DJI goes live: The DJI Mavic 3 Classic drone is officially here

And what about the pricing? You can pre-order the DJI Mavic 3 Classic now for $1,469 / £1,309 (drone only) or $1,749 / £1,529 with the excellent DJI RC controller.

As before, the Mavic 3 Classic’s Four Thirds camera can record 5.1K/50p, 4K/60p and 1080p/60p video. There are also slow-mo modes in the form of 4K/120p and 1080p/200p options. To help adjust exposure in the air, the 24mm equivalent focal length lens also has an adjustable aperture that can switch between f/2.8 to f/11.

It’s official: the DJI Mavic 3 Classic is here. And as the rumors predicted, it has the same 20MP Four Thirds CMOS camera, 46 minute flight time and O3+ transmission system as the original Mavic 3 drone – it just doesn’t have that drone’s telephoto lens.

One minute left…

Okay, if you’re not already ready for DJI’s big launch, you have about sixty seconds to secretly open the live stream above on your work computer and get your fix.

Time to see if the DJI Mavic 3 Classic rumors were true and how much we’ll need to raise from eBay sales in the coming month to afford…

20 minutes left…

Based on these DJI Mavic 3 Classic leaks, the big question for most people is how much you’re likely to miss that telephoto lens. It’s a tricky one, because there’s no doubt that the current Mavic 3’s 162mm lens is significantly inferior to its main camera, in terms of out-of-the-box image quality.

And yet, the effect you can get from the unique zoom—including a dramatic “parallax effect” that makes the background look like it’s moving quickly behind your subject—has been behind some of the most interesting drone videos I’ve seen on YouTube and any elsewhere.

Still, in these tough economic times, the extra cost of the standard Mavic 3 is significant, and the Mavic 3 Classic could offer good value if the leaked pricing is accurate. After all, it’s still a flying Micro Four Thirds camera.

DJI Mavic 3 Classic – the leaks so far

Based on leaks from @JasperEllens (above) and WinFuture (opens in new tab), it seems quite likely that we will see a DJI Mavic 3 Classic drone land in just over an hour. But what specifications can it have?

WinFuture claims that “the DJI Mavic 3 Classic is basically almost 100 percent identical to the regular DJI Mavic 3,” apart from one main detail – the removal of the current drone’s telephoto camera.

This has apparently been done for cost reasons, allowing DJI to sell the Mavic 3 Classic for a lower price tag (see the “Is this the pricing?” post below). If true, here’s how DJI’s drone would shape up in terms of specs:

Camera: 20 MP Four Thirds sensor
Video quality: 5.1K up to 50fps / 4K up to 120fps / FHD up to 200fps
Video transmission interval: Up to 9 miles
Storage: 8GB, expandable via microSD card
Battery: up to 46 minutes flight time
Weight: 895g
Dimensions (unfolded): 347.5x283x107.7mm
Dimensions (weight): 221×96.3×90.3mm

The view from the Mavic 3

Looking for a taste of the kind of video quality you might expect from the rumored DJI Mavic 3 Classic? The above compiles some of the test images for our DJI Mavic 3 review.

If the Mavic 3 Classic does indeed have the same sensor (only without that drone’s telephoto lens), it will likely give us a good idea of ​​what to expect.

Our review said “image quality from the main camera for stills and video is nothing short of excellent overall,” and there still isn’t quite another drone in the Mavic 3’s weight class that matches its 20MP Four Thirds CMOS sensor.

Is this the price?

How much could the rumored DJI Mavic 3 Classic cost? That’s one thing the rumors and leaks hadn’t been too clear about, until earlier this week.

The tweet above from regular DJI leaker @JasperEllens on Twitter sounds pretty certain that prices will start at €1,499 (for the drone only), with a package including a new DJI RC controller costing €1,749.

Based on current DJI pricing, that should work out to around $1,499 / £1,349 / AU$2,399 for the drone on its own, or roughly $1,749 / £1,599 / AU$2,799 for the DJI RC controller bundle. Not cheap, but a decent saving on the DJI Mavic 3’s launch price of US$2,199 / £1,879 / AU$3,099 (which included the old RC-N1 remote).

Decision Decision…

As someone who bought the DJI Mini 3 Pro earlier this year, I recently wrote about why I might regret that decision if the DJI Mavic 3 Classic rumors are true.

Not that I’m at all unhappy with the Mini 3 Pro – it’s a brilliant little drone that proved a great companion on a recent visit to the Lake District in the UK (where I took the photo above).

But the Mavic 3’s larger body is more stable in windy conditions, and getting that Four Thirds sensor for less money than the current model will make it a tempting option, especially if you often fly in gloomy conditions.

DJI drones: a primer

If you’re new to DJI drones, here’s a quick primer on its current lineup. Despite some new competition from the likes of Autel, DJI is still by far the biggest maker of consumer aerial cameras – and its range is now split into four sub-brands.

DJI’s entry-level small drones are the “Mini” series, led by the DJI Mini 3 Pro. Just above them is the mid-range ‘Air’ series, which, despite the name, are slightly larger and have cameras with larger sensors (like the 1-inch DJI Air 2S, which previously topped our guide to the best drones you can buy ).

But above both of these is the “Mavic” series, which started back in 2016 with the DJI Mavic Pro. Packing a large Four Thirds sensor into its collapsible body, the DJI Mavic 3 is the spiritual successor to the original model. But with a price tag of $2,199 / £1,879 / $3,099, it’s not exactly cheap – hence the rumors of a DJI Mavic 3 Classic launching today.

Alongside these three main species of DJI drones, a new FPV model called DJI Avata is buzzing. It’s a super fun intro to FPV flying, but a little more niche than we expect to see today.

This is how you see the DJI launch

How can you tune into today’s DJI launch? There’s now a placeholder on DJI’s official YouTube channel above, where the announcement will take place today at 9am EDT / 1pm GMT. If you’re in Australia, that works out to be 12:00 AEDT on November 3rd.

That means we’re now less than five hours away from the official launch, giving us plenty of time to dig into those Mavic 3 Classic rumors and find out if it all adds up to a compelling potential Christmas present. As someone who bought a DJI Mini 3 Pro earlier this year, I have some thoughts about it.

Hi, I’m Mark (TechRadar’s Camera Editor) and I’ll be your co-pilot for today’s big DJI launch. I’ve been covering and testing DJI drones for years, going all the way back to the original DJI Spark in 2017, so I’m looking forward to seeing exactly what lands today.

The event’s “Explore Vivid” doesn’t give away a huge amount, but the Hasselblad camera in the teaser poster points to a new drone, like the rumored DJI Mavic 3 Classic. So if you’re in the market for a new flying camera (or just interested in where they’re gliding to next), pull up a seat and join us as we count down to launch.