I too have been doing photography for years. Lately been doing some surfing photography. My Nikon D500's crop sensor turns my 80-400 zoom lens into a 120-600, so it works really well for surfing photography.
Yes, having a drone with a tele lens is really nice. The
Air 3 has the wide angle and a 3x which DJI claims is equivalent to a 70mm telephoto. It's great drone and more budget friendly that the
Mavic 3 Pro. That has the 70mm telephoto and a 166mm telephoto. Not to mention the outstanding Hasselblad 23mm wide angle.
I've been speeding too much money lately on my toys, so I have to slow down for a bit, but the
Mavic 3 Pro is on my wish list. By the time I get it, it might even be the Mavic 4 Pro.