Mavic 3 my honest conclusion
- Thread starter Frylikebird
- Start date
The mavic doesn't have optical zoom.
It has two different fixed focal length lenses on two different cameras and uses digital zoom to give other magnifications.
Optical zoom is heavy and expensive and only seen on very big and expensive drones.
It needs a lens with elements that move inside the lens body to create an smooth range of magnifications between the shortest and longest focal lengths of the lens' range.
Digital zoom uses digital technology to crop the outside edges of the image, leaving a smaller part of the image and losing image quality at high magnification.
Optical zoom gives a full-sized, full quality image anywhere between the extremes of it's range.
On the Mavic 3 and many other cameras, the digital zoom only gives stepped zoom levels, rather than the continuous levels of magnification that optical zoom does.
The separate 7x telephoto camera is a true optical magnification. You can now easily switch between both cameras, thereby completely avoiding all digital zoom.
We are probably splitting hairs, but don‘t both cameras offer continuous 1x-4x digital zoom of their optical image through use of the zoom scroll wheel in video? While the digital zoom can be stepped through by clicking on the digital zoom button on the screen, isn‘t it also available as continuous digital zoom, by using the zoom scroll wheel or pinching out or in on the screen?
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Is this right - "you switch cameras by selecting 1.0 or 7x, correct? Is this also true, "whenever the camera says 1.0 it is the main camera" - is that right? Is it possible to be using the telephoto camera and it is says 1.0?
Maybe ... I haven't tried using anything other than non-digital zoom 7x
You won't see continuous digital zoom while shooting stills. Just crop later.
However, in Video, after selecting 7x in Normal mode, the right Zoom scroll wheel (and "on screen" pinching out) will digitally zoom the 7x linearly from 7x-28x. Same with the 1x main camera. Right scroll digitally zooms linearly from 1x to 4x in video.
Unfortunately, you cannot switch between the optical 1x and the optical 7x telephoto video in Normal mode without first stopping the video.
Only way to have continuous video while switching between the two cameras is to stay in Explore mode like before, where there is an obvious jump from 4x digital on the main camera to 7x optical on the telephoto camera, as you digitally zoom from 1x to 28x, and you are still always limited to Auto exposure on the 7x telephoto in that mode.
Yes and no, respectively, as @Meta4 stated above.
1x-4x is always on the main camera.
7x-28x is always on the 7x telephoto camera.
Each camera offers a 1x-4x digital zoom in video based upon the base optical field of view of either 1x or 7x.
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Yes I understand that, but have no use for the product coming from the explore camera. In other words, didn’t spend $2500 on a drone just to use its Spark $39 camera sensor. I used that explore camera the other day to film a Bull Moose swimming that was out of range of the main camera. The video quality isn’t there, actually my Spark shoots better video. Also, lost signal only 1km away, couldn’t get close enough to the moose to use the main camera, pretty frustrating.
So, the explore camera is a waist, sure it can be helpful to spot things to fly too then shoot with the main camera, but then you loose the signal trying to get there. DJI should have just given us what we needed, a 4/3 camera with some optical zoom, ditch the explore camera completely.
And because they didn’t… I’ll be thinking long and hard before I buy another DJI product, because they did this crap deliberately.
For clarity, Explore mode is not a camera, but an app configuration that allows 1x-28x while shooting continuous video. The Standard mode allows switching between the 4/3 main camera of 1x and the 7x telephoto camera before commencing video. Had you simply selected the 7x telephoto camera, you could easily have stayed at the optical 7x and effectively been 7x closer than with the 4/3 camera. The quality of the image at an optical 7x is significantly better than a 7x digital zoom in post of the optical 1x 4/3 camera. Your loss of signal could easily have been compensated for by ascending at the 1 km distance and using the 7x optical telephoto lens. Under both camera choices for video, in Standard Mode, you still have a 4x digital zoom. That means the 7x telephoto can be digitally zoomed to 28x as needed. Limiting the digital zooms from 1x to 2x results in the best quality. Keeping the displayed digital zoom of the 7x optical telephoto between 7x and 14x will be best. Try it!
"because they did this crap deliberately." Seriously?
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Didn’t say explore mode, said explore camera which is what DJI calls it. Don’t want video of a moose from 500 feet in the air. Yes, I could have went much higher giving me better range I’m not new to flying drones. I went as low as I could and as close as I could while trying to get decent video of the moose that was about 1400 meters away from the controller. I did not use explore mode, I used the explore camera with no digital zoom which is 7x optical. There was just no way to get good video because I had to stay too high, 50 meters was my hight. Sure, I could film the moose and I thought the recording would be fairly good. I looked at the video later on a 15” laptop and it’s not actually all that good. I will no longer bother to use that camera to collect film, yes it looks good on a phone or tablet, but not on a screen of any size beyond that. I don’t sell video, but I’m a bit more picky then most people I guess. I won’t post low grade video on my page, some of my followers watch on big screens and I don’t want to loose them. Luckily there was a piece a few seconds long that wasn’t too bad, just barely usable.
From now on I will only use that camera to spot things, if I can’t get close enough with the main camera then I’ll move on to something else.
The internet is full of low grade drone video, not interested in adding to it.
DJI calls it a 7x telephoto camera. Explore Mode is an app setting, as explained above. It is not a camera. It switches between the two cameras as needed when using the scroll wheel for digital zoom.
Not sure why you need to be at 500 feet in the air to maintain signal at 1 km away with the Mavic 3. While using the telephoto camera properly in Normal mode, you need to use manual focus and Pro mode for best exposure and proper focus. If you are using the 7x telephoto camera while in Explore mode, your results will suffer. This is user error, not a DJI camera problem.
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It’s a marketing tactic DJI is well know for. Put it this way, had they given the M3 4x optical zoom with the 4/3 camera how will they get you to buy the M4? It’s all about getting you to buy the next one when the technology is already peaking. The only thing they can add to this foldable drone to get a lot of people to buy it is optical zoom, which the M3 should have.
This type of marketing DJI is using only works when your competitors are way behind you. There is absolutely no technical reason for a drone made by DJI to be configured this way, because DJI absolutely had the ability to give this M3 optical zoom with the 4/3 sensor. But, had they done that how are they going to get you the buy the Mavic 4? However, if the marketplace was more competitive DJI wouldn’t be holding back.
That is why we have this $2500 drone with no optical zoom, and $30 Spark gimmick sensor to make up for it.
I guarantee the Mavic 4 with have the exact same 4/3 sensor as the M3, and it will have optical zoom. And some of us will happily run out to buy it not realizing DJI just scammed us.
So every time a manufacturer improves a product they are scamming all buyers of a previous version? By your logic we've all been scammed since the Mavic 1 because DJI "could have" or "should have" put the be-all end-all of technology in it from the get go. The technology was available at the time for them to put a larger sensor and a zoom lens in that drone, no doubt. In the electronics world especially, that's just not realistic to expect. Wait till you hear about smartphone companies, and that is the far from a monopoly.
The Mavic 3 is a pretty significant improvement from the M2P (which only had one camera and no zoom lens, was that another scam?), and now has a much larger sensor, better range, and longer runtime along with some other more minor "nice to haves". Pretty much everything most people were hoping for. How is a company supposed to stay relevant and profitable over time without regular model updates, new offerings, and consistent improvement on prior versions?
Nobody is forcing anyone to buy a Mavic 3 and honestly I think a lot of people who have it would have been much better off with an A2S or M2P because what you're really paying for is that 4/3 sensor (image sensors are extremely expensive, relatively speaking), the benefits of which are far less obvious outside of challenging conditions or heavier post processing that frankly many users do not see. I think one group of people who should be most interested in a M3 are existing Inspire 2 owners, as previously that was pretty much the only way to get 4/3 image quality on a drone. Zoom lenses sacrifice quality by design, especially with extreme size and weight constraints associated with fitting it to a tiny gimbal, so I for one am happy DJI doesn't use a zoom design on their primary camera so we get the most out of the 4/3 sensor. Zoom lenses are also heavier, require more elements, and are more complex to mass produce. I couldn't care less about the "explore" camera, and I don't think anyone is buying the M3 just for that, but it serves a purpose and it's there if you wish to use it.
The attitude that a manufacturer "should have" done something or that a new model is "what the last model should have been" just shows a lack of understanding of how product cycles work. None of us here have the slightest clue what kind of development costs, engineering challenges, market research, or component sourcing issues DJI might have that factor into what makes it into any given model release.
Why did you buy the M3 knowing it was a scam all along?
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Such a cynic. There is no "scam." The Mavic 3 already has a complementary 7x telephoto camera with DNG and full control over exposure, to go with the 4/3 sensor camera. That's an optical 7x. It has digital zoom in between and beyond that for up to 28x for identification. I can guarantee you that no Mavic 4 will have an optical zoom. Dual cameras are a far better solution, seen even on the venerable $10,000 Matrice 30. Even the M2Z only offered a 2x optical zoom on an even smaller sensor which can't maintain its aperture over the range. The 7x telephoto on a 1/2 inch sensor is a vast improvement over the M2Z! At a 162mm equivalent at f/4.4, it's over 3x more magnification than the 48mm equivalent on the M2Z at f/3.8.
You do realize that you have placed yourself in the camp of, “every successful company that releases new and better products is a ‘scammer’ company?”
I’m kinda surprised that several extremely knowledgeable members of this forum have taken great measures to explain real features and usability strengths of the Mavic 3 although it seems one of your primary reasons for starting this post was not really to learn but to thrown down your conclusive reasoning gauntlet of,
“We’ve all been scammed by DJI!”
In my opinion, we live in a world where companies have been able to design manufacture and sell continually improved products for profit and their customers can choose to buy their products or not.
Your use of the word “scammed” is not gaining you many followers. Scam means “a dishonest scheme, a fraud”.
Are all these companies scamming us?
Apple
Tesla
Amazon
Toyota
General Electric
Samsung
………the list goes on for pages …….
They’ve all released new products that weren’t 100% ready and bulletproof on day one.
They’ve all released products that we hoped would contain a new feature but it isn’t coming until a future release.
I think you’d have more receptive discussion here if the title and intent of your post had been something like,
“My experiences so far with the Mavic 3”
Just my 2 cents.
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I only bought the M3 for the main camera, but have found that the tele camera isn't a complete waste.
Sure it only has a tiny sensor, but as an unexpected free bonus, it does have it's uses.
I posted about it here: Mavic 3 Tele Lens
It's unrealistic to think DJI could fit a 4/3 camera and optical zoom on a folding drone as small as the M3.
Maybe they'll surprise me one day?
But for now there aren't many other options that offer that.
Xdynamics initially suggested they would have the 14-42 mm zoom, but don't seem to have been able to get it to work.
The camera and lenses they use are much bigger and heavier than the M3 camera.
That's a really strange attitude.
You still get a capable, fixed wideangle 4/3 camera on a competent compact drone.
No-one knew they would include a tele camera until it was released.
You could just ignore it or find some use for it, but you feel DJI has scammed you because they included a bonus you didn't expect?
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My 2 cents is that explore camera is pointless, and this was not my post, it’s a reply. Instead of writing a rant why not tell us your opinion of why DJI would configure this drone in this way instead of just give us optical zoom on the main camera?
I was asked to explain my thoughts regarding marketing and I did. I have no use for low grade product, which is what that wee camera puts out, and it’s useless for exploring in most situations. Like I said, it’s useful to find something interesting a long ways away. However when you fly to it to shoot it with the main camera you can’t get low enough to get the subject properly because you loose signal. Typically from trees are a hill. It’s a major flaw, DJI does not do major flaws. They knew that explore camera was useless well before the drove ever hit the market. It’s like putting snow tires on a race car so you don’t get stuck in the snow.
Hey, by all means if some pilots like the product from that camera have at it. I’ve yet to see anything impressive come out of it, but I’m a bit more picky then most people.
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