What is the main difference between these two lines and what scenario is one better than the other? I'm also curious as to why there's no news about the Zoom 3 when Youtube is filled with rumors about the
Mavic 3 Pro. I'm guessing that they're already combining thee features of the two and going with one line going forward? They're probably gonna remove the "Pro" naming and just go with "Mavic" for their lineup. Anyway, please enlighten me. Thank you!
I think this answer depends on what you do with your rig. I take forensic photos of structures. I've used the Zoom and Pro and even on the same job. I borrowed a friends Zoom and brought it on the job with me a couple years back. I used me
smart controller for both rigs, on the same day and with 30 minutes of each other.
Using the default anti collision standoff distances I take pics of the side of a building looking at hail impacts and roofs. I'm usually limited to about 9 ft unless I want to disable the sensors and move in closer. I've found that in my region, the 9 ft stand off is just fine because otherwise, if a wind comes along and pushes me into the building it can be a long fall.
Using the Pro, I get as close as the sensors allow, and did the same with the zoom, zoomed all the way in.
The quality of the Pro lens far surpasses the Zoom lens and even with the zoom all the way in I can see the details to things I need to see much better with the pro.
That being said, most of my real analysis is performed on my computer and scrolling through hundreds of photos.
Although, if I was making a movie clip, or something promotional or artistic, the zoom provides a feature that the Pro can't. With the zoom I could probably take the raw clip and do less processing on it. I could probably achieve similar effects with the Pro acquired clips but that Zoom Dolly effect just aint gonna happen with the Pro.
If I was using the drone for real time intel, like watching something happen and viewing it on the screen of the
smart controller, the zoom would probably be the better option.
Just as additional umpfh, the camera on the Pro is so good that even though I carry around a Canon T7i on the ground (yeah not the best camera but not the worst either) I usually walk the perimeter of the property with the drone just above my head to capture elevation shots and closeups of gutters or gables. Details that if I took it with my ground camera they end up either looking in the sun and washing out the shot, or it's just a weird angle for my reports.
I'll be surprised if they merge the two into just one platform since the priorities are so different for each rig. Developing a mush of the two will likely yield a bird that does more of the zoom side but with less overall quality. That won't entice me to upgrade.