DJI Mini 3 Pro Camera Settings (Explained for Beginners)

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So you just got your DJI Mini 3 Pro and have flown it for some time, but you are not getting the same quality footage as you’ve seen on YouTube. Before you bash DJI or think you made the wrong decision, I want to introduce you to camera settings.

No doubt, the DJI Mini 3 Pro is one of the best mini drones right now. But it has a whole bunch of settings, and if you don’t know how to work with them, then the drone will be of no use to you.

So, how do you adjust camera settings on the DJI Mini 3 Pro?

You can find the main camera settings by going to the main settings (three dots at the top right) and selecting “Camera .”

To adjust the type of shot you will be taking, use the icon above the Shutter button. And to adjust the video and photo parameters, use the menu at the bottom right of the screen.

Please keep reading to learn more about the various camera settings on the DJI Mini 3 Pro and how to get the most out of this drone.

DJI Mini 3 Pro – How to Adjust Camera Settings #

As already mentioned, there are the Main Camera settings at the top right, the shot settings on the right above the Shutter button, and the parameters at the bottom right.

Before we discuss the various camera settings, let’s first highlight the DJI Mini 3 Pro’s main camera features.

F/1.7 fixed aperture
1/1.3 (0.8) inch CMOS Sensor
48 MP still image resolution
4k video at 60 fps
Slow Motion at 1080p at 120 fps
D-Cinelike 10-bit color mode
HDR Video

Below are the various camera settings and how you can use them.

DJI Mini 3 Pro Control Features #

Now, these are not exactly camera settings, but they are settings that affect how the drone flies, which in turn influences the photos and videos you take. Below are the main ones.

Obstacle Avoidance #

You may be wondering how obstacle avoidance settings affect the footage. Well, the Obstacle Avoidance Mode has three options:

Bypass – The drone avoids the obstacle and keeps flying.
Break – The drone stops when it senses an object.
Off – Here the sensors are switched off so the drone will not sense any obstacles.

After flying the drone in all these modes, you’ll realize that the sticks get very sensitive when in Bypass mode, causing your footage to be choppy.

But when you choose the Break mode, the drone movements become smoother, leading to smoother footage.

Stick Smoothness #

There are areas with too many obstacles where the Break Mode or the Off mode wouldn’t make sense.

In such a case, you can adjust the smoothness of the sticks when in Bypass mode by going to Settings > Control > Advanced Settings > EXP.

Here, you will find the Cine, Normal, and Sport modes which you can fly in depending on the purpose of your flight.

Cine or Normal would be best for filming, but you can use whichever you’re comfortable with. And at the bottom, there will be Throttle, Rudder, and Forward/Right.

Below is what they mean:

Throttle – The speed of the movement when you move the sticks.
Rudder – The speed of the drone as it turns.
Forward/Right – The speed at which the drone pitches back or forward and rolls left to right.

You can adjust them by entering the numbers manually or dragging on the line graph. A flatter curve on the graph leads to smoother drone movements.

Gimbal Settings #

Another way to ensure smooth drone movement and footage is to adjust the gimbal movement by going to Settings > Control > Advanced Gimbal Settings.

Here there are four settings you can adjust:

Pitch Speed – This is the speed of the camera up and down. If it’s too high, the camera moves too fast, leading to choppy footage.Being too low isn’t that good either, so I’d leave it at around 30%.

Pitch Smoothness – This is how fast the Pitch stops when you let go of the stick. You wouldn’t want to come to an immediate stop.For smooth footage, a high percentage of Pitch Smoothness is ideal.

Yaw Rotation Speed – This is how fast the drone yaws. Again, like with Pitch Speed, a lower value is ideal for smoothness.

Yaw Smoothness – This setting works similarly to Pitch Smoothness. It’s how fast or slow the drone comes to a stop when you let go of the sticks.A high value leads to a slower movement, resulting in more smoothness in the footage.

Mini 3 Pro Camera Mode Settings #

Below are the settings to keep on when in Camera mode.

Size – There are two size options, 4:3 and 16:9. You can choose either based on personal preferences or the devices you use.If you don’t want to crop and want a size compatible with most devices, then the 16:9 would be ideal.
Histogram – This setting helps by highlighting the exposure of all sections in the frame, allowing you to determine the areas that are overexposed or underexposed.
Peaking Level – This is a Focus Peaking feature that highlights the object of interest with a red tint allowing you to keep it in focus at all times when in Manual Focus mode.You can switch it off or set it to Low, Normal, or High.
Overexposure Warning – This setting shades the areas that seem to be overexposed with lines running diagonally.In most cases, you will have overexposed regions, such as the sky, but they may not always affect the footage.You can effectively operate the camera with this warning off.
Gridlines – This feature allows you to align objects in the frame for a perfect shot based on the Rule of Thirds photography principle.When using the first option that splits the screen into thirds, a rule of thumb is to ensure the sky covers a 1/3 and the ground 2/3 of the frame.With the second one that has lines running vertically and horizontally, a rule of thumb is the object should be within the intersections of the lines, and the horizon should be on one of the grid lines.
Shot Type – You can adjust this by clicking on the icon above the Shutter Button in Camera Mode. It allows you to choose the type of shot.The Mini 3 allows you to choose from High-Resolution 48MP still shots, ADB (Auto-Exposure Bracketed), Burst Shot for fast-moving objects, and Timer.On the same menu, there’s also the option to switch between vertical and horizontal camera position, Zoom, and Auto Focus (AF).

Parameters #

Below are the settings located at the bottom right. I’ll list the AUTO and PRO (Manual Focus) modes since they have different settings.

Auto #

ISO – At the far right, you can select the ISO manually or set it to AUTO so that the drone takes care of the exposure and ISO on its own.
EV – This is the Exposure Value, which allows you to set the exposure of the object of interest and its surroundings. Click on it, and you’ll have an option to increase or decrease it.
Format – Here you have an option to shoot in JPEG or JPEG+RAW.I prefer shooting in JPEG+RAW since RAW photos are not compressed and will have more allowance during editing, but they take up more space.On the other hand, the JPEG format is compressed, leaving little room for editing.
Storage – This shows the amount of storage you have on your SD card.

PRO (Manual Mode) #

Switch to Manual Mode by tapping the AUTO icon on the far right. You will have the following settings:

S – This is the shutter speed or how fast the shutter closes.The larger the value, the faster the shutter speed, which leads to less light getting in, and which causes darker photos.A slower shutter speed leads to brighter photos.
F – This is the aperture or how much light is allowed to get in at a time. As mentioned earlier, the Mini 3 Pro has a fixed aperture of f/1.7, so you can’t change it.
ISO – This is the sensor sensitivity. You can change this by tapping on the right side menu.A low ISO value means the sensor is less sensitive, and vice versa. The lowest ISO value (100) will be ideal if it’s very bright outside.You can increase the value at sunset, sunrise, or when it’s cloudy.
MM – Manual Metering is the overall value when you combine the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. You can’t change this value manually.You adjust the ISO and shutter speed to increase or decrease the value on MM. The closer it is to zero, the more likely you will get better photos.
White Balance – This color balance eliminates unrealistic color casts so that an object’s color is portrayed correctly in the image.You can set it to AUTO, but I think having more control over the White Balance is better. Slide to the left or right to decrease or increase the White Balance, respectively.

» MORE: Drone Photography – Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started

Mini 3 Pro Video Mode Settings #

Below are the settings you can utilize when you want to shoot videos:

Format – You have an option to film in MOV or MP4. Nowadays, most devices can handle both formats, so you can choose either.
Color Profile – You can choose to film either in Normal or D-Cinelike.If you want videos that will only need minimal processing and post, then Normal mode would be fine.But D-Cinelike, which has a 10-Bit (10 billion) color profile, comes in handy when you need further significant processing.
Coding Format – You can use two main video codecs: H.264 (AVC or Advanced Video Coding) and H.265.H.264 is the most preferred compression method since it makes it easier to record, edit, and post video content on HTML players like YouTube.H.265 (HVEC or High-Efficiency Video Coding) is a more advanced format that processes up to 64*64 (H.264 manages up to 14*14 pixels) and is ideal for high-resolution videos.
Video Subtitles – This setting allows the video to have extra metadata of what the camera was doing during the shoot.This includes data like the ISO, latitude and longitude, date, zoom, etc. You should leave it on so you can check this data later.
Anti-Flicker – If you fly close to street lights or in areas with artificial lights, this setting helps prevent flickering that might interfere with the footage.You can leave it Off, Auto, or between 50Hz and 60Hz. It’s best just to leave it in Auto.
Shot Type – On the right side menu, you can choose between the flight modes such as Mastershots, Panorama, Quickshots, and Hyperlapse.

Parameters #

When in Video Mode, you have the following settings on the bottom right section.

Auto #

EV – Like in Camera mode, you have the Exposure Value that allows you to adjust the exposure.
Resolution – Here’s where you choose the resolution to shoot in. There are 1080p, 2.7K, and 4K.4K and 2.7K work best depending on what you need the videos for, or simply based on your preferences.
Frame Rate – Whenever we say 4K at 60fps, we refer to the frame rate, which is indicated in Frames per second (fps).Again, the frame rate you choose depends on what you need the videos for.