Mavic 3 Pro first impressions: How did they make the best drone better?

I’ve had a chance to fly the Mavic 3 Pro for a few weeks now, and it has brought new joy to drone flying for me. Here are some of my first impressions of the drone now that it is available in stores and probably arriving at some customers’ doors soon.

Everything you love about the Mavic 3, but better

If you were wondering what flying a drone with such a larger camera array is like, I’m sorry to disappoint. It flies just like the regular Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 Classic. That shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since it is the same platform, just made slightly taller to accommodate the larger gimbal. However, on the second day of my flying, I switched back and forth between the Mavic 3 Pro and the regular Mavic 3, and I couldn’t tell the difference.

The Mavic 3 Pro is coming in and completely replacing the original Mavic 3 product that came out in 2021. At the beginning of the year, there was a rumor that a Mavic 3S drone to be released in July. The overall timeline DealsDrone gave us seems pretty off, but I would definitely consider this a Mavic 3S-like drone – an overall upgrade to a drone without any significant design changes.

The Mavic 3 Pro still produces the best footage you can get in a quadcopter with improvements that the first Mavic 3 didn’t. The first upgrade is 4K60 on the 7x camera. We’ve been using that a lot with our review, which should help us create amazing slow-motion shots for you. The second great addition is the 3x camera, which is so awesome that it deserves its own section.

The 3x camera is a game changer

I can sum up my opinions on the 3x camera in four words: EVERY DRONE NEEDS THIS.

It has truly changed the way I look at drone shots. While the 7x was game-changing for its own reason back in 2021, the 3x is on another level. We have become so used to the ultra-wide angle views we usually get on every drone for years that it blows your mind when you get something like 70mm.

Here’s the thing – yeah, the wide angle will be used a lot for those needing to be close to the subject. But if you know what you’re doing or doing photography, the compression that the 3x camera gives is just unbeatable, so it really changed how we started to look at this drone.

Before, we only had two options, wide and super zoomed. The 7x, or 166mm, was a great party trick to show friends, but it was hard to use effectively outside of photos. The 3x gives you that extra compression while not being too close that you can’t use it in a way that tells the story well.

I remember one shot we created with a friend in the field, moving up an old water tower in Milwaukee. When we both made the same realization, this didn’t look like it was coming from a drone but from a fancy camera-equipped helicopter. It honestly looked better since we could get so much lower than a helicopter could.

DJI has literally replaced the need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to operate a helicopter with a drone as long as you’re okay with just D-Log M.

Honorable mentions

For those who care about accessories like me, you’ll know that I still love the 100w charger brick that is now included in the Fly More package. While you still have to make sure you can pull 100w from an outlet, note: Sharing extension cords in a coffee shop will not be the same as at home. It charges everything so much faster.

With using the new carrying bag for the past few weeks, I’ve noticed it can almost fit everything that the original could. At least it can fit everything you need. Inside the shoulder bag, I’ve been bringing four spare batteries, the ND filters, the RC Pro, and everything for charging. I also have the spare propellers somewhere in there, probably at the bottom, waiting to be needed but not knowing when.

However, with the right backpack, I can have my camera with my trinity lenses (17-40, 24-105, and 70-200), the Mavic 3 Pro, the smaller RC, and a few batteries here and there. There’s not much you can’t do with that setup.

One last item I would like to mention that wasn’t in my original unboxing post and video was the ND filters. For some reason, they weren’t included, and our rep said they are sold separately, but the website states they are included with the Fly More bundles. Anyways, I don’t know if DJI changed anything to these, but they come off and go back on so much easier. Maybe the larger size of the gimbal helps, but I no longer have to fight it to change NDs out while one-handed.

I’m really excited to show you all our review; I’ve partnered with a local videographer to help create it, and it’s coming together better than I imagined. There are cars, kite surfers, old water towers, and lots of downtown Milwaukee. Hopefully, we will be able to show it to you all soon!