DJI Air 3 Drone Review: Serious Video Chops

DJI’s drones dominate the market to such an extent that you just barely hear every other manufacturers talked about. They are not fairly competing with themselves, however the DJI Air 3 does fill a spot between the professional-grade Mavic sequence and the pocket-size Mini vary. It is the primary new Air mannequin since 2021’s Air 2S, and DJI has accomplished it once more, with a drone that provides enhanced video efficiency and mercifully stress-free flying.

I have been flying the DJI Air 3 for the previous few months, evaluating it with a spread of different drones, together with its primary competitor, the very good Air 2S. The most important enchancment over its older cousin is a multi-camera setup beforehand unique to the a lot pricier Mavic fashions, however there are notable boosts to battery life and flight security too.

Twice as Good

The headline characteristic for the DJI Air 3 is the 2 cameras mounted on its entrance gimbal. There is a “commonplace” wide-angle digital camera providing a 24-mm-equivalent discipline of view (broadly just like the digital camera on the Air 2S) and a medium-telephoto digital camera providing a 70-mm-equivalent discipline of view. The latter offers the drone a brand-new artistic choice, with the angle permitting for a narrower framing of smaller topics and the power to isolate them in opposition to the background in an all-new, dramatic manner. A tighter discipline of view won’t sound all that thrilling, however in observe it’s a major improve.

{Photograph}: DJI

Each cameras use a 1/1.3-inch Quad Bayer CMOS sensor with 48-megapixel decision. What I like about these sensors is that they each seize video on the identical high quality, making it simpler to present footage a unified, harmonious look when enhancing, irrespective of which elements had been captured by which digital camera.

The DJI Air 2S had a single 1-inch 20-megapixel sensor, which could make the Air 3’s smaller 1/1.3-inch sensors sound slightly disappointing. However it doesn’t really feel like an excessive amount of of a loss. I perceive DJI’s justification; two bigger sensors would add weight and take up area. However all instructed, I feel the picture high quality is best on the Air 3, with wider dynamic vary and fewer noise.

The Air 3 does lose the power to report video at a 5.7K decision, being restricted to 4K on each cameras, however in all honesty, I don’t assume anyone will thoughts all that a lot. For almost all of informal customers, 4K can be greater than sufficient element.

4K will be captured at as much as 60 frames per second in the usual video mode, 100 fps in slow-motion mode, and 30 fps within the new evening mode, which ekes out additional element after the solar goes down. I discovered the flat D Log M colour profile a pleasure too, because it let me do my very own colour grading and correction in postproduction and obtain the outcomes I wished.

Pictures (which will be captured in JPEG or DNG RAW) look glorious too, and whereas the Air 3 can’t match the WIRED-recommended Mavic 3’s 4 Thirds Hasselblad digital camera, it’s not far off, whereas being smaller and considerably cheaper.

Fly Safer for Longer

Buzzing across the seashores and headlands of Britain’s southeast coast, I discovered the Air 3 to be much more forgiving and pleasant to fly than its (already forgiving and pleasant) predecessor. That is due to a much bigger battery (46 minutes versus the Air 2S’s 31—though real-world use numbers are marginally decrease for each drones) and a full omnidirectional anti-collision sensor setup that makes crashes most unlikely. The Air 3 now has sensors dealing with forwards, backwards, upwards, downwards, and laterally on each the left and proper sides, and in good mild these will spot hazards and cease your drone from careering into them. These sensors develop into much less dependable the darker the circumstances are, however it’s a useful characteristic that would save your blushes and financial institution steadiness.

Like all DJI drones, the Air 3’s flight controls are splendidly intuitive and loaded with sensible automated capabilities. For example, you may faucet a button on the controller to take off, and one other to deliver the drone again from wherever it’s and land. It’s also possible to outline waypoints for totally automated flight, and set the Air 3 to trace a static or shifting topic, retaining its cameras skilled on it always.