Notice a lot of you post 'drone' shots. Advice on buying one, please.

Ok I’m an rc car guy but have some experience in drones. My advice to you buy a small cheap one and learn to fly it because you are going to crash it a lot. Most of the advice above is good stuff but only after you have mastered flight controls. After you have or have not done that will dictate where you go from there. Believe me rc is very addictive and $8000 on a drone is very easy to do if your not smart about what you want it to do. I have 6 rc cars that I built and I don’t even want to think how much I actually have invested.

 

Walmat sells low end (mostly garbage) drones. It's like shopping for a high end mountain bike at Target, no bueno. Any decent drone for your type of work starts at $2k+. My close friend is a roofing contractor, his drone cost him around $5k.

 

This guy does pretty much the same stuff the OP is looking for, and everything you see is done on a Mavic, sub 1k$.

And he's not that great at the editing, if you can't tell from his 1995 era website.

 

I'd be willing to bet 50% of drone related businesses use DJI Mavic Pro or DJI Phantom 4 Pro

 

dont think ive seen any pics on here from a drone, post an example link.

 

I'll chime in a little about this.

I'm not a drone operator, but from my understanding if you were to operate a drone of certain weight class and flight height. You MUST register with the FAA.

In the past. Drone operation has been the wild west and cases of near air collisions or actual air-to-air collisions with airplanes and helicopters leading to safety of flight and crew.
I remember reading an article of non registered operator hitting a sheriff helicopter. Declared emergency and did an improvised landing. Damage was cracked wind screen and some other bits.

If caught operating a drone without registration. Major fines will happen. Don't know exactly what it is, but something will happen.

Hope this helps.

 

Get a predator or reaper, best you can get, and they have awesome cameras. Don't waste you time with the other suggestions you've been given, they are the spacer lifts of the drone world.

 

I have a DJI Mavic Pro. Love it. Takes great pictures and video. Can fly at about 22mph. Radius is great with it. Up to like 4 miles.

Got mine for a steal deal somehow. Long story. But well worth it. My friend has the GoPro one and hates it cause it's so hard to fly.

 

I've done drone work professionally, any specific questions that haven't been answered yet?

 

Its a flying object. FAA regulates air vehicles. I have to have my DJI Mavic Pro registered with the FAA. It's only like 10.00 to get the registration forever. Since it's under a certain weight limit, no Drone pilot license is required.

 

Drones are for sissies.

 

Maybe just hire someone to do your work vids? Be an expense you could write off. Get a cheap one to learn with, when the crashing is done maybe upgrade.

 

Check out the DJI Mavic Mini for a good first drone for $399. Has a good camera/video, but doesn’t have a few features that some of the more expensive ones have.

 

With the hellfires. If you dont then you're wasting your life

 

Most people don't need the hellfires, just like most people don't need kings.

 

We all NEED hellfires.

Edit: Mericá

 

Drones are pretty cool, I don't think I need one myself and I know nothing about them. You might be able to get your own spy plane, but that's a manned airplane not an actual drone.

 

I went with the DJI Spark after seeing the optional charger carry case available, it was perfect to carry on an M/C.
The Spark has a few gee whiz features like gesture and follow but Is slightly over the rec. weight limit so I registered it with the FAA. The DJI app also informs you of any flight restrictions.
The Spark takes good video and I often use the “dronie” feature where you highlight a target and then the Spark films while circling a 360 going up and away keeping the target in camera, it pretty cool.

Here is a pix of the Spark in its charger with 3 batts and the controller, this is what sold it for me.

 

First off sorry if this angle was covered already. I skimmed the comments. I have. DJI magic air (really great. Can’t go wrong). But sone have already mentioned the registration with the FAA and this is a MUST. The bigger part that I will share with you is with any drone no matter what, if you use the photos/video taken from the drone “for profit” basically any business purpose, and you are not part 107 certified you will face MASSIVE fines from the FAA. All photos and video taken on your drone have a geo cache in them and it is heavily monitored. I recommend visiting FAA.gov and doing some reading before you make a decision on your specific application. Part 107 requires testing and a bit more $$ to maintain. You may be digging a hole for yourself.

my assistant manager at work is part 107 and has his own business for drone work. Grading/real estate/ etc and charges a minimal amount for the photos. Hiring someone may work better for you.

with that out of the way. The Mavic air is awesome and will do everything you want it to and then some. You can also look at the new mavic mini, a bit more cost effective with a few limitations. Hope this helps you out


https://www.faa.gov/uas/commercial_operators/

 

Keep in mind the cheaper the drone, the harder it probably is to fly. Bought a cheap one with a camera for my son and it was a bear to fly. Had to get it off the ground and fight the controller to "trim" the controls to get it to fly level. It was fun but not very safe. I upgraded to DJI Phantom 3 and there is NO COMPARISON. Take it up off the ground and it will sit where you want it. The wind can try to move it but it will stabilize itself. That is what you are getting when increasing your budget. More features, better software, better controls, etc. With lawyers around every corner, you really don't want to take chances on a cheap drone from Walmart.