Los Angeles, CA—The DJI Air 3 is the newest member of the company’s Air series, adding dual primary cameras. A wide-angle camera and a 3x medium-tele camera give shots a sense of compression as well as deliver a medium focal length.
The DJI Air 3 is also the first drone in the Air series to provide 2.7K vertical video shooting (9:16), which you can share immediately on social media without post-cropping.
“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 Air 3 Drone Key Features
For aerial photography enthusiasts, the new drone achieves picture details and high-res footage. Moreover, both cameras deliver 48-megapixel photos and 4K/60-frames-per-sec HDR video. In addition, the drone is capable of 46 minutes of flight time with omnidirectional obstacle sensing. It also adopts DJI’s O4 HD video transmission system and other flagship features.
The DJI Air 3 boasts the first dual-primary camera system of the Air series. It embeds a 1/1.3-inch CMOS wide-angle camera as well as a 1/1.3-inch CMOS 3x medium-tele camera in a compact space. The two cameras have the same sensor size but different focal lengths and apertures. With the wide-angle camera, it captures sweeping landscapes more fully. It also offers 2.4μm pixel size, a 24mm-equivalency and an f/1.7 aperture. The 3x medium-tele camera provides 2.4μm pixel size, a 70mm-equivalency and an f/2.8 aperture.
What’s more, the 3x medium-tele camera achieves 3x optical zoom and can create a strong sense of spatial compression. This results in a unique perspective when capturing the subject of aerial photography.
In addition, you can use the wide FoV of the wide-angle camera to take in the whole landscape. Or you can switch to the 3x medium-tele camera to capture the subject as a bold focal point, with the landscape before and behind the subject seemingly within reach. Moreover, since both cameras taker 48MP photos, the drone supports post-cropping for secondary composition.
Furthermore, the two 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensors support dual native ISO for direct output of 4K/60-fps HDR video at high frame rates. They also provide up to 4K/100-fps max video even without FoV cropping, compared to the DJI Air 2S predecessor. Additionally, both cameras support 10-bit D-Log M and 10-bit HLG color modes. 10-bit D-Log M mode can retain more highlight and shadow details for flexible postproduction.
More Enhancements: Extended Flight Time
Moreover, compared to its predecessor in the Air series, the DJI Air 3 has 48% more max flight time—up to 46 minutes. The new battery charging hub also supports a power accumulation function. Press and hold the function button to transfer the remaining power from multiple batteries to the battery with the highest remaining power. This feature also lends more flexibility to make the most out of the flight during, for example, hiking in the mountains where charging possibilities are limited.
Further, the DJI Air 3 is the first drone in the Air series to include omnidirectional obstacle sensing. This feature enables enhanced environmental awareness, allowing the drone to detect obstacles in all directions. In the front and at the back, the drone has a pair of fisheye lenses to achieve forward, backward, left, right and upward sensing. In addition, the bottom integrates binocular lenses and a 3D TOF, for omnidirectional obstacle sensing.
When an obstacle is detected, the DJI Air 3 can also use APAS 5.0 to actively avoid obstacles. The ActiveTrack function further frees your hands and works with the Advanced RTH (return to home) function. In addition, DJI’s next-generation O4 video transmission system offers a transmission distance of more than 12 miles. It also improves transmission stability to avoid stuttered live view for safer flight. Plus, it supports up to 1080p/60-fps live feeds.
Intelligent Features
Of course, DJI included a host of its intelligent features in the DJI Air 3. They include:
FocusTrack (both cameras): Consisting of Spotlight 2.0, ActiveTrack 5.0 as well as Point of Interest 3.0, FocusTrack keeps the subject in the center of the frame. When using the 3x medium-tele camera, a sense of spatial compression is generated to highlight the pilot or any person as the subject.
QuickShots: This function enables the drone to perform creative camera movements, like rocket, dronie, circle, helix, boomerang and asteroid.
2.7K Vertical Shooting: The Air 3 supports dual-camera 2.7K vertical video shooting. The wide-angle camera can include image information, while the 3x medium-tele camera can portrait the pilot or others as the subject.
MasterShots: This allows the Air 3 to automatically perform diverse camera movements. The drone will also shoot multiple clips, edit the clips and add music to generate cinematic footage.
Night Mode: Thanks to a noise-reduction algorithm, the Air 3 can capture up to 4K/30-fps clean footage in low-light environments.
Hyperlapse: You can select from four sub-modes of free, circle, course lock as well as waypoint to shoot up to 4K horizontal or 2.7K vertical timelapse footage.
Slow Motion: Select 4K/100fps or 1080p/100fps to record a 4x slow-motion video.
Additional Intelligent Shooting Features
The DJI Air 3 also supports the following intelligent functions:
SmartPhoto 3.0: In single-shot mode, the drone uses SmartPhoto 3.0 by default. It automatically selects among HDR, hyperlight and scene recognition, according to the scenario. In HDR DNG format, the camera records a larger dynamic range with built-in contrast enhancement. The image file can achieve JPG-quality in post-editing software.
QuickTransfer: This function enables you to quickly download photos and videos from the aircraft to your smartphone via a wireless connection.
LightCut: You can also connect the Air 3 wirelessly to the LightCut app on a phone for intelligent recognition of highlight moments and one-tap editing. There’s no need to download the footage during the process.
One-Tap Edit: This feature intelligently identifies the composition and flight path. It selects clips with delicate composition and stable camera movements and automatically matches the best template and sound effects. It then generates a cinematic video.
Tilt-Shift Effects: These effects can 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. You can plan flight routes and shooting actions for the Air 3 in advance to achieve difficult camera movements. You can also save a flight route to repeat the same mission precisely at a later time.
The DJI Air 3 alone has a suggested retail price of $1,099. The DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo with the RC-N2 has an SRP of $1,349, while the DJI Air 3 Fly More Combo with the RC-2 retails for $1,549.
