so ive had the Air 3 for about a year and a half now and honestly love it, no real complaints. but my buddy keeps telling me i should grab the Air 3S while there's a deal on at one of the big retailers. i mostly shoot family vacations, occasional hiking trips, nothing crazy. maybe like one or two flights a week if im being generous.

the main thing i keep reading about is the bigger sensor on the 3S but like... does that actually matter when youre just making memories and not trying to sell footage? i shoot in auto most of the time and do minimal editing. just curious if anyone who made the jump actually felt the difference in real use or if its one of those spec sheet upgrades that doesnt really show up in everyday footage

honestly for what you're describing i'd probably stay on the Air 3. the 3S is genuinely better in low light and the subject tracking got a bump too but if you're shooting sunny beach days and mountain hikes in auto mode you're probably not going to notice the sensor difference in any meaningful way. the Air 3 footage is still really really good. save the money for an ND filter set or a good bag if you dont have one already

I actually went from the Air 3 to the 3S a few months back and I'll say the low light stuff is noticeably better which surprised me because I thought it would be more subtle. that said I do a lot of dawn and dusk flying which sounds like maybe you don't? for midday sunny vacation stuff I honestly could not tell you the difference looking at side by sides. both look great. so yeah probably depends on when you fly more than anything