7 Best Drones with Cameras

1. Holy Stone HS100 FPV Camera Drone | Best Budget

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Editor’s Rating: 4.7/5

The Holy Stone HS100 is an excellent choice for the Best Budget pick. It’s a capable camera drone for anyone upgrading from a toy quad but not quite ready for mid or higher range models.

• Best feature 1: 1080P 120° FPV Wi-Fi Camera w/ 90° adjustable angle
• Best feature 2: GPS assisted flight
• Plus points: Beginner-friendly, 1-key takeoff/landing, follow me, headless mode, altitude hold
• Minus points: Average camera quality, no mechanical gimbal, long charging time

It’s hard to beat this camera quad considering its build, characteristics, and user-friendly controls. We’ll look at its intelligent system and flight features after the drone’s photographic functions.

The Holy Stone’s HS100 FPV Camera Highlights

The optics are not award-winning as this is a camera quad aimed at the entry-level. Despite that, the quality of the video and photos are more than pleasing for trainees of aerial filming & photography. The 1080P HD WiFi camera sports a 120° wide-angle lens and captures footage up to a range of 1,312 ft. Best of all is the live feed that lets pilots see what the lens sees from a phone or tablet screen.

The ultimate First Person View (FPV) experience is by wearing virtual reality (VR) goggles. This model doesn’t include VR goggles, but it is 3D VR compatible using Android and iOS app control. Flying any camera drone with FPV goggles is as close as it gets to being in the actual pilot’s seat. “Follow Me” is another favorite feature. In this mode, the drone follows and films you from the air whilst on the go.

Holy Stone HS100’s Flying & Flight Features

This camera quad is ideal for beginners. It also offers enough flying fun and features for advanced pilots. The Headless Mode is perfect for the novice. It allows flying using the controller without having to focus on the quad’s orientation. Other novice-friendly features include 1-key takeoff/landing, altitude hold, and a return-to-home (RTH) function. There’s even an emergency STOP button.

The flying fun lasts for about 15 minutes on a fully charged battery, so most folks buy spares. Extra batteries are even more essential considering the long charging time (see next section).

The Not So Good

The Holy Stone HS100 is between a toy camera quad and an intermediate model. It’s the only entry-level copter in this review. The footage is perfectly viewable but not award-winning. There isn’t any real gimbal stabilization either, so that influences quality as well. It’s still an ideal training camera quad, though, and one that sells well and enjoys high ratings.

The other negative is the long charging time that can take anywhere between 4–6 hours. Most new buyers factor the cost of one or two spare batteries into the price.

2. DJI Phantom 3 Pro 4K UHD Camera Quad | Best Value

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Editor’s Rating: 4.6/5

DJI released its Phantom 3 Pro in 2015, and it continues to be popular despite all the new arrivals. It may lack some of the advanced features of its successors, but you can’t fault its value.

• Best feature 1: 12MP stills, UHD 4k 30fps stabilized video camera
• Best feature 2: Live HD view
• Plus points: Easy to pilot, responsive controls, steady hover, indoor-friendly, DJI App
• Minus points: Not fast, no obstacle avoidance, awkward firmware updates

Everyone watched as amateurs first uploaded high-quality aerial vacation videos to sites like YouTube. A lot of that early breathtaking footage came from new pilots flying Phantom 3 quads.

The DJI Phantom 3 Pro’s 4K Camera Highlights

DJI Phantom drones are not small and easily portable like some on this page. It’s still an excellent and stable indoor flier thanks to its Vision Positioning system. It’s most at home in the outdoor skies, though. The Phantom 3 Pro boasts a 12MP, UHD 4k video camera with 3-axis gimbal stabilization. The Lightbridge digital streaming sends 720p live video to a smartphone or tablet screen.

The drone saves the full resolution video directly to an internal 16GB memory card. Pilots can control and change all the camera and flight settings with the powerful DJI mobile app. The best thing about this quad is that you don’t need to be a pro videographer to produce professional-looking videos.

DJI Phantom 3 Pro’s Flying & Flight Features

The Phantom 3 has a range of flight features to please all skill levels. It remains a popular choice today for beginners—enthusiastic about high-quality aerial filming. It’s super-easy to fly which always helps. The responsive controls and the steady hover ensure it captures smooth footage every time. Other highlights are GPS navigation, auto takeoff/landing, return-to-home (RTH), and automatic flight logs.

The Not So Good

When people first flew consumer drones slower was better. Nowadays, the opportunity to fly faster and further are sought-after features. Alas, the Phantom 3 Pro is a slow mover compared to many camera quads. Its slowness is sure to be a comfort for those who like to take their time. No obstacle avoidance (OA) is perhaps its biggest letdown. On a positive note, no OA does sharpen one’s piloting skills.

A more serious gripe is with firmware updates where some users report annoying issues afterward. The advice on the ground is NOT TO UPDATE if the drone is already flying and functioning well.

3. DJI Mavic 2 Pro W/ Hasselblad Camera | Top Pick

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Editor’s Rating: 4.8/5

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro is a high-quality camera quad with the emphasis on “high-quality camera.” What DJI have packed into this small and beautiful drone is incredible and sets new standards.

• Best feature 1: Hasselblad L1D-20c camera w/ 20MP 1″ CMOS sensor
• Best feature 2: Omnidirectional sense-and-avoid
• Plus points: Study build, portable, easy to fly, ActiveTrack 2.0, long flight time, fast charging
• Minus points: Touch focus hit and miss, high price tag

DJI’s Mavic 2 Pro has made a huge splash in the drone community. It’s not cheap, but fans of high-end drones agree that it offers excellent value for money. Let’s see if they’re right.

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro’s Camera Highlights

The camera is the standout feature for the Mavic 2 Pro. It’s a Hasselblad—a company that’s been around forever. They produce some of the best medium format cameras in the world. Well, Hasselblad agreed to team up with the best DJI engineers. The result is the incredible Hasselblad L1D-20c aerial drone camera. These are the best possible optics around right now for a consumer quadcopter.

Hasselblad’s L1D-20c has a large 1-inch CMOS sensor, 20-megapixel stills, and an adjustable aperture. Video resolution is 4K at 30fps. The colors produced by this remarkable camera are as beautiful as they are natural. It’s a lens that produces aerial footage of cinematic quality every time.

The contrast of the Hasselblad’s L1D-20c is also jaw-dropping. It displays exceptional details between bright and dark areas of an image. Gone are the dead blacks and washed-out whites. The drone’s Cinematic Mode is also worth a mention. It ensures smooth flight movements like direction changes, and acceleration to deliver silky-smooth footage.

Now add the effective 3-axis mechanical gimbal, and you’ve got Hollywood quality potential. The only difference between the Mavic 2 Zoom and the Mavic 2 Pro here are the cameras.

Mavic 2 Pro Flying & Flight Features

The high-quality of the Mavic 2 Pro compliments its expensive optics. It’s superb build and precision engineering is unrivaled. The foldable design makes it easy to store and an ideal travel drone. It’s also simple to fly. That’s despite its sophistication and intelligent flight features like ActiveTrack 2.0. The long 31-minute flight time, long range, and fast charging add further to its appeal.

The Not So Good

No drone is perfect, but the Mavic 2 Pro is the perfect drone for some aerial camera pilots. Its biggest letdown is perhaps the touch-focus that can be a bit hit and miss at times. The golden rule is not to rely solely on the touch focus feature. The only other drawback is the high price tag. Many enthusiasts would love to own this puppy, but it’s out of budget for a lot of keen amateurs.

4. DJI Spark Portable Camera Drone Starter Bundle

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Editor’s Rating: 4.5/5

Consider the DJI Spark if you want a capable little camera quad at an affordable price. It doesn’t weigh much at all. The drone boasts a plethora of intelligent flight modes and is easy to fly and handle.

• Best feature 1: Built-in stabilized 12MP 1080p Full HD camera
• Best feature 2: Obstacle detection
• Plus points: Easy to fly and control, compact & lightweight, intelligent flight modes,
• Minus points: No 4K video, shortish flight time, 2-axis gimbal, limited range

The cute DJI Spark is known as the ultimate selfie drone. That’s because it’s hand-sized and easy to fly at close quarters. It can also snap photos and shoot video using simple hand gestures. Say “CHEESE.”

The DJI Spark’s Camera Highlights

Personal interaction and the travel-friendly size contribute to the DJI Spark’s charm. People often use hand gestures to control it at short range. That makes it a great camera quad for self-portraits, group shots, and people events. A 2-axis gimbal stabilizes the camera with its 1/2.3” CMOS sensor. The sensor size is akin to a compact zoom and a tad larger than those used in most smartphones.

The Spark’s camera has a simple yet effective fixed focal length lens (doesn’t zoom). The stills and video quality provide very pleasing results for a tiny camera quad in this class. It can capture stunning 12-megapixel stills and 1080p video at 30fps (frames per second).

DJI Spark’s Flying & Flight Features

DJI’s tiny Spark camera drone is super easy to fly even for beginners. Flight control options include hand gestures, smartphone/tablet, and the DJI controller (RC). It sports GPS and vision-based navigation so that pilots can fly it indoors as well as outside. It even comes with 3D obstacle-detection. Add the entire range of intelligent flight modes, and it’s easy to see why the Spark’s such a winner.

The Not So Good

The Spark doesn’t have 3-axis gimbal stabilization or 4K video. Despite this, both the video and stills quality is more than good enough to share with pride. Alas, the flight time is a low average at only 16 minutes. Many users factor an extra battery or two in with the cost. The flight range of 1.2 miles is plenty for most Spark pilots, but it’s less than some other DJI drones.

5. DJI Mavic Air 4K Camera Quad Essential Bundle

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Editor’s Rating: 4.4/5

The Mavic Air is another portable, travel-friendly camera quadcopter by DJI. This little beauty folds down to the size of a regular smartphone, yet it doesn’t fall short on stills and video quality.

• Best feature 1: 12MP 4K 3-Axis Gimbal-Stabilized Camera
• Best feature 2: 8GB internal storage
• Plus points: Foldable, easy to fly, obstacle detection, fast, intelligent flight modes, QuickShots
• Minus points: Noisy, shortish flight time, cost of spare flight batteries

DJI’s Mavic Air is another brilliant and compact travel-friendly camera quadcopter. The drone has fully-foldable arms to make it even more appealing for people on the move.

The DJI Mavic Air’s 4K Camera Highlights

DJI’s Mavic Air sits somewhere between the DJI Spark and the Mavic Pro. It sports the same 1/2.3-inch, 12-megapixel sensor as the Spark and Mavic Pro. The air has an ultra-compact 3-axis gimbal to steady the camera as it shoots stills and records video. And the high 100Mbps bitrate and quality optics contribute to the vibrant colors and sharp details.

The Air can shoot 4K video at 30fps (frames per second). It can also capture 2.5K at 60fps and Full-HD at 120fps for slow-motion. The video footage has close to perfect color saturation and image clarity. There’s even high dynamic range (HDR) processing to ensure better-exposure for shadows and highlights. None of these three drones disappoint with their cameras, but they’re not equal.

If it’s portability you need, and this compact quad fits your budget, then you’re onto a winner with the AIR. The Essential Bundle here gives even better value. It includes a Virtual Reality (VR) Headset—among other items—for the ultimate immersive FPV experience.

Mavic Air’s Flying & Flight Features

The Mavic Air is a beginner-friendly camera quad that fits easily into a large pocket or small bag. It comes with 8GB of internal storage. It also has a Micro SD card slot and a 32GB memory card. There are six QuickShot modes to choose from and a range of intelligent flight features. The Air is a nippy flyer too if you need it to be. And the obstacle detection does a reasonable job at keeping it safe.

The Not So Good

DJI’s Mavic Air sure makes a lot of noise for a tiny camera quad. That’s annoying because pilots often fly the drone at close quarters using hand gestures. The other letdown is the low-average flight time of 16 minutes. That means extra batteries, and they cost at least $70 apiece at the time of writing.

6. Autel Robotics EVO 4K Portable Camera Quad

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Editor’s Rating: 4.5/5

Meet the Autel Robotics EVO. It’s another cute, foldable, and highly portable camera drone. The quad looks similar in appearance to the DJI Mavic, but this puppy has its own attractions.

• Best feature 1: 12MP 4K 60fps Ultra HD gimbal-stabilized camera
• Best feature 2: GPS/GLONASS satellite positioning
• Plus points: Quality build, long flight time, long range, controller w/ built-in screen, avoidance
• Minus points: Too soon to judge

Autel Robotics has done it again with another worthy rival to DJI dominance. The EVO has the familiar bright orange color we saw with the X-Star Premium. There’s more to this cute quad than good looks though. It boasts high-tech features, user-friendly controls, and an affordable price tag.

The EVO’s 4K Camera Highlights

It flies like a bird, but it’s also a capable filming quad that produces exceptional footage. The 4K Ultra HD camera supports 60fps (frames per minute) and 120fps in standard 1080p HD. The built-in 3-axis gimbal does a superb job at stabilizing the camera during flight. Many aerial photographers and videographers welcome the lens’ 94° ultra-wide-angle field of view (FOV).

The 12-megapixel stills quality is as impressive as the video. There’s even an auto exposure bracketing (AEB) mode. AEB takes several shots at varying exposures to make sure at least one of them comes out perfect. AEB is especially valuable in awkward light conditions. The camera’s optics are real glass. The glass lens records more dynamic range (highlights and shadows) in the aerial photos.

Autel Robotics have thought about how to save all this incredible footage too. The EVO quad can accept MicroSD cards up to 128GB to give pilots plenty of storage for their stills and videos.

Autel Robotics EVO’s Flying & Flight Features

It’s compact, it folds down, and it’s as easy to carry as a regular smart device. Novice pilots can fly the EVO with total confidence. That’s thanks to its user-friendly controls and GPS/GLONASS satellite positioning and vision avoidance systems. The quad has a stable handsfree hover and failsafe features.

The Return to Home (RTH) brings the quad back to base if the battery gets low. RTH also kicks in if there’s an interruption with the signal to prevent those dreaded flyways. Even the EVO remote controller (RC) is unique with its built-in 3.3” OLED (works without a backlight) screen. So, you can watch 720p live video feed and view vital flight data from the RC without using a smartphone.

A long 30-minute flight time, 4.3-mile range, and fast charging make it a serious DJI Mavic rival.

The Not So Good

So far, the Autel Robotics EVO shows real promise and should give the DJI Mavic a run for its money. It’s not been around long enough (at the time of writing) to get a clear picture of its negatives. There are a few reports that the software needs updating but details are still sketchy. We’ll update this section as more user feedback and shared criticisms materialize.

7. DJI Mavic PRO Platinum Quality Camera Quad

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Editor’s Rating: 4.6/5

Last on the list of top picks is another favorite camera drone from DJI. This time it’s the Mavic Pro Platinum. It’s a powerful and portable quadcopter with a compact body and ultra-sleek design.

• Best feature 1: Quality 12MP 4K gimbal-stabilized camera
• Best feature 2: Compact, foldable design, portable
• Plus points: Easy to fly, fast, smart flight features, long flight time, long range, quiet, avoidance
• Minus points: High cost of drone and its spare batteries

Some drones are noisier than others, and some noises are more irritating. The Mavic Pro Platinum is neither noisy nor annoying. That’s thanks to the unique aerodynamic design of its 8331 propellers.

The DJI Mavic PRO Platinum Camera Highlights

The Mavic PRO Platinum has a nose-mounted camera stabilized with an efficient 3-axis gimbal. Its image sensor is a capable 12-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CMOS. The lens’ angle is wide but not ultra-wide, so it meets the needs of some and not others. The video quality of the Mavic PRO Platinum is outstanding. It displays ultra-crisp details and pleasing colors when filming in bright light.

One of the standout features is the focus adjustments that lets pilots refocus if they need to. You can shoot video in UHD 4k at 24–30fps (frames per second). Drop the resolution and the options are 1080p up to 60fps, and at 96fps if you want slow motion playback. And the 720p setting gives 180fps. Stills quality is sharp and on a par with a decent point-and-shoot compact camera.

Mavic PRO Platinum’s Flying & Flight Features

The Mavic Pro Platinum has four distinct differences to the original. They are the 60% noise reduction by 4dB (decibels), slightly longer flight time, silver makeover, and price. Its other attractions are the same things that Mavic fans love about this family of quads. It’s easy to fly and has obstacle avoidance technology. It has a 40mph top speed, long range, and smart flight features.

The Not So Good

The DJI Mavic PRO Platinum is perfect on so many levels but not all. Alas, the Intelligent Flight Batteries are expensive at around $80+ apiece. And the quads $1000 price tag is not one that every enthusiast can justify. It is high-quality, though, and incredible value for those with cash to spare.