Buying a drone today is a lot easier than you think. There are more options to choose from regardless of the amount of money you are planning to spend on the drone. Older generations of drone are very affordable and still highly capable. Newer alternatives, on the other hand, are now packed with technologies that make flying drones easier.
These more modern technologies are among the most important features to have on a drone. They make new consumer drones more capable in different situations. In this article, we are going to take a look at the newer features you want to have in your next drone.
Advanced Tracking
The cool thing about capturing aerial video is that you can get that cinematic, majestic drone view that other angles just can’t deliver. The wide-angle lens used by drone cameras, the controlled sweeping movement across a landscape, and the landscape you are capturing create a stunning video that elevates your production to a new level.
Capturing the sweeping view from above is a lot easier when you have advanced tracking features to use. Instead of moving the drone manually, you can now set the drone to track your movement – or the movement of your main subject – on the ground.
Let’s say you are driving across a field and you want the drone to capture that scene. All you have to do is tap-hold on the screen where the car is to lock the drone’s tracking, and it will handle the rest. You get the smoother motion and you can focus more on getting the camera angle just right as the drone follows the car.
Improved Autopilot
Early generations of drones used GPS and gyros to recognize and maintain their position. Today’s drones use additional sensors to be more precise. Better GPS receivers are added to help with getting a lock. It also allows drones to follow a predetermined flight path accurately. Gyros are still used to maintain stability, but additional sensors are tracking metrics such as altitude and wind speed, which makes newer drones substantially easier to fly.
On top of that, we now have obstacle detection systems. DJI’s system is the most popular one on the market, but other manufacturers are developing similar systems to help lower the risks of drones flying into buildings or objects.
The detection system scans the area around the drone and automatically recognizes obstacles. When flying into a building, the drone can now identify the structure and find alternative paths around it without requiring manual control.
Longer Flights
The last new feature you should look out for are the smarter batteries new drones now use. The technology behind lithium batteries continues to improve, so it is not surprising to find newer drones now capable of staying in the air for longer.
The electronics are also designed to use battery power more efficiently, allowing newer models such as the Phantom 4 Advance to have a maximum flight time of around 30 minutes; this is a huge step up from older models.
These features certainly make owning and using a drone to capture stunning drone videos easier. The next time you are in the market for a new drone, be sure to get one with these features properly implemented.
