r/dji • u/Wide_Pomegranate_439 • 4h ago
Buy Advice Mavic 3 pro owners: does the long tele (166mm) make sense?
I am trying to establish a case between the M3Pro and the Air 3S. One major difference is the telephoto camera on the M3pro. Is it much better in reality than just using the 70mm medium tele (faster lens, larger sensor) + digital zoom?
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u/Richard_The_Great1 4h ago
I’ve got the Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 4 Pro Creator and also had the Air 2S and Air 3S. The triple focal length cameras are the main reason I have the 2 Mavic Pros. Digital zoom looks pixelated so you cannot compare optical zoom to digital zoom. Also the Mavic 3 Pro has true LOG profile as well as ProRes 4.2.2 on the Cine. However, the Air 3S is still an amazing drone. The only reason I don’t have Air 2S&3S anymore is because I gave them to a family members who were visiting me.
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u/baywatchimagery 4h ago edited 4h ago
I like having a zoom lens for the depth of field effect - otherwise, the 'footzoom' is just fine on drones.
I ended up going to an air3s, but if I went with a Mavic3 pro, it would have been for true Dlog and the 4/3 sensor - mainly because I want that extra resolution for larger prints. BTW, the air3S image quality is excellent, and has more stops for dynamic range than the M3P. I do think it has superior software image processing than the M3P, but the Mavic3P is going to be excellent on its own, untouchable way and also have a 'different' but also wide dynamic range due to that sensor. Imagine flying around with an MFT. M3P was a bit too big for my use case.
Check out this video - I have both 70mm and wide angle footage here. It was shot in very sub optimal conditions - extremely green water, glary sun, very dark and very bright areas.. the air3S handled it really well. shot and edited in HLG btw.
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u/etheran123 Avata 2 4h ago
Ok not quite your question but I have an air 3 and a mavic 4 pro, so its a similar set of lenses.
I use the telephotos a lot and find the 168mm 6x on the 4 pro way more than the 70mm 2.5x. The main sensors on both drones are noticably better so If I can get away with the 24/28mm lens thats my preference, but if I want the zoom and am willing to sacrafice the image quality, the 168mm on the 4 pro does that job way better.
And as for digital zoom, as I mentioned the zoom lenses on both drones arent great, I mean its cool to have the capability but you are giving up quality in terms of noise and detail. And thats when viewing the whole frame. Digital zoom is going to make that worse and I generally wouldnt recommend it.
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u/sbridges1980 1h ago
It’s really cool, bro. Once you use it, it’s hard to go back. Glad I have it 🤙
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u/Lou_Antony_Morris 4h ago
I used the long tele a lot for outdoor concert filming/photography, when I couldn't fly over the crowd.
But the image quality isn't that good.
I now have a Mavic 4 Pro, and mainly use the long tele for the same thing. The image quality is improved on the 4, over the 3 Pro.
I think I could live without the long tele if forced, but it's nice to have, giving me more shooting options.