DJI Mavic 3 drone reviews

[CanadaDrone]

Need a review on the reviewers. Which one of these people does an honest and thorough review?

The Film Poets
Jason Dovey
Stewart and Alina (Previously The Drone Film Guide)

They are genuine creators that actually have the necessary experience to comment on most aspects and do professional video work themselves.

Many of the other reviews just read from the spec sheets and you can easily tell they really don't know much about the product, they are just there for the views.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Sure and that is the practice with all tech product reviews now, so that the company can coordinate reviews with the actual public launch.

So they have to get them units to review weeks before the official launch date.

It doesn't mean the reviewers are compromised. That is unless the company is giving them other benefits, such as free trips, swag or maybe outright cash.

You just have to look the reviewer's track record, whether their reviews were mostly right.


I think the reviews would be interesting if they considered price in their review though.

Exactly this.

The way YouTube reviews generally work is they all need to be out at the same time for any new product to be fair to all creators. That is one very important reason why review embargos exist. Most of the time, they don't get to keep these review kits either, so if they actually want to own the product they have to go out and buy it like everyone else.

The main problem with YouTube reviews is that some companies will stop sending future products to certain channels to review if they are not positive. Bigger channels don't care, since they have the funds to buy it themselves if they need to, but the smaller channels can end up being put in a very difficult position that tests their integrity. In that case, the manufacturer is the one to blame for the "bullying". I have no clue if DJI does this or not but in the PC component world, manufacturers retaliating like this is a known problem, and the better YouTubers call them out on it.

YouTubers need time to make their review, so it would be impossible for them to acquire the M3 through normal retail channels with enough time to publish a review the instant the embargo lifts.

If you are a YouTuber who has their review up a week later than everyone else, the video will not do as well and the YouTube algorithm will not be favorable for your video. The majority of the viewers are going to be there right at launch watching everything they can find and that is a very important audience to capture, and will help keep the video near the top of the search list as time goes on.

The best way to judge whether a reviewer is impartial is to look at their history. If they are regularly way off base, I wouldn't even bother watching their M3 review. However if they have a history of objectiveness and can draw on valuable experience as a professional or creator to make conclusions/recommendations, that is probably going to be a worthwhile review to watch.

The reviewers that are overly enthusiastic and just blurt out specs while flying it around and not actually showing you much of anything usually aren't worth your time, at least in my opinion.

 

[Waldo Pepper]

Read one review getting 30 minutes average under windy conditions, that’s more than my M2P. And distance is further, in areas his other drones screen cut out. I found it to be honest, worth sharing.

The DJI Mavic 3 is the company's best consumer drone yet | TechCrunch

Let's get this out of the way: The $2,199 DJI Mavic 3 is excellent and I didn't even get to try all the new features yet. The Mavic 3 is DJI's latest

techcrunch.com

 

[belui]

Comparison of Mavic 3 hovering in the air with Autel Evo 2 pro.

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[MS Coast]

Here's the most rational review of the Mavic 3 I've found. It's in the format of a comparison to the Air 2S. It's primarily dealing with photo and video performance.

Too many of the others are just "ooh, ahh, wow."

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[thispilothere]

Comparison of Mavic 3 hovering in the air with Autel Evo 2 pro.

Mavic barely wins and who knows how old that Evo battery was.

 

[belui]

Mavic barely wins and who knows how old that Evo battery was.

Mavic 3 has 5 charge cycles and Autel has 11 charge cycles.
But Autel is hanging flat, and Mavic is constantly storming.
But in the wind, Autel will lose less battery consumption due to its greater weight. So, I think it will be approximately the same in time for a real flight.

 

[Coskier]

Need a review on the reviewers. Which one of these people does an honest and thorough review?

This one gave a good review of the telephoto lens at 7:11

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[Robbyg]

Not too many Youtubers are going to spend $5000 out of pocket to review product on their own and maintain complete editorial independence.

Hell even a relatively large site like The Verge are getting loaners, not kit that they get to keep. They may eventually buy some of the products but not for everything that they review.

The reviewers who are still creating content 6 months or a year later either were given the equipment outright or purchased themselves.

would be nice if they disclosed that they got long-term loaners or were given the product versus they purchased on their own, either for the initial reviews or sone time after those reviews.

Your kidding!
Lots of YouTuber's will spend way more than $5000 on a product if they can get it for early review. There is a guy on YouTube Who bought a Testla Solar roof system for $52K mainly so he could do a series of videos on it from installation to annual electric Savings. So far he has not only paid of for the roof but is still making profits on his continued YouTube Video Updates.

You can buy A Mavic 3 for $5K and review it section by section over 5 or 6 videos and make way more than $5K from YouTube advertisements. At the end of the day you can resell the drone on eBay for $3.5K and be even further ahead.

The thing is DJI is not going to let anyone who is not on their approved list get a Drone until it's publicly released. I still think it's an amazing drone but I would like to see a video from someone who paid for it themselves.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Another part of a YouTuber's revenue is when they are popular enough for third party sponsors and merchandise that people actually want to buy. That is where the big money is, on top of what they get from Google. There are plenty of YouTubers making 7 figure salaries with entire production teams employed - if they need to buy something themselves to review, it's nothing to them.

 

[wco81]

This is a good though incomplete review because they plan to try out all the missing features when the firmware updates are out.

What we like​

• Four Thirds CMOS sensor
• 46-minute flight time
• Hasselblad color profile
• 5.1K/50p video with 10-bit D-Log
• 1TB storage

What we don't​

• Digital zoom
• No mechanical shutter on main camera
• Lack of sophisticated photo settings
• Hefty price tag

Review: DJI's Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Cine are pricey prosumer drones that fall slightly short

Three years after releasing the Mavic 2 series, DJI returns with the Mavic 3. It features a dual-camera system with a 4/3" CMOS sensor plus a tele photo lens that can zoom up to 28X. Is it worth the hefty price tag? We take a look at the Cine, the high-end model in this series.

www.dpreview.com

The reviewer points out limitations of the Fly app versus to Go app which has more photo settings. She also flags the high price.

They have good image galleries so you can download the DNGs and inspect them.


This is what's tantalizing:

And since they never cannibalize their product line, I can't help but wonder what's next? What's yet to come might offer the Hasselblad color profile, an optical zoom, and possibly even interchangeable lenses on an aircraft that can easily be carried around.

Can they make a drone with an optical zoom lens with the in a 900 gram drone?

That would be killer.

 

[Johnmcl7]

Can they make a drone with an optical zoom lens with the in a 900 gram drone?

That would be killer.

The DJI Mavic 2 Zoom offered an optical zoom in a 900 gram drone but it had two major downsides, it had a 1/2.3in sensor vs the 1in sensor in its Mavic 2 Pro sibling or the 4/3 sibling in Mavic 3 and it only offered a 2x zoom. I'm not sure why DPR are so keen on an optical zoom given it's a challenge to implement and that's why I think DJI opted with a compromise by fitting the fixed telephoto lens on the Mavic 3.

 

[wco81]

The DJI Mavic 2 Zoom offered an optical zoom in a 900 gram drone but it had two major downsides, it had a 1/2.3in sensor vs the 1in sensor in its Mavic 2 Pro sibling or the 4/3 sibling in Mavic 3 and it only offered a 2x zoom. I'm not sure why DPR are so keen on an optical zoom given it's a challenge to implement and that's why I think DJI opted with a compromise by fitting the fixed telephoto lens on the Mavic 3.

The Air2S is just under 600 grams.

Now if they could add a zoom including all the control motors for say a couple hundred grams and add the capacity to carry bigger batteries, a 1-inch sensor with say a 3x zoom?

 

[Jfvdenning]

I'm disinclined to believe that DJI doesn't make garbage products. My DJI Smart Controller is rapidly becoming one of my least favorite products. And DJI marketing lies for things like battery life and support are well past sour.

They also have crap quality control with the lenses. The most important part!

 

[Johnmcl7]

The Air2S is just under 600 grams.

Now if they could add a zoom including all the control motors for say a couple hundred grams and add the capacity to carry bigger batteries, a 1-inch sensor with say a 3x zoom?

Maybe with a 1/2.3in sensor but I don't think there's any chance you could do that with a 1in sensor. Zoom lenses take up a lot more space than prime lenses and also they compromise IQ, if you look at the RX100 which has a very compact lens on its 1in sensor the lens array is huge compared to the M2P module. The M2P lens despite being a prime is not great either which I assume is due to them having to pack a relatively large sensor into a small space.

That aside I think it's reasonable to believe it's not workable given DJI tried an optical zoom with the Mavic 2 Zoom and now and have not developed it further going back to prime lenses instead.

 

[jonatious]

This one seems to be unsponsored and unbiased review

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[wco81]

Maybe with a 1/2.3in sensor but I don't think there's any chance you could do that with a 1in sensor. Zoom lenses take up a lot more space than prime lenses and also they compromise IQ, if you look at the RX100 which has a very compact lens on its 1in sensor the lens array is huge compared to the M2P module. The M2P lens despite being a prime is not great either which I assume is due to them having to pack a relatively large sensor into a small space.

That aside I think it's reasonable to believe it's not workable given DJI tried an optical zoom with the Mavic 2 Zoom and now and have not developed it further going back to prime lenses instead.

Well they got a MFT sensor AND a 1/2.3 inch sensor into 900 grams, with presumably heavier batteries (or at least they're rated for about 50% longer flight time).

So maybe they've found ways to reduce weight in the drone frame and/or the camera modules.

 

[thispilothere]

This one seems to be unsponsored and unbiased review

How could he be using it for "2 months" unless he was given the drone ahead of time? I'd say truly unsponsored reviews won't be seen for at least a few weeks.

 

[jonatious]

How could he be using it for "2 months" unless he was given the drone ahead of time? I'd say truly unsponsored reviews won't be seen for at least a few weeks.

Agreed, but he said he was hired by DJI for some other project and DJI had no influence on the review itself

 

[msinger]

So they have to get them units to review weeks before the official launch date.

It doesn't mean the reviewers are compromised. That is unless the company is giving them other benefits, such as free trips, swag or maybe outright cash.

Certainly. However, I was only commenting on your question as to whether or not the reviewers above purchased their own Mavic 3.