DJI has been main the market in pictures drones for over ten years, beginning all the best way again with the unique Phantom in 2013. After a number of iterations and redesigns, the present lineup of pictures drones have matured to be very feature-rich, dependable, and simple to make use of. As we speak, DJI is packing all of that expertise into a brand new member within the lineup, the Air 3.
The Air 3 has gained a lot of fascinating new options, however the main enchancment is a twin digital camera system, which has change into a well-liked function of the Mavic 3 Professional — however there are some enhancements. The digital camera sensors are an identical and provide the identical capabilities so footage will naturally match, however they differ within the focal size and aperture of the lenses.
Every digital camera has a 1/1.3-inch sensor with twin native ISO for capturing 4K@60fps HDR or 4K@100fps (non-HDR) video and 48MP images. The lens configuration offers a wide-angle lens equal to 24mm with an F1.7 aperture, and a 3x medium tele lens equal to 70mm with an F2.8 aperture.
Picture credit score: DJI
Each cameras can shoot within the typical modes at as much as 4K decision, however DJI additionally added a brand new dual-camera capturing mode that captures 2.7K vertical video with the tele lens and a second video with the large angle lens. This produces a decent shot of the primary topic that may be shared with out cropping to social networks that favor portrait orientation, all whereas the large angle digital camera captures a full view that may fill out the perimeters when the video is posted to locations that favor panorama orientations.
The enhancements don’t simply cease on the digital camera. Battery life for the Air 3 can now attain as much as 46 minutes of flight time, up from 34 minutes for the Air 2, and 31 minutes of the Air 2S. Likewise, the brand new mannequin is provided with the O4 HD Video Transmission System, which may attain a distance of as much as 20km and ship 1080p@60fps video.
The batteries additionally assist a brand new Energy Accumulation perform utilizing the charging dock from the Fly Extra Combo. With the press of the facility button, all linked batteries switch their energy to the most-charged battery. This implies there’s much less cause to emphasize about getting probably the most out of every cost earlier than setting the drone all the way down to swap batteries.
The Air 3 can also be the primary of the Air collection to realize Omnidirectional Impediment Sensing, a function that’s been restricted to the Mavic 3 collection till now. A pair of fishy lenses on the entrance and rear give an efficient 360° view across the sides and high, and a pair of binocular lenses and a 3D Time Of Flight (TOF) sensor guarantee there are not any surprises from beneath.
Picture credit score: DJI
The brand new Air 3 is on the market in three configurations. Beginning at $1,099, the bottom bundle contains simply the drone and vital equipment, a single battery, and the RC-N2 controller — this one requires connecting a smartphone to behave because the touchscreen of the controller. The opposite two choices are variations on the all the time widespread Fly Extra Combo, which provides two batteries, a charging cradle that helps the brand new energy accumulation perform, a sturdy carrying tote, and several other different equipment. The combo is on the market with both the RC-N2 controller for $1,349, or with the RC 2 controller for $1,549, which includes a built-in display.