so i've been flying the Mini 2 for about two years now and honestly it was great for what it was, never really felt like i was missing out too much. but i picked up the Mavic 3 Classic last month and man the difference is pretty significant especially in the camera department. the Hasselblad color profile takes some getting used to if you're coming from the Mini's default colors, they're very different straight out of camera and i spent a good week trying to figure out why my footage looked washed out before i realized i had D-Log M on and had no idea what to do with it.

anyway once i sorted that out and found a decent free LUT online the footage is genuinely really nice. the obstacle avoidance is also way more confidence inspiring, i was flying near some trees the other day and it just kind of... stopped and waited for me which was a bit startling but probably saved me from a very bad day. the Mini 2 had zero of that obviously.

one thing i wasnt expecting is how much heavier it feels in the bag and just generally carrying it around. not a dealbreaker but if you hike a lot it's something to think about. battery life is also noticeably better which i appreciate. anyone else make this same jump and have tips for getting the most out of the camera side of things?

yeah D-Log M caught me off guard too when i first got it, i think a lot of people turn it on because they heard log is better without really understanding the workflow. honestly for most casual stuff i just leave it on the normal color profile and only switch to log if i know i'm going to sit down and actually grade the footage. the difference in flexibility is real but if you're just doing quick edits it's more hassle than its worth sometimes.

for LUTs i'd look into what Mattr or some of the other Mavic specific colorists put out, some of the free ones floating around are made for older Mavic models and dont quite translate right to the 3 Classic. the obstacle avoidance thing is so good once you trust it, took me a while to stop second guessing it every time it beeped at me.

I made the same jump about 6 months ago and the weight thing is real, especially if you're used to just tossing the Mini 2 in a small bag. I ended up getting one of those Lowepro drone pouches that fits inside a regular hiking backpack and that helped a lot. Also the ND filters that came with mine (i got the fly more combo) were actually decent which surprised me since bundled accessories are usually kind of mediocre.