Here’s a matchup not like every other. We’ll be evaluating the 2 flagship programs of DJI, that of yesterday and that of immediately.
The DJI Phantom Professional 4 is an trade staple, and the DJI Mavic 3 Professional is its substitute for all intents and functions. That’s except DJI desires to lastly ship that Phantom 5.
There’s actually no different method to put it.
I personally have counted on each of those programs not solely to fly recreationally however commercially as properly. I’ve actually been flying the Phantom 4 Professional longer than the Mavic 3 Professional.
Even I’ve to confess, the Phantom 4 Professional has spent extra time on the shelf than the Mavic 3 Professional since I obtained it.
There are a number of explanation why that could be. Is the Phantom 4 Professional actually prepared for retirement? We’re going to seek out out on this head-to-head comparability.
Who is aware of, possibly we’ll all be shocked. You don’t get the King of Drones title simply in any case. Is the Mavic 3 Professional actually prepared for the crown or is it nonetheless a prince?
Overview
Phantom 4 Professional
The Phantom 4 Professional is a drone with a 1-inch 20MP CMOS Sensor digital camera that may shoot as much as 4K 60fps video and 14fps in Burst Mode.
It has a most flight time of half-hour and a most transmission vary of round 4.1 mi (7 km).
It’s geared up with an improved, for its time, infrared sensing system with 5 instructions of impediment sensing and avoidance, being one of many first such drones to take action.
The Phantom 4 Professional was the system I used every day once I opened my drone companies enterprise for six years operating. I nonetheless use it often.
- Dependable – an trade staple
- Good flight time of 30mins
- 20mp 1″ CMOS sensor
- Bigger Dimension is well seen
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Mavic 3 Professional
On the opposite facet of that’s the Mavic 3 Professional, which is a triple-lens drone with a 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad digital camera and twin tele lens, one 24mm format equal and the opposite 70mm format equal cameras.
It will possibly seize as much as 5.1K, DCI 4K, and UHD 4K resolutions on the first Hasselblad digital camera in addition to 4K from the opposite tele lens cameras.
It has a flight time of round 43 minutes and a variety of 9.3 mi (15 km).
The DJI Mavic 3 Professional is the system that has change into my major go-to drone over the past yr. I bought it as a method of updating the drone programs I take advantage of for my enterprise.
Whereas prior to now, I’d have simply gotten a substitute Phantom 4 Professional, this time round, I made a decision it was time to improve, and the Mavic 3 Professional is that.
- Versatile three-camera system
- Excellent flight time of 43mins
- Folding arms make it straightforward to retailer and transport
- Newer transmission system with longer vary
» MORE: DJI Mavic 3 Professional Assessment (I’ve NEVER flown a drone that I loved a lot)
Fast Verdict
Surely, contemplating the place we’re, the DJI Phantom 4 Professional continues to be a helpful strong alternative for a dependable trusted flight system.
Nevertheless it doesn’t precisely maintain as much as the developments which were made and utilized within the later DJI Mavic 3 Professional. These developments which might be underneath the hood of the Mavic 3 Professional actually set it other than practically every thing else discovered available on the market immediately.
Much more so when in comparison with the DJI Phantom 4 Professional. It has superior vary, it has longer flight instances, and it has true omnidirectional impediment avoidance.
Along with that, the Mavic 3 Professional has probably the most up-to-date programming and management programs to go along with these different qualities.
There are many excellent explanation why this was the chosen system in my very own day-to-day operations and though it’s a unhappy second to retire any drone one has, the Mavic 3 Professional is a worthy substitute to that of the coveted King of Drones, the Phantom 4 Professional.
The King can move the crown with no disgrace.
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What are the variations?
One of many key variations, proper from the beginning is the age of those two programs. The DJI Phantom 4 Professional was launched in Could of 2018 and the DJI Mavic 3 Professional was launched in November of 2021.
In that point, a number of developments had been made. One was in battery expertise, offering longer flight instances, with the DJI Mavic 3 Professional boasting a 13-minute improve over that of its predecessor the Phantom 4 Professional with its 30-minute flight time.
One other massive development comes within the type of a newly developed APAS 5.0 system and upgrades to the impediment avoidance sensors, giving the DJI Mavic 3 Professional new talents that the Phantom 4 Professional may by no means obtain.
It’s good to recollect right here, that the Phantom 4 Professional was one of many first drones to supply the kind of impediment avoidance it does.
What we see within the Mavic 3 Professional is the enhancements on that exact same sort of tech and processing that the Phantom 4 Professional started.
Then we come to the picture high quality. Right here once more the Mavic 3 Professional gives one thing distinctive. It has a Tri-camera system with a major Hasselblad 4/3 24mm equal f/2.8 to f/11 20mp sensor.
If we had been to cease proper there, the Mavic 3 Professional, for all its different developments, would spec-wise, be very near that of the Phantom 4 Professional.
We don’t cease there, although, because the 4/3 digital camera isn’t the tip; it’s solely the start. The DJI Mavic 3 Professional additionally comes with a 1/1.3″ CMOS Medium Tele Digicam, which is 70mm equal with a 3x zoom and a hard and fast aperture of f/2.8 and 48mp.
In addition to the secondary digital camera is a 3rd 1/2″ CMOS sensor, 166mm equal, with a 7x optical zoom and a 28x Hybrid Zoom. Additionally, with a hard and fast aperture f/3.4 and 12mp.
That is actually a standout system that provides versatility to the drone area that no different system can, actually offering three separate cameras in a single.
» MORE: DJI Mavic 3 Basic vs. Mavic 3 Professional (Right here’s My Alternative)
Head-to-Head Comparability
It’s not wanting nice for the Phantom 4 Professional. What with the Mavic 3 Professional having a number of Cameras and probably the most superior impediment avoidance and flight time. My goodness that flight time – 43 minutes! Wow!
It might be straightforward to say that the Phantom 4 Professional has seen its day. It’s possible you’ll be proper in that assumption. Possibly? There’s one factor although, and I did deliver it up above. You might need missed it, and that’s okay.
It has to do with the Mechanical Shutter. It’s additionally this one factor that has at all times set the Phantom 4 Professional other than every thing else throughout the client, prosumer market.
The Phantom 4 Professional has dominated {the marketplace} since its launch. It has confirmed to be dependable for every day use – and that is the large half – it has been the go-to for mapping due to the best way it operates as a result of mechanical shutter.
Now there’s a Mavic 3 that does supply a mechanical shutter. It’s not the Mavic 3 Professional, nevertheless. That one function can solely be discovered within the Mavic 3 Enterprise. A way more pricey affair than that of the Mavic 3 Professional, I guarantee you.
For many, this wouldn’t be a giant situation, and so they could by no means even know the distinction when watching their movies or stills.
From knowledgeable perspective, there’s a sort of picture distortion that’s typical when taking pictures transferring targets (or when the digital camera itself is transferring at excessive pace, as discovered when conducting a drone mapping flight).
It’s referred to as a rolling/jello impact. That is as a result of manner an digital rolling shutter works by exposing the pixels to mild one row at a time.
Rolling and digital shutters could cause distortion when motion is launched into the equation, making them not supreme for mapping missions.
You could have even heard a few of your favourite YouTubers speaking about this distortion. The Mechanical Shutter, although, works by exposing every pixel of your digital camera’s sensor concurrently. This methodology takes that exact distortion off the desk.
So, let’s look over the specs actually fast, and let’s see simply how completely different the Mavic 3 Professional’s major digital camera, the 4/3 Hasselblad, actually stacks as much as the Phantom 4 Professional’s 1″ sensor.
| Mavic 3 Professional | Phantom 4 Professional |
|---|---|
| 4/3 CMOS | 1″ CMOS |
| 20MP | 20MP |
| 24mm | 24mm |
| Shutter Velocity Digital 8-1/8000 s | Shutter Velocity Mechanical 8-1/2000 s Digital 8-1/8000 s |
| Nonetheless Images Modes Single Shot: 20 MP Burst Capturing: 20 MP, 3/5/7 frames Computerized Publicity Bracketing (AEB): |
Nonetheless Images Modes Single Shot: 20 MP Burst Capturing: 3/5/7/10/14 frames Computerized Publicity Bracketing (AEB): |
| 3/5 frames at 0.7 EV step Timed: 2/3/5/7/10/15/20/30/60 s |
3/5 bracketed frames at 0.7EV Bias Timed: 2/3/5/7/10/15/20/30/60 s |
So, what we’re seeing above right here is that the Mavic 3 Professional’s major Hasselblad digital camera, from strictly a digital camera perspective, is sort of similar to that of the Phantom 4 Professional.
Whereas the Mavic 3 Professional may have the Hasselblad colour grading, the Phantom 4 Professional has that mechanical shutter, making it a superior digital camera in some ways, particularly for mapping and surveying.
If it wasn’t for the added advantages that the Mavic 3 Professional has integrated into itself, properly, I suppose the King must keep on some time longer in any case.
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DJI Phantom 4 Professional
The DJI Phantom 4 Professional was the primary drone with a 1-inch 20MP 24mm equal digital camera that may shoot 4K 60fps video and superb 14fps Burst Mode.
It was additionally one of many first to supply a 5-directional impediment avoidance system utilizing a brand new, improved infrared sensor mixture.
It has a max flight time of half-hour and a max transmission vary of 4.1 mi (7 km), utilizing the DJI OcuSync 2.0 transmission system.
It comes loaded with a few of DJI’s best software program and clever flight modes of that point resembling ActiveTrack, TapFly, Draw Mode, Gesture Mode, and Return to Residence.
It gives 4K professional-level video high quality, and a exact mechanical shutter fairly than an digital shutter.
» MORE: Greatest ND Filters for DJI Phantom 4 Professional
The Phantom 4 Professional is good for skilled photographers and videographers who need to seize gorgeous aerial footage, which stays true even immediately.
Additionally it is appropriate for any hobbyists who need to take their pictures and videography abilities to the following stage.
Out of all of the drones we’ve seen come and go, the Phantom 4 Professional has proven a endurance not like every other. The DJI Phantom 4 Professional is type of like NASA, placing boots on the bottom of the Moon.
DJI hit a real pinnacle with the Phantom 4 Professional that they appear to have been chasing ever since, and discovering it laborious to get that type of lightning within the bottle once more.
The Mavic 3 Professional, is shut, possibly superior.
One other manner to take a look at it, I suppose, is sort of a work truck to a race automotive. Positive, the race automotive prices extra and has extra bells and whistles about it, however it’s not going to haul wooden or rock and get you to work and again reliably.
DJI Phantom 4 Professional Plus V2.0
The DJI Phantom 4 Professional has many superior options and specs. The flight modes are for drone pilots in any respect ranges and are straightforward to make use of. It’s a superb alternative for journey drones and works greatest for aerial pictures.
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12/01/2023 09:01 pm GMT
DJI Mavic 3 Professional
The DJI Mavic 3 Professional, alternatively, is a robust drone that’s engineered for high-quality aerial pictures and videography and took every thing that makes the Phantom 4 Professional the nice drone that it’s and improved on it some.
Designed with the intent of dethroning the Flagship Phantom line, the DJI Mavic 3 Professional is supplied with a 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad digital camera and twin tele cameras, which might seize 5.1K, DCI 4K, and UHD 4K resolutions on the first Hasselblad digital camera and 4K from the opposite two cameras.
It has a flight time of 43 minutes and a variety of 15 km.
The Mavic 3 Professional can also be supreme for skilled photographers and videographers who need to seize gorgeous aerial footage, much more so with the tri-camera setup, which gives an unheard-of new sort of versatility in a drone system.
That improves workflow immensely by eradicating the necessity to launch a secondary drone or perhaps a third to attain what the Mavic 3 Professional is ready to with the Tri-Digicam configuration.
Additionally it is very appropriate for hobbyists who as soon as once more need to take their pictures and videography abilities to the following stage; with omnidirectional impediment avoidance, it received’t be lengthy earlier than any new pilot can take extra daring dangers whereas flying.
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The Mavic 3 Professional gives the very most superior and widespread clever flight modes DJI has developed, such because the newly launched Imaginative and prescient Help, solely discovered on the Mavic 3 line as of now.
It permits for the visible sensors to be seen for heightened situational consciousness.
The DJI Mavic 3 Professional carries the total complement of DJI Flight modes resembling waypoints, cruise management, and the newly improved return to house.
Additionally FocusTrack, Mastershots, Quickshots, and Panorama. The DJI Mavic 3 Professional is every thing DJI may be in a single package deal.
Our Decide
DJI Mavic 3 Professional (Fly Extra Combo)
Flagship Triple-Digicam Drone with 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad Digicam, 15km Video Transmission, three Batteries, Charging Hub, and extra.
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12/01/2023 07:01 am GMT
Conclusion
As soon as once more, now we have seemed into what every of those programs has to supply, and we’ve gone over their variations.
Ultimately, the Mavic 3 Professional wasn’t as a lot of an enchancment within the digital camera as one might need thought. That’s the major digital camera, anyway.
The Mavic 3 Professional actually units itself other than the Phantom 4 Professional by what else it gives. A extra refined impediment avoidance system, which helps immensely in defending your funding.
It has two further cameras that till now, you would need to have differing drones to get the identical views. After all, there may be at all times what you are able to do in post-editing. Having the digital camera already there, although, saves time.
One of many largest variations is that of the comparative flight instances. 13 minutes is a large improve and permits so that you can excellent the shot with out having to be rushed.
As soon as once more, it’s not fairly what the Hasselblad digital camera is bringing, as it’s every thing else. On the finish of the day, although, it’s about practicality.
Are the extra bells and whistles sufficient to warrant changing your Phantom 4 Professional? Most likely not, really, in case your focus is on getting nice pictures and video in a 4K format.
The Phantom 4 Professional has that lined in spades. Though getting good batteries is staring to change into a problem.
In case your focus is having that versatility, then sure, fingers down, the Mavic 3 Professional is your possibility as nothing, nothing else compares to it in that regard.
Fly Protected, Fly At all times, At all times Fly Protected!
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