Hi,
I have owned and hand landed the Air 2 and Air 2S, no issues there.
But now I bought the Air 3 and find it ridiculously hard to hand catch, not because of the size of the drone or anything, because it just refuses to go down in my hand.
And yes, I am aware that you can disable the bottom sensors with the new firmware update, but that is very tedious to do every time you want to hand catch the drone.

It seems to do some trickery to know where you're landing and avoids landing on uneven surfaces, which is a good safety feature, but it makes it dangerous to land in certain situations.

Would be really great if it would let you land if you hold the stick down for long enough.

For example, on the Air 2 and Air 2S you can land while holding your hand under the drone and holding the left stick down for 3 seconds, it slowly will descent into your hand.
However, that is not the case with the Air 3. It pops a message on the screen that it is not safe to land in the current area and to fly to even ground to land there. There is a way to let it land in your hand, by first initiating landing using the DJI Fly app's menu, and then quickly put your hand below it, while holding the stick down, but it's very far from a perfect solution.

I know that most will argue that it is inherently unsafe to hand catch such a big drone, but that doesn't worry me too much, I also hand launch and land my FPV drone.
Sometimes it is just not possible to land on even ground, and the drone should let you land anywhere if you tell it for long enough.

You could always grasp the drone from underneath and flip it to kill the motors or whilst holding it just pull the left stick down for a few seconds.  

I live on a large boat so I always hand launch and recover when flying any of my drones.  For landing the Air 3 when I get it close to where I want to hand land I just reach up on the RC and switch to Sport mode and then put my hand under and pull down on the stick and it settles right into my hand everytime.  The other option that will also work but is not as safe is to grab it fast and flip it over to kill the motors.  

If you go to 3:52 of this video you'll see how easy switching to sport's mode works for hand landing.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 12-26 07:43
I live on a large boat so I always hand launch and recover when flying any of my drones.  For landing the Air 3 when I get it close to where I want to hand land I just reach up on the RC and switch to Sport mode and then put my hand under and pull down on the stick and it settles right into my hand everytime.  The other option that will also work but is not as safe is to grab it fast and flip it over to kill the motors.  

If you go to 3:52 of this video you'll see how easy switching to sport's mode works for hand landing.  

I would assume that turning off the sensors in the fly app,if the pilots does not need them
would do the same thing right.
Enjoy your day.

Freetime Posted at 12-26 09:02
I would assume that turning off the sensors in the fly app,if the pilots does not need them
would do the same thing right.
Enjoy your day.

It sure would but much quicker and easier to just flip the switch on the RC to Sports mode.

You also have a great day and a wonderful week.

DowntownRDB Posted at 12-26 09:56
It sure would but much quicker and easier to just flip the switch on the RC to Sports mode.

You also have a great day and a wonderful week.

Hi
Yup just a quick flip of the switch would be better,by the way I am thinking about getting an Air 3
sometime next year.I fly over water most of the time as I photograph shallow water shipwrecks.
The 3x 70mm lens is something I could really use.So I have a question for  you, how do you find
the photo quality on both lenses.I currently have an Air 2 ,and oh boy here we go,an Autel Lite+.
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Have a good one.

Hello there. It's not recommended to hand-catch the drone. Please take off and land the drone on flat and open ground, and keep a certain distance from the drone to ensure your safety. However, I'll forward your suggestion to the related team for evaluation. We appreciate your great support.

Freetime Posted at 12-26 19:03
Hi
Yup just a quick flip of the switch would be better,by the way I am thinking about getting an Air 3
sometime next year.I fly over water most of the time as I photograph shallow water shipwrecks.

In my personal use the Air 3 photos are much, much better quality than the Air 2.  You'll definitely want to pick up a set of ND filters if you'll be filming over or into water.

DowntownRDB Posted at 12-27 08:51
In my personal use the Air 3 photos are much, much better quality than the Air 2.  You'll definitely want to pick up a set of ND filters if you'll be filming over or into water.

Thank you for the info,it is a big help.
Take care.

Freetime Posted at 12-27 09:19
Thank you for the info,it is a big help.
Take care.

You're very welcome.  Have a great week.

DowntownRDB Posted at 12-27 09:51
You're very welcome.  Have a great week.

I do have another question for you seeing  you have the Air 3,in comparing it to something with
a 1" or larger sensor.Air2s or Mavic 3 pro.if you yourself have comparison photos.Just wondering
if you have other models with a larger sensor than what is in the Air 3 for comparison.Everything
I have seen so far the Air 3 seems to check all of the right boxes.i know the sensor size is not
everything as they seem to have made it good with both cameras.
Hate to be a pest,but you are the first person I have talked to that actually has this model.
Have a good one.

Freetime Posted at 12-27 10:07
I do have another question for you seeing  you have the Air 3,in comparing it to something with
a 1" or larger sensor.Air2s or Mavic 3 pro.if you yourself have comparison photos.Just wondering
if you have other models with a larger sensor than what is in the Air 3 for comparison.Everything

I don't have a Mavic 3 to compare to the Air 3.  However, I think it will help if you take a look at this article and also the below video.  The article is well written and does a great comparison job.

https://www.droneblog.com/dji-mavic-3-pro-vs-air-3/

DowntownRDB Posted at 12-27 10:15
I don't have a Mavic 3 to compare to the Air 3.  However, I think it will help if you take a look at this article and also the below video.  The article is well written and does a great comparison job.

https://www.droneblog.com/dji-mavic-3-pro-vs-air-3/

Thanks for all the info and help.

Freetime Posted at 12-27 10:25
Thanks for all the info and help.

My pleasure.  Hope you have a great day.

I hand land my Air 2 and Air 3 without issues. They both seem to work the same to me and the message popping up is the same one when the ground area doesn't look safe but be still had no issues. I do use a lanyard which makes it much easier as well so maybe that's why.

As far as I am concerned, holding down the left stick while keeping your hand away from the drone works. As the drone continues to decend, you can hold your hand out at the last minute, and the motors will disable shortly after holding the drone. It's either that or precariously disabling the downward vision sensors, or entering the drone into Sport mode.

Air-3-Enthusiast Posted at 12-28 10:20
As far as I am concerned, holding down the left stick while keeping your hand away from the drone works. As the drone continues to decend, you can hold your hand out at the last minute, and the motors will disable shortly after holding the drone. It's either that or precariously disabling the downward vision sensors, or entering the drone into Sport mode.

As noted above in post #6

Air-3-Enthusiast Posted at 2023-12-28 10:20
As far as I am concerned, holding down the left stick while keeping your hand away from the drone works. As the drone continues to decend, you can hold your hand out at the last minute, and the motors will disable shortly after holding the drone. It's either that or precariously disabling the downward vision sensors, or entering the drone into Sport mode.

Downward sensors work in sport mode and its a simple task to turn off downward sensors in your app.

Try these: https://www.upshot.photos/produc ... -pro-catch-handles/