plus. With clever processing of DNG files I believe the results from A3 can be pretty good, especially those stitched from multiple 70mm shots. A3 is also more modern drone with OS4.
So, all considering I'd probably also go with A3 rather than M3C

 

[loop]

The time window also as products is concerned is a bit tricky IMO. So if you can wait a bit for what the Mavic 4 might bring to the game or maybe Air3S with the potential Pocket 3 1-inch sensor implementation, it might be worth it.

 

[ElNancio]

Thanx for the replies.
Can the air 3 be useful making a sort of a grid for stiching an image (24 or 70mm)?
I mean Just while Flying make a 3*3 grid and let the drone do the proper work with the subject mastershots like ?
That should fit for some pics i want to print and take to my home
I m not willing to wait more than this Summer coz here in Italy Red zone are starting to cover near every zone ...at the Moment i can fly freely on my chilhood places but i fear soon the rules
Will change
As i see, videos are pratically the same, Just Need to get a 32/16 filter for Sunny days

Last thing but not to forget, i m not a pro paid for quality pics. It s Just me not forgetting that larger sensors makes Better quality photos

 

[Filmarik]

Thanx for the replies.
Can the air 3 be useful making a sort of a grid for stiching an image (24 or 70mm)?
I mean Just while Flying make a 3*3 grid and let the drone do the proper work with the subject mastershots like ?
That should fit for some pics i want to print and take to my home
I m not willing to wait more than this Summer coz here in Italy Red zone are starting to cover near every zone ...at the Moment i can fly freely on my chilhood places but i fear soon the rules
Will change
As i see, videos are pratically the same, Just Need to get a 32/16 filter for Sunny days

Last thing but not to forget, i m not a pro paid for quality pics. It s Just me not forgetting that larger sensors makes Better quality photos

You might like to download Manuals for both drones and read through, mostly about the shooting options. Not sure about A3 but M3P only shoots automatically full 360 Pano with the 70mm (and 24mm) resulting in 106 photos which is bit of a waste of air time to me. There are other automated Pano options but for 24mm only. I usually only want pano stitched from one or two rows of 3 horizontally shifted shots. I take them manually with enough overlap for stitching in LR or PS. I can do that with all 3 cameras easily and quickly and also shoot them in AEB mode if I want.

 

[ElNancio]

Yep, i forgot It was Just Easy to compare a Pic between 24mm and 70mm of the m3pro
But for esploring the landscapes 70mm sounds great to me
Maybe most of the problems with the air3 24mm sensor are coming from overexposure, that s why i m convinced i would have to use a nd filter

 

[Gazwas]

M3C for sure if your sole purpose is photography.

I own an Air 3 which is amazing for video full stop. Probably practically indistinguishable from the Mavic 3. The auto racking stuff is better and could out manoeuvre the Mavic 3 as its just a faster drone.

However, the lack of adjustable aperture on the Air 3 is a big issue for photography.

The Air 3 is ok at stills, sharing the exact same sensor on both cameras but I find 12MP just not enough detail and while the 70mm lens produces sharp results I feel the 24mm camera would seriously benefit from being stopped down a little as it can suffer from field curvature, moire and strange colour aberrations around highlights.

 

[ElNancio]

Did u ever tried a ND filter to solve the 24mm exposure problems ? The 1.7 aperture could have that issues as i read

 

[Gazwas]

Did u ever tried a ND filter to solve the 24mm exposure problems ? The 1.7 aperture could have that issues as i read

For stills the ND filter is not needed, just use the faster shutter speed.

The issue is every lens benefits from being stopped down from it’s maximum aperture. Sharpness across the frame, a reduction in aberrations to name just two. As a fixed aperture lens this is not possible on the Air 3 but is on the Mavic 3.

 

[Filmarik]

Did u ever tried a ND filter to solve the 24mm exposure problems ? The 1.7 aperture could have that issues as i read

There is a lot of confusion about the "need" of ND filters. Unless you are going to do a creative photography with long exposure aiming to blurr moving subjects such as falling water in waterfalls or similar, you will NOT need ND filters for photography in most scenarios. Just use shorter shutter speed to adjust exposure. For shooting video there is similar misconception of a "need" of ND filters to achieve the coveted "cinematic look". For most hobby shooters using high shutter speed to achieve correct exposure would be just fine and majority of people could not tell difference in the look..
Just my 2 cent worth..

 

[ElNancio]

Yep sorry i was not clear.
I meant in video with that huge 1.7 sunny days do require some nd filters i recon. Wasnt talking about photos

Interesting that at least the 70mm seems ok

 

[Gazwas]

Yep sorry i was not clear.
I meant in video with that huge 1.7 sunny days do require some nd filters i recon. Wasnt talking about photos

Interesting that at least the 70mm seems ok

All depends I’d say.

If much of the footage is slow scenic stuff then having a slower shutter speed to introduce motion blur (using ND) won’t make any difference. People working, cars, boats etc moving through the frame will all depend on how much the moving thing is the subject. If just a small element in a wide slow moving visa then ND pointless. Top down while the drone is moving ND make the scene look much more natural. Shots following people, cars, boats or fast movements over landscape the motion blur does make the image a lot more believable and less jarring.

 

[Filmarik]

All depends I’d say.

If much of the footage is slow scenic stuff then having a slower shutter speed to introduce motion blur (using ND) won’t make any difference. People working, cars, boats etc moving through the frame will all depend on how much the moving thing is the subject. If just a small element in a wide slow moving visa then ND pointless. Top down while the drone is moving ND make the scene look much more natural. Shots following people, cars, boats or fast movements over landscape the motion blur does make the image a lot more believable and less jarring.

All very true.
Lot of good points brought up and discussed throughout this long thread since it all started with the OP's contemplative question. I will be curious to hear what he has decided to get at the end

 

[ElNancio]

Yep i m still looking on the used market

Now my thought is that 24mm on Air3 is a bit a no, but seems the 70mm which i wanted is really usable
As i never liked the 24mm focal (said before) that s a good point
I can find an Air3 with 3batteries and Dji care for less than 1000Eu now
This makes more sense to me having this Air3 rather than the M3C
Hopefully not to see an improved 24mm sensor soon on Air series

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yep i m still looking on the used market

Now my thought is that 24mm on Air3 is a bit a no, but seems the 70mm which i wanted is really usable
As i never liked the 24mm focal (said before) that s a good point
I can find an Air3 with 3batteries and Dji care for less than 1000Eu now
This makes more sense to me having this Air3 rather than the M3C
Hopefully not to see an improved 24mm sensor soon on Air series

Check prices on used Mavic 3's and Mavic 3 Pro's as well. Both offer variable aperture on their 24mm equivalent cameras, and the Mavic 3 Pro has the same 70mm telephoto lens as the Air 3, plus a 7x telephoto.

 

[ElNancio]

As i said mavic 3 are a no unless the 3c

 

[GadgetGuy]

As i said mavic 3 are a no unless the 3c

Based upon what?