Mavic 3 pro vs Air 3 (for mountain biking & skiing)

[Qwerty1]

Hello.

I’m looking to purchase (hopefully used) a Mavic 3 pro or Air 3 drone to use the follow me and terrain avoidance function while mountain biking or backcountry skiing.

I’m wondering:

Ive read the video quality is good on both drones but still interested in opinions?

which is better for the follow me function while biking or skiing?

which one has better obstacle avoidance?

 

[Mrprop365]

how fast would you be going?
the drones obstacle avoidance doesn't fly around objects at more then 12.5 mph (check the specs, it may be higher or lower) and obstacle sensing (when it slams on the brakes and pauses flight) at more then 22 mph.
this is from a mavic 2 so the drones have improved, but probably not by much

 

[Qwerty1]

Not sure on speed.

Sometimes faster than those numbers sometimes slower.

I don’t intend to try to have this drone follow me down a forested trail. More so on ridges, or open areas, etc.

I’ll have to keep in mind speed when having it follow me.

With these flaws assumed who knows what drone would be the best at this or have the best chance of success?

 

[Mrprop365]

Not sure on speed.

Sometimes faster than those numbers sometimes slower.

I don’t intend to try to have this drone follow me down a forested trail. More so on ridges, or open areas, etc.

I’ll have to keep in mind speed when having it follow me.

With these flaws assumed who knows what drone would be the best at this or have the best chance of success?

I'm not talking from any personal use, just hearing about it but it sounds like the best drone for following (tracking) is a drone made by skydio. im not sure of the model name but i think its called the skydio 2. it uses some sort of beacon that the subject carries. the advantage to this is that when you leave the frame the drone will be able to find and continue following you. im not sure of the downsides of this drone but you may wanna do some research on yt for this drone.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Not sure on speed.

Sometimes faster than those numbers sometimes slower.

I don’t intend to try to have this drone follow me down a forested trail. More so on ridges, or open areas, etc.

I’ll have to keep in mind speed when having it follow me.

With these flaws assumed who knows what drone would be the best at this or have the best chance of success?

These flaws aren't 'assumed'. They are actual. Speed is a factor and subject tracking is passably okay, but not reliable. Since the original Mavic, buyers have watched the marketing videos with camera drones flying wingtip to wingtip and playing fast chase through the trees of woodland trails and bought products thinking this was what they were capable of. They are not.

4th gen. O/A (obstacle avoidance): APAS and subject tracking are better than previous iterations, but they're not that good. It MIGHT track you on a straight downhill run, or riding a knife ridge trail, but you'll end up slamming the brakes on over and over again to go back and rescue it after it loses 'sight' of you... over and over again. You're talking about something that can still lose lock on a person ambling through slightly woody terrain and past tall clumps of grass - AND crash into a wide range of spindly branches while it's at it. Plenty of YouTube videos out there to prove it.

Mrprop365 is correct - the Skydio 2 was the very best drone for both O/A and subject tracking... and even that would stop dead after the O/A overrode the 'follow me' function... or crash occasionally when it didn't. (YouTube again).

You'll find that the 'epic' tracking shots of fast skiers and mountain bikers you may have seen were captured using a 4K Cinewhoop flown by a really good FPV chase pilot.

Just a word of warning for you to adjust your level of expectation. Regardless, any DJI drone from the Mavic 2 onwards is a fantastic bit o'kit with more functions than a digestive tract and VERY good camera quality.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

FWIW, active track subjects are designed for people or cars, bikes sometimes work, other times they don't. There's a bit of luck to whether the drone recognizes you as a person to keep track of. That's what the drone is programmed for.

 

[Mrprop365]

These flaws aren't 'assumed'. They are actual. Speed is a factor and subject tracking is passably okay, but not reliable. Since the original Mavic, buyers have watched the marketing videos with camera drones flying wingtip to wingtip and playing fast chase through the trees of woodland trails and bought products thinking this was what they were capable of. They are not.

.

Notice that in all the promotional videos, there are no low hanging branches, only thick tree trunks. The thin low branches are typically the problem as OA does not detect it.