Game of drones
WANT TO TAKE SENSATIONAL SNAPS FROM THE AIR? WE ROUND UP THE BEST KIT TO SUIT ANY BUDGET
ONCE upon a time you’d need a helicopter and a massive camera to capture decent footage of life on earth from the air.
You may not believe this, but people actually used to make their living by photographing people’s houses from light aircraft and then selling them a print of it. Simpler times.
These days you can bag a fairly decent drone with a camera relatively cheaply, and the footage you can get from them can be really spectacular.
Here are three of the best drones you can get today – and there’s one for every budget.
BEST FOR BUDGET
Ryze Tech Tello ■ They say: We set out to build the most fun drone ever, and we came up with Tello: an impressive little drone for kids and adults that’s a blast to fly and helps users learn about drones with coding education.
Get yourself a Tello to find out just how awesome flying can be! We say: A drone as good as this should not really be available at this price. For less than £100, the Tello is a perfect introduction to the world of drone photography.
It’s small and light and works right out of the box with a smartphone app for control – although it is compatible with other controllers.
It lacks the tracking features of more expensive drones, but does have compatibility with VR headsets for a virtual flight. There’s 13-minutes of flight time, a 100m range, and 720p video capture.
■ Cost: £99 from ryzerobotics.com
BEST MID-RANGE DJI Mini 2
■ They say: There are many places you visit once in a lifetime. Bring DJI Mini 2 for a unique perspective, and make the most of your travels.
■ We say: DJI is THE name in drones, and this is its latest stab at the mini drone market – it is comfortably the best option if you want the most for your money.
The three-axis gimbal 4K camera can capture exceptional footage, and the drone is very stable, even in quite strong breezy conditions.
You can fly it for up to half-an-hour, and it folds right down into a tiny package that’s easy to take with you wherever you want to film.
■ Cost: £419 from store.dji.com
BEST HIGH-END
PowerVision PowerEgg X Wizard
■ They say: In Drone Mode, the PowerEgg X is a high-performance drone. It is suitable for highly dynamic aerial photography thanks to its 4K/60fps camera and triaxial
mechanical gimbal. The user can control real-time 1080P image transmission within a distance of 3.7Mile(FCC).
It has a maximum wind speed resistance of 29-38 kph so that it can stably fly in coastal or windy conditions. The PowerEgg X has a flight time of 30 minutes.
■ We say: The PowerEgg is for serious users and features sophisticated tracking technology that can help you make sure your subject is always in frame, whatever they do. It will even remember faces it is tracking, so if they unexpectedly move out and back into shot, it’ll pick up where it left off.
It’s pricey, but it can also operate in hand-held mode, so has more functionality than other cheaper devices – and the stunning stabilised footage it can capture in the air and on the ground, makes this a good bet for the most enthusiastic of droners.
■ Cost £1,030 from powervision.me