so ive had the Air 3 since last spring and honestly love it, no real complaints. but ive been reading about the Air 3S and the sensor upgrade and im starting to get that upgrade itch again. my wife is already giving me the look lol

mostly i shoot landscape stuff on weekends, occasionally some family vacation footage. nothing professional, i dont sell anything. the low light stuff on the 3S does look genuinely better from what ive seen on youtube but i cant tell if thats just people who actually know how to color grade making it look good or if its a real difference for someone like me who just throws stuff in premiere and calls it a day

anyone actually made that jump from the 3 to 3S? was it a noticeable difference in real use or is this one of those things thats only meaningful if youre doing paid work

honestly for weekend landscape stuff the Air 3 is probably fine. like genuinely fine. the 3S low light improvement is real but unless youre shooting at dusk or dawn regularly you might not notice it on family vacation clips. i went from a Mini 3 Pro to the Air 3 and that felt like a massive jump. going Air 3 to Air 3S is more of a sideways shuffle unless you have a specific reason for it

save your money or put it toward ND filters if you dont have a good set yet, that'll make more of a visible difference in your footage than the sensor bump imo

I made that exact upgrade a few months ago and tbh the main thing I noticed wasnt even the low light, it was how the subject tracking got better. I do a lot of shots where im tracking my kids on bikes and the Air 3S just locks on better and holds it longer without freaking out. if you dont do much moving subject stuff maybe less relevant for you though