DJI Mavic 3 Pro Review

[@BlairAir]

It is true that the Focus Track on the 166mm is hit or miss. If you read the manual (you DO read the manual, right?) it says "Static subject Only" Jake Sloan made the same observation, but in fairness, doing tracking on a long lens like that is incredibly difficult, in terms of stability and the amount of processing needed. It works... okay on a high contrast, obvious bordered subject with a background that is highly contrasted, I do a lot of POI orbits on FAR flung subjects, such as towers, spires etc., and you will generally see a "lurch" as it starts to move - This si where the optics and flight control is syncing up - if it stays "visual" - with a box around the subject, you won't get great geometry and smoothness, but when it switches to the icon for a GPS Location point (any DJI Drone, with a visual subject, actually) - after a second, it with lock on like a mofo, and you will get that perfectly locked, subject in focus, background a sweet motion blur. I spent hours experimenting with my Mavic 3 7x (162mm vs 166) and got to know these behaviors then. Now, with this setup? Its better in some areas, but the same in others. Note I literally NEVER use spotlight mode on subjects with the 7x - its too much and hard to control consistently. The 3x? ALL of this works better. My advice is learn the behaviors with the 7x and find methods that work, then when you are on the 3x, it will be damn near perfect. In fairness, we are only on the first firmware fixes, so some time will be needed for DJI to dial these variables in, and there are a LOT of them. Have you tried the "Secret" double tap on screen to center subjects? Take a look on my channel for this - I found it on a DJI "Using your Mavic 3 Pro the first time" or similar silly video. A secret function, lol! I won't link since hijacking someone's comments to push your own channel is pretty lame. I guess I sort of did though, huh? 😉😛 -take care, Chris!

[@chrisschackart]

Thanks for the info! Yes, I agree that tracking any subject with a longer focal length is difficult. I wouldn’t say it’s a harsh critique on my end, I see it as room for improvement. I am personally more concerned about the color profiles that the 166mm lens lacks. If anything could be changed it would be that all focal lengths had the same sensor as the 24mm and the same color profiles. Now, I know that would make the drone more expensive and change the design, but I would happily pay for those comforts. Along with internal ND’s. If they would put internal ND’s on a prosumer drone than I would be 👌. Thanks for stopping by and happy flying!

[@johnnybermudez]

Great vid dude. Keep rocking

[@chrisschackart]

Thank you! Thanks for stopping by!

[@ernesfg]

awesome as always

[@chrisschackart]

Thank you so much! Thanks for continuing to follow me!

[@Patriot_MJF]

Well done review! Waiting for mine to arrive today!

[@chrisschackart]

Thank you! You’re going to love it!

[@SkyTouch08]

Appreciate the review brother. New Subscriber

[@chrisschackart]

Appreciate you!

[@malanalan1]

how is it going, dude?

[@chrisschackart]

Living the dream, don’t pinch me. How about you my friend?

[@harrisongould9460]

I'm on the verge of getting one. I have a six month old Classic to sell but that's another story. My question is, how do you like the stills from the three lenses? I am basically a still photographer and would love my Canon R6 on the end of my gimbal but that's not happening. I find that even the Classic stills suck(when compared to the R6) even in RAW but it is what it is. My concern is how do the 77mm and the 166mm hold up with shooting stills with these two lenses producing basically 4K screenshots? Thanks...I did subscribe.

[@chrisschackart]

I have a couple R6’s as well and they blow these images out of the water. That said, it’s kind of an uneven comparison between the two so I don’t expect it to be better. I think that it’s some of the best imagery you can get from a drone, especially at this price point. If you want the best quality use the R6, but the Mavic 3 Pro is amazing for what it’s intended use is. Thanks for subscribing!

[@roberto69rs]

They're very good photos. Don't expect mirrorless or dslr. Take a good ariel photo and it will speak for itself and you forget all about your land cameras.

[@chrisschackart]

You definitely can’t replace the perspective that drones give you.

[@petersuvara]

I think the colour profile may be limited by the sensor… strange nonetheless.

[@chrisschackart]

Yeah, I 100% agree!

[@luciengrillet]

Good thing the recent update fixed this issue! 🎉

[@petersuvara]

@@luciengrillet which recent update? Would love to see if the same updates are there for the MAVIC 3 Cine, which I use.

[@luciengrillet]

DJI released an update this week allowing, among other great stuff, to shoot in D Log M with the 166mm lens on all the drones that have it. There is plenty of videos about the new functions, if you haven’t seen any yet, you’re in for a treat.

[@chrisschackart]

That’s awesome to hear! I haven’t heard about the new update but I’m definitely going to take a look and update mine now 🙏 Thanks for the heads up!

[@mikel9741]

Turn your mic up brother.

[@chrisschackart]

Will do!

[@Hog583]

❤🎉

[@chrisschackart]

Thanks for stopping by!

[@BlairAir]

Hey Chris - correcting my (long) comment - I said that the User Guide states that Focus Track, POI works with "Static Subject Only - so not a moving one like you were testing. True, but source was wrong. The "Static Subject line was when Focus Track was FIRST ADDED to the Tele Lens, for Mavic 3 with FW v01.00.0900 last November. You had a 3 Classic, so probably wouldn't have seen it. Its on the collective release notes doc covering all FW updates during 2022 for Mavic 3 (10 of them!) . Mavic3 Pro STARTS out with these fixes and feature adds, skipping much of the pain early adopters got saddled with (including yours truly) Here is the line:  Added Spotlight and POI when using tele camera, supports static subject. Now it is carried it over to the 3 Pro. Check here for the first 9 (0f 12) FW updates we got on the Mavic 3, starting in November 2021: dl.djicdn.com/downloads/DJI_Mavic_3/20230425/DJI_Mavic_3_Release_Notes_en.pdf This can be useful - DJI Update the User Guide for Mavic 3 almost as many times; v1.2, 1.4, 1.8, -the latest V2.0 one covers Waypoints, and more recent features. I try to rtfm when possible. " There's gold in them thar manuals, lol"