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Drones were a game-changer to begin with, but mini drones have taken it a step further. These small, portable, and often foldable flight machines aren’t just fun to fly around, they’re the next evolutionary step in photography and film.
The best mini drones open up a whole new world of capturing epic shots of your trip that are entirely your own. Beautiful panoramic and overhead views are just the beginning though, as the photography features continue to grow with each new generation of drones. The newest mini drones often include things like “follow-me mode” for hands-free filming, facial recognition, and even collision detection to avoid crashes.
Best Features of a Mini Drone
If this is your first time flying one of these, or you’ll be gifting it to a newbie drone pilot, look into features such as headless mode (which always aligns the drone’s front with whatever way the controller is facing), and Electronic Image Stabilization, which compensates for the shakiness of the propellers when trying to take a stable shot.
Gimbals can also be invaluable when it comes to steady and crisp photography too. This pivoted support lets you rotate around an axis, keeping your drone camera level no matter how much it moves or vibrates.
They’ve also gotten significantly easier to fly than the early bulkier models. Drones nowadays can come with a designated controller, their own app, or a combo of both, making commanding it simpler, and similar to a video game. When you’re done, these can safely return to you with the tap of a button. And if you’ve got a set of VR goggles, some units pair with them, giving you a pilot’s view as if you were up there with it.
Flight range can vary, but they’ll often be pretty far, sometimes 500 meters up and four miles away. Don’t expect hours of flying on a single charge though. Drones aren’t like phones, they don’t last all day, and 30 minutes of air time is pretty good on a full battery. And while a light weight can be big selling point, always be aware of weather conditions – a strong gust of wind can trap a mini drone high up in a tree, or worse, carry it away.
