Everyone is looking to buy a new drone. They are the thing that’s hot right now and they are here to stay. However, one should carefully consider a few points before jumping head-in first to buy a new drone. Take a look below to help aid you in your drone/quadcopter purchase. 5 crucial things to know before buying a photography drone.
1. Familiarize Yourself With Your City’s Drone Flying Laws
Before even thinking about purchasing a drone, you should definitely familiarize yourself with your City’s drone flying laws. The Federal Aviation Administration, in partnership with AUVSI (Association for Unmanned Vehicle System International) and AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) has created an education campaign called Know Before You Fly. This campaign has been created with you in mind, to educate you on the safe and responsible operation of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). We suggest with all seriousness that you check the Know Before You Fly Page. It will get you thinking a bit on what you can and cannot do with drones.
Also, a good rule of thumb is to not fly your drones/model aircraft more than 400 feet off-ground. This rule was put in place by the FAA back in 1981, but could still very well be enforced. Click here to get more information on the FAA and the rules that apply to flying Drones in public/private places.
2. Drone Registration Requirements
All drones must be registered. You heard that right. If you own a UAS that weighs between .55lbs and 55lbs, it absolutely has to be registered. No buts or ifs about it. Take a look here for more information on this rule: FAA Rules. Small sample below…
3. Learn Drone Lingo and What it Means – 5 Crucial Things to Know Before Buying a Photography Drone continued…
As you are doing your research and DD (Due Diligence), you will come across some acronym’s and words that are often used to describe drone parts, components, sensors and other drone/quadcopter related information. Some examples below.
a) UAS – Unidentified Aircraft System
b) Altitude Hold – This basically means that a drone is capable of locking-in and holding an altitude at a press of a button on the controller
c) Headless Mode – The headless mode allows the controller to fly in any direction without having to turn (left, right, straight, backwards). It doesn’t have a central front cockpit area.
d) RTF – Ready to fly. This means that whatever unit you are purchasing should be ready to fly right out of the box. Although this sounds great, the truth is that often the drone’s propellers and other components will need to be assembled onto the drone’s frame & structure after receipt as they do not come fastened to the main unit due to the manufacturer’s shipping box variants and constraints. Best for beginners, almost a plug-n-play setup.
e) ARF – Almost Ready to Fly – Just as it sounds, these drones are close to being ready to fly. Meaning, they come with all parts; but none of them are assembled. The ARF kits are typically good for both beginners and professional Drone flyers. Beginners can put the unit together and learn new things about these awesome machines, whereas the PRO users enjoy the freedom of building their new drone the way they would want to (for example, they could use two different ARF kits and peace together the two designs to make a cool flyer).
4. Understanding the Beginner vs Expert Difficulty of Flying a Drone
As was briefly mentioned on the previous Point (#3) with the RTF and ARF acronym explanations, different Drone & Quadcopter builds/models are meant for a variety of different applications and functions. Drones can be categorized in 3 different groups. Consumer, Commercial and Sport (Racing). The consumer drones & quadcopters typically encompass a wide array of machines ranging from the super small micro drones such as the “Eachine E010 Mini UFO” all the way to large ones such as the “Night Lions Tech N7C“. As you can see, these units are typically cheaply built without too many bells and whistles such as good range, long battery life, good camera, durability etc. The commercial drones have components on them that are much better in quality, more resistant to damage, better camera’s, range, can carry higher weight in payload (such as a delivery drone). Commercial drones have all sorts of uses; HD cinema filming, aerial photography, package delivery, surveillance, military applications etc.. Here is an example of a good commercial drone: Freefly Systems ALTA UAV. Lastly, Racing drones. They are a breed of their own. Most novice drone flyers will not start with a racing drone due to the complexity of their build, the cost and the commitment in time needed to master their flight difficulty. There is an actual racing league out there, but as you can imagine, these are primarily Professionals flying these machines with hundreds of hours of flight time under their belt. For more information on Racing, please click here: DRL.
Beginners tend to stay with the cheaper drones so that they can learn to fly with relative ease and not hurt the wallet too much in terms of damaged units etc.. Once the beginner enters middle-ground expertise level, he might move toward a build-your-own drone situation. From here on out, with hours of playing around with building drones, understanding drone technology and of course hundreds and hundreds of hours of flight time; one may start calling himself a Professional drone enthusiast and start getting more into the commercial and racing space of drones. At this point, money becomes a factor and one should have a really good handle and understanding of their drone technology. If you are interested in finding a good beginner drone for under $200, we have compiled a Best Drone Under 200 Reviews page. Check it out.
5. The Right Smart Phone for a Drone’s Remote Control – 5 Crucial Things to Know Before Buying a Photography Drone – Drone Apps
This point here is really based upon personal preference. Right now, Samsung Galaxies and iPhones are dominating the mobile markets, but we do see Google Pixel creeping up to take up some of this market share. Most drone manufacturers will include their own APPs for both the IOS as well as the Android Operating Systems. As with all things, you get what you pay for. Cheap Drones will typically come with apps that give you less drone mobility and control features, whereas the more expensive commercial grade drone apps will give you a plethora of settings and drone controls.
We really hope that we were able to share with you some good information that will allow you to make a smart decision before purchasing a new Drone or Quadcopter. This “5 Crucial Things to Know Before Buying a Photography Drone” page was designed for you, the novice drone enthusiast. We wish you many hours of exhilarating fly time and who knows, we might one day see you on the Drone Racing Track. Happy Flying!
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