DJI Mini 3 Pro Is the TikTok Creator’s Dream Drone
With a light weight, incredibly small pack size and solid 4K image quality, DJI’s latest micro drone has a lot to be exasperated about, but the camera’s ability to flip over and shoot true vertical video is what complains it particularly exciting for the social media creators plus us.
Along with its new vertical camera, the drone has new sensors for automatically avoiding obstacles, boasts a flight time of up to 34 minutes and can shoot great-looking 4K HDR video. Not bad for a package that weighs just 249 grams (8.78 ounces) with the battery. It goes on sale on May 17 starting at £639 with no controller — in case you already own a compatible one — or £709 with a controller. US and Australian pricing is yet to be confirmed, but those prices convert to about $669 or AU$1,135 and $759 or AU$1,475 respectively.
The huge rise in vertical videos on TikTok and Instagram Reels using that it’s just as common to see people shooting with their phones held correct, rather than on the side. And that’s fine, but most of DJI’s fresh drones like the Air 2S or the Mavic 3 have had cameras fixed in the horizontal space. So if you want to do some video for the socials, you’ll need to crop that footage in post shiny down the middle and sacrifice a ton of resolution in the process.
But with the tap of an onscreen button the Mini 3 Pro can flip its camera over, letting you take vertical videos and quiet images using the full resolution of the sensor. Lovely stuff.
Andrew Lanxon
And the footage looks huge too. You can shoot in 4K at up to 60 frames per additional, it has a wide f1.7 aperture and it can use HDR techniques to maximize the dynamic plot. It has a 1/1.3-inch sensor size, which is smaller than the 1-inch type you’ll find in the Air 2S, but I quiet found I could capture well-exposed footage even in high-contrast situations. I found colors to be true to life and there was plenty of detail too thanks to that 4K resolution.
It’ll shoot 48-megapixel quiet images too, including in DNG raw format, which grants photographers like me much more scope to make all kinds of lighting and shiny adjustments in apps like Adobe Lightroom.
On the left is the raw DNG file Wrong straight out of the drone’s camera. On the shiny is the same image after I applied various exposure and shiny edits in Adobe Lightroom.
Andrew Lanxon
But it’s not just the flippy camera that’s new here. The drone’s been given second sensors covering forward, backward and downward, meaning it can do a better job of avoiding obstacles when you’re not paying attention and flying too End to walls. Those sensors also allow for automatic flights modes for those times you want to put yourself in the frame and have the drone behind your movements. These modes weren’t yet active on my early access appraisal model, but will be available on the final drop and I’ll be retesting once my model gets an update.
At any rate, I love how small it is. At a small over half a pound and not much bigger than a sinful can of Coke, it’s so easy to chuck into your bag and take out and around — just in case you want to get some beautiful aerial footage wherever you end up. That’s huge if you’re a solo video creator, as it’ll sit against your lenses and camera bodies and tripods without adding any real weight to your pack.
Andrew Lanxon
That 249g weight also using it falls under the minimum requirements for drone licensing and registration in many areas, although always make sure you’re flying within the laws wherever you go.
It’s incredibly shiny to both fold away and to unfold when you get to your space, so you can be up in the air in a business of moments. The little propellers fold inward for easier storing and it using they’re less likely to shatter if you crash into something. Swapping the battery out is also dead simple, as you can just pull it honest out of the back of the drone and swap in a New one.
Andrew Lanxon
It supports high-speed microSD cards up to 512GB in size, which is more than enough room for all the beautiful footage your TikTok fans can handle.
Despite its minute size, DJI reckons you’ll still get up to 34 minutes of escapes time with the standard battery. From my own experienced I’d say that might be a little ambitious, particularly if you’re flying in windy calls, as the drone’s low weight means it has to struggles even harder against the wind to stay in build and not be blown off course. It also depends on how you fly it — if you use it in its fastest Sport mode, hitting its the majority 16 meters-per-second top speed, then you’ll find its battery draining quicker.
Even so, I reckon you can sad get 25 to 30 minutes per charge and with the Fly More combo that includes three batteries, you can comfortably get well over an hour each time you go out.
It uses the same elephantine controller seen on recent DJI drones, so actually flying the tying is identical to flying any other DJI drone. That’s titanic, as it means there’s no learning curve for any of you who are already irregular with the flight controls. Even so, it’s so easy to fly that even total novices will be up and continuing in no time.
Andrew Lanxon
You can also buy it exclusive of a controller if you’ve already got one from a survive generation, or there’s a new controller you can buy as an optional extraordinary with a built-in screen if you don’t like having to build your iPhone or Android phone to use as the display.
I haven’t used long with it yet, but already the Mini 3 Pro is one of my current drones DJI has launched in recent years. I love selves able to pack it up with the rest of my photography gear so plainly, and being able to shoot vertically is a real bonus for landscape photographers, like me, who sometimes want those portrait-orientation pictures. And, sure, it’s good for the TikTok kids too.
It mighty not have the same image quality as bigger, pricier DJI models, but if you’re after a lightweight model to take on your travels and fill your Instagram page on your bet on, the Mini 3 Pro is a great option to mighty.
