ok so ive been trying to decide between these two for probably longer than i should admit and i just keep going in circles. my budget is around $900 and i mostly do landscape stuff, some hiking shots, occasional family videos. nothing professional really.

the mini 4 pro keeps calling to me because of the weight thing, like i travel a lot and not having to register or stress about flying in parks is genuinely huge for me. but then i look at the air 3 specs and the dual camera setup with that medium tele lens seems like it would actually get used. i dont really shoot video above 4k so the codec stuff people talk about feels a bit over my head honestly.

has anyone actually owned both or switched from one to the other? most youtube comparisons feel like they were written by the marketing team if im being honest

had the mini 3 pro before and just picked up the air 3 a few months ago so i can kind of speak to the lineage at least. the tele camera on the air 3 gets used way more than i expected ? shooting landscapes especially, being able to compress that distance a bit changes the whole composition. that said if you're hiking and weight genuinely matters, the mini 4 pro is no joke. it really does fit in a jacket pocket with a little effort.

for what you described though, casual family stuff and landscape, i think either would honestly make you happy and you'd forget about the one you didnt pick within like two weeks of flying. the image quality gap is there but its not gonna be obvious unless you're pixel peeping or doing side by sides.

i was in the exact same spot lol ended up just getting the mini 4 pro because the sub-250g thing really does matter more than people give it credit for, especially if you travel internationally. some countries have pretty strict rules and being under that threshold just removes a whole layer of stress. the footage looks incredible to me but i also dont have anything to compare it to so take that for what its worth