Being able to put a camera in the sky is part of the job for many people these days, from cinematographers to real estate photographers to wedding photographers.

And now, DJI's new Mavic 3 lets you put not one camera in the sky, but two.

Yes, two.

What follows is a first look at the DJI Mavic 3. (It arrived too late to put it in the air, but there's plenty to do unboxing and setting up this package.)

The Mavic 3 is the follow-up to DJI's Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom drones, released in August 2018. A lot has happened since then, and an update to the flagship line has been widely anticipated for some time.

The Mavic 3 comes in two models: the Mavic 3 and the Mavic 3 Cine. The only difference is that the Cine model offers support for the Apple ProRes 422 HQ codec (where you'll be burning through a gigabyte of storage for every 10 seconds of 5.1K video) and 1TB built-in SSD. The base Mavic 3 is limited to H.264/H.265 codecs with a max bitrate of 200Mbps.

If you find H.264/H.265 video not offering you the flexibility you need, then you need the Cine version. For most people, however, the Cine version will be overkill.

Let's take a visual tour of the Mavic 3.

DJI Mavic 3: Unboxing and first look

DJI Mavic 3: Tech specs

Aircraft specs

Takeoff Weight

• Mavic 3: 895 g
• Mavic 3 Cine: 899 g

Dimensions (Folded/Unfolded)

• Folded (without propellers) 221¡Á96.3¡Á90.3 mm
  (Length¡ÁWidth¡ÁHeight)
• Unfolded (without propellers) 347.5¡Á283¡Á107.7 mm
  (Length¡ÁWidth¡ÁHeight)

Diagonal Length

• 380.1 mm

Max Ascent Speed

• 1 m/s (C mode)
• 6 m/s (N mode)
• 8 m/s (S mode)

Max Descent Speed

• 1 m/s (C mode)
• 6 m/s (N mode)
• 6 m/s (S mode)

Max Flight Speed (at sea level, no wind)

• 5 m/s (C mode)
• 15 m/s (N mode)
• 19 m/s (S mode)

Max Service Ceiling Above Sea Level

• 6000 m

Max Flight Time (no wind)

• 46 minutes

Max Hovering Time (no wind)

• 40 minutes

Max Flight Distance

• 30 km

Max Wind Speed Resistance

• 12 m/s

Max Tilt Angle

• 25¡ã (C mode)
• 30¡ã (N mode)
• 35¡ã (S mode)

Max Angular Velocity

• 200¡ã/s

Operating Temperature

• -10¡ã to 40¡ã C (14¡ã to 104¡ã F)

GNSS

• GPS + Galileo + BeiDou

Hovering Accuracy Range

• Vertical: ¡À0.1 m (with Vision Positioning); ¡À0.5 m
  (with GNSS Positioning)
• Horizontal: ¡À0.3 m (with Vision Positioning); ¡À0.5 m
  (with High-Precision Positioning System)

Internal Storage

• Mavic 3: 8 GB (available space is approx. 7.2 GB)
• Mavic 3 Cine: 1TB (available space is approx. 934.8 GB)

Hasselblad Camera

Sensor

• 4/3 CMOS, Effective pixels: 20 MP

Lens

• FOV: 84¡ã
• Format Equivalent: 24 mm
• Aperture: f/2.8 to f/11
• Focus: 1 m to ¡Þ (with autofocus)

ISO Range

• Video: 100-6400
• Still Image: 100-6400

Shutter Speed

• Electronic Shutter: 8-1/8000 s

Max Image Size

• Main Unit: 5280¡Á3956

Still Photography Modes

• Single shot: 20MP Photos
• Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB): 20 MP, 3/5 bracketed frames at 0.7 EV
• Timed: 20 MP, 2/3/5/7/10/15/20/30/60 s

Video Resolution

• Apple ProRes 422 HQ
• 5.1K: 5120¡Á2700@24/25/30/48/50fps
• DCI 4K: 4096¡Á2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*fps
• 4K: 3840¡Á2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*fps
  
• H.264/H.265
• 5.1K: 5120¡Á2700@24/25/30/48/50fps
• DCI 4K: 4096¡Á2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*fps
• 4K: 3840¡Á2160@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*fps
• FHD: 1920¡Á1080p@24/25/30/48/50/60/120*/200*fps
  * Framerates above are recording framerates. Videos will be played as slow-motion videos.

Max Video Bitrate

• H.264/H.265 Bitrate: 200 Mbps

Supported File Formats

• exFAT

Photo Format

• JPEG/DNG (RAW)

Video Formats

• Mavic 3:
  MP4/MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265)
  
• Mavic 3 Cine:
  MP4/MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265)
  MOV (Apple ProRes 422 HQ)

Tele Camera

Sensor

• 1/2-inch CMOS

Shutter Speed

• Electronic Shutter: 2-1/8000 s

Lens

• FOV: 15¡ã
• Format Equivalent: 162mm
• Aperture: f/4.4
• Focus: 3 m to ¡Þ

ISO Range

• Video: 100-6400
• Still Image: 100-6400

Max Image Size

• 4000¡Á3000

Photo Format

• JPEG

Video Formats

• MP4/MOV (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, HEVC/H.265)

Still Photography Modes

• Single shot: 12MP Photos

Video Resolution

• H264/H.265
• 4K: 3840¡Á2160@30 fps
• FHD: 1920¡Á1080@30 fps

Digital Zoom

• 4x

Gimbal

Stabilization

• 3-axis motorized (tilt, roll, pan)

Mechanical Range

• Tilt: -135¡ã to 100¡ã
• Roll: -45¡ã to 45¡ã
• Pan: -27¡ã to 27¡ã

Controllable Range

• Tilt: -90¡ã to 35¡ã
• Pan: -5¡ã to 5¡ã

Max Control Speed (tilt)

• 100¡ã/s

Angular Vibration Range

• ¡À0.007¡ã

Sensing

Sensing System

• Omnidirectional binocular vision system, supplemented with an infrared sensor at the bottom of the aircraft

Forward

• Measurement Range: 0.5-20 m
• Detection Range: 0.5-200 m
• Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ¡Ü 15m/s
• FOV: Horizontal 90¡ã, Vertical 103¡ã

Backward

• Measurement Range: 0.5-16 m
• Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ¡Ü 14m/s
• FOV: Horizontal 90¡ã, Vertical 103¡ã

Lateral

• Measurement Range: 0.5-25 m
• Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ¡Ü 15m/s
• FOV: Horizontal 90¡ã, Vertical 85¡ã

Upward

• Measurement Range: 0.2-10 m
• Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ¡Ü 6m/s
• FOV: Front and Back 100¡ã, Left and Right 90¡ã

Downward

• Measurement Range: 0.3-18 m
• Effective Sensing Speed: Flight Speed ¡Ü 6m/s
• FOV: Front and Back 130¡ã, Left and Right 160¡ã

Operating Environment

• Forward, Backward, Left, Right, and Upward: Surface with a clear pattern and adequate lighting (lux>15)
• Downward: Surface with a clear pattern and adequate lighting (lux >15). Diffuse reflective surface with diffuse reflectivity>20% (e.g. wall, tree, person)

Video Transmission

Video Transmission System

• O3+

Live View Quality

• Remote Controller: 1080p@30fps/1080p@60fps

Operation Frequency

• 2.400-2.4835 GHz
• 5.725-5.850 GHz

Max Transmission Distance (unobstructed, free of interference and aligned with controller)

• 2.400-2.4835 GHz; 5.725-5.850 GHz
• FCC: 15 km
• CE: 12 km
• SRRC: 8 km
• MIC: 8 km

Max Download Bitrate

• SDR:
• 5.5MB/s (with RC-N1 remote controller)
• 15MB/s (with DJI RC Pro remote controller)
• Wi-Fi 6: 80MB/s

Latency (depending on environmental conditions and mobile device)

• 130 ms (with RC-N1 remote controller)
  120 ms (with DJI RC Pro remote controller)

Antennas

• 4 antennas, 2T4R

Transmitter Power (EIRP)

• 2.4 GHz: ¡Ü33 dBm (FCC); ¡Ü20 dBm (CE/SRRC/MIC)
• 5.8 GHz: ¡Ü33 dBm (FCC), ¡Ü30 dBm(SRRC), ¡Ü14 dBm(CE)

Battery

Capacity

• 5000 mAh

Voltage

• 15.4 V

Charging Voltage Limit

• 17.6 V

Battery Type

• LiPo 4S

Energy

• 77 Wh

Weight

• 335.5 g

Charging Temperature

• 5¡ã to 40¡ã C (41¡ã to 104¡ã F)

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I will follow up with a review after I get some hours under my belt with this drone.