How to plan a mapping mission for the DJI Air 3S
The Air 3S has waypoint flight in DJI Fly, but no grid tool, and no SDK that third-party flight apps could use to fly it. So a mapping grid is planned on a computer, saved as a KMZ file and flown by DJI Fly’s own waypoint mode, the same way as on the Mini 5 Pro.
This guide goes through the camera numbers that matter for mapping, the GSD and photo spacing they give, how to get the route onto the DJI RC 2, and how to measure what the camera really manages after your first flight.
We have not flown the Air 3S ourselves. Mini5Planner’s Air 3S profile has not been tested in the field. Since version 1.3.8 it uses DJI’s 50 MP image size, the field of view we measured on the Mini 5 Pro (DJI lists both drones at 84°) and 5.2 seconds per photo. None of that has been measured on an Air 3S. If you fly one, the check after your first flight corrects the profile for your drone, and we would like to hear what you find.
The Air 3S camera for mapping
Map with the wide-angle camera. The 70 mm medium tele has a 35° field of view, so it covers a much smaller patch of ground per photo. These are DJI’s published specs for the wide-angle camera, read on 10 November 2026:
| Image sensor | 1-inch CMOS, 50 MP effective pixels |
|---|---|
| Field of view | 84° |
| Format equivalent | 24 mm |
| Aperture | f/1.8 |
| Max image size | 8192 × 6144 |
| Single shot | 12 MP and 50 MP |
| Shortest timed-shot interval | 2 s at 12 MP, 5 s at 50 MP |
| Max horizontal speed | 21 m/s (19 m/s in the EU) |
| Max flight time | 45 minutes |
| Takeoff weight and class | 724 g, C1 (EU) |
GSD and footprint per altitude
Mini5Planner works out the ground sample distance (GSD) like this:
GSD = altitude × sensor width ÷ (focal length × image width)
Sensor width divided by focal length is the footprint width per metre of altitude. DJI gives the field of view instead of the sensor size: 84° across the diagonal, or 24 mm in 35 mm terms, the same as for the Mini 5 Pro. On our Mini 5 Pro the photos covered about 3% more ground than that when we measured them against ground control points, and Mini5Planner uses the measured geometry for the Air 3S too. That is a footprint of about 1.49 × the altitude across and 1.12 × the altitude along. With 8192 pixels across at 50 MP:
| Altitude | GSD at 50 MP | Footprint (across × along) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 m | 0.91 cm/px | 74 × 56 m |
| 60 m | 1.09 cm/px | 89 × 67 m |
| 80 m | 1.45 cm/px | 119 × 89 m |
| 100 m | 1.82 cm/px | 149 × 112 m |
| 120 m | 2.18 cm/px | 179 × 134 m |
At 12 MP the photo has about half as many pixels across, so the GSD is roughly twice as coarse.
With DJI’s nominal 84° the numbers come out about 3% smaller, for example 1.41 cm/px at 80 m. Which of the two fits the Air 3S hasn’t been measured.
Overlap, photo spacing and speed
For a map, 80% front and 70% side overlap is a good place to start. That is what Mini5Planner’s Small site template uses. For 3D models and volumes, fly a double grid (crosshatch) with more overlap, like the Excavation site template (85% / 75%).
The flight lines are footprint width × (1 − side overlap) apart, and the photos footprint length × (1 − front overlap) apart. With 80% / 70%:
| Altitude | Line spacing | Photo spacing | Max speed at 2 s per photo | Max speed at 5.2 s per photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m | 22.3 m | 11.2 m | 5.6 m/s | 2.1 m/s |
| 60 m | 26.8 m | 13.4 m | 6.7 m/s | 2.6 m/s |
| 80 m | 35.7 m | 17.9 m | 8.9 m/s | 3.4 m/s |
| 100 m | 44.7 m | 22.3 m | 11.2 m/s | 4.3 m/s |
| 120 m | 53.6 m | 26.8 m | 13.4 m/s | 5.2 m/s |
The speed is the catch. If the drone flies faster than photo spacing ÷ photo interval, the camera can’t keep up and photos are skipped without any warning. Mini5Planner lowers the speed to that limit and tells you why.
What we don’t know yet is how long the Air 3S needs per photo in a waypoint mission. DJI’s timed mode starts at 2 seconds for 12 MP and 5 seconds for 50 MP, and our Mini 5 Pro needs about 5.2 seconds per 50 MP photo on a mapping flight. The profile uses 5.2 seconds, so Mini5Planner keeps the speed within the right-hand column. Waypoint photos aren’t timed shots, so none of these numbers proves what the Air 3S does. Until you have measured it:
- Make your first flight a small area, at the speed Mini5Planner suggests.
- If you shoot 12 MP, the camera may keep up at a higher speed. Measure it before you raise Speed in the side panel.
Plan the mission in Mini5Planner
- Open Settings and choose DJI Air 3S as the active drone. All drones are included in the free version.
- Draw the area with the polygon tool and drag the H marker to your takeoff spot.
- Pick a template, then adjust altitude, overlap and flight direction. Keep an eye on the speed note in the statistics.
- Click Save KMZ.
Use Mini5Planner 1.3.8 or newer. Older versions had the wrong image size and 2 seconds per photo for the Air 3S. The GSD they showed was too coarse for 50 MP photos, and the speed they allowed was too high. The app updates itself, or use Help › Check for updates. Plan any older Air 3S routes again.
Load it on the DJI RC 2 and fly
DJI’s specs cover both the DJI RC-N3 and the DJI RC 2 for the Air 3S. Mini5Planner’s transfer guide (Transfer to DJI RC 2, next to the export buttons) is written for the RC 2: you create a placeholder waypoint mission in DJI Fly, connect the RC 2 to your computer with a USB-C data cable and replace the placeholder’s KMZ file with yours. The full steps are in our grid mission guide. With the RC-N3, DJI Fly runs on your phone, so the mission files are on the phone instead.
- Set the end-of-mission action in DJI Fly. According to DJI, it can be return to home, land, hover or back to start, and it defaults to return to home. In our tests with the Mini 5 Pro, DJI Fly used its own setting, not the one in the file.
- Note whether you shoot 12 MP or 50 MP. The GSD depends on it, and DJI’s timed-shot limits suggest the photo interval might too.
After the first flight: measure the real photo interval
Copy the photos to your computer and open Calibrate / check flight in Mini5Planner. Choose the photo folder. The app only reads the metadata (EXIF), and the photos are not changed or sent anywhere.
- Under Camera, check the camera model and resolution. The app estimates the sensor size from the 35 mm equivalent focal length, accurate to a couple of percent.
- Photo interval shows the seconds per photo on the flight.
- Under Coverage check, compare the number of photos with the planned route, and look at the front overlap (median and lowest) and the weakest spots on the map.
- Read the result. Fewer photos than planned, at a steady interval: the camera was the bottleneck, and the interval is its real limit. Tick Use measured photo interval as camera limit. As many photos as planned: the camera kept up, and the interval only shows how fast you flew. Leave the box unticked.
- Choose the Air 3S under Save for and click Save calibration. New routes for the Air 3S then use the image size, focal length and sensor size from your photos, and the interval if you ticked it.
If the statistics said the speed was reduced for the camera, the flight tests the 5.2-second setting: if the camera needs longer, you get fewer photos than planned, and the check shows the real interval.
Tell us what you measured
We want the Air 3S profile to be measured, like the Mini 5 Pro’s. If you fly it, send us the photo size (12 or 50 MP), photos planned and taken, the speed, the interval the check showed, and your DJI Fly and firmware versions. Email torstein@anleggtech.no. A single flight helps.