What is the best drone for photography?

The best drone for photography is the DJI Mavic 3 thanks to it’s 4/3″ sensor. This is an improvement on the Air 2s which only has a 1″ sensor.

However, this is a pricey drone for most people. In this review I also share my top picks for the best photography drones for hobbyists and semi professionals. You might also find this article on Drone Photography for Beginners helpful.

Here are my top 3 drones for photography:

Mini 2 for hobbyists
Mini 3 Pro for entry level professionals
The Mavic 3 for high end commercial professionals

All of these drones are top all round performers but I’ll go through why I suggest these models above others for drone photography. You may also be interested in the comparison of DJI’s 3 most popular mini drones; the Mini SE, Mini 2 and Mini 3 Pro.

Best Photography Drone for Hobbyists : DJI Mini 2

The Mini 2 is an affordable drone that will take photos suitable for personal use and sharing on social media.

It takes 12MP photos and 4K video but the compromise that come with a smaller price tag are a lack of obstacle avoidance and a smaller camera sensor which means it doesn’t handle low light as well as the Mini 3 Pro and Mavic 3.

PROS

Compact size; fits into a lens size pocket of a camera bag so it can be packed for that ‘just in case” opportunity when out photographing with a standard camera but want the option of taking aerial photos.
Quiet; less noticeable and less disruptive to surrounding people
Under 250g so doesn’t need to be registered if only being used for fun
Raw and jpg formatt

CONS

Smaller sensor (1/2.3″)
Doesn’t have obstacle avoidance (only has bottom sensors)
Not compatible with the DJI smart controller which has a built in screen so we don’t have to use our phone.

Best Photography Drone for Entry Level Professionals : DJI Mini 3 Pro

The Mini 3 Pro has a larger sensor ( 1/ 1.3 inch) than the Mini 2 and has a bunch of advancements which is why DJI named this a Pro model rather than just the Mini 3.

A heavily demanded feature DJI has included in the Mini 3 Pro is the rotating camera that shoots vertical footage for sharing on mobile devices. It also has tri dimensional obstacle sensors which is an improvement on the Mini 2’s 2 bottom sensors.

However, apart from the sensor size, one of the features that this drone falls short of in comparison to the full size professional models like Mavic 3 and Mavic Air 2s is that it only captures eight bit color rather than ten.

This is how many colors the camera is capable of capturing. Eight bit is 16.7 million and ten bit is 1.07 billion. This might not be a big deal for you but where this will be noticeable is in color banding of graded colors like the blue of the sky.

PROS

Sensor 1/1.3″ (~double the Mini 2)
Compatible with the smart controller
Camera rotates to shoot in vertical mode for mobiles
Improved transmission system (less feed cut outs). 4 antennas instead of the dual system .
Up to 12km Full HD live stream
Tri directional object sensing

CONS

8 bit colour (10 is better)

This drone is best for small scale professional work like weddings or real estate drone photography but not advanced enough for big commercial jobs like shooting for a documentary or large format advertising.

DJI Smart controller makes seeing the field of view easier for drone photography.

Best Photography Drone for Professionals : DJI Mavic 3

I recommend the Mavic 3 for professional drone photography, DJI has really packed in some advanced features compared to other drones on the market right now. It has a 4/3 sensor which is great for low light or night photography.

Dynamic range helps to beautifully capture the detail in shadows and brights that would be blown out by other drone cameras.

An added, unexpected benefit is that somehow, DJI has made the Mavic 3 quieter than other drones of the same size. It has a low pitch hum which is really nice compared to the high pitch noise of most drones.

PROS

4/3 Sensor: Great for low light
10 bit color: More accurate colors (1.07 billion possible colors compared to 16.7 million of eight bit color )
Dynamic range: Able to capture detail in shadows and bright section of a photo at the same time i.e. great for shooting sunsets, the brightness of the sun doesn’t make the rest of the shadows flat.
Overall this drone is more powerful and faster, it accelerates faster which is useful if your tracking vehicles and handles wind better than other models
360 Obstacle avoidance: While you may not need obstacle avoidance while your manually flying the drone, this does come in handy if you use intelligent flight mode like object tracking.

The larger sensor also means the colors have more range, with smaller sensor the photo can look flat, like a single color filter has been layered over the true color of the image.

CONS

Not designed for just out of the box “point and shoot”. If you’re investing in the Mavic 3 you need to have an understanding of the camera settings, or be prepared to learn.
Must be registered with the FAA due to weight; 895g.

If you want a professional drone but the Mavic 3 is out of your price range, the Mavic Air 2s is a very close second place. It’s an older model and significantly less expensive. The sensor is 1 inch so it’s still going to work well in low light and it has 5.4k resolution.

A minor down side is the obstacle avoidance system isn’t as advanced compared to the Mavic 3. The Mavic Air 2s has 4 way obstacle avoidance (forward, backward, up and down) which isn’t as complete as the 360 obstacle avoidance. If your not doing a lot of intelligent flying mode action shots this probably wont be a deal breaker. The drone will need to stay in your visual line of site.

Wrap up on the best drones for photography

The Mini 2, Mini 3 Pro and Mavic 3 are all DJI drones. DJI are constantly putting out drones that are ahead of the market and often stay popular favorites in the drone community.

When compared to other drone brands like Autel, Holy Stone and Roku, these DJI drones all offer specifications and quality that hasn’t been surpassed as yet.

Although the Mavic 3 is the most technically advanced, many professionals still like working with the Mini 3 Pro for it’s size and low noise. DJI have done an awesome job packing professional features into a mini drone that falls under the 250g drone registration requirement.

Check out this article for the full comparison of the Mini 2 and Mini 3 Pro with DJI’s cheaper mini drone, the Mini SE.