Photographic drones allow individuals to take photos that could previously only be taken from a helicopter or airplane. More and more photographers are buying drones and trying their hand at aerial photography.
If you’re new to both drones and photography, you’re in the right place. We analyze all the key elements to consider when choosing a drone, including flight safety, image systems, portable systems, intelligent features, portability, and service.
As a user of fc40, mavic air, mavic 2 pro, spark, mavic mini, here are eight things I recommend to think about before buying a drone for photography:
Image quality is paramount.
If you have any knowledge of the camera, you will know that the sensors directly affect the image quality. This also applies to unmanned aerial vehicles. In the drone market, a 1-inch sensor is emerging as a new gold standard used by consumer drones like the new Mavic 2 Pro and professional photographic drones like the Phantom 4 Pro V2.0. If you are looking for a spacecraft that will capture moments with your family or just capture a panorama and views from a bird's eye view, feel free to check out the Mavic Mini or Mavic Air 2
Higher CMOS makes it easy to capture high-quality shots in low light, but if you’re not shooting primarily at night, don’t worry too much.
Do you need 4K video?
Video resolutions of drones can vary from HD quality to 4K. If your video editing involves adding a filter and uploading to Facebook or Instagram, 1080p recording is enough. But if you’re a vlogger or want to shoot a cinematic video, you’d rather work in 4K. Video editing reduces image resolution due to scaling, rotating, and cropping. If you start with 1080p source material, the resulting video may be noticeably less sharp. 4K video gives you a lot of extra pixels to play with.
You can also see the frames per second (fps) listed in the drone specifications. Fps dictates how many unique consecutive camera images it can process every second. 24 to 30 frames per second captures smooth shots. However, for special effects such as slow motion, you may need 60 frames per second.
Is Raw / DNG format support required?
If you are not doing post-production with Lightroom or Photoshop, ignore this section. But almost every photographer edits their photos in some way. If a photo drone can take RAW / DNG photos, it provides a number of post-production editing options. In RAW / DNG format, the photo will record all the data received by the camera sensor. It is especially useful for night photos and recordings. RAW / DNG formats create more opportunities for aerial photographers.
Does the drone float perfectly still?
Stable hovering is extremely important for image quality. If the drone cannot hover, it will constantly rise, fall or drift, resulting in blurry images. Stable hovering requires an advanced flight control system and sensors on board. In this regard, many pilots agree that DJI drones are by far the leading models in the market. You don't believe me? Watch a few videos about DJI drones on YouTube and check out their hover function.
Buy a photography drone with a gimbal mounted.
The gimbal is a crucial piece of equipment for stable videos. Some cheap camera drones only offer gimbals as accessories or none at all. Without gimbals, shaky videos are inevitable. Always remember to choose a camera drone with a built-in cardan stand to avoid this. As far as I know, the DJI Phantom series was the first consumer drone to be equipped with a 3-axis gimbal assembly. The new Mavic 2 also uses a tiny 3-axis gimbal designed for smaller drones, which has proven to be an evolutionary benchmark in gimbal gimbal technology.
Don’t worry about flight time.
Here’s the truth: most drones can’t fly for more than 30 minutes. The drone industry does not yet have a solution for this. Drones with a flight time of more than 20 minutes are considered the highest level in the industry. It is definitely better to choose a drone with a longer flight time, such as the Mavic 2, which has a maximum flight time of 31 minutes. However, it is more important to learn how to make the best use of every second and buy at least two extra batteries. If you are afraid that you will run out of battery very quickly, then when buying I advise you to buy FLY MORE packages where you get a total of three batteries and accessories.
Intelligent functions.
Good photographic drones are expensive. Not only because they have good image quality and a good flight control system, but also because they are equipped with intelligent shooting support functions. Drones can automatically track you, fly on waypoints, take selfies with gestures and much more. Different photography drones have unique features. For example, the Mavic 2 Zoom has a dual optical zoom that allows users to get close without disturbing the subject. The Phantom 4 Pro comes with a mechanical shutter to reduce distortion when shooting high-speed subjects, while the professional Inspire 2 supports dual-operator control.
Buy a popular drone.
There are many benefits to owning a popular drone. For starters, it makes it easy to get answers to your questions. Let’s say you found a problem with your drone. With popular drone models, you can quickly find a solution through other pilots on online forums or social media groups. Meanwhile, there are thousands of videos available on YouTube with tips and guides that can help you become a better pilot and photographer.
9 tip gold worth: if you are buying a new drone, be sure to get a dji care warranty as well. You will fly calmer and sleep more peacefully
