If you’re all set with drones for the season, that’s awesome. However, if you’ve been waiting for the Mavic 3 Pro (or whatever it will be called), we figured it’s worth a fast update.
Late in May, we pulled together a wrap of what we know about the upcoming drone — and what we don’t. We’ll review some of that in this post, but if you’d like to check out the original, you’ll find it here. The point is, we’re getting closer. And that means it’s almost a certainty we’ll start seeing some leaked photos before long showing a complete unit or prototype being tested in the wild.
It happens every single time there’s an impending release, so we’re pretty sure we’ll start seeing these pop up.
What to expect?
As mentioned, we reviewed everything we’ve heard from our source (plus some informed speculation) in this piece. But if we wanted to crunch that down for those in a rush, here are the high points:
- 8K video resolution @ 30 fps
- Variable aperture
- Rear-mounted battery (instead of the top-mount configuration)
- OcuSync 3.0 (minimum)
- Hasselblad camera (likely)
- Possible integration with the DJI FPV Goggles V2
When to expect it?
Well, as we’ve reported before, our source tells us it was originally scheduled for Q3. That means sometime between the beginning of July and the end of September. However, he cautioned us it could be pushed to Q4 – possibly due to a global chip shortage or perhaps because the company wants to ensure it doesn’t rush this to market – especially when it’s already had two big 2021 successes with the DJI FPV Combo and the AIR 2S.
Regardless, it will be out this year, and it will be significantly more expensive than the AIR 2S. From our source:
Who will buy the Mavic 3 Pro?
Presumably, it will appeal to the same people who purchased the Mavic 2 Pro: Professional cinematographers who don’t have the need (or the pockets) for the Inspire 2. Creatives who really want the extra control that a variable aperture provides. And even just consumers with a little extra flash cash who don’t mind shelling out the extra dough over the highly capable AIR 2S. Plus, there will be some First Responders and Enterprise users who will find this does the job for them. (You don’t always have to have an Enterprise drone to do Enterprise work.)
We don’t yet know if there will be two models; you’ll recall the Mavic 2 line also offers a Zoom model. We can’t say if they’ll follow that template and offer two different drones.
Obstacle avoidance
This is one area where we’d expect some improvements. Tracking in areas where there are a lot of obstacles has not, unfortunately, been one of DJI’s strong suits. Yes, for sure, its drones can track. However, it’s not too hard to shake them from tracking, and sometimes, obstacle avoidance will either fail (the drone simply stops behind an obstacle, which is certainly better than hitting it), or else it will snag something that it just didn’t quite see in time.
Now, we’ve seen some videos online where the AIR 2S does a great job of tracking, but most would agree that the Skydio 2 has an edge in this area. To be fair, the Skydio 2 is not entirely infallible. Thin branches and wires can still trip it up as well. But overall, its tracking and follow abilities (as well as its obstacle avoidance) are phenomenal. So we would definitely anticipate that DJI will up its game here.
Hasselblad?
Yes, we think so. However, it’s really just a guess based on the current Mavic 2 Pro. But it does make sense, right? The Mavic 3 Pro will be marketed as a premium quadcopter, so it must truly have added value in order to make a clear distinction between it and the AIR 2S. In fact, we’d be surprised if this machine did not come with a Hasselblad camera on its fixed-focal-length model.
And so…we wait. And with great anticipation.
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