You may have heard that DJI is launching a new triple-camera drone, but this time the camera system breaks new ground for camera drones. Mavic 3 Pro and Mavic 3 Pro Cine boast a triple-camera and triple-lens setup that will take aerial photography and videography to new heights. What exactly is a triple-camera design, though? We’ll unpack it all for you and compare it with a dual or single camera setup to help you better understand how much more capable the triple-camera setup is and if it’s right for you.
How does a triple-camera system work?
To know how it works, we need to know precisely what a triple-camera system is. A triple-camera system has three independent lenses, each with a different sensor. This means three entirely different cameras are built into one single casing body.
The triple cameras on the new drone are as follows:
- Hasselblad wide-angle lens 24mm eq. with a 4/3 CMOS sensor
- Medium-tele lens 70mm eq. with a 1/1.3 inch CMOS sensor
- Tele lens 166mm eq. with a 1/2 inch CMOS sensor
Users can easily toggle between the three cameras by selecting their optical zoom focal lengths in the UI.
How to use a triple-camera system?
Different focal lengths are used for various shots and scenes to help create a more vibrant picture or dynamic video. You can use the triple cameras to provide three perspectives and make your content more diverse. The triple-camera system saves time by eliminating the need to change the lenses.
Comprehensive coverage of multi-focal lengths, especially when shooting landscapes, architecture, wild animals, and moving vehicles, allows users to create without traditional shooting equipment and do everything using one drone. The tele cameras are no longer only for exploration. The 70mm focal length lens now means that professionals can access a universal standard focal length without needing to add or remove anything from the drone’s camera system. The image quality is also excellent, supporting the photographer’s creativity and free expression.
What are the advantages of a triple-camera system?
With a triple-camera system, creators and professionals have immediate access to better composition and creation in complex environments. Simply tapping the display to switch between multiple focal lengths, you can:
- Capture a natural-looking image: The medium-tele camera image is compressed and suitable for highlighting the positional relationship between the subject and the surrounding environment.
- Bring distant subjects closer: The long-tele camera can shoot subjects like wildlife, trains, or people climbing from a safe distance so as not to disturb or endanger them.
- Create a sense of depth and space: Wide-angle shots are great for capturing the vastness of a domain, making the 16mm lenses an ideal choice for landscape and architectural photography. But what about when you need to showcase a subject within the environment or scene? The newly added 70mm medium tele camera is more versatile, allowing for a more straightforward composition and smoother flight movement. Especially in cities and other cramped aerial environments, it’s often impossible to get enough space between the drone and the subject to use a long telephoto lens.
With the addition of the 3x telephoto camera into the triple camera system, creators now have access to the compression of a telephoto shot without needing to be so far away from the subject. These dual-tele camera lenses have been upgraded to make the images and videos captured with them more usable.
Storytelling with a triple-camera system
The flexible use of triple cameras can enhance the storytelling of aerial photography creations and also make scene changes more natural. The outcome is images and videos that feel more unified. With three different cameras, professionals can control their compositions and shots more precisely. Drawing from different perspectives without having to fly back and forth or change to another piece of equipment streamlines the image-capturing workflow. Let’s have a look at these shots:
Telephoto cameras imitate human vision by separating the subject from the surroundings. Images from telephoto cameras are more suitable for narrative use and can also enrich the lens language in a shot sequence.
A good story needs to clearly explain the environment (wide-angle), location (medium-tele), and characters (tele camera).
Easily switching between multiple focal lengths you can master different styles of composition for different scenarios quickly. Turn your inspiration into ingenuity with the new efficiency of triple-camera aerial photography.
Triple Camera vs Dual Camera vs Single Camera
| DJI Mavic 3 Pro | DJI Mavic 3 | DJI Mavic 3 Classic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main camera | 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad Camera 20 MP |
4/3 CMOS Hasselblad Camera 20 MP |
4/3 CMOS Hasselblad Camera 20 MP |
| Medium tele camera | 1/1.3-inch CMOS Medium Tele Camera 48 MP / 12MP |
1/2-inch CMOS Tele Camera 12 MP |
N/A |
| Tele camera | 1/2-inch CMOS Tele Camera 12 MP |
N/A | N/A |
Read a detailed comparison of the Mavic 3 lineup.
Is a triple-camera drone worth it?
The triple-camera system enhances the storytelling capabilities of camera drones by empowering professionals and enthusiasts alike with the tools they need to fully realize their creative ideas. The classic 70mm focal length makes the triple-camera system the complete package for capturing different, unique shots. The Mavic 3’s status as a flagship consumer camera drone continues with this latest update to the series. Now is the time to reconsider if you need to get into aerial photography or add aerial footage to your videos.
