Whether you’re a professional filmmaker, a hobbyist, or just want to have some fun, a camera quadcopter will let you fly around in the sky and take amazing photos and videos. They’re also useful for disaster management and delivering essential items, including vaccines.
The best drones with cameras have a few key features that set them apart from the rest of the field. These include low light performance, high-definition video resolution and WiFi FPV capabilities.
Low light performance is an important consideration for any camera-equipped drone because you’ll be using it at night to capture stunning, cinematic images of your surroundings. A good FPV camera will be capable of capturing 0.0001 Lux, which is equivalent to the illumination you’d get from a typical living room lamp at 50 Lux.
HD video résolution is another key feature of a good camera-equipped drone, as it ensures that you’ll be able to see the details in your images without losing clarity and contrast. Drones with HD cameras typically shoot footage at up to 4K resolution, so that you can easily view the full details of your shot.
FPV is a term that refers to the ability of the camera on a drone to transmit live video to a controller, which allows the pilot to see what’s happening in the air in real time. This lets you keep track of your drone, avoiding crashes and making it easier to maneuver.
Most advanced drones have dedicated OSD (On-screen display) chips that overlay flight data and control information onto a video feed from the drone’s camera. These are important for pilots who may be unfamiliar with the controls, and can help them keep their drone in line with other nearby objects.
The best drones with cameras will have a three-axis gimbal, which will ensure that your image stays steady even when you’re flying fast and hard. They’ll also have a high-quality lens to make sure that you’ll be able to capture stunning, crystal-clear images.
These drones will also come with a camera gimbal that can rotate up, so that you can shoot photos and videos of objects above the drone, such as bridges. They’ll also have a wide variety of flight modes to make sure that you can take a ton of great shots.
They’ll have a ready-to-fly battery that can last for up to 20 minutes, and will usually have a quick-change battery system so you don’t have to worry about running out of power while filming. They’ll also have a range of intelligent flight modes that’ll help you get some incredible aerial footage, regardless of your skill level or experience with RC aircraft.
They’ll also have a remote controller that you can control via a phone or tablet, which will allow you to watch your drone’s footage as it comes down to earth. These models will often cost more than less expensive toy drones, but they’ll be much safer and will have a built-in emergency landing mechanism in case the drone runs out of juice while you’re filming.