DJI unveils the Air 3S drone and brings back the 1-inch sensor

DJI has just announced the DJI Air 3S, an advanced dual-camera drone designed for travel photography. Many professional photographers would be happy, as DJI brings back the the 1-inch-CMOS primary camera (DJI Air 3 has 1/1.3-inch and DJI Air 2 1-inch). More important DJI has kept the dual-camera design and it is featuring a 70mm medium tele camera. Both cameras support up to 14 stops of dynamic range and the new Free panorama feature, the Air 3S allows for flexible shooting-range selections to capture landscapes, architecture, and more in stunning detail. The drone’s new nightscape obstacle sensing and precise next-gen Smart RTH (Return-to-Home) features ensure effortless peace of mind to safely capture perfect cinematic photography at night.

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“The DJI Air 3S takes our Air Series to new heights by offering professional features like dual primary cameras and omnidirectional obstacle sensing while retaining its light weight of just 724g for boundless freedom and flexibility,” said Ferdinand Wolf, Product Experience Director at DJI. “The Air 3S is the perfect all-rounder for travel photography – capturing all your special moments during vacation while also providing safety and security if operating at night.”
Compared with the previous-generation DJI Air 3, DJI Air 3S employs a more advanced video encoding compression algorithm that reduces video file sizes by over 30% without compromising image quality, saving valuable storage space for creators.

Take Unmatched Imagery with Enhanced Dual-Camera

The Air 3S’s dual cameras improve on the 10-bit and ISO image quality, capturing photos and videos with even more breath-taking details than the current DJI Mavic 3 Pro. Even in normal colour mode, Air 3S dual cameras can record 10-bit video using H.265 encoding, delivering refined colour performance and greater flexibility in post, with the maximum ISO raised to 12800. In D-Log M and HLG colour modes, the maximum ISO is raised to 3200, allowing for greater brightness and more details in urban night scenes.

Note: Using different colour profiles, such as HLG and D-LOG M provide several advantages, mainly related to post-production flexibility, dynamic range, and colour grading. D-LOG captures a very wide dynamic range by using a logarithmic curve, which can preserve more details in shadows and highlights.

Free panorama mode in both cameras enables the seamless creation of panoramic shots by stitching together multiple images with a manually selected subject or area. The wide-angle camera offers a broader Field of Vision (FOV), greatly improving efficiency when capturing panorama photos. The medium tele camera significantly reduces image distortion, crafting expansive shots with a wide perspective from multiple photos and rich details captured by its superior focal length. Both cameras are capable of shooting video with a maximum dynamic range of 14 stops, capturing cinematic footage in high-contrast scenes.

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It is amazing to see such a compact drone offering an excellent dynamic range. It means it can expose on a bright sunny day for both the sun and a lot of the details in the shadow. For a lot of professionals such excellent dynamic range might be more important than the megapixels of the camera. As an example, a mirrorless full frame Sony A7C camera has a dynamic range of 14.5 stops.

Note: It is estimated, the human eye has somewhere around 20 stops of dynamic range. This is why higher dynamic range is more close to the human eye and it could look more cinematic.

Overview of the Air 3S Dual Cameras:

  • Primary 50MP, 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. This large sensor, enhanced by advanced image-processing technology and intelligent algorithms, preserves even minuscule details in low-light conditions such as sunsets and nightscapes.
  • Secondary 70mm medium tele camera with a 3x optical zoom excels at portrait and vehicle shots, offering compressed depth of field to highlight any subject with a bolder, more cinematic look. With its 48MP 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor, this camera supports the same video specs and colour modes as the primary camera. This ensures visually consistent footage for streamlined post-processing.

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Expand Creativity with Safer Night-time Flying

Offering unrivalled environmental awareness, the Air 3S is the first DJI drone to feature forward-facing LiDAR, while also featuring downward infrared time-of-flight (TOF) sensors and six vision sensors (two at the front, rear, and bottom) to achieve nightscape omnidirectional obstacle sensing. This advanced technology enables the Air 3S to automatically identify and circumvent obstacles during its flight and return paths, ensuring trouble-free safety during night-time photography.

Forward-facing LiDAR_1Forward-facing LiDAR_2

Note: The abbreviation for LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging.

The Air 3S is designed to be the perfect easy to use all-rounder drone. Powered by real-time vision positioning and map construction technologies, the DJI Air 3S memorizes flight paths when adequate lighting is available. This ensures a safe return when taking off from locations without a satellite signal.

Stay in Focus with ActiveTrack 360°

The DJI Air 3S features ActiveTrack 360° to keep any subject in the frame. Based on the surrounding flight environment, the optimized tracking performance automatically plans a flight path. It adjusts the framing to guarantee more dynamic shots that keep the subject the centre of attention even if the lower half of their body is partially obscured such as standing behind bushes or on a bridge.

Air 3S also introduces a new Subject Focusing feature that keeps the subject in sharp focus, even during manual flight or when the subject moves off-centre. This feature allows the pilot to fully concentrate on the more creative aspects of perfecting a shot like composition and camera movement.

Flight Time

The Air 3S offers up to 45 minutes of flight, so you have adequate time to scout locations, compose and capture cinematic shots.

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Weight

The new model is slightly heavier than the previous generation DJI Air 3 (724g vs 720g), which means it would be a C1 certified drone in the EU.

Transmission and Range

Powered by DJI´s OcuSync 4 (O4) HD video transmission technology, the Air 3S delivers 10-bit video transmission at 1080p/60fps over distances of up to 20 kilometres in FCC (10km in CE). Using the DJI Cellular Dongle 2 inserted directly into the drone pilots never need to worry about O4 signal interference as 4G connectivity provides stable video transmission and drone control, enhancing flight safety and reducing disconnection risks.

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Storage and File Transfer

There are 42 GB of built-in storage, which allows creators to film without needing to deal with microSD cards. Using a simple USB-C connection files can be sent from the Air 3S to a smartphone or PC/MAC even when the drone is powered off.

Charging Hub with Power Accumulation

The Charging Hub supports PD fast charging and a power accumulation function, allowing users to transfer the remaining power of multiple low-power batteries into the battery with the highest remaining power.

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Data Protection

LDM (Local Data Mode) acts like “airplane mode” on your phone by completely disconnecting the DJI Air 3S from the internet, ensuring ALL data stays only in the drone.

Pricing and Availability

The DJI Air 3S is available to order from store.dji.com and authorized retail partners, with shipping starting today, in the following configurations:

  • The DJI Air 3S RC-N3 retails from 1.099 EUR and allows pilots to check the live feed and flight status using their smartphone.
  • The DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (DJI RC-N3) retails from 1.399 EUR and includes the DJI RC-N3 remote controller, an ND filter set, two additional batteries, a battery charging hub, a shoulder bag, and more.
  • The DJI Air 3S Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) retails from 1.599 EUR 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 more.

DJI Air 3S( RC2)

DJI Care Refresh

DJI Care Refresh, the comprehensive protection plan for DJI products, is now available for DJI Air 3S.  The replacement service covers accidental damage, including flyaway, collisions and water damage. For a small additional charge, you can have your damaged product replaced if an accident occurs.

DJI Care Refresh (1-Year Plan) includes up to two replacements in one year. DJI Care Refresh (2-Year Plan) includes up to four replacements in two years. Other services of DJI Care Refresh include official Warranty and free shipping. For a full list of details, please visit:  www.dji.com/support/service/djicare-refresh.

For more information about DJI Air 3S, please visit: https://www.dji.com/air-3s

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