Over the past year, DJI has been extremely busy pouring resources into innovating all things photography. Today, July 25th, the firm is announcing a whole new system under its Air series lineup, the third iteration of one of its most prominent devices.
DJI's Air 3 pushes the company's know-how even further into the stratosphere, allowing both veteran and newly inducted drone pilots a chance to see the world in one of the clearest and most tantalizing ways.
Leveraging both a 1/1.3-inch CMOS wide-angle camera in tandem with yet another 1/1.3-inch 3x medium tele camera, the Air 3 shows it's no sleeper when it comes to camera technology.
Its wide-angle lens sports 24mm format and F1.7 aperture, while its tele camera brethren offer F2.8 aperture and 70mm format. Both cameras offer up to 48MP at 4K 60FPS HDR, meaning you're getting some of the clearest scenes imaginable.
Of most importance for veteran fliers is the device's overall flight time, and it's exciting to relay that the Air 3 can last for up to an astounding 46 minutes, according to DJI. That's a whopping 48% over its more recent predecessor, the Air 2S.
We have our own test product of the Air 3 with us currently and can admit that the drone certainly has a lengthy flight time, clocking in at around 41 minutes per our own tests. As with most drones, timing depends solely on weather conditions and battery output per usable features, so do keep that in mind.
The Air 3's cameras can hit up to 4K 100fps, and utilize a new color and lighting transition to ensure landscapes and surroundings keep their natural hues as the drone moves. DJI's newest product refresh also proves to be one of the very first Air series options to deliver 2.7K vertical video shooting, allowing for instant shareability on most socials.
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As with most other DJI offerings, the Air 3 also comes equipped with some exciting features beyond the vertical shooting mode.
These include MasterShots, which are automatically generated cinematic footage taken from camera movements that are blended into videos, Night Mode for excellent aerial nighttime photography, Hyperlapse, which is essentially timelapse but sped up, QuickTransfer for simplified video and photo transfers, and, for the first time ever on an Air series drone, Waypoint Flight.
As if it wasn't done introducing whole new concepts to the Air lineup, the Air 3 swoops in with yet another feature never before seen in its price point: omnidirectional obstacle sensing. This allows Air 3 pilots to more easily keep the drone safe from unseen or unknown environmental obstacles.
The drone is equipped with fisheye lens sensors on both the front and back that aid it in safely flying left, right, forward, and back without any potential hassles.
The Air 3 also has a binocular sensor and a 3D TOF on the bottom of the device that helps it with said omnidirectional obstacle sensing. When an obstacle is detected, say an overhanging tree branch or electrical wire, the Air 3 can also avoid it thanks to APAS 5.0, which also makes ActiveTrack even more worry-free.
Finally, the Air 3's O4 video transmission is one not to scoff at. It gifts the new DJI drone the capability of hitting up to 20km in distance and offers extreme stability for live feeds. The Air 3 offers up to 1080p at 60 fps for live broadcasts and a 5.1GHz frequency band for even more enhanced transmission support.
The DJI Air 3 comes in a variety of different packages, with the most common probably being the DJI Air 3 Fly More combo kit for $1,549. The product alone with an RC-N2 comes in at $1,099, which is relatively good for something as powerful and as feature-rich as the Air 3. A Fly More combo kit with the RC-N2 as opposed to the RC 2 comes in at $1,349.
Additional add-ons include the DJI Air 3 ND Filters set, which includes a combo of ND filters for slower shutter speeds and smoother footage, the 65W car charger, and a 100W USB-C Power Adapter.
Shipments start today, so get the product while it's hot, and don't forget to get any necessary DJI Care Refresh to protect your new drone from potential damage.
