The DJI rumor train is back in action, with multiple leakers giving clues that the Air 3 reveal is nearing. While the date hasn’t been officially nailed down yet, it feels close enough to provide you with five features I hope to see when the drone is announced.
Quickly, let’s do a quick recap of the rumors of DJI’s Air 3. It all started with DealsDrone’s leaked roadmap for 2023 earlier in the year. We saw the Inspire 3, Mavic 3 Pro (then called 3S), and the Matrice 350T there. While the times were all off, and they missed a few other announcements, they are three for four right now on what drones will be coming out.
Most recently, DealsDrone and Igor Bogdanov have shared speculation that the DJI Air 3 announcement is on the horizon. With Bogdanov sharing a supposedly early ad for the Air 3 Fly More Bundle with… checks notes… an RC-N2? Then DealsDrone has a package that states it isn’t to be open until June 28. Also, no sign of it being DJI, but DealsDrone specializes in DJI leaks.
So with that out of the way, here’s my wish list of features I hope to come if the Air 3 does come next Wednesday.
#1: 48 MP 1-inch sensor
This feature is based on the pretense that DJI is going to keep the Air’s 1-inch sensor to keep it differentiated from the Mavic and Mini lines. Currently, the Air 2S sports a 1-inch, 20 MP camera that can take some awesome raw photos.
Even the Mini 3 Pro can take up 48 MP photos, and the Air, in my opinion, has been a tremendous photo-centered drone versus the Mavic series’ video focus. The Autel EVO Lite+ shoots 50 MP stills and is my favorite drone to take photos with, and Air 3 with 48 MP would be able to really compete here.
#2: Adjustable aperture
I think this one is pretty easy to understand. Outside of a few drones, I think only the Autel Lite+ and Mavic 3 Hasselblad camera, we are usually stuck with a fixed aperture. For the Air 2S that is f2.8, the Mavic 3 Pro starts at f2.8 and goes down to f3.4 on the 7x camera, the Hasselblad camera can adjust down to f11, and finally, the Mini 3 Pro is the fastest at f1.7.
Having a fixed aperture means playing around with your ISO and shuttle speed to lower the exposure in the camera or fidgeting with ND filters. Just having the extra tool of adjusting the aperture would go a long way in improving what sort of photos or video you can get out of the camera.
If you want a specific want from me, I’ll gladly take a range of f1.7 down to f11, but that is probably unlikely. Let me know what you would want in the comments below.
#3: 6K 30fps video
I think this is the most apparent upgrade the Air 3 could get if announced. The Air 2S maxes out 5.4k 30fps video, so the only logical step, without totally outperforming the Mavic 3 Pro, would be 6K 30. I bring the Lite+ up again because this is where it lays, and it is the only consumer drone on the market with this capability.
There are several reasons why you would want a higher resolution. First, of course, is the higher resolution itself. Having the option to shoot at 6K would yield a better-looking image. It will also improve exporting at a lower quality. Shooting at 6K, then shipping it at 4K or maybe even 1080p depending on the use case or the client, will give you an oversampled, better-looking video. Finally, cropping – when you have more pixels to work with, digital zoom or cropping in the post will mean you lose less quality.
I mean, there’s no way DJI will give us a drone with the same resolution as its predecessor, right? I guess 5.4K at 50 or 60fps would be fine, too. But 6K would be my wish.
#4: Increased battery life
Well, this one is a no-brainer, but I had to bring it up. The Air 2S has a roughly 30-minute battery life, give or take your conditions and recording settings. Obviously, that will increase in the next version.
The Mini 3 and Mavic 3 drones have 40-minute or high 30-minute flight times. This is something the Air 3 will have to make up, at least be upgraded to the high 30s, or maybe even match the Mavic 3’s battery life.
#5: Increased internal storage
So yeah, this one is going to be a hard ask. And honestly, this one really isn’t just for the Air 3 but for all drones, so whoever sees this and can make it happen, please do.
The Air 2S and Mavic 3 come with the standard 8 GB of internal storage unless you get the Mavic 3 Cine versions, then you get the fancy 1 TB SSD. While it can be a lifesaver every so often when you forget to put the microSD card in before the flight to snap that photo or short video you took the last 15-20 minutes lining up, that 8 GB isn’t going to last you long.
Figuring out which microSD card works with your drone can be a whole extensive search for those that are new; sometimes even I still mess it up. Wouldn’t it be easier if there were 64, or maybe 128 GB of onboard storage that you know will be capable of recording a day’s worth of footage?
That should totally be possible, yeah, the price will go up, which might make it impractical from a business standpoint – but for the pilot, it’s fantastic.
My final ask regarding onboard storage, which I think would make the increase 100% worth it, is if you could record to both the onboard storage and the microSD card simultaneously. Any high-end camera with dual storage slots will have this feature. While I’ve never had an SD card fail (bangs viciously on wood), it’s still possible, and having an on-location backup could be lifesaving.
Anyways, here is my wish list for the Air 3, and since the drone is already out of development, it’s more of me hoping DJI had the same idea. Share your Air 3 wish list down in the comments below with us!
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