DJI continues to raise the bar for small drones. Today, DJI launched the Air 3: with a wide-angle camera and a 3x medium tele camera. The Air 3 is an aerial photography hobbyists dream – and a great all-rounder for commercial drone pilots. At a current price of $1,099 (up to about $1500 for the fly more combos) the Air 3 offers amazing capabilities for the size and cost.
The DJI Air 3 is the first drone of our Air Series which offers professional features like dual primary cameras and omnidirectional obstacle sensing and at the same time retaining its lightweight capabilities with a weight of just 720g for more freedom and flexibility,” said Ferdinand Wolf, Creative Director at DJI. “The drone is the perfect all-rounder for your outdoor adventures and offers you a more diverse camera language.
DJI says that the Air 3’s dual cameras allow content creators to highlight the subject in the frame. The Air 3 features a 1/1.3-inch CMOS wide-angle camera and a 1/1.3-inch CMOS 3x medium tele camera. “The two cameras have the same sensor size but different focal lengths, which result in more consistent image quality and more diverse camera language,” explains the DJI announcement. “With the wide-angle camera, sweeping landscapes can be captured more fully. It offers 2.4μm pixel size, 24mm format equivalent and a F1.7 aperture. The 3x Medium Tele Camera offers 2.4μm pixel size, 70mm format equivalent and a F2.8 aperture.
Extended Flight Time, Improved Battery Charging,
A max flight time of 46 minutes gives pilots a lot more flexibility. The DJI Air 3 also offers a new battery charging hub, with a power accumulation function. That means users can transfer the remaining power from multiple batteries to the battery with the highest remaining power. Optimizing power and flight time gives the Air 3 a major advantage for work in the field.
Omnidirectional Obstacle Sensing
Designed with photographers and content creators in mind, the DJI Air 3 enables great photography without requiring expert piloting skills. The DJI Air 3 features omnidirectional obstacle sensing. “In the front and at the back the drone is equipped with a pair of fisheye lenses to achieve forward, backward, left, right and upward sensing, while the bottom is equipped with binocular lenses and a 3D TOF,” explains DJI’s release. “When an obstacle is detected, the DJI Air 3 can also use APAS 5.0 to actively avoid and smoothly bypass obstacles, which ensures uninterrupted shooting for a greatly enhanced flight experience. Even as an aerial photography beginner, users can fly with confidence and unlock more creative ideas. The ActiveTrack function further frees the pilots’ hands and works with Advanced RTH to achieve fully automatic flight as well as worry-free return- to-home.
The Features
From the DJI release:
FocusTrack for both cameras: Consisting of Spotlight 2.0, ActiveTrack 5.0 and Point of Interest 3.0. FocusTrack keeps the subject in the center of the frame. When using the 3x medium tele camera, a unique sense of spatial compression will be generated to highlight the pilot or any other person as the subject in terrific status.
QuickShots: Empowers the DJI Air 3 to perform creative camera movements like Rocket, Dronie, Circle, Helix, Boomerang, and Asteroid.
2.7K Vertical Shooting: The DJI Air 3 supports dual-camera 2.7K vertical video shooting. The wide-angle camera can include rich image information, while the 3x medium tele camera can portrait the pilot or others as the subject, facilitating more eye-catching vertical aerial photography. The 2.7K vertical shot output can be shared immediately on social media without post-cropping.
MasterShots: Allows the DJI Air 3 to automatically perform diverse camera movements, shoots multiple clips, edits the clips, and adds music to generate fast and effortless cinematic footage.
Night Mode: Thanks to the noise reduction algorithm, the DJI Air 3 can capture up to 4K/30fps clean footage in low-light environments.
Hyperlapse: Select from four sub-modes of Free, Circle, Course Lock, and Waypoint to shoot up to 4K horizontal or 2.7K vertical timelapse footage.
Slow Motion: Select 4K/100fps or 1080p/100fps to directly record a 4x slow-motion video.
SmartPhoto 3.0: In single shot mode, the DJI Air 3 uses SmartPhoto 3.0 by default, which can automatically select among HDR, hyperlight, and scene recognition according to the scenario for better imaging results. In HDR DNG format, the camera can record a larger dynamic range with built-in contrast enhancement. The image file can achieve JPG-level quality in post-editing software, reducing the difficulty of post-production.
QuickTransfer: Quickly download photos and videos from the aircraft to your smartphone through a wireless connection, saving time and effort.
LightCut: Connect the DJI Air 3 wirelessly to the LightCut app on the phone for intelligent recognition of highlight moments and one-tap editing. There is no need to download the footage during the process, saving storage on the phone.
One-Tap Edit: Intelligently identifies the composition and flight path, selects clips with delicate composition and stable camera movements, automatically matches the best template and sound effects, and then generates a cinematic video effortlessly.
Tilt-Shift Effects: Enjoy incredible effects that make the shot look miniature and toy-like with just one tap. Apply this feature to footage shot with the 3x medium tele camera for even better results.
Waypoint Flight: This feature is available on the Air Series for the first time. The user can plan flight routes and shooting actions for the DJI Air 3 in advance to achieve difficult camera movements like one-takes. Pilots can also save a flight route to repeat the same mission precisely later, making it easy to create long-duration timelapse videos that capture transitions such as day to night or season to season.
Outstanding Accessories for further Flight Performance
DJI Air 3 ND Filters Set: This set provides ND8/16/32/64 filters, allowing the user to create smoother footage at slower shutter speeds.
DJI 100W USB-C Power Adapter: The power adapter can fast charge the battery and remote controller simultaneously, or mobile devices through the USB-C ports.
DJI 65W Car Charger: The lightweight and portable car charger uses a universal port. It can charge a battery, remote controller, smartphone, laptop, and other devices.
