Many of you are aware that I recently bought a drone, you've all seen the photos and videos, sorry!  Every tech user everywhere is always looking for the next upgrade and as much as I have been impressed by the DJI Mini SE Pro it was slightly lacking in a few areas for me, like being unable to shoot in RAW and a few things like object tracking.

Like every tech user I was looking at the other drones that were available the Mavic 3 was always floating around that big Hasselblad camera oh so tempting but the price moved it out of my league.  Then the lovely people at DJI released the details of a new drone, very lightweight, 48mp RAW shooting, 4k video and the ability to rotate the camera into portrait mode.

With a variety of purchasing options and a fly more kit this drone would be available for under £1000 which with all its tech is a bargain.

I ordered one, due to its popularity its shipping date kept getting pushed back so I cancelled and re-ordered from Very.co.uk instead, who promised delivery in 3 - 4 days, and they did indeed deliver.

There are a couple of options for a controller on this drone, the RC-N1 which is the more traditional style where you plug your mobile phone in to use as a screen or the DJI-RC which is self contained with a built in screen.  TO save a few pound I went for the RC-N1 but added the fly more kit to the order instead.

First impressions were, its very light, its a little bigger than the Mini SE and it looks chunkier. But it still felt solid, the controller is well laid out and comfortable.

Its still under 249g meaning you can fly just about anywhere except Nuclear power stations, airports and tightly packed crowds.  Folded up it will fit into a jacket pocket.  Flight time is around 30 minutes but this will depend on external factors like how much you manoeuvre the drone but more on the wind conditions at the time.

If you've flown a DJI drone before the controls haven't changed, there are a couple of new icons (portrait mode, zoom) and very beneficial information from the anti collision sensors on the drone.  However the menu options become a little more in depth, as the drone has so much more to offer you have more in the way of options to tweak for you personal preference, although leaving them as standard will cause no issues.

OK so on to the important bit and the reason you buy a drone like this, the camera.  OK this is a very very good camera, leaving out all the trick bits you have a 48MP camera capable of producing RAW (NEF) files, the image above is a jpeg right off the memory card.  The detail, colour, sharpness are all easily better than the best smart phone camera, will beat point and shoot cameras and match what I could get out of a Pro Digital SLR a few years ago.  the camera is astounding.  Add into this it also does 4k 60fps video, HDR video, 1080p 120fps slow motion, will generate wide angle, 180 and 360 degree panoramic shots itself, and these are multiple images stitched together not a crop, yes no need for Photoshop etc to stick them together.  It will also do burst mode and HDR again generated in drone. have a look at the Workington gallery up to number 92 are taken with the Mini 3 Pro, the rest with the Mini SE.

This is not the limit of what the Mini 3 Pro has in its box of tricks either,  it has many features usually found on a much more expensive drone, 3 way obstacle avoidance, APAS 4.0 (Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems 4.0) or obstacle avoidance built in, the drone either stops or will navigate around obstacles. Vertical shooting, shoot portrait if you want by rotating the camera no cropping or clipping.  

Then add in the automated video features:

Mastershots - select a target and let the drone sort it out, panning, zooms, overflights it will decide what to do and you have a few choices in there to help.

FocusTrack - A variety of ways to lock on and video your target from tracking to following to keeping the target in focus and in frame while you fly around.

Hyperlapse - Timelapse from the drone, either stationary or moving, its very very impressive - HERE

Digital Zoom - up to 4x digital zoom, very handy if you are trying to video wildlife.

For such a small lightweight and, in the grand scheme of drones, cheap package it has nearly everything you could want in a drone, a 30 minute flight time, great camera, excellent features and won't break the bank.

It does have a couple of minor niggles though, the obstacle avoidance works in front, above, below and behind meaning that you can fly sideways into an object, although as a default sideways flight is disabled.  The second is the instruction booklet its good but doesn't go into the details for what the video settings are and how you can change them. All in all though it has to be a 10/10 rating.