Things DJI could improve on coming from a Mavic 2 Pro (as of 27th May, 2022)

[globetrotterdrone]

I've been having the Mavic Mini 3 Pro now for 3 days and tested it a fair bit so far.
Having the Mavic 2 Pro for more than 3 years now and flew with it extensively, I do have to confess, you sometimes become a creature of your habits.

DJI Fly especially is not the kind of change I've waited for honestly.
While the Mini 3 Pro is an astonishing piece of work, cramped with functions that the Mavic 2 Pro once/never featured in a 4 times heavier body, I wanted to list some parts that are good and some parts DJI certainly could improve. I however stick to 99 % to photos, so I don't have any opinion on the video qualities of it (yet).

As of 27th May, 2022 points very well received with the change for me personally:

• Sound footprint definitely reduced. I wouldn't call the bird silent, but compared to the M2P it is way less noticeable and the humming is even with its light weight, ok, far less high pitched than its predecessor, the Mini 2 for instance

• Vertical mode gives more creative abilities in my aspects of landscape, architecture or cityscape photography. With the M2P I've often wished for this. Only 90 ° down photos could be orientated without cropping.

• Even if the Mini 3 Pro wouldn't feature a true vertical mode, I have to say, pitching the gimbal up to 60 ° max is a great, great thing. Again, more possibilities to capture.

• 48 MP stills feature a lot of detail (I only shoot them and do all the post processing like shrinking, denoising from the bigger files)

• Slot-in batteries provide more safety (or at least the feeling) as the mounting type of M2P, where users, not me, reported, with faulty ones, they could pop out and cause the drone to crash

• USB-C socket, ie end-to-end cables and chargers with all devices and easy interoperability with other modern devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.)

So, what's not to like? So far personally, that has mostly to do with the DJI Fly and the "limitations" compared to the older DJI Go. These are not particularly specific to the Mini 3 Pro then, but that's how I experienced them with it, I will stick to my preferences.

• No quick possibility to change exposure time/ISO/EV with a hardware button. With my older Smart Controller I had more physical buttons available. While I rarely used the back or the exit button, the 5D knob was a great thing to change your settings without using the touch display.
  Certainly, the Mini 3 Pro has no variable aperture, but still it would be nice if you could individually set like the 2nd wheel to change the exposure time, for instance rather than clicking in the lower right corner and swipe. I've always preferred pyhsical buttons against touch. So while the RC does not have as many buttons, they could still be re-mapped as the 2nd wheel is otherwise not functioning in the photo mode.

• No possibility to fade out the overlay. With DJI Go, you could set if the user would like to hide the overlay by swiping (either with one or two fingers) from the button. I've loved this function together with the grid to tweak my composition.

• Vertical orientation picture cannot be rotated to portrait on Android (I know, that may sound odd with the control sticks is for landscape, but for a better utilisation of the screen for viewing pictures)

• Panorama shooting not working with vertical mode with a higher degree of sky coverage for true 360°/180° panoramas

• Panorama shooting not making use of higher gimbal upward tilt to 60 ° (seems to stay at 15 °)

• Panorama mode only works with 12 MP size (not too bad, as the panoramas will likely reach still > 100 MP resolution easily)

• Panorama mode not working together with AEB to advance dynamic range for light/dark regions.

• 48 MP files do sometimes have small but colour artefacts in 100 % pixel peeping mode. Colour noise reduction solves bit, I hope for a better support with a lens profile by Adobe and tweaked firmware by DJI.

• Flight records page summary is visually quite poor compared to the old one with listed countries and flags, top speeds, etc.

• Cine mode faster than old tripod mode, see petition to change that too.
• Offline maps cannot be downloaded in the way it used to be on the old Smart Controller.
• No USB-C socket to charge batteries directly, only via drone or Fly More Kit charger, no adapter like with the M2P batteries (yet, due to form factor I guess)
• No LED for charging status on battery, only via drone or Fly More Kit charger (due to form factor I guess)
• Screwed-in rotor blades instead of push-in rotors (due to form factor I guess)

• 700 nits from new RC a bit darker than the 1,000 nits form my old Smart Controller, so if not avoidable, flying in sunlight is a bit harder (especially with my self-tinting glasses)

That's probably now the most, I've been experiencing. Some are quite annoying, some are pure comfort thingy, but the most could be "easily" improved by more dedication from DJI's side. With a potential SDK 3rd parties could step-in, but given the past, this will at least take 6 - 12 months and no guarantee (waypoint issue oh yeah).

What are you major advantages/disadvantes, especially coming from an older drone?
After this very short time, I really like this drone and am confident of its quality. Let's see how to compensate for some comfort functions I really appreciated after 3 years.

 

[old man mavic]

@globetrotterdrone its very difficult to compare the M 2 pro ,and Mini 3 pro as they are in different leagues to each other
its a bit like comparing a premier league football team to a local none league club
they both play the same game ,just at different levels
they do have many similarities mainly in the way they achieve flight ,when it comes to the image capture side of the drone, then yes there will be differences ,the biggest advantage of the Mini size drone is where it is allowed to fly compared to heavier larger size drones ,and that is even more important in the parts of the world where we live
i agree with you about the fly app compared to the GO 4 ,but in time you will get used to it
for me if i am flying my MPP and MM on the same day ,often changing over several times at different locations, then its very easy to press certain buttons ,or touch the screen and wonder why the drone did not respond as you expected it to , as the screen layout is different in both apps

 

[Cymru]

I think a lot of the limitations are the Fly app as opposed to the drone itself.

Even the Mavic 3 has a lot of those same failings due to it using DJI Fly not Go 4.

Things like the fiddly to access manual camera settings, the loss of control of sharpness and saturation, the inability to see actual sensor *values* not just "normal" and so on.

Its as if Fly was intended for the budget drones then DJI just decided to use it for all drones and abandon Go4.

A few flight features i'd love -
- The old style POV where you fly over and hit a button so its a GPS not a 3d calculated shape.

- Course lock mode needs to come back!

- Tripod mode needs to come back. Cine mode is NOT a replacement.

Other issues all DJI drones have that annoy me include:
- AEB is stuck on 2/3 of a stop with no option for adjusting it.
- No control over noise reduction in photo or video.
- panoramas start from gimbal position not 0 degrees.

But ultimately i think its software limiting drones currently not hardware. Fly is too basic.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Indeed, thank you @old man mavic
I did not want to say either this drone or that drone is better, but there are certain functions that were quite comfortable and worked out neatly which DJI never really bothered to consider even in an advanced mode.

I put the list together in case someone had the same idea of slowly replacing their older drones due to legal requirements, etc and might think on one of these to be necessary. Not all negatives meant that they existed in the M2P, they mostly don't, but some did.

I am perfectly fine so far with the Mini 3 Pro, because it allows me to fly legally now where I couldn't anymore with my M2P, which is technically still quite fine for me.

But ultimately i think its software limiting drones currently not hardware. Fly is too basic.

Yeah, that also makes it even more disappointing.
I am used to this "strategy" from traditional camera manufacturers, but DJI still got ahead of them for just too plain design while their hardware is a fine piece of work.

 

[Cymru]

To be honest one of the reasons i haven't upgraded my M2P to Mavic 3 is the Fly software.
I'd lose a lot of functionality from Go4 that i had on my previous drone.

(That and still no SDK, still no 3rd party apps, still no waypoints so useless for ortho and photogrammetry).
I would have spent a large chunk more money with DJI if they hadn't gone down the castration "Fly App" route for the supposed professional drone. I was all prepared to get a M3 Cine.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

DJI want you to buy an M30, especially for photogrammetry and mapping since those are bigger money makers for most professional drone pilots. The "prosumer" line has just enough to get you hooked for wanting more if you decide to make a business out of it. That's why there are no longer on board waypoints on the new offerings. That's something they want to move up into the Enterprise realm.

 

[miemo]

Pretty much agree with all the findings myself as well.

One additional thing that I found myself missing from M2P is the "landing light" at the bottom, it was very convenient for spotting the drone at the sky. Quite understandable DJI hasn't been able to make that in to 249 grams, though.

And on the software side, the one thing that has clearly improved is the ability to configure the control sensitivities separately to all three flight modes – it was absolutely insane that it wasn't possible with M2P setup, making it really difficult to quickly switch between stills & video work!

 

[RUFFSTUFF]

The transition from a Mavic 2 Pro to a Mini 3 Pro is easier to digest when you realize there is no Mavic Mini 3 Pro.

 

[Hiwayman]

I've been having the Mavic Mini 3 Pro now for 3 days and tested it a fair bit so far.
Having the Mavic 2 Pro for more than 3 years now and flew with it extensively, I do have to confess, you sometimes become a creature of your habits.

DJI Fly especially is not the kind of change I've waited for honestly.
While the Mini 3 Pro is an astonishing piece of work, cramped with functions that the Mavic 2 Pro once/never featured in a 4 times heavier body, I wanted to list some parts that are good and some parts DJI certainly could improve. I however stick to 99 % to photos, so I don't have any opinion on the video qualities of it (yet).

As of 27th May, 2022 points very well received with the change for me personally:

• Sound footprint definitely reduced. I wouldn't call the bird silent, but compared to the M2P it is way less noticeable and the humming is even with its light weight, ok, far less high pitched than its predecessor, the Mini 2 for instance

• Vertical mode gives more creative abilities in my aspects of landscape, architecture or cityscape photography. With the M2P I've often wished for this. Only 90 ° down photos could be orientated without cropping.

• Even if the Mini 3 Pro wouldn't feature a true vertical mode, I have to say, pitching the gimbal up to 60 ° max is a great, great thing. Again, more possibilities to capture.

• 48 MP stills feature a lot of detail (I only shoot them and do all the post processing like shrinking, denoising from the bigger files)

• Slot-in batteries provide more safety (or at least the feeling) as the mounting type of M2P, where users, not me, reported, with faulty ones, they could pop out and cause the drone to crash

• USB-C socket, ie end-to-end cables and chargers with all devices and easy interoperability with other modern devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.)

So, what's not to like? So far personally, that has mostly to do with the DJI Fly and the "limitations" compared to the older DJI Go. These are not particularly specific to the Mini 3 Pro then, but that's how I experienced them with it, I will stick to my preferences.

• No quick possibility to change exposure time/ISO/EV with a hardware button. With my older Smart Controller I had more physical buttons available. While I rarely used the back or the exit button, the 5D knob was a great thing to change your settings without using the touch display.
  Certainly, the Mini 3 Pro has no variable aperture, but still it would be nice if you could individually set like the 2nd wheel to change the exposure time, for instance rather than clicking in the lower right corner and swipe. I've always preferred pyhsical buttons against touch. So while the RC does not have as many buttons, they could still be re-mapped as the 2nd wheel is otherwise not functioning in the photo mode.

• No possibility to fade out the overlay. With DJI Go, you could set if the user would like to hide the overlay by swiping (either with one or two fingers) from the button. I've loved this function together with the grid to tweak my composition.

• Vertical orientation picture cannot be rotated to portrait on Android (I know, that may sound odd with the control sticks is for landscape, but for a better utilisation of the screen for viewing pictures)

• Panorama shooting not working with vertical mode with a higher degree of sky coverage for true 360°/180° panoramas

• Panorama mode only works with 12 MP size (not too bad, as the panoramas will likely reach still > 100 MP resolution easily)

• Panorama mode not working together with AEB to advance dynamic range for light/dark regions.

• 48 MP files do sometimes have small but colour artefacts in 100 % pixel peeping mode. Colour noise reduction solves bit, I hope for a better support with a lens profile by Adobe and tweaked firmware by DJI.

• Flight records page summary is visually quite poor compared to the old one with listed countries and flags, top speeds, etc.

• Cine mode faster than old tripod mode, see petition to change that too.
• Offline maps cannot be downloaded in the way it used to be on the old Smart Controller.
• No USB-C socket to charge batteries directly, only via drone or Fly More Kit charger, no adapter like with the M2P batteries (yet, due to form factor I guess)
• No LED for charging status on battery, only via drone or Fly More Kit charger (due to form factor I guess)
• Screwed-in rotor blades instead of push-in rotors (due to form factor I guess)

• 700 nits from new RC a bit darker than the 1,000 nits form my old Smart Controller, so if not avoidable, flying in sunlight is a bit harder (especially with my self-tinting glasses)

That's probably now the most, I've been experiencing. Some are quite annoying, some are pure comfort thingy, but the most could be "easily" improved by more dedication from DJI's side. With a potential SDK 3rd parties could step-in, but given the past, this will at least take 6 - 12 months and no guarantee (waypoint issue oh yeah).

What are you major advantages/disadvantes, especially coming from an older drone?
After this very short time, I really like this drone and am confident of its quality. Let's see how to compensate for some comfort functions I really appreciated after 3 years.

Thank you for your useful comments..
I too fly M2Ps and Mini 2 and am slowly being converted towards just flying Mini 3.... although not got my hands on one yet....maybe let the dust settle and review the decision when Mini 3 is more easily available....with flymore kits.

 

[old man mavic]

when DJI launched the original MM ,it was mainly in response to the new weight limit rules that were starting to appear around the world ,and compared to other offerings out there ,it was and still is, the first under 250g drone ,with for none professional photographers, a decent camera with a 3 axis gimbal reasonable range and flight time.
yes it had its shortcomings the front arms were too flexible and the basic WIFI comms were not as advertised ,but when it first came out it was judged unfairly,by comparisons with other mavics in the DJI stable
i have one and for the sort of flying i use it for it still does all i need from it ,its my go to drone when i want to fly under the tree canopy ,and also when i put it in sport mode and whip it around a few feet above the ground, but then in response to calls for a more capable drone in the 250g class out came the Mini 2 a much improved version ,now in response to offerings from other competitor's we arrive at the Mini 3 ,and for its weight and size ,it tries to offer as many of the features, and improved optics, that Mini 2 customers asked for.
its design is function over form ,because it allows for a bigger span from motor to motor ,which in turn allows bigger props to be accommodated ,and because of the continued development of the electronic components, and the fact that they continue to get smaller it has meant that a lot more specs have been added ,for the hobby flyer who wants a feature packed drone under the 250g weight limit it will be hard to beat .

disclaimer i do not work for DJI in any capacity ,but i know when something is good ,you can call me a DJI fan boy if you like ,i certainly wont loose any sleep over it

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Thank you for your useful comments..
I too fly M2Ps and Mini 2 and am slowly being converted towards just flying Mini 3.... although not got my hands on one yet....maybe let the dust settle and review the decision when Mini 3 is more easily available....with flymore kits.

You are welcome.
I only bought the Mini 3 Pro because the Mavic 2 Pro will soon be legally very difficult, especially in non-EASA countries, where you have to qualify separately (I already have an A2 EASA remote licence but eg UK does not recognise it anymore after Brexit) and still being limited in operating near built up area.

Being just below 250 g make things so much easier and with the Mini 3 Pro I'll pretty much retain the quality.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

It seems to me that all new model drones have their teething troubles, especially where software is concerned.
Possibly this is due to manufacturers bowing to the clamouring for the "next new thing" or feeling pressured into beating the competition to the starting line........ and thereby rushing things.
It's also why I waited before buying a Mavic Mini .....so that the bugs are ironed out.... or mostly ironed out.
Though I see the Mini 3 seems to have some physical problems which I am concerned about, lens fogging and possibly disconnections when using the DJI RC, and these may be more difficult to fix. Time will perhaps tell.

Having both P3's and M2P/Z I loathed and still loathe the Fly app especially the slider adjustments to various parameters and I have been using it since March/April 2020.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

@Yorkshire_Pud
Oh, that is certainly the case.
But, it's been like this with DJI for a long time if not already from the start. They mostly improve their bugs and software shortcomings over time to a state you are pleased. But sometimes they won't (like with the Mavic 3 and lost waypoints or any date for a SDK to arrive for 3rd parties). But tell me, where's the alternative? There's really none comparable, so DJI is likely to continue the way they have been successful with ...

I am also the kind of buyer who waits and watches how things turn out.
Did so with the Mavic 3 and its high price and decided, it's not for me, especially regarding EASA regulations.

That said, I was hooked by the Mini 3 Pro as a successor of my Mavic 2 Pro, most solely on the fact, that I am allowed to fly like I used to do some years ago. But I was aware, that in the beginning, this lovely bird will have its problems.

I do have to say that eventhough DJI build very fine hardware, I am baffled on how their software turns out sometimes. It's like they try to invent the wheel another time (like with DJI Fly) and on the other hand just simply copy over without thinking about the refinements (like panorama with greater upward tilt with the Mini 3 Pro) with their latest hardware.

So, DJI will be DJI and I'll guess we need to be patient, hoping and see how the improve further.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

But tell me, where's the alternative? There's really none comparable, so DJI is likely to continue the way they have been successful with ...

Unfortunately I completely agree.
I also wonder if some of the problem is caused by countries/companies/economies shunting their production capabilities to the cheaper labour markets, thereby losing their own 'at home' production capabilities and becoming dependant on the whims of others......ooo heavy thinking.

 

[JoshC]

• No quick possibility to change exposure time/ISO/EV with a hardware button. With my older Smart Controller I had more physical buttons available. While I rarely used the back or the exit button, the 5D knob was a great thing to change your settings without using the touch display.
  Certainly, the Mini 3 Pro has no variable aperture, but still it would be nice if you could individually set like the 2nd wheel to change the exposure time, for instance rather than clicking in the lower right corner and swipe. I've always preferred pyhsical buttons against touch. So while the RC does not have as many buttons, they could still be re-mapped as the 2nd wheel is otherwise not functioning in the photo mode.

This was my initial impression too, but if you familiarise yourself with the updated settings in the new firmware, you'll find it allows you to nominate the function of the wheel to adjust shutter speed, i.e. the main exposure setting, or you can opt to change exposure settings by holding down C1 at the same as rotating the wheel, which is offered on both C1 and C2, so it covers all your bases (and can even be used for adjusting aperture on the Mavic 3)

 

[globetrotterdrone]

This was my initial impression too, but if you familiarise yourself with the updated settings in the new firmware, you'll find it allows you to nominate the function of the wheel to adjust shutter speed, i.e. the main exposure setting, or you can opt to change exposure settings by holding down C1 at the same as rotating the wheel, which is offered on both C1 and C2, so it covers all your bases (and can even be used for adjusting aperture on the Mavic 3)

Yeah, this summary was done, when there was no update.
I've now set the exposure on the right wheel, which is fine. Sometimes it lags and is not really responding, but still better than always touching the screen.

Unfortunately I completely agree.
I also wonder if some of the problem is caused by countries/companies/economies shunting their production capabilities to the cheaper labour markets, thereby losing their own production capabilities and becoming dependant on the whims of others......ooo heavy thinking.

As always, the truth might be somewhere in between.
But I also absolutely acknowledge, there's hardly only one easy explanation but an interlocking scheme of today's economics.

 

[Cymru]

The fly app is the single biggest downgrade compared to the M2.
Lost the ability to monitor and adjust so many things.

It's a castrated, frustrating bit of software.