my phantom 4 pro v2 has been an absolute workhorse for years and i genuinely love it but its starting to show its age and replacement parts are getting harder to find. had a motor wobble issue last month that took me two weeks to track down a decent replacement for and that kind of thing is just going to get more common. so im finally thinking seriously about moving on.

the thing is i got really used to the image quality and the feel of flying something that solid and substantial. the newer folding drones feel kind of toy-like to me even though i know on paper they match or beat the phantom in most specs. been looking at the mavic 3 classic mostly because of the hasselblad sensor situation but also glanced at the air 3s. my main uses are real estate work, some event coverage, and personal projects. anyone made a similar switch and have thoughts on whether you miss the phantom or got over it pretty quick

made almost the exact switch you're describing about a year ago, phantom 4 pro to mavic 3 classic and it took maybe two flights to stop missing the phantom honestly. the image quality out of the mavic 3 classic is just better, theres no other way to say it, the dynamic range especially. for real estate work its been a huge upgrade just in terms of not having to do as much in post to recover skies and shadows at the same time. the portability took some getting used to psychologically but now the idea of lugging the phantom around feels exhausting. only thing i miss is that physical feeling of something solid in the air, the mavic just feels lighter on the sticks even though its technically very stable

i'd push back slightly on the mavic 3 classic for event work just because the battery swap situation is a bit fussier than the phantom setup ever was in my experience. not a dealbreaker but something to factor in if you're doing long continuous shoots. also have you looked at the mavic 3 pro at all? the three camera system sounds gimmicky but for real estate where clients sometimes want different focal lengths without you having to reposition for every shot its actually pretty handy. costs more obviously but just worth throwing into the comparison before you commit