so ive been going back and forth on this for like three weeks now and i cant make up my mind. currently have a mini 2 that i bought two years ago and honestly its been great but im starting to feel limited by the camera, especially in low light. the footage just gets noisy really fast once the sun starts going down.

anyway the mini 3 pro seems like the obvious upgrade but then i keep seeing people talk about the air 3 and how the dual camera setup is a gamechanger. my problem is i mostly fly on weekends, just for fun, occasional travel stuff, not doing any paid work or anything. so spending the extra $250-300 for the air 3 feels hard to justify but at the same time i dont want to buy something and regret it in another two years.

anyone here made that jump and can tell me if they actually use the second camera or does it just sit there looking cool

honestly i was in the exact same spot last spring and went with the air 3 and i dont regret it. the medium tele lens gets used way more than i expected ? like for stuff where you cant physically get closer to a subject without being annoying or unsafe, being able to just punch in to 70mm equivalent is genuinely useful. its not just a gimmick.

that said if you're mostly doing wide landscape shots and travel stuff you might not even notice the difference half the time. the low light on both is a huge step up from the mini 2 so either way youre going to be happy. i'd probably say go air 3 if your budget can stretch it without hurting, go mini 3 pro if spending that extra cash is going to stress you out every time you open the case.

the second camera on the air 3 is legitimately useful, im not just saying that. but also mini 3 pro is no slouch and the vertical shooting mode is actually super handy if you ever post anything to instagram or reels. just depends what you prioritize i guess