Digital SLR Photography - UK (2019-10)

UYINGA NEWpieceof kitis always
exciting,butwhateverit is thatyou’re
purchasingit’salwaysimportanttoget
thebestoptionforyou,anddronesare
certainly noexception.Infact,selecting
theright droneis justasimportanta decision
asbuyingyourmain camerabecause
shootingimagesis likelytobeyourprimary
reasonforbuyingone.While youcanpickup
inexpensiveoptionsforlessthan£50,these
are reallyjusttoys withsubstandard
components,functionalityandcameras.
Fora dronethat’sworthowningandcapable
oftakingdecentimages,youneedtobe
lookingat modelsfromDJI,Parrotand
Yuneec,andexpecttopayanywhere
between£500and£1, 600 fora consumer
toprosumerleveldrone.Forprofessional
dronesthatcanbeusedforfilm,television
andspecialistapplications,youcouldpay
fromaround£7,5 00 toin excessof£ 30 , 000.
Theskyreallyis thelimitin thisarea!
Budgetis alwaysaninitialdecidingfactor,
so we’vecompileda smallselectionof
dronesbelowcoveringa range ofcostsand
featuresets.Fromsmallfoldabledronesto
larger modelsofferingprofessionalfeatures,
there’s certainlysomethingherefor
everyone.Fortheaveragephotographer
lookingfor a drone to supplement their stills

88 DigitalSLRPhotographyOctober 2019

photography, foldablemodelsmayoffer the

perfectsolutionin termsofportability.

Thevastmajorityof dronesin the

consumerandprosumerrange provide a

numberofintelligentflightmodestohelp

makeitquickandeasytocreateadvanced

videoeffects,rangingfroma simpleTripod

Modethatmakesthedroneflyslowerand

smootherforbettervideofootage to

hyperlapses,panoramasandmuchmore.

Theexactfeatureset,asalways, dependson

the manufacturerandmodelsoifthesekinds

of featuresareimportanttoyou,makesure

youresearchthoroughly.

As a photographer,it maybethe

photographicfeaturesthatmattermostto

you,suchastheabilitytocontrolexposure

manually, usingsemi-automatic shooting

modessuchasaperture-priority,Auto

ExposureBracketingandthe abilitytoshoot

in Rawformatetc.Nottomentionsensor

sizeandimage resolution.Other

considerationsthat areimportantinclude

batterylife/flighttime,automatedflight

featuresandgimbalmovementsamong

others.Ifyoushootvideoandwouldlikethe

bestqualitypossible,it maybethatyou

requirea dronecapableofshooting4Kvideo

inaRaw format for morecontrolandcolour

gradingduring processing.

ParrotParrot ANAFIANAFI

http://www.pparrot.com

SPECIFICATION

GuidePrice:£629

Sensor:1/2.4in21-megapixelSonyCMOS sensor

Flighttime:Upto 25 mins

Imaggefiles:JPEG,DNG

Video4K MP4

Gimbal:180°tiltgimbal

Foldeddimensions: 2 44x 6 7x 65 mm

Weigght: 320 gg

Withanastonishinglylight weightof 320 gforthedrone

itself, thefoldableParrotANAFIis a tinytake-anywhere

dronethatfitsin almostanycamerabag. Thesensorsize

is smallat 1/2.4in,asyou’dexpectforsucha smalldrone,

butresolutionis a respectable21-megapixels.Thisputs

thecameracapabilitiesclosetowhatyou’d expectfrom

a mobilephone.Anddespitethesmallsizeandsmall

battery, flighttimesofupto 2 5 minutesarepossible.

Thelensis a wide-anglef/2.4ASPHlenswithan

equivalentfocallengthof23-69mm(photo)or

26-78mm(video). Thiszoomrangeis achieveddigitally

andclaimedtobelosslessandprovidestheabilityto

createadolly zoomeffect whenshootingvideo.

SELECTINGTHERIGHTDRONEISJUST ASIMPORTANTAADECISION

ASBUYINGYOURMAINCAMERABECAUSESHOOTINGIMAGESIS

LIKELYTOBEYOURPRIMARY REASON FORBUYINGONE

DISCOVERSOMEOF THEBEST DRONESAVAILABLEON THEMARKETAND

CHOOSE THESOLUTION THAT FITSYOUR WAYOFSHOOTING PERFECTLY

TP71 /SHUT TERSTOC

K

TAKE FULL CONTROL!

Unless you buy a smart controller with

a built-in screen, a smartphone or

tablet is essential for camera control.

RECOMMENDED DRONES

ANAAATOMY OFAADRONE

1

GIMBAL:Thegimbalis thedevicethat

keepsthe camerasteadywhile thedrone

fliesthroughtheairtoensuresmoothvideo

footage. Fromaphotographicpointof view,

this canalsohelp toachievesharpimageswhen

shootinglongexposures,butit’sgenerally

recommendednottoshootexposureslonger

thana fewsecondsandthesearedifficulttoget

sharpif there’s evena slightbreeze.

2

CCCAMERRA:There’s littleintroduction

neededhere,thecamerais exactlywhatit

says onthetinbutis oneofthemostimportant

elementsofa drone.Smaller,moreportable

dronesfeaturesmallsensors– oftencomparable

to smartphonesensors,while moreadvanced

dronescanevenfeaturelarger1insensors.

3

SENSORS:Somedronesfeatureadvanced

obstacledetectionandcollisionavoidance

sensors,alongsideGPS.FlyingwithGPSmeans

thedroneknowswhereit is andit won’t driftin the

wind,forinstance,whileobstacledetectionand

collisionavoidancesystemswillstopthedrone, in

mostcases,fromcrashingintoanobject.

4

MOTORSThe motorsthatpowerthe

fourormorepropellersfoundondrones

are,toa degree,exposedunitsat theendoffour,

six oreightarmsextendingfromthebodyofthe

drone.Sincetheseareexposed,andtakingallthe

airventsonthedrone’sairframeintoaccount

means thatflying in the rain must be avoided.

EssentialGuid