Hands-on with the DJI Air 3S dual camera drone that takes your aerial photography to all-new heights

DJI has launched its latest advanced dual camera drone – the DJI Air 3S – which takes your photography to brand new heights.

Tech Guide was fortunate enough to take a pre-release hands-on look at the drone which features a 1-inch CMOS primary camera and a 70mm medium tele camera – each with up to 14 stops of dynamic range.

This adds to the flexibility of the drone which can be used to capture landscapes, architecture and other scenarios in impressive detail.

The DJI Air 3S plays a strong game in both still photography and video capture which makes it an ideal travel companion.

Thanks to its small size (it weighs just 724g and is about the size of a water bottle when folded down) there is really no excuse why you couldn’t take the DJI Air 3S with you anywhere.

For our hands-on look at the drone it was effortless to set it up and we were flying within minutes.

We looked at the DJI Air 3S fly more combo which included the DJI RC 2 controller with built in 5.5-inch 1080p 700 nit screen, an ND filter set, two additional batteries for a total of three, a battery charging hub, spare propellers and a shoulder bag.

The strength of the DJI Air 3S it’s dual professional level primary cameras and omni-directional obstacle sensing.

The primary 50 megapixel 1-inch CMOS camera and 24mm lens supports 4K/60fps HDR and 4K/120fps video recording as well as 10-bit D-Log M colour mode.

Details are preserved beautifully even in low light situations like sunsets and nightscapes thanks to the large sensor which uses advanced image processing technology and a range of intelligent algorithms.

The secondary 70mm medium tele camera has a 3x optical zoom and is ideal for portrait and vehicle shots so you achieve a compressed depth of field to highlight your subject and give it a more cinematic look.

It has a 48 megapixel 1/1.3 inch CMOS sensor and has the same video specs and colour modes as the main camera to provide visually consistent footage for easier post production.

The cameras improve on the 10-bit and ISO image quality, so your photos and videos have even more detail than what’s achievable with the current DJI Mavic 3 Pro.

In normal colour mode, the DJI Air 3S dual cameras can record 10-bit video using H.265 encoding for added flexibility so it can be tweaked in post with the maximum ISO raised to 12,800 for even greater colour performance.

The maximum ISO is raised to 3200 in D-Log M and HLG colour modes which allows for greater brightness and even more detail in low light and night scenes.

Also on board is a free panorama mode in both cameras which allows you to create stunning panoramic shots by stitching multiple images together of a selected subject or area.

Both cameras can shoot video with up to 14 stops of dynamic range, so your footage looks truly cinematic in high contrast scenes.

The DJI Air 3S is the first drone from DJI to include forward facing LIDAR as well as downward infrared time of flight (TOF) sensors.

It also has six vision sensors (two at the front, two at the rear and two at the bottom) to achieve omnidirectional obstacle sensing even at night.

These safeguards ensure the drone can identify and avoid obstacles during its flight path and return path for added peace of mind even during nighttime photography.

Under the hood is real-time vision positioning and map construction technologies which enables the DJI air 3S to remember flight paths during the day to ensure a safe return to the take off point even without a satellite signal.

Another feature of the DJI Air 3S is Active Track 360° which does a great job of keeping your subject centred in the frame.

In this mode the drone can see its surroundings and create an optimal flight path.

DJI Air 3S comes with a decent sized battery which offers up to 45 minutes of flight time – that’s a long time in the air and provides the opportunity to scout locations and compose and capture your shots repeatedly if necessary.

And with the Fly More combo you have three batteries in total so you can easily spend more than two hours in the air.

And with the charging hub that comes with the Fly More combo it does support PD (power delivery) fast charging and the ability to transfer the remaining power of your low power batteries into the battery with the highest remaining power.

The DJI Air 3S comes with a microSD card slot but also includes 42GB of built in storage so it can still capture images and video without a memory card.

Another handy feature is off-state quick transfer which means files can be sent from the drone to your phone even with the drone powered off.

And the same applies when transferring to a computer – you can connect a USB cable to the drone even when it’s turned off to get to your files.

PRICING

The DJI Air 3S is available to order today from store.dji.com and authorised retail partners in the following configurations:

– The DJI Air 3S RC-N3 is priced at $1.699 and allows pilots to check the live feed and flight status using their smartphone.

– The DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (DJI RC-N3) is $2129 and includes the DJI RC-N3 remote controller, an ND filter set, two additional batteries, a battery charging hub, a shoulder bag and spare props

– The DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) costs $2429 and includes the DJI RC 2 remote controller with a 5.5-inch 1080p 700-nit high-bright screen, an ND filter set, two additional batteries, a battery charging hub, a shoulder bag and spare props.