It has been a quiet 12 months for DJI drones up to now, however new leaks counsel a Mavic 3 Professional may very well be touchdown quickly with an thrilling new characteristic – three cameras.
The dependable DJI leaker @DealsDrone (opens in new tab) posted a picture on Twitter displaying what seems to be the retail field for the brand new DJI Mavic 3 Professional, which is able to seemingly be accessible in a bundle with the expensive DJI RC Professional controller.
The picture tallies with earlier ones not too long ago shared by the identical leaker, which present a gimbal-stabilized digital camera module with three separate lenses. This might make it DJI’s first shopper drone to supply three totally different native focal lengths, as the present DJI Mavic 3 has two lenses (with equal focal lengths of 24mm and 162mm).
Mavic 3 Professional combo with RC Professional pic.twitter.com/fTfIMwk4e6April 5, 2023
So why pack in three cameras? It might provide aerial photographers and filmmakers among the versatility seen on the perfect mirrorless cameras, or the newest flagship smartphones. What is not but clear is strictly what focal lengths these three cameras will provide.
The @DealsDrone leak suggests the third digital camera might “assist 3x zoom”. If that’s the case, that may give the DJI Mavic 3 Professional a fundamental wide-angle digital camera with a 4/3-inch CMOS sensor and a 24mm lens, a second 162mm telephoto one with a 1/2-inch CMOS sensor, and a 3rd with a focal size within the 70mm ballpark.
That is all removed from sure, although. One other risk was floated by long-time DJI leaker @OsitaLV (opens in new tab) again in August 2022, when it was recommended {that a} future Mavic drone might as an alternative provide a 3rd digital camera with a 50mm lens and a 1-inch sensor.
Both method, it appears the DJI Mavic 3 Professional will give us that additional choice within the mid-telephoto vary in comparison with the DJI Mavic 3. That may very well be useful for selecting out particulars within the panorama that do not require the lengthy 162mm telephoto lens, and could be higher than counting on digital zoom from its fundamental wide-angle digital camera.
Whereas the leaks up to now have not recommended a launch date for the DJI Mavic 3 Professional, pre-launch photographs of retail packaging have a tendency to seem inside weeks of an official launch – and one other dependable DJI leaker, @JasperEllens (opens in new tab), has additionally recommended that the drone “will likely be in shops very quickly”.
Evaluation: the world’s most versatile drone?
We’re used to the perfect digital camera telephones providing us at the very least three cameras, so it is good to see DJI drones beginning to provide that sort of versatility – with the additional benefit of gimbal stabilization, and bigger sensors than your typical smartphone.
Whereas it’s potential to easily fly your drone nearer to a topic to pick particulars, longer focal lengths allow you to do that without having to maneuver your drone from a excessive vantage level. This could additionally allow you to remain inside native drone legal guidelines that require you to take care of sure distances from folks and buildings.
On the present DJI Mavic 3, there’s fairly a giant hole between its 24mm wide-angle lens and its 162mm telephoto lens. You possibly can transfer between the 2 by utilizing hybrid digital zoom, however this does compromise picture high quality. So having a mid-telephoto choice between the 2 present cameras would make the Mavic 3 Professional an impressively versatile aerial images platform.
Naturally, this may all doubtless come at a major value. The Mavic 3 had a launch worth of $2,199 / £1,879 / AU$3,099, whereas a DJI Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo bundle (which incorporates the DJI RC Professional seen within the leaks above) began at $4,999 / £4,279 / AU$7,199.
With an additional lens and doubtlessly different new options, we are able to count on the DJI Mavic 3 Professional’s base bundle to be pricier than the Mavic 3’s equal, marking it out as a genuinely skilled providing. Nonetheless, it ought to at the very least be cheaper than the rumored DJI Encourage 3, which recent leaks (opens in new tab) have recommended might arrive at an analogous time.