DJI’s New Mavic 3 Classic Exceeds Feature and Specs Expectations
Recently, rumors were floating around about the impending release of a new DJI Mavic drone and at least some of them speculated about it being a budget model with reduced specs.
In a certain way, this ended up being true, but in other ways, not quite so much. Now that the Mavic 3 Classic has been unveiled, we were surprised to discover just how impressively robust its specifications and features are.
The new UAV by drone-making giant DJI ended up arriving on the market with very little cut from what its more powerful predecessor the DJI Mavic 3 can handle.
The new drone offers a wealth of great technologies that include a 4/3 Hasselblad camera, video recording at 5.1K resolution and a flight time that’s excellent at 46 minutes. It can also supersample 4K video at 60fps, which is helpful too.
Image credits: DJI
Moving into the specifics, the Type 4/3 CMOS sensor of the Mavic 3 Classic’s camera delivers a strong 20-megapixel resolution. Also, since we’re talking about Hasselblad technology here, it doubtless provides excellent quality for its size.
The drone itself uses an 03+ communications system that lets it transmit HD video up to a distance of 15 km (just under 10 miles). It also comes equipped with omnidirectional obstacle-sensing technology for a smoother, safer flight even in hazard-filled spaces.
Its maximum flight time of 46 minutes is superb and the same as that of its pricier Mavic 3 Series cousins. The Classic can also manage a static hover time of 40 minutes. In terms of maximum range, this drone can travel up to 30km within its maximum flight time.
Another useful thing about the Mavic 3 Classic is that it’s compatible with DJI’s RC Pro, DJI RC, and DJI RC-N1 controllers, aside from the controller it comes equipped with if you buy it in its Mavic 3 Classic + controller bundle edition.
In terms of video, despite some previous speculation about a maximum resolution of 2.7K, the new drone delivers nicely with its 5.1K/50p and 4K/50p capabilities. It can also record FHD video at multiple frame rates and uses both the H.264 and H.265 video compression codecs.
The lens on this new Mavic drone has a 24mm equivalent focal length and an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/11. It also comes with 12 stops of dynamic range and can handle 12-bit RAW when taking still photos at 20MP.
Another feature of the camera that DJI claims for the Mavic 3 Classic is its ability to shoot 10-bit D-Log video, which, according to the company brings “the camera up to the challenge of accurately conveying the vivid colors, peak highlights and detail-rich shadows of our world”.
Sounds pretty impressive. The sample videos shown on DJI’s web page for the Mavic 3 Classic balso indicate that it might just be true.
The controller interface of the Mavic 3 Classic is also very user-friendly. DJI calls it a “Simple and easy-to-use interface” and states that it can be customized to specific user needs.
What’s more, internal algorithms and flight presets let users activate subject tracking, and cinematic flight patterns and dip into DJI’s range of “QuickShots” modes that include timelapse, hyperlapse, panoramic shooting and others.
The drone also has internal speed and flight-route control so that a user can just focus on shooting a specific scene or target if they want.
For beaming all that video to the ground, the Mavic 3 can manage transfer speeds of up to 80MB/sec using WiFi 6 and transfer directly to a mobile device. With the controller through its 03+ comms system it can manage transfer speeds of between 5.5 and 15MB/sec depending on the controller model used.
On the other hand, the internal storage of the Mavic 3 Classic is weak. Like the Mavic 3, the 3 Classic has only an 8GB internal memory card. Getting some serious internal storage means upgrading to the Mavic 3 Cine drone, which includes a 1TB SSD.
The DJI Mavic 3 Classic is available now in four different configurations that each have a different price. Buying the drone alone without even a controller or charger included costs $1,469. Going for the package deal of drone, DJI RC-N1 remote controller with a transfer speed of 5.5MB/s and charger is priced at $1,599.
Finally, the Mavic 3 Classic with charger and DJI RC controller with a 5.5-inch HD display panel costs $1,749.
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Stephan Jukic is a technology and photography journalist and experimental photographer who spends his time living in both Canada and Mexico. He loves cross-cultural street photo exploration and creating fine art photo compositions.
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