Introduction
Rumors about the potential release date have been circling since...well almost after the Mavic 2 Pro was released in late 2018. Despite numerous clickbaity titles and headlines designed to lure you into content consumption, it appears that most people are completely in the dark about when the Mavic 3 Pro will be released, what features it will have and how much it will cost.
Information from certain websites alleges that DJI was spooked by the feature-packed competitor released by Autel, the Autel Evo 2, and quickly rushed back to the drawing board to see how they could enhance their offering. This plus the hit to factory production lines from the Coronavirus pandemic means that it may be a while before the Mavic 3 Pro is actually announced, and even then it's difficult to say when you'll be able to finally get your hands on one.
For this reason, we at Beyond Visuals will avoid rampant guessing and speculation at to a release date or period and turn our attention towards our desired features list. The Mavic 2 Pro was a huge step up from the Mavic Pro, but there are still certain things we'd like to see in the next upgrade - here's a few things we're hoping for:
1. The return of portrait mode
Alas this feature was left out of the Mavic 2 Pro roster, leaving many of us to find alternative solutions for composing that instagram banger shot - panoramas, allowing for cropping, but neither of these were as good as the original vertical shooting mode included with the Mavic Pro. Seeing as this feature would be a relatively quick win, we hope that this is a mode that DJI can bring back.
2. Longer battery life
The Mavic 2 Pro battery life is far from bad, advertised as 31 minutes of flight time in optimum conditions. This is a respectable amount of time, especially if you're carrying multiple batteries. However, in Autel's announcement they stated that the Autel Evo 2 will have a flight time of up to 40 minutes, meaning you'll be able to squeeze out an extra few minutes of precious flight time to capture a beautiful sunset or fly a little further to get your desired shot. If DJI wants to keep up, a longer battery life is much needed.
3. Better low light mode
Another thing that improved greatly from the Mavic Pro to the Mavic 2 Pro, with the new Hasselblad sensor offering much improved low light capabilities that produces photos with considerably less noise, even in a higher ISO. However, anything beyond ISO 400 will still produce a considerable amount of noise that is relatively difficult to clean up in post. Despite better flight stability meaning you can often use a lower ISO, we'd still like to see some improvements with low light shots, whether that's through computational photography, improved sensor, or better stability.
4. Wider focal length
The 24mm focal length in the Mavic Pro was changed to a 28mm focal length in the Mavic 2 Pro, meaning that you'd have to fly backwards or take a pano to capture more of your scene. Both of these methods whilst perfectly acceptable can often come with limitations (height limits being one, distortion being another) and we hope that a wider focal length can be used in cases where moving up/backwards or taking a pano aren't possible.
5. Detachable gimbals
The final item on our wish list, but one that we think is least likely. What we mean by this is DJI selling the zoom and pro gimbals as separate attachments that can be switched out at will. Want to zone in on a specific feature before sunrise? On goes the zoom gimbal. Want to capture the entire scene with the Hasselblad sensor? Click. Switch to the regular Pro gimbal. It would be a simple solution and a new source of revenue for DJI as keen photographers are likely to equip themselves with both to add variety and uniqueness to their portfolio.
That's it folks! Like you were are eagerly awaiting any announcements from DJI on updates to their range. If you have anything else you'd like to be included in the Mavic 3 Pro feature list, feel free to add to the comments below. For more news on drone and tech updates that will take your photography beyond visuals, check back here over the coming few days.
The Beyond Visuals Team 