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I have three M2P's and three P4P's and I still prefer the Mavic 3 over them for everything. The 4/3 sensor and the 7x telephoto, with a realistic 33 minute flight time, and HiRes 60Mb 360° panos now cover all of my needs better than the 4 year old M2P's and even older P4P's. I bought the regular M3, hub, 3 extra batteries, and RC-Pro all a la carte, because I didn't want a $350 backpack, and don't want to risk losing an unremovable SSD every time I fly. Whether the Cine version is worth the money is a business decision. I can buy two M3's for the price of one Cine version, and the M3 is only marginally more expensive than the M2P. The RC-Pro investment is leveraged with the Air 2S compatibility. M3 and M3 Cine will only get better with time. The happy sweet spot for any new DJI drone is 6-12 months after release. Takes that long to get all the bugs out, and optimize the FW and app, and add any promised features not available at release.
The Mavic 3 kind of sucks when flying around boats... maybe in time with the right controller settings in Sports mode I will get better at it... Normal mode is a joke and sucks big time unless you want to crash into a boat!!! on the other hand.... the Mavic 2 does just fine in normal mode unless it's a very fast boat. Nobody can fly around boats with a Mavic 2 as good as me! so far I haven't seen a video that is better than what I can produce but I am sure there are better... just haven't found somebody yet who can out fly me around boats.
 
I think dji are taking a lot of people for a very expensive ride, people that make a living from professional flying and the making of video's to earn their money to pay there way in the world which from my point of view is very very poor, I think you all need to complain en masse to dji and make them aware that you are all not happy.
Now we come to the up and coming Mavic mini 3 and as a prospective new owner of that drone will have a hard look and think it over and over again. I seriously think that dji have taken everyone of the Mavic 3 owners as idiots and they may just pay for the mistake they have made because I for one will be not jumping with two feet for the mini 3 I will be waiting for at least 6 months before I purchase.
 
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I mainly use my drones for work as well and will keep flying my Mavic 2 Pro till the 3 is at least as good for jobs. Right now it does not seem close to it. I also do not appreciate the way the packaged it with a controller I do not need and would have to pay another $1100 for the one I want. Not buying it.
 
The Mavic 3 kind of sucks when flying around boats... maybe in time with the right controller settings in Sports mode I will get better at it... Normal mode is a joke and sucks big time unless you want to crash into a boat!!! on the other hand.... the Mavic 2 does just fine in normal mode unless it's a very fast boat. Nobody can fly around boats with a Mavic 2 as good as me! so far I haven't seen a video that is better than what I can produce but I am sure there are better... just haven't found somebody yet who can out fly me around boats.
Are you using the RC-N1 or the RC-Pro with the Mavic 3? What are the issues with Normal mode flying around boats that would lead to crashing into them? The strength of the Mavic 3 is the improved cameras. The piloting controls are fully user configurable.
 
I think dji are taking a lot of people for a very expensive ride, people that make a living from professional flying and the making of video's to earn their money to pay there way in the world which from my point of view is very very poor, I think you all need to complain en masse to dji and make them aware that you are all not happy.
Now we come to the up and coming Mavic mini 3 and as a prospective new owner of that drone will have a hard look and think it over and over again. I seriously think that dji have taken everyone of the Mavic 3 owners as idiots and they may just pay for the mistake they have made because I for one will be not jumping with two feet for the mini 3 I will be waiting for at least 6 months before I purchase.
DJI doesn't care whether you are an early adopter at release, or a late adopter 6 months later. They get your money either way! 🤣
 
I mainly use my drones for work as well and will keep flying my Mavic 2 Pro till the 3 is at least as good for jobs. Right now it does not seem close to it. I also do not appreciate the way the packaged it with a controller I do not need and would have to pay another $1100 for the one I want. Not buying it.
As you should. Use your M2P until the M3 can outdo it, for your usage. For me, it already has. Plan on getting the RC-Pro. The basic package with the RC-N1 only exists as an entry level price point for those on a budget. As soon as you can, upgrade to the RC-Pro. The RC-Pro combo kit for the Air 2S is a good way to go. You get a decent backup aircraft, in the Air2S, and a steal price on the RC-Pro that can be used with both the Air2S and the M3.
 
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As you should. Use your M2P until the M3 can outdo it, for your usage. For me, it already has. Plan on getting the RC-Pro. The basic package with the RC-N1 only exists as an entry level price point for those on a budget. As soon as you can, upgrade to the RC-Pro. The RC-Pro combo kit for the Air 2S is a good way to go. You get a decent backup aircraft, in the Air2S, and a steal price on the RC-Pro that can be used with both the Air2S and the M3.
I already have the Air2s. That is why I do not need the controller that comes with the 3. The RC-N1 is the only part of the package that is better but it is not packaged with the regular 3. I do not want the Cine. Most of my flying is commercial real estate. The longer battery of the 3 would be good but it is not that hard to change a battery and takes less time than waiting for the 3 to warm up. The main point is the M2P just flys better, especially for video.
 
I love Mavics. So small and with the Mavic 2 we have something same quality as an inspire with more stability. I had all of them. I just got the 3 Cine and now have retired it from any paid jobs for several reasons. The main one, as you might guess is inability to operate safely in DLog. They took away LUT assist. Operating in daylight with a screen displaying in LOG is virtually useless. We need to focus and expose and see safely and all of those are unsuitable in DLog. No professional will be monitoring a log colorspace. How absurd to even try. They also took away sharpening settings. I have noticed baked in NR on higher iso’s and over sharpening on lower ones. I also cannot operate the same with high speed motors as they took slow mode (tripod mode) away as well. The speeds are too fast for slow low creeps and sweeps and flying in heavy foliage. I tried modifying joysticks but honestly $5000 is embarrassing for what they put on the market. As a professional DP I just want to recommend toothers that the Mavic 2 is a much much better drone and will get you better more confident footage. The image is maybe 5% better on the 3 cine, in certain types of situations. Prores is pointless as the h265 grades and exposes and renders motion exactly the same. Ultra ultra low light is the only advantage withprores but in the noise you have all that muddy NR going on anyway so why bother. DJI is more focused on serving the chinese govt than DP pilots. 30 seconds and every pilot is like…”wheres the lut assist, wheres tripod mode in the switch…”. Newer is not better.
Informative, helpful revue - TY,
 
I already have the Air2s. That is why I do not need the controller that comes with the 3. The RC-N1 is the only part of the package that is better but it is not packaged with the regular 3. I do not want the Cine. Most of my flying is commercial real estate. The longer battery of the 3 would be good but it is not that hard to change a battery and takes less time than waiting for the 3 to warm up. The main point is the M2P just flys better, especially for video.
The RC-N1 is the one that comes with the regular M3. The Air 2S was available for $1750 in a combo with the $1200 RC-Pro that the M3 Cine ships with. The so called warm up of the Mavic 3 is solved for most already, and certainly for me. If it is an issue at all, it only affects the first flight, and no others after a battery swap, so no different than the M2P. How does the M2P fly better for video? I have both, and see no difference, except the M3 offers more fine tuning of the controls, and the RC-Pro sticks are the same as the ones on the FPV drone, which is optimized for maximum control.
 
Are you using the RC-N1 or the RC-Pro with the Mavic 3? What are the issues with Normal mode flying around boats that would lead to crashing into them? The strength of the Mavic 3 is the improved cameras. The piloting controls are fully user configurable.
RC-N1 In normal mode when you transition from flying sideways to flying backwards, DJI decided to slow the drone down to the point that the only way to avoid the boat is to get out of the way versus with the Macic 2 that will transition so much better. I get out of the way by going sideways and up at times. If you go backwards... like I said, DJI has it, so the drone hesitates, and slows down. A safety hazard built into the Mavic 3 thanks to DJI. Luckly my drone flying skills have avoided a few close calls. Never had this problem with the Mavic 2! solution.... use Sports mode and do a better job with the controller settings that I am still configuring to get the best results. And maybe a slightly shorter control sticks to give me the same feel as the Mavic 2 controller may help.
 
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RC-N1 In normal mode when you transition from flying sideways to flying backwards, DJI decided to slow the drone down to the point that the only way to avoid the boat is to get out of the way versus with the Macic 2 that will transition so much better. I get out of the way by going sideways and up at times. If you go backwards... like I said, DJI has it, so the drone hesitates, and slows down. A safety hazard built into the Mavic 3 thanks to DJI. Luckly my drone flying skills have avoided a few close calls. Never had this problem with the Mavic 2! solution.... use Sports mode and do a better job with the controller settings that I am still configuring to get the best results. And maybe a slightly shorter control sticks to give me the same feel as the Mavic 2 controller may help.
Couple of suggestions. If you are using Obstacle Avoidance on the M3, it could be the cause of the problem. I never use it, so I turned it off. It just gets in my way! It behaves differently in OA bypass and tends to fly too slow around objects. Lastly, the RC-Pro is the controller that was actually designed to be used with the M3. It only shipped with the basic RC-N1 to keep the entry price low. It's a bit pricey, but a vast improvement over the RC-N1, with a second gimbal wheel and a 5 way button, and the built in screen, and the superior FPV drone control sticks.
 
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What I miss is the lack of true fine control with the sticks and the sharpening controls you mentioned.
I, too, am a bit disappointed with the lack of precision in the gimbal/stick input and connected response from the drone. Especially in the yaw axis. Trying to hover and do a simple slow steady pan for video is terribly inconsistent even with the exponential dialed all the way down. Not sure if it is a gimbal issue, flight controller, software, or what. I used to fly precision rc aerobatics, fixed wing, with some high-end JR and Futaba "transmitters" as we called them and the gimbals were incredibly smooth and precise. And the resolution, when properly programmed and you had good servos and control surface setup, was impeccable. I don't care for the DJI simple EXP adjustment. I'd really prefer having High/Medium/Low throw rates on each Yaw, Pitch, and Roll and variable EXP rates within each of those. For photography, of course, none of this matters, but for good smooth video it is really important.
Having said that, the M3 does seem to maintain hover better than any previous Mavic model I've flown. And the first time I saw the M3 come to a sudden stop and saw how sharply it maneuvered I was kind of surprised. I really thought, oh, that can't look good from the camera. But after watching the video, wow, it looks great considering how violent it looks!
 
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I agree with the sentiment that the Mavic 3 is not up to replacing the M2P for paying gigs yet. My go-to for paid gigs is the M2P.

The lack of SDK for M3 means no automation via Dronelink, so there mine sit. One area where I have used the M3 for commercial is for nighttime videography. So much sharper and clearer video at night compared to the M2P, but there are probably some here that can work more wonders with the M2P at night than I can.
 
I agree with the sentiment that the Mavic 3 is not up to replacing the M2P for paying gigs yet. My go-to for paid gigs is the M2P.

The lack of SDK for M3 means no automation via Dronelink, so there mine sit. One area where I have used the M3 for commercial is for nighttime videography. So much sharper and clearer video at night compared to the M2P, but there are probably some here that can work more wonders with the M2P at night than I can.
M3 is amazing for both nighttime videography and HiRes 360° nighttime panos!
 
I, too, am a bit disappointed with the lack of precision in the gimbal/stick input and connected response from the drone. Especially in the yaw axis. Trying to hover and do a simple slow steady pan for video is terribly inconsistent even with the exponential dialed all the way down. Not sure if it is a gimbal issue, flight controller, software, or what. I used to fly precision rc aerobatics, fixed wing, with some high-end JR and Futaba "transmitters" as we called them and the gimbals were incredibly smooth and precise. And the resolution, when properly programmed and you had good servos and control surface setup, was impeccable. I don't care for the DJI simple EXP adjustment. I'd really prefer having High/Medium/Low throw rates on each Yaw, Pitch, and Roll and variable EXP rates within each of those. For photography, of course, none of this matters, but for good smooth video it is really important.
Having said that, the M3 does seem to maintain hover better than any previous Mavic model I've flown. And the first time I saw the M3 come to a sudden stop and saw how sharply it maneuvered I was kind of surprised. I really thought, oh, that can't look good from the camera. But after watching the video, wow, it looks great considering how violent it looks!
For clarification purposes, I assume you are referring to RC-Pro when discussing the lack of precision in your gimbal/stick input and connected response? I know this is the Cine thread, but just want to be sure it isn't the poorer RC-N1 controller.
 
I, too, am a bit disappointed with the lack of precision in the gimbal/stick input and connected response from the drone. Especially in the yaw axis. Trying to hover and do a simple slow steady pan for video is terribly inconsistent even with the exponential dialed all the way down. Not sure if it is a gimbal issue, flight controller, software, or what. I used to fly precision rc aerobatics, fixed wing, with some high-end JR and Futaba "transmitters" as we called them and the gimbals were incredibly smooth and precise. And the resolution, when properly programmed and you had good servos and control surface setup, was impeccable. I don't care for the DJI simple EXP adjustment. I'd really prefer having High/Medium/Low throw rates on each Yaw, Pitch, and Roll and variable EXP rates within each of those. For photography, of course, none of this matters, but for good smooth video it is really important.
Having said that, the M3 does seem to maintain hover better than any previous Mavic model I've flown. And the first time I saw the M3 come to a sudden stop and saw how sharply it maneuvered I was kind of surprised. I really thought, oh, that can't look good from the camera. But after watching the video, wow, it looks great considering how violent it looks!
I fly RC airplanes and very rarely crashed even when a beginner... and with the Mavic 3 in normal mode, when you transition from flying sideways to flying backwards.... with the obstacle turned OFF. The Mavic 3 slows down big time and a safety hazard versus the Mavic 2 that fly's like a dream with the same maneuver in normal mode.
 
For clarification purposes, I assume you are referring to RC-Pro when discussing the lack of precision in your gimbal/stick input and connected response? I know this is the Cine thread, but just want to be sure it isn't the poorer RC-N1 controller.
the RC-N1 should never had been included with the M3... but the Pro version is included with the Air 2S drone! LOL... for only $1750.... think about this and the only conclusion you can have is.... DJI SUCKS!
 
Some people say the Mavic 3 is not suited for "professional" work or that they're disappointed it doesn't meet their definition of "professional". I'm going to take a less popular position and say the Mavic 3 is a pretty capable drone if you understand its limitations and use it for what it is good at.

Instead of saying it's no good for "professionals", just say it's no good for your needs. Not all "professional" work is the same. Many professionals actually do use a LOG preview. Many professionals put up with equipment that is finicky, troublesome, buggy, downright annoying, etc. because it does one thing for them extremely well.
 
For clarification purposes, I assume you are referring to RC-Pro when discussing the lack of precision in your gimbal/stick input and connected response? I know this is the Cine thread, but just want to be sure it isn't the poorer RC-N1 controller.
You're right, GadgetGuy, thank you. Apologies for not qualifying my statement. I was referring to the Mavic 3's RC-N1 controller. I have not flown the Mavic 3 Cine's RC-Pro controller yet. I realize this is the Mavic 3 Cine 3 thread but the thread is including discussions about all Mavics so that's why I shared. I am curious to hear if anyone has flown both the RC-N1 and the RC-Pro and can comment on the gimbal quality/response from both. I was considering getting the Mavic 3 Cine but am rethinking lately and waiting on the I3. Having both a Mavic Platinum and Mavic 2, when I paid the relatively high price for the Mavic 3 and pulled the RC-N1 controller out of the box, honestly, I was shocked at how cheesy it was. I'd prefer the Mavic 1 or 2 controllers any day of the week. I am hoping that the Rc-Pro is a better controller and gives better performance for those who bought it but I'd really like to hear more from RC-Pro users.
 
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You're right, GadgetGuy, thank you. Apologies for not qualifying my statement. I was referring to the Mavic 3's RC-N1 controller. I have not flown the Mavic 3 Cine's RC-Pro controller yet. I realize this is the Mavic 3 Cine 3 thread but the thread is including discussions about all Mavics so that's why I shared. I am curious to hear if anyone has flown both the RC-N1 and the RC-Pro and can comment on the gimbal quality/response from both. I was considering getting the Mavic 3 Cine but am rethinking lately and waiting on the I3. Having both a Mavic Platinum and Mavic 2, when I paid the relatively high price for the Mavic 3 and pulled the RC-N1 controller out of the box, honestly, I was shocked at how cheesy it was. I'd prefer the Mavic 1 or 2 controllers any day of the week. I am hoping that the Rc-Pro is a better controller and gives better performance for those who bought it but I'd really like to hear more from RC-Pro users.

I have both controllers. The RC Pro is certainly a solid controller (as you'd want it to be for the incredible price) and the controls do feel more responsive. They definitely require much less force than the RC-N1 and make me feel like I can make more precise moves without workarounds like stick extenders.

The things I wish would be improved on the RC Pro (aside from the price):

- Quick Transfer is not yet available
- It has to be tethered to phone / network for internet (no internal SIM card option)
- Clunky workaround to add other apps
- Limited options for functions to assign to the 5-way button
- Won't default to saving screenshots to the SD Card
 
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