DJI - Mavic 3 Pro

I intend to keep my Mini 2(non-SE) which I've had for 3yrs now even though I now have a Mavic 3 which is superior in every way by a long shot. The reason- My niche is urban/architectural photography, both with a handheld as well as drones. With most of the ideal places to fly in the city, discretion is key. I can put the Mini in the air and land it without drawing much attention, and it's the perfect size and weight for foot travel. The 12mp camera is sufficient for urban landscapes/skylines given proper composure and editing . The only real downfall would be the lack of collision avoidance , but I dont rely on that anyway. Another reason- Online prints aside, I've printed and framed 6 aerial skyline drone shots that are currently hanging in my home office, as well as another handful I sold to my wife's company's corporate office. All happen to be from the Mini 2, so...

If finances allow, keep the Mavic 2 and shoot for a Mini 4 Pro. If you have the slightest interest in aerial photography/videography, You'll hugely regret trading the Mavic for a M2. I say this as a Mini 2/Mavic3 owner. Mini 4 Pro tech in a Mini package would be sublime. But to be fair, if you're flying just to fly a drone, sure. The price is right.

I got the entire combo for 1500😭 Batteries and all. Sealed M3 Pro too.

I would get something heavier. I know the budget is the issue but the mini 4 will not handle the wind. It will be a wasted investment. I have shot surfing in a 24 mph wind with the 3pro and it works great, be afraid that the 4 would be lost in the water.

pretty much the bread and butter for realestate companies the Mavic 3 series

My first reaction is start with the Mini 3 and then go from there. If it's new I always recommend getting the DJI care to cover you. But one thing I wanted to point out is the Mini 3 has no active tracking so if you were interested in an autonomous tracking of a vehicle or yourself etc. you won't have that feature. I have the Neo and M4P (had Mini 3 and M3P) I love the Neo and was going to get the Flip instead of the M4P but I decided I wanted the better wind resistance and a quieter drone.

The M4P is a little beast and just perfected upon the previous generations. It's like buying a base model car it's good and does the job but the top trim gives you some features that you didn't realize you wanted till you used them. The M4P having a downward light that's auto or manually turned on was like the chef's kiss IMO. I tell family and friends buy the Mini 3 to start and test the waters if drones are for you and you want more upgrade to the M4P if you have budget constraints grab a used M3P w/RC or save for the M4P because the Mini 3 is still so great lol.

Used M3P will give you amazing value for money -- I have seen them go for $200 and less in USA. I've been flying mine for 3 and half years and still don't feel limited by the hardware (more my own skills). Biggest advantage to newer Mini Pro models is better uni-directional obstacle avoidance, but if you're careful and not recklessly pushing your flying abilities, the 3 directional sensors should be plenty. Just take the time to really learn how to fly, go slow, and you'll be fine. ND filters are a must, as are extra batteries.

What I would recommend… DJI mini 4k for the cheapest entry. It will let you get a feel for things and find out if you want more. DJI mini 5. If you’re going to spend money, then just go with the newest option. It has a lot of the nice features and it’s portable. DJI Air 3s. If portability isn’t an issue, then the air 3s is a little better. - Although there a couple of drones between the 4k and 5 pro, but the quality up grades are minor and don’t have many better features. Mainly obstacle avoidance, which the mini 3 is missing. You could spend money on a mini 4, but for a little more just get the mini 5p. After the air 3s, you would want to make bigger upgrades to the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 enterprise series. Which is way more than you need IMO

I’ve used a mini pro and a mavic 3 but my favorite to shoot with is still my air3. The 3x zoom seem perfect fP those nice compressed shots while still shooting 4k 60 in all the tracking modes.

3 Pro or 4 Pro. Any of the mini / air line will be a downgrade from M2P.

Hard pass. What you want is a modern consumer DJI drone, not somebody's DIY project from 10 years ago.

As somebody who has years of experience doing 'actual proper work' with drones, I can tell you that you're missing a fundamental aspect of aerial cinematography. The quality of the camera on a drone is only one aspect of getting good results. The ability to effectively *control* that camera is of equal, or perhaps even greater, importance. What makes consumer DJI drones so good is that they totally integrate the camera with both the drone & the controls. You can start/stop recording, pick the focus point, change the aperture, shutter speed, FPS, white balance, dial in exposure comp, change the metering, *absolutely everything*, all while the drone is flying. They also have a lot of CV based automated/assisted flight modes these days, that will assist your work by tracking subjects etc. while you focus on piloting. Or by flying predetermined patterns while you focus on camera work. Before this sort of thing was introduced, a lot of drone shots were simply impossible if you weren't working as a two person team - one person piloting, while a second person controlled the camera. If you attach a GoPro to a F550 you have a 'fire & forget' setup. You press record before you take off, then that's it. You can't change *anything* while the drone is flying. You can't see histograms/zebras. All you'll be able to do is try to manually move the gimbal... while simultaneously trying to fly the drone... which I can tell you from experience is essentially impossible. If you want to put a full frame camera on a drone, you're easily looking at a €10,000 outlay. Even just a suitable follow focus & HD downlink might set you back €5000 & that would only give you a fraction of the creative control that something like a Mavic 3 Pro Cine would... for under €4000.