A Quick Look at The Highly-Anticipated New DJI Air 3

As we recently predicted, DJI’s newest release for the consumer UAV market is the Air 3, and it includes a serious camera system for a non-pro drone.

Just a few days ago, DJI tweeted out a very brief, very ambiguous video that hinted at a new drone on the horizon. The only concrete detail from the promotional piece was the mention of July 25^th as the reveal date.

Interestingly, the video showed what looked like two large windows looking over a deep golden horizon. We speculated on these being symbolic of camera windows in an upcoming successor to the DJI Air 2S and that just what it turned out to be.

Now that the UAV maker has finally released the Air 3 drone, we’ve been able to see not only what kind of flight specs it comes with but also (and more importantly) how powerful its camera is.

The result is indeed impressive. The Air 3 comes with a dual camera arrangement that features both a wide-angle f/1.7 lens and a 3x telephoto lens.

The sensors on both of the drone’s cameras are powerful 48MP 1/1.3 models and on the main camera, you can also enjoy the light-absorbing benefits of the very bright f/1.7 lens.

By default, these sensors output their still shots in 12MP resolution due to the video specs of the Air 3, but they can be configured for taking shots in the drone’s full 48MP resolution.

More specifically, the wide camera on the Air 3 is a 24mm f/1.7 device while the telephoto camera is a 70mm lens model with an f/2.8 aperture. Both of these include full AF functionality for lots of precise shooting from the air.

The Air 3 also comes with solid video specs to back up the physical performance of its cameras. These specs include the capacity for 10-bit recording in HLG and D-Log M and for uncropped 4K at 100fps. The drone can also shoot 4K with HDR at 60fps.

DJI has packed plenty of navigation and control features into its drone too. One of these is an omnidirectional obstacle avoidance technology that even works when used in the drone’s subject tracking mode.

Another feature in the Air 3 is a new OcuSync 4.0 update from DJI, which lets the drone transmit a 1080p live view from a theoretical maximum distance of 20km.

This little UAV can also fly for quite a while. Thanks to its robust 4,241mAh battery, the Air 3 is rated for as many as 46 minutes of flight time. This makes it stay aloft for almost twice as long as its predecessor the Air 2S.

Overall, the DJI Air 3, though it lacks a larger video resolution of the kind we’d previously predicted, is a great successor to the Air 2S and also fairly reasonably priced for all it offers.

You can order the drone in three different versions all ready for immediate shipping.

The most basic edition is the DJI Air 3 drone with RC-N2 controller for $1,099. This is followed by the Air 3 drone Fly More combo with the same RC-N2 controller, a 3-battery charging hub and two additional batteries for $1,349.

Then there’s the Air 3 drone Fly More combo pack with the same additional batteries, a 3-battery charging hub and a controller with LCD display for live views. This combo goes for $1,549.

Image credit: DJI

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