Mavic 3 Cine - First Flight behavior not impressive

[Dougcjohn]

Received the Mavic 3 Cine, looking forward to experiencing the flight behavior after reviews & comments indicating so much better than Mavic 2. Unpacked and performed all updates & IMU calibration prior to any flights. Also my first exposure to Smart Controller and built in screen.

Set it down outside and started it all up… good camera view, gimbal movement, 11+ Satilites and ready to lift off. Then message popped up “not connected to RC” and screen went B&W. Then 30 seconds later, connected… then disconnected again. Powered all off, restarted… same ordeal connecting then disconnect. Third restart and seemed to maintain connection… lifted off, hover 5-6 ft to begin feeling behavior. Screen went B&W and disconnected message again, although it would respond to landing. Powered Off, restarted SC… looked through menu a bit to see if any problem, nothing found but did receive a few prompts on Care Refresh and DJI Fly Report that I worked through to exit.

Restarted and it remained connected. Flew a few small patterns around me. Noticed immediately it felt slow to yaw, ascend & descend... Like in Tripod mode. Flipped to Sport mode improved some but not compared to the M2P, which is much faster in reaction to sticks and speed of Yaw, Climb & Descend.

I’ll look at the gains, but out of the box, it’s a bit underwhelming for flight behavior. The M2P was impressive on 1st flight, had expected M3 to be more refined behavior but also fast & agile than M2P.

 

[Lasidora]

Something doesn't sound right there, I've just come back from a decent flight test of my Mavic 3 using the RC Pro, & the connection was rock solid, flew it over quite a few Wi-Fi polluted zones & it worked like a beast, stick response was good, I've toned my sticks down a bit to get smooth transitions between yaw & gimbal actions in Normal Mode, but have left Sports Mode raw, the drone never lost connection once on a total flight distance of around 10km in loops around me from the top of a local hill, I really put it through its paces to check connection capability, stick response after adjustments, camera functionality, & battery consumption, all worked as good as I hoped, I was freezing cold after the tests, 5 deg C so couldn't wait to get back to check the footage, I also tested the RC Pro screen recording capability as that was a handy function I have neglected to use on all prior flights, it gives me a chance to accurately compare signal strength instead of relying on memory all the time.
So to get back to your original findings, is your RC Pro binded to the M3 & have you tried doing a full factory reset & reload all latest firmwares to your devices to retry the test, if still the same it would seem you have a faulty unit which could be either, but a full replacement set would be the only answer, let us know what happens, as I have read similar stories to yours, it would seem that the Mavic 3 is prone to quality control issues in this release, something that needs sorting at DJI HQ.

 

[Starz]

The M2P was impressive on 1st flight

Hopefully you still have it.

 

[SmilingOgre]

Disheartening to read. I still have high hopes for that mft sensor. I'm hoping reports get better by spring.

 

[Mark_D]

I've only flown my Mavic 3 for five minutes since receiving it, just to test to make sure that things were working flight-wise. I noticed exactly the same behaviour in that it felt more sluggish in ascent/descent and yaw than my M2P in normal mode. Of course my findings are purely anecdotal at this point so I may have been imagining it.

 

[Lasidora]

I've only flown my Mavic 3 for five minutes since receiving it, just to test to make sure that things were working flight-wise. I noticed exactly the same behaviour in that it felt more sluggish in ascent/descent and yaw than my M2P in normal mode. Of course my findings are purely anecdotal at this point so I may have been imagining it.

A lot of the flying feel & characteristics of the Mavic 3 are altered by having the OA set to Bypass, when I switch to Brake or Off it feels a smoother flight especially when at low level or taking off/landing.

 

[ianwood]

Those disconnects are not normal. Connection between RC Pro and Cine are rock solid for me. Maybe try reset the pairing and maybe a factory reset. If that doesn't fix it, contact DJI. Wouldn't be the first time they shipped a mangled antenna cable or similar.

 

[Dougcjohn]

Although when in Sport Mode, OA is off.
I would think it would maneuver similar or better than M2P.

I also tried Nomal mode with OA in off, brake, and bypass.
My tests were also in an area wide open... nothing to avoid.
Until I have confidence in new craft & my controls... I test in open areas... my Jeep & myself being only close ground objects.

I recently reviewed a EVO2 Enterprise in a seperate thread... made comments on it's snail pace... the M3 Cine was very similar.

So far a bit disappointing, the stick movement on M2P is fighter jet compared to this M3... more like a cargo plane.

But, I'll experiment a bit before conclusion.
I did order a 2nd M3 Cine to compare incase there was a problem.
The disconnect was concerning... hadn't experienced that on any of my DJI drones from Mini up through M600Pro; A B&W screen showing a frozen image from M3.

 

[Dougcjohn]

Those disconnects are not normal. Connection between RC Pro and Cine are rock solid for me. Maybe try reset the pairing and maybe a factory reset. If that doesn't fix it, contact DJI. Wouldn't be the first time they shipped a mangled antenna cable or similar.

The antenna (pinched or unplugged) I could understand at a little distance... this was on ground about 5- 10 ft.

Plus... after several attempts... it became stable and I was able to fly it around me at a Altitude 150 ft and 1000 ft out. That's when I noticed how sluggish it behaved.

Same spot, no issues with M2P, Mini2, Inspire2, M210, etc. All different radio protocols and generations.

 

[ianwood]

Also make sure you're set to dual band in the app.

 

[Dougcjohn]

My assumption is 1 RC Bind at a time. I was thinking of getting a standard RC that could use a larger tablet at times. Would require a quick rebind with RC. Wasn’t 100% if SC could maintain bind if off and used standard RC.

 

[Dougcjohn]

Also make sure you're set to dual band in the app.

Yep... that was dual band.

 

[Dale D]

Something doesn't sound right there, I've just come back from a decent flight test of my Mavic 3 using the RC Pro, & the connection was rock solid, flew it over quite a few Wi-Fi polluted zones & it worked like a beast, stick response was good, I've toned my sticks down a bit to get smooth transitions between yaw & gimbal actions in Normal Mode, but have left Sports Mode raw, the drone never lost connection once on a total flight distance of around 10km in loops around me from the top of a local hill, I really put it through its paces to check connection capability, stick response after adjustments, camera functionality, & battery consumption, all worked as good as I hoped, I was freezing cold after the tests, 5 deg C so couldn't wait to get back to check the footage, I also tested the RC Pro screen recording capability as that was a handy function I have neglected to use on all prior flights, it gives me a chance to accurately compare signal strength instead of relying on memory all the time.
So to get back to your original findings, is your RC Pro binded to the M3 & have you tried doing a full factory reset & reload all latest firmwares to your devices to retry the test, if still the same it would seem you have a faulty unit which could be either, but a full replacement set would be the only answer, let us know what happens, as I have read similar stories to yours, it would seem that the Mavic 3 is prone to quality control issues in this release, something that needs sorting at DJI HQ.

Every time I get ready to order the M3, I read another disheartening review like this. I'm still sticking with my M2 P for now. I really don't need or appreciate all of the new aggravations going on with the M3. When. I start reading consistent good reviews I'll go ahead and order the M3 but for me, DJI, you can keep it until you fix it.

Dale
Miami

 

[Dougcjohn]

Hopefully you still have it.

Oh Ya! I’m one that retains… especially if good crafts that simply aged a bit. Have MavicPro and 2x Inspire 1 ProV2. All super crafts!

 

[brett8883]

I usually find DJI default settings to be way too sensitive so may just be a matter of personal preference. I’d welcome much more dampened controls.

 

[Dougcjohn]

I usually find DJI default settings to be way too sensitive so may just be a matter of personal preference. I’d welcome much more dampened controls.

Can understand that, we have our preference.
Although I’m more comparing how it behaves, displaying it‘s performance capabilities... not my preferences. Furthermore, the Fly App my be a limiting variable too in the setting limits and gain curves… may be more mild compared to Go4App & M2P.

But beyond that my point was my M3Cine wasn’t displaying or coming close to the comments of Owners & Reviewers. Most stating how it’s nearly twice as fast climbing & descending. How quickly it accelerates compared to M2P, how fast it brakes & stability.
Basically described as an improved performance craft to the M2P and my M3 was sluggish compared to the M2P... performace based it was much less on all comparisons with M2P... except for prop pitch, it is quieter.

Not my performance preferences… just simply stated superior performance comparison was not present in my M3 to my aging M2P. And that’s a disappointment for technology & price.

I’ll see what 2nd M3Cine unit does next week… no one stocks the M3Cine in my area, all order based.

 

[JohnC]

My assumption is 1 RC Bind at a time. I was thinking of getting a standard RC that could use a larger tablet at times. Would require a quick rebind with RC. Wasn’t 100% if SC could maintain bind if off and used standard RC.

You bind the remote to your aircraft in order to qualify for flyaway cover. The binding process links the remote, aircraft and your DJI account together.

If you want to swap controllers then that’s OK but you will get a message that the aircraft is bound to a different controller along with a prompt to bind the new controller to the aircraft.

You will need an internet connection to do this, you can, however, fly up to 5 times with an unbound controller. After which your flyaway cover is not valid until you carry out a binding or you revert to your original remote.

 

[Dougcjohn]

You bind the remote to your aircraft in order to qualify for flyaway cover. The binding process links the remote, aircraft and your DJI account together.

If you want to swap controllers then that’s OK but you will get a message that the aircraft is bound to a different controller along with a prompt to bind the new controller to the aircraft.

You will need an internet connection to do this, you can, however, fly up to 5 times with an unbound controller. After which your flyaway cover is not valid until you carry out a binding or you revert to your original remote.

John, That's great info! Didn't know that on Fly Aways & DJI Acct.
Question, if binding process is also what associates and connects RC to Craft... how do you not bind previous to controlled flight?

I've always bound a new RC on older crafts, never tried flight without first binding... thought that was process of associating Transmitter to Receiver uniquely.

Are you indicating any RC (correct model) will control Craft... even after one RC is bound? Sounds a little off from my understanding.

Am on not on the same page referring to binding & bound RC?

 

[JohnC]

John, That's great info! Didn't know that on Fly Aways & DJI Acct.
Question, if binding process is also what associates and connects RC to Craft... how do you not bind previous to controlled flight?

I've always bound a new RC on older crafts, never tried flight without first binding... thought that was process of associating Transmitter to Receiver uniquely.

Are you indicating any RC (correct model) will control Craft... even after one RC is bound? Sounds a little off from my understanding.

Am on not on the same page referring to binding & bound RC?

Confusingly it’s a two step process!

DJI call ‘linking’ the process of assigning the remote to the aircraft so you can control it.

DJI call ‘binding’ the action of linking the RC the aircraft & your account for their flyaway cover.

The reason why it’s not just one process, I.e when you link it binds too, is because you need an internet connection to bind, but you may want to link a different controller ‘in the field’ away from the internet.

It’s further confused as anyone coming from model RC will be used to binding the remote to the aircraft for control, which in DJIs world is linking!

 

[Dougcjohn]

Confusingly it’s a two step process!

DJI call ‘linking’ the process of assigning the remote to the aircraft so you can control it.

DJI call ‘binding’ the action of linking the RC the aircraft & your account for their flyaway cover.

The reason why it’s not just one process, I.e when you link it binds too, is because you need an internet connection to bind, but you may want to link a different controller ‘in the field’ away from the internet.

It’s further confused as anyone coming from model RC will be used to binding the remote to the aircraft for control, which in DJIs world is linking!

That's me... old school for Helicopters & Gas Cars to radios... binding.

Gotcha now and makes sense. The field link vs internet acct bind.