New drones on the way: First DJI Air 3S then Mavic 4?
[19:14 Thu,25.July 2024 by Thomas Richter]
Since May, rumors about a new drone model from DJI have been circulating: initially, the leaks from the well-known accounts @OsitaLV and @Quadro_News focused on isolated shots of a successor to the Air 3, namely an Air 3S - but recently, images of a crashed prototype of another model have also been circulating, which is believed to be an update of the popular semi-professional Mavic model, presumably a Mavic 4 or Mavic Pro if DJI follows its revised naming scheme.
Mavic 4 with new gimbal camera system
DJI Mavic 4 (Pro)
It&s time for a new model version of the Mavic series, as the Mavic 3 was released around 2 1/2 years ago. It featured a then-new dual Hasselblad camera system with a 24mm camera for normal flight shots and a telephoto camera. This was followed a year later by the Mavic 3 Classic, significantly cheaper but with only one camera, and then six months later by the Mavic 3 Pro/Cine as a new top-of-the-line pro/consumer model, featuring a three-camera system for the first time: in addition to the 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad main camera, it included two telephoto cameras with a hybrid zoom range of 3x to 28x.
Mavic 4 with new gimbal camera system
And it is precisely such a gimbal camera module with three cameras (with a Hasselblad main camera) that can be seen in the photos of the crashed prototype - and in a new design. Various stickers indicating it as a "Golden Sample" with a checklist of individual components and functions suggest it is a new model still in the early testing stage. The new gimbal module seems more extensive than before, indicating larger camera sensors. Several (obstacle?) sensors can be seen on the body - more than previously on the Mavic 3 Pro - which, in addition to new cameras, could be another potential point for a possible hardware upgrade for a Mavic 4.
But when will the Mavic 4 (Pro) hit the market? The crashed model in the pictures looks more like a prototype than a pre-production model, so the market launch will take some time. The fact that there are only photos and videos so far, but no technical data, also indicates an early product stage, so we will probably have to wait until next year for the new Mavic 4.
Mavic 4 with new gimbal camera system
DJI Air 3S
The other drone model seen in leaked photos is the successor to the Air 3. This model seems to be in a more advanced development stage than the Mavic 4, as the official series designation Air 3S is already visible in the photos. And since the DJI Air 3 was released about a year ago, according to DJI&s usual update cycle, a launch date should be imminent.
DJI Air 3S camera system next to DJI Air 3
The very active leaker @Quadro_News has just released a new flight video of the Air 3S and speculates about a camera upgrade, which could have a significantly larger sensor (1" instead of the previous 1/1.3"), leading to better image quality and low-light performance. At least the photos show that the camera system looks different - but no real technical data has been leaked yet.
There is also speculation online as to whether a LiDAR can be seen in the photo of the camera between the upper obstacle sensors - it would be a first for a consumer drone, as DJI has so far only used LiDAR in the industrial Pro models Matrice 300 TRK and Mavic 3 Enterprise. But why would DJI equip the Air 3S with a top feature like LiDAR, but not the Mavic 4?
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