The DJI Mavic series has evolved to the three-camera, and the Mini series has also innovated in lossless vertical shooting. After the DJI Air 2S adopts the 1-inch camera, what other innovations and upgrades will the Air series bring? The DJI Air 3 recently launched by DJI tells us the answer.
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No 1-inch camera, but the playability of dual main cameras is higher
The biggest change of DJI Air 3 is the imaging system – the single camera has become the dual camera combination of wide-angle + 3x medium tele camera. The wide-angle camera has an equivalent focal length of 24mm and an aperture of f/1.7. The medium tele camera is equivalent to 70mm, and the aperture is f/2.8. After the single camera is changed to dual camera, the CMOS size is changed from 1-inch of single camera to 1/1.3″ of dual camera.
For users who love large sizes, this change will indeed be a bit disappointing. But from the perspective of product positioning, it is actually very scientific. If image quality performance is important, then choosing the DJI Mavic 3 Classic (4/3″ CMOS) would be a better choice. As for the Air series, playability is more important than image quality.
The addition of tele camera can play a very good role in aerial photography of drones. The tele camera can show the compression of the picture and can eliminate unwanted picture elements – so it is also more flexible in the creation of aerial photography. The equivalent focal length of 70mm belongs to the medium tele camera category in photography, so this medium tele camera can also bring in some background elements that match the main characters when shooting subjects with people as the main body. And when shooting at low altitudes, the 3x telephoto camera can also play a role in river areas.
The two cameras of the DJI Air 3 have no prioritization – not only are they the same size, they both output 48MP images and support 4K100fps shooting. D-log M is also common to the two cameras, and the drifting away and orbiting are also applicable.
It should be noted that in the RAW+JPEG+48MP mode, the waiting time when the shutter is pressed is still a bit long. DJI Air 3 also supports the vertical video function, but it is not the lossless shooting of 90° flip, but the cropping mode of horizontal video – up to 2.7K60P mode is supported.
In addition, the wide-angle camera in video mode supports 1~3x digital zoom, and the telephoto camera supports 3~9x digital zoom. It is not yet possible to switch between cameras by turning the wheel on the remote control.
Fully upgraded image transmission, obstacle avoidance and battery life
The improvement of DJI Air 3 in image transmission, obstacle avoidance and battery life is recognized by everyone. Not only the image transmission system of the drone has been upgraded to the O4 version, and the maximum distance of image transmission in an open environment can reach 20km. Signal interference is also less of the problem than the O3. When using the DJI Air 3 aerial photography in the urban area this time, the screen of the remote control did not lag.
In terms of obstacle avoidance, DJI Air 3 has added lateral obstacle avoidance, and the obstacle avoidance system has also been upgraded to APAS 5.0 version – Omnidirectional obstacle avoidance is very important for DJI Air 3. Due to the compression of the 3x telephoto field of view, dangerous obstacles around will not appear in the image transmission screen.
The flight time of the DJI Air 3 has been increased to 46 minutes. Excluding the take-off and return time, a single recording of 30 minutes of aerial footage can already meet the needs of many users.
DJI Air 3 specs and features:
- 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor
- Dual-camera 48MP photos
- Dual-camera 4K/60fps HDR videos
- Omnidirectional obstacle sensing
- 46-min max flight time
- $1099 – Check latest price on Amazon US, Amazon Germany, Banggood (RC-N2) or other Amazon countries