DJI Mavic 3 - Mechanical Shutter and Drone Deploy compatibility?

[DesertFox]

I have been waiting for a few years for the Mavic 3, specifically hoping that DJI would get their act together a provide a Mechanical / Global shutter so that the Mavic series can finally actually replace the Phantom, but the specs and reviews seem unclear.

I have a Mavic 2 Pro which I mainly use for aerial mapping using drone deploy subscription and the app loading flights via a iPad.

Which, if any of the four cameras (two on the Mavic 3 and two on the Mavic 3 Cine) have a mechanical / global shutter (as opposed to a Rolling or Electronic shutter)?

If it is only on one of the Cine model cameras
- is it possible to buy the Cine with a standard controller that connects to a phone/tablet (doesn't seem an option in Australia right now)?
- or does the DJI RC Pro allow smart phone/table apps such as DroneDeploy to be added (unlike other DJI drone "smart" controllers with integrated screens which can't have apple/google apps added to them and so are really not very "smart" at all!)

 

[globetrotterdrone]

None have a global shutter ... the cine model is just packed with more internal storage and Apple ProRes as a license (which is software thing afaik as the internal components are most likely unchanged) with the addtional new Smart Controller aka Pro Controller.

Besides that, it is still the "standard" model Mavic 3.

 

[Meta4]

If it is only on one of the Cine model cameras

The cine model has exactly the same cameras as the regular model.
There is no difference in the cameras.

But no-one wouldn't want to use the dinky tele lens for mapping.
It has a FOV of only 15° vs 84° for the main camera.

 

[Macinfo]

The Cine model has the 1TB SSD and as noted ProRes, which is uncompressed hi-res video, the thing I am not sure of and have not seen anywhere, whether they also updated the processor on the Cine Model to deal with ProRes or if the processor in the Cine Model is the same as all the rest.. If this was mentioned, somewhere, missed it..

 

[CanadaDrone]

As others have mentioned, the drone itself in the Cine package is identical to the non-Cine version except for the built in 1TB SSD and Apple Pro Res licensing. I suspect the majority of customers will not be purchasing that version.

As for the lack of a mechanical shutter, whether or not that matters depends entirely on the readout speed of the sensor. Most mechanical shutters have a maximum operating speed of a round 1/200 or 1/250 of a second, and there are modern sensors with faster electronic shutters than that - for example the Nikon Z9 flagship doesn't even have a mechanical shutter at all because the sensor readout is around 1/270 of a second.

We don't know exactly what sensor model is inside the M3 yet, but depending on the readout speed it may not be an issue. To get a really fast readout/electronic shutter though, the sensor has to be stacked, and Sony does make a stacked 4/3 sensor but I am not sure if DJI used it. We will have to wait and see.

 

[Kirill]

The Cine model has the 1TB SSD and as noted ProRes, which is uncompressed hi-res video, the thing I am not sure of and have not seen anywhere, whether they also updated the processor on the Cine Model to deal with ProRes or if the processor in the Cine Model is the same as all the rest.. If this was mentioned, somewhere, missed it..

I think processor load in ProRes is actually lower. Storage demands are higher - so it just can't work with SD card - they had to put SSD there

 

[CanadaDrone]

I think processor load in ProRes is actually lower. Storage demands are higher - so it just can't work with SD card - they had to put SSD there

Maybe this is what you meant, but storage is only one part of the equation. Bitrate is the other - 4K60P 4:2:2 ProRes is around 1,500 Mbps or around 188MB/s, so you need a memory card that can keep up with those sustained write speeds. For that you need something more substantial than even a V90 Micro SD card, such as a CF Express card, but DJI chose to go the route of a built in SSD instead. They could still have done it with memory cards, they would have just had to change the interface.

 

[DesertFox]

As others have mentioned, the drone itself in the Cine package is identical to the non-Cine version except for the built in 1TB SSD and Apple Pro Res licensing. I suspect the majority of customers will not be purchasing that version.

As for the lack of a mechanical shutter, whether or not that matters depends entirely on the readout speed of the sensor. Most mechanical shutters have a maximum operating speed of a round 1/200 or 1/250 of a second, and there are modern sensors with faster electronic shutters than that - for example the Nikon Z9 flagship doesn't even have a mechanical shutter at all because the sensor readout is around 1/270 of a second.

We don't know exactly what sensor model is inside the M3 yet, but depending on the readout speed it may not be an issue. To get a really fast readout/electronic shutter though, the sensor has to be stacked, and Sony does make a stacked 4/3 sensor but I am not sure if DJI used it. We will have to wait and see.

Hey CanadaDrone,

thanks for your reply, that is good to know.

I suppose ultimately for me the question is, how does the Mavic 3 compare to Phantom 4 Pro (v1 or v2) when it comes to capturing aerial photos (while moving, at ~100m height above ground). There are obviously lots of benefits to Mavic 3 and a newer drone and would seem crazy for DJI to not have created a camera that is better than a five year old Phantom in terms of aerial mapping capabilities, especially as they seem committed to killing off the Phantom line.....

 

[Pixeldawg]

ProRes is really designed more for ease in editing than anything else. The file sizes are more workable in Final Cut Pro as opposed to H.264 or H.265. I personally am very happy with the ladder and don't plan to jump ship any time soon. While ProRes will work in any software for editing, it is specifically tuned for FCP while H.264 or H.265 are especially good with De Vinci Resolve, Premiere Pro and After Effects. The truly big advantage of ProRes is that it IS less intensive on the CPU, but as mentioned earlier, you pay for in file size and recording speed, which is why the special hard drive is needed for ProRes. Basically though, it is a compression algorithm for a specific compression that is lossless. Otherwise, no big advantages in my opinion. I am just as happy with H.264 or H.265, which (once again) in my opinion, are superior for color grading. If you're really jouncing to try ProPes, wait until the end of this year, when it will be included in the iPhone 13 Pro. Warning though, if you get the 128GB version, it comes with ProRe but you can do a maximum of 1080 resolution. This would cost you half the money and allow you to decide of the additional cost for the Cine version DJI is offering is truly worth while.

Cordially,

Mark

 

[adcimagery]

Hey CanadaDrone,

thanks for your reply, that is good to know.

I suppose ultimately for me the question is, how does the Mavic 3 compare to Phantom 4 Pro (v1 or v2) when it comes to capturing aerial photos (while moving, at ~100m height above ground). There are obviously lots of benefits to Mavic 3 and a newer drone and would seem crazy for DJI to not have created a camera that is better than a five year old Phantom in terms of aerial mapping capabilities, especially as they seem committed to killing off the Phantom line.....

While I can't compare directly to a P4, would a sample photo from a M3 still be helpful? I can grab one for you. Something like 300 ft, camera gimbled 90 down, what speed?

 

[Meta4]

how does the Mavic 3 compare to Phantom 4 Pro (v1 or v2) when it comes to capturing aerial photos (while moving, at ~100m height above ground).

Lots of flyers have used the Mavic 2 pro for mapping without serious issues.

 

[simsurf]

Lots of flyers have used the Mavic 2 pro for mapping without serious issues.

I'm doing 500ha at the moment and I've done a 500ha job previously. I use DJI groundstation with hover and capture mode to make sure there are no issues.

 

[Meta4]

I'm doing 500ha at the moment and I've done a 500ha job previously. I use DJI groundstation with hover and capture mode to make sure there are no issues.

Hover & capture?
That would take forever.
I do mapping at normal flight speeds with no issues.

 

[simsurf]

Hover & capture?
That would take forever.
I do mapping at normal flight speeds with no issues.

Hmm it's just the I've always done it. What speed are we talking about? 5m/s? 10m/s?

 

[Meta4]

Hmm it's just the I've always done it. What speed are we talking about? 5m/s? 10m/s?

Looking at a few inflight screenshots from successful mapping missions, I see speeds from 8 -15 metres/sec.
I usually use the speed that DroneDeploy suggests for the height of the mission and that's always given good results

 

[RocketBrew]

You must be referring to the Mavic 3 Pro - coming soon......... (development will start when they finish with the Beta phase of the Mavic 3)

There are obviously lots of benefits to Mavic 3 and a newer drone and would seem crazy for DJI to not have created a camera that is better than a five year old Phantom in terms of aerial mapping capabilities, especially as they seem committed to killing off the Phantom line.....

 

[Dougcjohn]

As of 1/24/22, it was suggested it does (may) have a Global shutter.

Mavic 3 - ?? Maybe Global Shutter (mechanical) ready for Mapping / Modeling possible?

I've read a few articles that suggested the M3 MFT camera was a Global Shutter (referred as mechanical) similar to the P4Pv2, Inspire 2 X4S & X7 cameras. The recent 1/24/22 DroneU video on the M3, they performed a Manual Mapping exercise lacking any currently supported Mapping / Waypoint SW that...

mavicpilots.com

 

[TLT]

All - I just got confirmation TODAY from a DJI Rep that: "The GSPro would not be supporting the M3, the M3 is not Mobile SDK compatible and it does not support waypoint mission". I sent 3 emails to confirm and was told "Yes, our team had discussion internally and the M3 is confirmed would not support waypoint mission". Please pass this on as we likely won't be able to use this drone for mapping.

 

[brett8883]

As of 1/24/22, it was suggested it does (may) have a Global shutter.

Mavic 3 - ?? Maybe Global Shutter (mechanical) ready for Mapping / Modeling possible?

I've read a few articles that suggested the M3 MFT camera was a Global Shutter (referred as mechanical) similar to the P4Pv2, Inspire 2 X4S & X7 cameras. The recent 1/24/22 DroneU video on the M3, they performed a Manual Mapping exercise lacking any currently supported Mapping / Waypoint SW that...

mavicpilots.com

It does not, this is malarkey

 

[Lambda]

All - I just got confirmation TODAY from a DJI Rep that: "The GSPro would not be supporting the M3, the M3 is not Mobile SDK compatible and it does not support waypoint mission". I sent 3 emails to confirm and was told "Yes, our team had discussion internally and the M3 is confirmed would not support waypoint mission". Please pass this on as we likely won't be able to use this drone for mapping.

well, that sucks. I was hoping for mapping functionality. Looks like I will have to sell mine and get something else. I have M2P, but wanted longer battery life, hence the M3