How good is the M3 Classic 3x zoom?

[davedrone 178]

Taking delivery of a Mavic 3 classic tomorrow and wanted to know what to expect with the standard 3x zoom. I found the zoom on the Air 2s in 4k 30p mode about the best I've used for a digital zoom. Does the M3, say at 2x, look pretty decent?

 

[GadgetGuy]

It's decent at 2x. Beyond that, it starts looking very pixilated. Better to shoot at 1x to save the full frame, and then pick your crop level and framing in post.

 

[blackbirdsr72]

As good or bad as digital zoom goes

 

[coullit]

the thermal M3 has double 56 times zoom

 

[Hauptmann]

Digital zoom sucks. As GadgetGuy stated, all DZ does is provide real-time cropping so you don't have to do it in post.

 

[Anthony Ivory]

Taking delivery of a Mavic 3 classic tomorrow and wanted to know what to expect with the standard 3x zoom. I found the zoom on the Air 2s in 4k 30p mode about the best I've used for a digital zoom. Does the M3, say at 2x, look pretty decent?

Check out this video

YOUTUBE is an excellent choice when you need to find answers from people who have hands on experience with your questions.

 

[davedrone 178]

All digital zooms don't suck. The Air 2s zoom is very impressive. Much better than the Mini 3 pro at 2x.

 

[ForkCreative]

Isn’t any zoom on the M3 classic just a digital crop in? If you are using for film you should not zoom at all if this is the case, better to do it in post editing, yeah?

 

[Bob in Savannah]

Check out this video

YOUTUBE is an excellent choice when you need to find answers from people who have hands on experience with your questions.

Actually this video does nothing to answer the op's question. It doesn't even mention the Classic. lol.

Youtube is fine and all but THIS SITE is "an excellent choice when you need to find answers from people who have hands on experience with your questions," about DJI drones.

 

[Hauptmann]

Isn’t any zoom on the M3 classic just a digital crop in? If you are using for film you should not zoom at all if this is the case, better to do it in post editing, yeah?

As to your first question, Yes. Your second question? Doesn't much matter. Digital "zoom" allows real-time cropping if you need to submit your work immediately and not wait for post. No benefit to me. If your needs are different, by all means go digital. Cheaper by far.

Optical zoom is much more powerful. allows the user to "collapse" the distance between foreground and background. To illustrate, I've attached two photos taken by others. In the Bridge photo, the background scene (SF Financial District) seems so far away from the foreground (Bridge). The same scene shot using a longer focal-length lens (zoom or fixed-length), the background is brought closer (as in the Painted Ladies photo). Much more dramatic. Can't be done with digital zoom. Can't be done in post. So I don't use digital zoom. Better than nothing, but not by much.

If Your needs are different, by all means, go digital. Much cheaper. And many of those digital-zoom-only quads are astounding!

 

[GadgetGuy]

the thermal M3 has double 56 times zoom

That doesn't make it better. The sensor and lens are identical. They just added an 8x digital zoom on top of the 7x telephoto, instead of maxing out at 4x digital on top of the 7x telephoto.

 

[3rdof5]

I love the 3X digital zoom! I never use it while shooting video, but its a great camera and easily handles 3x with great resolution and is very useful for scouting routes to fly. Like all say though, take full size shots and edit later taking full advantage of its field of view. While the Optical 7x zoom on the Mavic 3 is obviously superior, I'm glad Dji gave us the 3x digital with this newer less expensive Mavic 3. It works very well IMO.

 

[Wreckhunter]

Digital zoom sucks. As GadgetGuy stated, all DZ does is provide real-time cropping so you don't have to do it in post.

And GadgetGuy was the one pushing to get a Mavic 3 refurb because of the zoom lense.

 

[GadgetGuy]

And GadgetGuy was the one pushing to get a Mavic 3 refurb because of the zoom lense.

Do you disagree? To be clear, there is no zoom lens on the Mavic 3. There is a separate 7x telephoto lens on the Mavic 3, which is optical, in addition to the 1x main 4/3 lens. Each lens also has a 4x digital zoom capability. Only the 1x and 7x values are optical. Everything else involves digital zoom of one of the two lenses. Nothing wrong with a free 7x telephoto lens.

 

[Chrislaf]

FWIW, I love the 7X optical Tele on the original M3. No digital zoom can compete with an optical Tele as many have mentioned. With that being said there are uses for digital zoom. I originally bought the M3 because I wanted the zoom to use to explore areas locate to photograph or scout areas to fly at.

Never had an Air 2S so only speculating, but I would say that the M3C 3X digital zoom would not be much better than the one on the Air 2S. The only differences I could see would be due to the larger sensor on the M3C but even then there would likely not be much difference.

Chris

 

[kilhan]

Mavic 3 Classic has no optical tele or zoom. As others have written, digital zoom is just instant cropping. If you can crop your photos/videos in post processing , using a digital zoom is useless, unless you don’t need the best quality but rather fast sharing photos or videos in social media. I need professional quality, use Photoshop, so I never use any digital zoom. But the quality of the Hasselblad camera is so high, that even instantly cropped photos and videos look probably quite decent for amateur use.
Chris