2022 Update - Best Drone for Commercial Photography
In 2021, I wrote an article about the best drone for commercial photographers. The conclusion was that the DJI Mini 2 was an excellent choice due to it’s low cost for the drone/accessories as well as providing great quality photo/video.
Since then, things have changed.
In late 2021, DJI released the Mavic 3. This drone boasted huge upgrades like having a dual camera setup (wide-angle and telephoto), 45 minute battery life, a 24MP sensor comparable to some DSLR cameras, and 4K 120 fps video. That being said, this drone was pricey ($2700 for the basic kit, $3700 for the fly-more bundle, $6050 for the CINE model) and frankly not ready to be released when it was. This drone was missing many features that were advertised at launch, some of which were quite basic, which made the drone only somewhat useful.
Photo samples from Mavic 3. On the left (main camera @ 24mm full-frame equivalent). On the right (telephoto camera @ 162mm full-frame equivalent).
In January 2022, the Mavic 3 firmware was updated and this resulted in having all of the advertised capabilities. Since then, the Mavic 3 has been my go-to choice for drone operations. The 45 minute battery life, the quality of the photo/video files, and the flying experience are all amazing and none of my other drones come close. I have since retired my Mavic Air 2 since the Mavic 3 does everything so much better.
In 2022, the best drone for commercial photographers is definitely the Mavic 3. I am sure the CINE model is great, however, at the time, the $6050 before tax price tag did not make sense so I went ahead with the base kit and purchased some extra batteries and accessories separately.
For extras, I ordered a Nanuk Hard Case, two extra batteries, some DJI ND filters, and a 3rd party battery charger that charges up to three Mavic 3 batteries simultaneously, which is a huge advantage over the DJI charger that charges batteries one at a time. Here is a link to the charger I use: https://tinyurl.com/2p8exjdj
All in, our kit was $3600CAD and is quite comparable to the Mavic 3 Fly More Bundle. That being said, I believe my kit is better for the following reasons:
Nanuk Hard case instead of a soft shoulder bag
Third party charger will charge three batteries simultaneously in ~1 hour. Much better than the DJI charger which charges them one at a time for a total of ~3 hours.
Savings of ~$100
Thanks for reading and please comment if you have any questions about the Mavic 3 or drones in general!
