so ive been flying the mini 2 for about a year and a half and honestly loved it, but i kept running into situations where i just needed more camera and the wind was killing me. picked up a mavic 3 classic about three weeks ago and been putting it through its paces.

first thing i noticed is the hasselblad color profile is no joke. i was skeptical because marketing but side by side with my old footage the difference in the greens especially is just really noticeable, especially in flat d-log. took me a while to get a LUT workflow sorted but once i did the footage looks genuinely cinematic without much work.

the obstacle avoidance is so much better than i expected. flew through some pretty dense trees on a trail i know well and it was nervous-making but it handled it. not saying you should push it but its confidence inspiring. battery life is also just... longer than the spec sheet suggests in calm conditions? i was getting close to 42 min on a warmish day with light wind. the mini 2 would be sweating at 25.

downsides honestly are just the size/weight and the ND filter situation. the built in variable ND is convenient but i still feel like i want more control, thinking about picking up a set of fixed polarpro or freewell NDs. anyone have opinions on which brand for the 3 classic specifically? also curious if the fly more combo is worth it at this point since the prices have dropped a bit.

the freewell versatile magnetic system for the mavic 3 is genuinely great, i use it and swapping filters mid-shoot takes like 4 seconds. the magnetic mount is solid, never had one budge on me even in wind. polarpro stuff is quality too but the price difference is real and i honestly couldnt tell a difference in my footage. if youre not doing paid work the freewell is probably fine.

on the fly more combo ? depends entirely on whether you're going to be doing long days out. i went back and forth and ended up just buying two extra batteries separately when they were on sale. the bag in the combo is fine but nothing special and i already have a case i like. do the math on battery price vs combo price at current retail, sometimes its close enough that the combo makes sense just for the hub.

jumping in because i just got the mavic 3 classic last month too and same experience with the battery life, it really does seem to outperform what dji claims in decent conditions. one thing i didnt see you mention ? did you calibrate the compass and IMU after you first got it? i skipped that step and had some really twitchy hovering in GPS mode until someone on here told me to just run through the calibration. totally fixed it. might not be your issue but worth doing if you havent already.