Is the Mavic 3 Cine worth it?

I have been flying commercial drones for a while now doing land surveys and I’ve been doing some professional videography on the side with a Mavic 3, no not the pro. I’m trying to figure out if the Mavic 3 Cine is worth it or should I save up for the Inspire 3? What are the pros and cons of each?

For 99% of the population, Mavic 3 Pro is absolutely fine. The log profiles are more than enough. The Cine is good if you need the internal storage and ProRes but most people don’t.

Unless you are actually getting into high-end commercial work, it’s pointless getting an Inspire. But that’s my 2 cents.

@Teo
I love the price point of the Mavic but I do find myself more times than not struggling to get the shot that I want with one controller. With the Inspire, you can have 2 connected: one for flight controls and one for gimbal controls.
I guess that would be another issue all in itself needing another operator to fly the thing.

@Raven
If that’s the case, you need to weigh up if those shots you find hard are worth the additional 10 grand. I don’t know what you’re filming, but additional operators is additional expense etc.

Teo said:
@Raven
If that’s the case, you need to weigh up if those shots you find hard are worth the additional 10 grand. I don’t know what you’re filming, but additional operators is additional expense etc.

90 percent of the shots I’m getting are of equipment or people working on construction sites for promoting etc. But I have been getting a bit more business for filming events as of lately.

@Raven
It’s nice having a camera operator. I, in fact, have been a drone camera operator and pilot for about 10 years now. Inspire 2 with an X7 is still a beast in comparison to a Mavic. Maybe there are some used ones you can get for a steal.

Inspire 3 with all you need is about 30-40k in my country; reminder: you need 2 remotes, a lot of batteries, the whole lens kit, the X9 - SSDs and whatnot.

You are talking about a 4k or 30k investment lol. Did you even look at the prices?

Headed to Africa on a film shoot and will be using Apple ProRes out of the Cine. The example shot above would have been better if the exposure was on manual.

Briar said:
Headed to Africa on a film shoot and will be using Apple ProRes out of the Cine. The example shot above would have been better if the exposure was on manual.

The customer stated “we would like it to be more vibrant” lol; it was filmed using a good exposure but ramped up the contrast in Lightroom :joy:.

@Raven
You can tell the exposure is on auto when the camera tilts up to the horizon. That’s no bueno.

Briar said:
@Raven
You can tell the exposure is on auto when the camera tilts up to the horizon. That’s no bueno.

Plus, he says that is color grading with LR, nada, nada bueno.

I wished the Mavic 3 Pro had an option to have the updated radio transmission stuff like the Mini 4 Pro. I want to use that telephoto lens!

Clancy said:
I wished the Mavic 3 Pro had an option to have the updated radio transmission stuff like the Mini 4 Pro. I want to use that telephoto lens!

It doesn’t need it. I’ve never lost signal, ever.

I will save the money and make some course of color grading, buy DaVinci Studio or at least learn about frame rates.

The drone is there and looks like you know how to do smooth camera movements, but sorry to say, the footage looks made from a Mavic Air 1.

There is no point to buy the latest tech if later the final delivery is broken.

What do y’all think about the Air 3S vs 3 Pro?

Personally, I would go with the Inspire 3, much more robust, can change lenses and better battery life.