A lifelong photography enthusiast, editor Signe Brewster has chronicled the rise of modern hobby drones by working closely with the industry’s professionals and hobbyists. She has extensively studied photography-focused quadcopters and their smaller, more-agile cousins built for racing. She has spent hundreds of hours flying drones in all sorts of environments, and she wrote Wirecutter’s guide to drones under $100.

An amateur photographer for years, and a competitive robot builder for more than a decade, associate staff writer James Austin recently took over covering photography drones for Wirecutter. Working with Signe, he has been following what modern drones can do and has been testing new releases since mid-2022.

Drones (or, more specifically, quadcopters) are small aircraft that you can equip with a camera to shoot bird’s-eye-view photos and videos. They may be of interest to any photographer or videographer who wants to reach inaccessible spaces—like high up in the air or across a body of water—that would normally require a crane or helicopter.

Regardless of which drone you choose, know that there’s an evolving body of regulations surrounding drone flight and appropriate usage that you should get familiar with before buying and flying. The modern photography drones we cover in this guide have autonomous features that make it possible to learn how to fly them within minutes, but they take weeks to master. You’re not preparing for a sunny afternoon in a soccer field; you’re preparing for the moment when high winds pick up your drone and dump it halfway across the neighborhood (yes, we’re speaking from experience). We’ve included a few tips for how to fly safely and how to ensure you’re complying with local and federal regulations.

We also have some thoughts on security and privacy, including advice if you want to avoid sharing your information with drone companies. All of the drones we recommend in this guide are made by companies headquartered in China. At the government level, ongoing concerns surround the safety of using Chinese technology for surveillance work on US soil. At the hobby and professional level, you’ll have to make that call for yourself based on the sensitivity of your footage. There’s also the matter of alleged human-rights abuses. If you’d like to avoid Chinese drones altogether (though you can’t avoid Chinese parts), consider drones from the French company Parrot (which publishes a guide to its security practices) or the US-based Skydio.

The drones we cover in this guide might be of interest to certain professionals, including, for example, someone who wants to film a wedding, inspect gutters, or capture footage of a house going up for sale. But professionals shooting a film might want to look at higher-end models that allow them to mount specific camera equipment on the drone. Also available are drones for people who want to inspect farmland and industrial equipment, since that task can call for specialized sensors.

Thanks to improvements in technology and rapidly declining prices, a decent photography drone can cost as little as $400. But if you’re looking for your first drone and want to get used to flying before risking even that much, we have a guide to inexpensive drone models (without nice cameras) that are great for learning.

After reading professional and owner reviews, plus speaking to enthusiasts, experts, and manufacturers at the CES trade show, we decided to consider the following criteria while looking for drones to test:

• Quadcopter design: Drones shaped like planes do exist, but they’re not as easy to fly as quadcopter models shaped like an X. A quadcopter shape (or alternatives, like hexacopters, that add more arms) makes for the most stable photo and video because such models can steadily hold their position in the air.
• Crash-avoidance sensors: Sensors in drones have come a long way, and you can now find some models that can sense obstacles approaching in any direction and adjust their flight path to avoid a crash. This technology removes so much stress from flying that we are willing to consider only those drones that, at the very least, can sense obstacles approaching from their front, back, and bottom. Some new drones even have the ability to track approaching airplanes and helicopters so you can avoid flying into their path.
• High-quality camera: Generally, the more you pay for a photography drone, the better-quality camera you get. We consider only those models that can shoot at least 12-megapixel photos and 4K video.
• Three-axis gimbal: A good gimbal, which stabilizes a camera attached to a drone with accelerometers and gyroscopes even when you are flying in wind or a jerky pattern, is essential if you want usable footage. A three-axis gimbal is a general industry standard.
• Long battery life: Longer-lasting batteries tend to be larger and weigh more, so manufacturers try to balance drone size with battery life. But a shorter flight time means fewer shots, shorter videos, and less flexibility. We prefer drone batteries that last at least 30 minutes, and we recommend that pilots pick up a few extras (the batteries are rechargeable) so that they can spend more time in the field flying.
• Autonomous modes: Any video drone worth buying should have a fail-safe return-home mode that automatically brings the aircraft back to the launch point when you press a button or the drone loses contact with the controller. Additionally, we prefer drones that come preprogrammed with cinematic autonomous-flight modes; with the touch of a button, you can tell a drone to follow you while you snowboard down a mountain, say, or fly in a circle while filming for a dramatic selfie.
• Portability: The best drones are portable enough to be an everyday tool, which means they are small and light enough to pack into a camera bag or backpack. Some drones accomplish this by having foldable arms that make them more compact. Small drones lighter than 250 grams are also exempt from the requirement to register with the FAA.
• Long flight range: Federal rules say you must always keep a drone within your line of sight. But in special cases, a drone’s ability to fly an especially long distance without losing contact with a controller can be a useful feature.
• Intuitive controller: Most drone controllers look similar, with two joysticks for controlling flight and a smattering of buttons for specific tasks. Controllers with a built-in screen or with an option for attaching a smartphone (so you can gain additional abilities through an app) can extend their functions even further, often in more intuitive ways.

Using the above criteria, we were able to pare our original testing field in 2016 down to the DJI Mavic Pro, the DJI Phantom 3 Standard, the DJI Phantom 4 Pro, the Yuneec Typhoon H hexacopter, the GoPro Karma, and the Parrot Bebop 2. We tested the DJI Spark in 2017 and then the DJI Mavic Air and DJI Phantom 4 Pro v2 in early 2018. In late 2018, we tested the DJI Mavic 2 Pro (now discontinued), the DJI Mavic 2 Zoom, and the Autel Evo. We tested the Skydio R1 in early 2019 and the Parrot Anafi in late 2019. In early 2020, we tried the DJI Mavic Air 2 and DJI Mavic Mini. We tested the DJI Mini 2 in late 2020. In 2021, we considered the Autel Evo II Pro and Evo II 8K models, plus the DJI Mavic 3 and DJI FPV drones. In 2022, we tested the DJI Air 2S, the DJI Avata, and the Autel Robotics Evo Lite+.

We shot photos and videos with each drone to evaluate camera quality; the process also helped us to gauge stabilization quality and see whether propellers appeared in any of the shots. In addition, we tried all of the advertised intelligent flight modes and crash-avoidance systems by flying the drones through trees. We tested maneuverability and controller sensitivity by flying fast with lots of turns.

In 2018, we spent dozens of hours evaluating and testing drone accessories—including backpacks, first-person-view headsets, and landing pads—to determine the extra gear that’s truly worth the investment for photography drones.

The DJI Air 2S is the best drone for budding aerial photographers and videographers because of its automated obstacle avoidance and 5.4K camera, as well as how easy it is to fly. Its three-axis gimbal provides effective image stabilization, and its 31-minute battery life means you need to land less often. The Air 2S’s preprogrammed flight modes, as well as its ability to autonomously return to its launch point and land, allow both beginners and advanced pilots to get cinematic-looking shots without much effort. Although the DJI Mavic 3 gives you a bump in camera quality, battery life, and autonomous abilities, the Air 2S is impressive enough to please most people—for half the price.

The Air 2S can detect obstacles as they approach from the drone’s front, back, top, or bottom and then make adjustments to avoid them. Although that feature left the Air 2S blind while we were flying it to the side (the Mavic 3 tacks on side sensors in certain flight modes), we still found the feature useful for normal flight; the drone emitted a loud beep and stopped itself when we deliberately tried to fly it straight at a tree or slam it into the ground. Obstacle sensing removes stress from the flying experience, both when you’re flying manually and when you’re using any of DJI’s preprogrammed flight options. The drone also receives flight-location information from nearby manned aircraft, and in our tests it was able to warn us about two approaching airplanes and a helicopter.

The Air 2S’s camera, which has a 1-inch sensor, captures 20-megapixel images, plus 5.4K video at up to 30 frames per second. In our tests, the Air 2S took videos that looked sharp without any color-balancing fuss from us (though we still preferred the colors that came out of the Mavic 3’s Hasselblad lens).

While flying in winds measured at about 10 mph, the Air 2S was unfailingly stable. It didn’t drift, and it consistently recorded steady video, even when it rose above the tree line. The other DJI drones we tested performed similarly (except for the Mavic Mini, which warned us about high winds and advised us to land). Like many drones, the Air 2S uses a combination of Galileo, GPS, and GLONASS satellites, as well as its vision cameras, to monitor movement and altitude changes.

It’s annoying to get into the rhythm of flying a drone and then just a few minutes later receive an alert indicating that it’s time to land and change the battery. This is our main problem with the drones we cover in our guide to inexpensive drones. Battery life should be one fewer thing to think about. With a life of up to 31 minutes (the same as the Mini 2, but not as lengthy as the pricier Mavic 3’s 46 minutes), the Air 2S’s batteries allow a flight time so long that we filled its 8 GB of internal memory space with video footage before our first battery drained.

Photographers and cinematographers can take their skills further with the preprogrammed flight modes. We most often used ActiveTrack, which directs the drone to follow a subject (or yourself). In QuickShots mode, the Air 2S can autonomously film in elaborate cinematic ways, such as circling around a subject or zooming away from it. A mode added in 2022 called MasterShots combines several filming effects and then creates a short video for you.

The Air 2S measures 7 by 3.8 by 3 inches when folded—about the size of a large coffee thermos—and weighs 1.3 pounds. Its controller is comparable in size to a sandwich. You can slip both into a camera bag easily or stow them in a purse or backpack.

It’s possible to fly the Air 2S up to 7.5 miles away, though federal regulations say a drone must remain within your line of sight. It transmits video and remote controller data via DJI’s OccuSync 3.0 system, which we’ve found to be reliable.

You can use DJI’s Fly mobile app for drone calibration, camera settings, GPS maps, and intelligent flight modes. Most important, the app displays a live feed from the drone’s camera so you can frame shots to your liking. It also tracks all of your flight information (which you can replay if you’re trying to repeat a shot), warns you about any flight restrictions in the area, and has built-in video-editing tools. You connect your smartphone to the controller via an included specialized USB Type-C, Micro-USB, or Lightning cable threaded through the side of the left brace. (You can use a standard cable instead, but it sticks out oddly and limits motion.)

Although you can use the DJI Fly app to control almost every aspect of the drone, you still need to use the controller to pilot it. In our tests, the drone responded nimbly to our commands, even while flying in the faster and more agile Sport mode. We also found it easy to adjust the tilt of the drone’s camera with the wheel built into the controller or to hit the dedicated buttons that prompt the camera to take a picture or start filming.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Like other China-based brands, DJI has come under scrutiny from the US government and security researchers over security concerns in recent years. In addition, Android users have to download the DJI Fly app from DJI’s website instead of the Google Play store. We’ve included a few notes about the security and privacy of DJI drones below.

Although the Air 2S’s sensors go a long way toward preventing collisions, we prefer having the additional side sensors on our upgrade pick, the DJI Mavic 3. With the Air 2S, we didn’t feel as confident flying amid the branches of a tree, since it was hard to gauge from a distance just how close the branches were. Additional sensors make for a lower-stress flight.

The Air 2S also has a smaller camera sensor than that of the Mavic 3. We thought the videos it took looked sharp enough for posting to YouTube and social media, but the Mavic 3’s videos looked even clearer, with better colors.

The controller lacks a built-in screen. That isn’t a big deal if you have the drone linked with a phone and boot up the DJI Fly app (which tells you all of the information a controller screen would). But it was still a minor thing we missed when we wanted to get in a quick flight without connecting a phone. Consider packaging the drone with DJI’s Smart Controller if a screen on the controller matters to you.

The DJI Mavic 3 is a worthwhile upgrade if you’re willing to pay considerably more for a better camera and improved obstacle avoidance. Its 4/3 sensor makes for clearer videos and photos, and its Hasselblad-branded camera makes the footage it shoots more colorful. The Mavic 3 can also sense obstacles coming from most directions and adjust to avoid them, facilitating somewhat safer flying.

In flight, the Mavic 3 uses sensors to detect obstacles approaching from its sides (in certain flight modes), front, back, bottom, and top. As a result, it can adjust its flight path to avoid a collision, and unlike the Air 2S, it can sense and avoid obstacles approaching from the side. During our testing, the Mavic 3 stopped short when we tried to fly it at a tree, and it flew around a tree that was blocking its path when we directed it to autonomously return to its launch point. It beeped loudly to warn us whenever we flew close to an obstacle, including fine tree branches, and it automatically slowed its descent while landing so that it gently landed on the ground every time. Note that the side sensors on the Mavic 3 work only while you are flying in Tripod, POI, QuickShots, or ActiveTrack mode. If you ever do need to fly close to an obstacle for the perfect shot or a more sports-like performance, you can turn off obstacle sensing and avoidance.

The Mavic 3’s 20-megapixel, 5.1K camera carries the Hasselblad brand (a Swedish company known for medium-format cameras, which DJI acquired in 2017). Considering that this camera is as small as a fun-size candy bar, it can’t capture images of the same quality as Hasselblad’s larger cameras can. But DJI and Hasselblad did work together on a few features that are notable for a drone, including a large, 4/3 CMOS sensor that can work in lower-light conditions (the Air 2S, in contrast, has a smaller, 1-inch sensor). The companies also say that they adapted Hasselblad’s method for making colors look more realistic without your having to fine-tune any color settings. We found that the colors did indeed look truer and brighter than those in images from the Air 2S and the Mavic Mini. The Mavic 3 shoots 5.1K video at up to 50 frames per second with a 200 Mbps max bit rate (the processing speed at which the camera is recording digital media). In addition, you can set the aperture anywhere between f/2.8 and f/11, whereas the Air 2S has a fixed f/2.8 aperture.

Interestingly, the Mavic 3 also has a second camera, located above the Hasselblad lens. Meant for telephoto photography, this camera has a 0.5-inch sensor and can shoot 12-megapixel images and 4K videos. It has a 4x digital zoom, too, though DJI advertises it as being a 28x hybrid zoom. Not everyone needs a zoom camera on a drone (you could simply fly the drone forward in many cases), but it can be useful if you need to keep your distance while shooting videos of wildlife or people, for instance.

Like the Air 2S, the Mavic 3 is one of the most consistently stable drones we’ve ever flown. In our tests, it hovered accurately and resisted drifting. Paired with the automatic obstacle avoidance (DJI calls this system APAS 5.0), that stability gave us enough trust in the drone that we consistently felt like we could focus on getting the right shot instead of worrying about crashing.

Capable of lasting up to 46 minutes, the Mavic 3’s battery life is the best of any we’ve ever tested. Still, anything over the 30-minute mark is enough for you to capture a satisfying amount of footage before you have to land for a battery change. You can fly the Mavic 3 up to 18.65 miles away, though federal rules say that you or a spotter must always have the drone within your line of sight.

The Mavic 3 folds down to 8.7 by 3.8 by 3.6 inches; this model is slightly larger than the Air 2S but just as portable. It weighs 2 pounds and doesn’t require any assembly, aside from removing the camera cover, before you fly. The controller is the size of a sandwich. Though the Mavic 3 is about 50% heavier than the Air 2S, it’s still conveniently sized, so you can stow it in a conventional camera bag or even a purse.

DJI also sells an upgraded version called the DJI Mavic 3 Cine, which supports the Apple ProRes 422 HQ codec and upgrades the internal storage to a 1 TB solid-state drive. The bundle also includes the DJI RC Pro controller, which has a built-in screen. The bundle is pricey ($5,000 at this writing), but it might appeal to professionals who want the portability of the Mavic line of drones.

The DJI Mini 2 is one of the most basic and inexpensive models DJI offers and is an ideal beginner photography drone. Though it lacks the sensor and camera quality, as well as the range, of the Air 2S and Mavic 3, the Mini 2 weighs and costs a third as much yet still packs a 4K camera and retains important beginner-friendly features. The drone can take off, land, and return home with the push of a button. It also has a positioning system that’s intelligent enough to hold its location in the air (though the drone lacks obstacle sensing), and its 31-minute battery life is almost as long as that of more expensive models. For a beginner who just wants to start taking photos and videos, the Mini 2 is a bargain.

It has a 0.5-inch sensor and can shoot 12-megapixel photos or up to 4K video at 30 fps. The results aren’t as clear as what you can capture on an Air 2S or Mavic 3, but they’re nice enough for posting to YouTube and social media. In general this camera offers a huge improvement in image quality (for what you can get at this price) compared with even just a few years ago.

The Mini 2 is a stable drone that can capture steady video even in windy conditions. We didn’t notice any drifting as we tooled around a field in 5 mph winds, but we have noticed that other small drones, such as the original Mavic Mini, do not have enough power to fight wind as effectively as larger drones. The Mini 2 relies on the same GPS and GLONASS positioning system as other DJI drones. It has obstacle sensing only on its bottom, so it can’t avoid obstacles in flight like our other favorite drones can.

The Mini 2’s tiny size is its best feature. Because the Mini 2 weighs 249 grams, or about half a pound, the drone falls below the FAA’s 250-gram (0.55-pound) weight limit, beyond which you must register a drone before flying it for personal use. The Mini 2 measures only 5.5 inches long and 3.2 inches wide, about the same size as its controller. We had no trouble tucking it into a jacket pocket when we moved locations between flights.

You can fly the Mini 2 up to 6.2 miles away, though you need to keep it within sight to comply with the law. This drone’s smaller size and lighter gray color made it harder for us to spot from a distance, so we tended to keep it closer than we did larger drones. The Mini 2 relies on the DJI Fly app for a live stream from the drone’s camera, access to many of the intelligent flight modes, and a second location for activating features like auto takeoff and landing.

If you would like to avoid buying a drone from DJI or are interested in a 6K camera, the Autel Robotics Evo Lite+ is a worthy choice. We’ve tested a few Autel drones over the years and found them just as easy to fly as their DJI counterparts. The company’s well-designed Autel Sky app also includes plenty of autonomous flight modes. However, Autel’s drones don’t quite provide the same value as DJI’s models do—Autel’s flagship drones consistently lag behind DJI’s in their suite of features, and DJI’s drones shoot crisper and more colorful images and video.

The Evo Lite+ offers a slight bump in capabilities over the DJI Air 2S but comes with a price increase to match. For one, the Evo Lite+ has a 6K, 20-megapixel camera with a 1-inch sensor. Even so, we preferred the clarity of the colors that DJI drones captured across the board.

The other main draw is the Evo Lite+’s 40-minute battery life, which is 9 minutes longer than the battery life of the Air 2S but 5 minutes shorter than what you get from the Mavic 3. We’ve found that a battery life of 30 minutes or so is usually plenty for us, but pilots who want to take advantage of the Evo Lite+’s 7.4-mile transmission range might find the full 40 minutes to be especially useful.

The Evo Lite+ can sense obstacles approaching from its front, back, and bottom—the Air 2S adds top sensors, while the Mavic 3 adds both top and side sensors—and autonomously maneuver to avoid them. We found that its sensors were sensitive enough to detect a chain-link fence, which prompted the drone to stop itself to avoid a collision.

Drone controllers usually have built-in clamps to hold your phone, which displays a live stream from the drone’s camera. We prefer controllers, like the Evo Lite+’s, that hold your phone above the controller instead of below; when you’re trying to keep your eye on a drone, it’s much better not to have to tilt your head down quite as far to glance at your phone. We also found the Evo Lite+ to be notably quieter than the Air 2S.

If you want footage of close calls and near misses instead of sweeping vistas: The DJI Avata, DJI’s second take on a first-person-view drone, is smaller, slower, and lighter—and has a shorter, 18-minute-rated battery life (we typically got 15 minutes in our testing)—than the company’s original DJI FPV model. But after testing (and crashing) the Avata over multiple flights, we’ve concluded that the Avata is a better introduction to this specific type of drone flying. A sturdy plastic duct surrounds the fans to protect the fragile blades from hitting any object you might be skimming by, so you can confidently maneuver through obstacles at speed, which is the kind of shot these drones excel at (video). The Motion Controller that DJI packages with the drone is surprisingly intuitive to learn, behaving much like a traditional flight joystick, but it limits you to flying in the two beginner-friendly Normal and Sport modes. One problem we noted in our testing is that when (not if) you crash the Avata at high speed, the battery is likely to fly out of the drone’s body, and that matte-black brick is easy to lose in foliage. Adding colorful gaffer tape to the battery or using zip ties to further secure it to the drone body may help.

Like the original DJI FPV model, the Avata lacks the larger sensor and autonomous flight modes of our top picks, so it doesn’t provide the ease of use we’d like to see for people focused on cinematography. But if you want an extremely fun little toy that can also capture a very specific type of footage, this model is a great entry point to flying FPV.

You can have a lot of fun flying a drone by itself, but a few key accessories can make your flights smoother and even more enjoyable. We spent 40 hours researching and testing dozens of drone accessories, as well as interviewing four expert drone pilots, to find the best backpacks, landing pads, and microSD cards for foldable DJI drones. We also recommend picking up some extra batteries to extend your flying time between charges.

A backpack built for drones: Lowepro DroneGuard

Drone backpacks provide a spot for each piece of a kit to stay snugly in place; as a result, they make it easier for you to locate items without having to dig through a bunch of gear, and they protect your equipment from damage. That last part is especially important for batteries, which have the potential to burst into flame if you leave them banging around. We considered 22 backpack options and tested four finalists by fitting in three DJI drones of varying sizes and a full kit of accessories—including a controller, batteries, a charger, props, cameras, and a laptop. We’ve determined that Lowepro’s drone bags are your best bet because they each offer the best fit and organization for your gear while still being quite comfortable to carry when fully loaded. (We tested the Lowepro DroneGuard BP 250, which is made specifically for DJI Mavic drones. But any backpack in the DroneGuard or QuadGuard series will perform similarly.)

The entire front of the BP 250 zips open to reveal the main compartment. Movable dividers create smaller spots for core gear, such as the drone and its controller, and they allow you to make sure the batteries are safely snuggled in. For good measure, a strap holds the drone securely in place, and a special foam block sits between the drone controller’s two joysticks for a more-custom fit. The front cover has elastic bands, which are perfect for holding extra propellers or securing cords to keep them from tangling. In our tests, the main compartment was large enough to also accommodate an FPV headset or a disassembled camera body and lens.

Three other compartments fit a camera and a tablet, flat items such as prop guards, and larger items such as a camera or an FPV headset. A compartment on one of the front shoulder straps fits a phone. The front of the backpack is also covered in looped straps that you can use to attach a drone, a tripod, or other gear with bungee cords, and two side pockets fit water or sunscreen bottles.

Although the BP 250 has an obvious spot for everything, its dividers are only so flexible—fitting an assembled DSLR, for example, into the main compartment of the BP 250 is impossible. That makes this bag, along with the other DroneGuard and QuadGuard backpacks, a great choice if you plan to use your backpack with only a specific drone. But if you prefer a backpack that you can customize to fit multiple drone models, we recommend the Peak Design Everyday Backpack 30L.

A safe place to land: Hoodman Drone Landing Pad

When you’re flying an expensive drone with an expensive camera on its belly, it’s a good idea to protect your investment from water, dirt, and other elements by using a dedicated landing pad. These pads tend to be a bright color, such as orange, making them a useful visual indicator for spotting home when you’re wearing an FPV headset. They also look more professional in videos (if you’re producing content for a client).

After testing three landing pads—and a piece of cardboard—we recommend the Hoodman Drone Landing Pad because it’s truly waterproof and easy to set up, and its weighted edge keeps it in place. Waterproofing is the single most important reason to use a landing pad, and the other two pads we tested (from RCstyle and Fstop Labs) turned out not to be waterproof at all, despite their makers’ claims. Twenty minutes after we sprinkled water across the Hoodman pad, the water was still beaded up, and no moisture had seeped through to the other side. After years of use, during which the Hoodman pad has seen snow, muck, and freshly cut grass, it still looks brand-new and folds up with ease.

We also like this landing pad’s metal weighted edge, which prevents the pad from flying away in windy weather. The metal adds a little more overall weight to the gear you’re carrying (compared with the stakes that other pads require), but it also makes the Hoodman pad easier to set up and more useful if you’re flying on hard ground (such as a rocky field or a parking lot). The center fabric is a pleasing orange color and feels tougher than the material of the other pads we tested.

The Hoodman pad’s 3-foot size made it trickier to fold up than smaller models in our tests, but it packs down to 13 inches across and fits nicely into its carrying case. The pad size you should buy depends on how large your drone is. Hoodman’s larger, 5-foot pad is more than you need for most drones but could be useful for professional cinematography drones. The larger pad is also easier to see from the air.

Best microSD card for video and photo storage: SanDisk microSDXC card for Nintendo Switch (128 GB)

The SanDisk microSDXC card for Nintendo Switch (128 GB) is the best microSD card to use with photography drones because its fast read and write speeds are ideal for shooting 4K video and making quick file transfers. A large capacity is a necessity for a photography drone and even for a racing drone equipped with a nicer camera—more storage means you won’t have to land a drone early to swap out a card. This SanDisk microSDXC card is also inexpensive.

A card from a reputable name in memory storage like SanDisk provides peace of mind because you can be confident that your videos and photos will be there when you go to upload them to your computer. As we note in our microSD card guide, be on the lookout for counterfeit microSD cards from unknown sellers on Amazon, which are common; we recommend that you buy a SanDisk card directly from the manufacturer or from Amazon itself. For more details on the competition, read our guide to the best microSD cards.

Drones, as a whole, feel a bit icky when it comes to security and privacy. They make aerial surveillance available to anyone for just a few hundred dollars—and they also pose the same personal-privacy questions as any connected device. We recommend reading takes on the subject from the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the National Law Review.

In order to provide features like geofencing, which helps pilots comply with federal regulations about where they can fly a drone, DJI’s apps have access to a lot of information on your phone. Alarming reports have outlined potential security flaws in DJI drones. There are also allegations that the company provided drone technology for the surveillance of Chinese detention camps. In 2020, the US government placed DJI on its entity list, which meant that US companies could not provide DJI with technology but DJI could continue to sell its drones in the US. A 2021 report from the Pentagon cleared some types of DJI drones for use by the US government but said nothing definitive about human-rights abuses or the safety of the brand’s hobbyist drones. In October 2021, FCC commissioner Brendan Carr suggested that the US add DJI to its covered list, which would ban the purchase of DJI drones with federal funds.

Although iOS device owners can download the DJI Fly app from the App Store, Android device owners cannot download the app directly from the Google Play store. Instead, Android users must download it from the DJI website. We asked both DJI and Google for the reasoning behind this; DJI chose not to answer, and Google did not respond. Although the Google Play store isn’t perfect, it offers at least a modicum of security when it comes to monitoring apps, and we are concerned that DJI Fly is available only directly from DJI’s website. We will continue to monitor how DJI handles the distribution of its apps.

With consent, DJI collects anonymized data on app performance, according to a company spokesperson. It also checks user location for geofencing and radio-frequency transmission purposes, which are legitimately useful resources while you’re piloting a drone. Any information uploaded to DJI is stored on Amazon Web Services or Alibaba Cloud servers located on US soil. The spokesperson said that DJI does not sell user data. However, that statement does not rule out sharing such data; the company’s complex privacy policy suggests that DJI may be able to share some data with third parties. And its iOS app currently lists information under Apple’s “Data Used to Track You” label, suggesting that it does share data, possibly for advertising. Video transferred from the drone to the controller is encrypted. The company also “performs vulnerability scanning and penetration testing during product development,” according to the spokesperson, and it runs a bug bounty program.

After hours of research, we still have security and privacy concerns about DJI drones. We also have no doubt that DJI makes the best drones available to hobbyists. As a result, we still recommend its drones, but we will continue to monitor the company’s practices.

If you’re still on board to buy a DJI drone and want to make it as secure as possible, here are a few steps that you can take to keep your photos, videos, and data local:

• While operating a drone, set your phone or tablet to airplane mode or activate Local Data Mode in the DJI Fly app.
• Access the app’s settings to turn off the collection of app-performance and user-experience data.
• If you’d like to avoid using your phone or tablet altogether, you can fly without one (though you lose the helpful live stream in that case) or buy the DJI RC Pro controller, which has a built-in screen.
• Save photos and videos only to the drone’s internal memory, microSD card, or SSD.
• Do not use social apps and sites like SkyPixel or Facebook to share drone content.

Keep in mind that features such as geofencing and accessing your photos and videos within the DJI Fly app are legitimately useful while you’re flying a drone. If you turn them off, you won’t get warnings regarding federally regulated airspace (though the FAA makes the B4UFLY app, which you can check manually instead), you can’t access the location of your drone if you lose it, and you won’t be able to review your photos and footage until you load your memory card onto a computer. Relying on the drone’s vision system instead of satellites also makes it more difficult for the drone to position itself in visually challenging environments such as snow, rain, and low light. Pilots have to make a personal call about balancing security and privacy with function.

Anytime you set out to fly a drone, it’s important to ensure that you, the pilot, are doing everything safely and legally. Although we can’t provide legal advice, we spoke to experts and consulted Federal Aviation Administration and Academy of Model Aeronautics documentation to collect the steps that we consider essential for every recreational pilot.

“The main thing to keep in mind is, we’re sharing the airspace with manned full-size aircraft,” said Tyler Dobbs, Academy of Model Aeronautics government affairs representative. “We’re not trying to push things to the limit and do things outside of AMA safety guidelines or the FAA rules. Just have fun but do so within one of the federal paths of operating legally and safely.”

Familiarize yourself with the AMA

Different types of drone pilots must abide by different rules and laws. Here we’re focusing on those who use drones for recreational purposes—what the FAA calls a “model aircraft.” That means the pilots can’t sell the photos or videos they take with their drones or use the drones for any other business-related reasons.

Recreational drone owners can either get a remote pilot certificate from the FAA, which requires an in-person test, or “follow community-based safety guidelines and fly within the programming of a nationwide community-based organization” (a much easier option). Commercial pilot and drone lawyer Jonathan Rupprecht told us that “this is the chief thing you need to pay very close attention to,” and that it’s something people often misunderstand or miss. You do not need to join a nationwide organization, but you do need to follow the organization’s rules; a broadly accepted option is the Academy of Model Aeronautics. For details, read the AMA handbook (PDF).

Get a registration number

Once you’ve committed to following the AMA’s rules, you need to register with the FAA. Visit the FAA website and follow the checkout process, which is about two minutes long. You need to submit your name, phone number, and address, and pay $5. Then the FAA issues you a registration number valid for three years. It also generates a printable certificate, which could be useful if a police officer or someone else ever questions you while you are flying.

Once you have a registration number, you need to label each drone you fly for the next three years with that number. Unlike commercial pilots, recreational pilots do not need to complete a new registration for each drone they fly.

Know the rules

You should read both the FAA guidelines and the AMA handbook (PDF). Be prepared for them to contradict each other at times, but in general these are the essential rules that apply nationally:

• Fly within line of sight. If you are wearing a first-person-view headset, you must have a spotter who can visually see the drone without aids such as binoculars.
• Drones must weigh less than 55 pounds, unless certified by a community-based organization like the AMA.
• Do not fly near other aircraft.
• Do not fly within 5 miles of an airport. If you do, you must notify the airport and the air-traffic control tower prior to the flight. To check whether you are far enough away from an airport, you can use a tool such as the AMA Flying Sites Map or DJI’s mobile app.
• Do not fly near emergency response efforts.
• Do not fly while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Locally, there can be even more rules for drone flights. For example, It’s illegal to fly a drone in the US National Park System (unless there’s a designated area) or within an extended 15-mile range of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Check your city and state’s specific rules governing drone flight.

Fly cautiously

Do everything you can to minimize the chances of something going wrong when you fly a drone for the first time. Read the manual and take the time to watch YouTube videos about safe setup and flight. Modern photography drones are tough; we haven’t encountered one in years that has broken from an impact. (DJI does offer a repair program called DJI Care Refresh, and replacements for the breakable pieces, such as the rotors, are readily available.) But avoiding a crash is still preferable for safety reasons—a falling drone can hurt people and property.

“People tend to crash these things unnecessarily because they can’t read the manual,” said Rupprecht. “The first flight and second flight, you’re scared out of your mind. The third flight, you hear the [sings theme song] Top Gun music, and you say, ‘Yeah, I can do it!’ You go outside and you’re flying, and you crash it. Before being lawful, figure out how not to do that.”

It might be worthwhile to invest in a flight simulator to practice the controls before your first real flying adventure. Otherwise, the best way to fly a drone for the first time is to learn from others. Chances are, a drone club exists in your area. In our experience, we’ve found clubs welcoming to newcomers, and members are happy to show you the basics.

“They will help you learn the rules, they’ll help you learn how to fly and show you that, yes, there’s things that you need to take seriously while you’re operating in the airspace, but overall it’s a great and enjoyable hobby,” the AMA’s Dobbs said.

Some other helpful tips:

• Pick flying sites with a generous amount of room, few obstacles, and few people.
• Do not fly in adverse weather.
• Have a plan for returning a drone to your location if something goes wrong.
• Fly within your current abilities.

There are a lot of rules governing drone flight, but the experience should still be about having fun. Take your time, learn new things, and don’t forget why you started flying in the first place.

In mid-2022, DJI released an updated version of its Mini offering, the DJI Mini 3 Pro. Compared with the Mini 2, it has a slightly longer stated fly time at 34 minutes, as well as improved obstacle sensing, a larger image sensor, and a new camera lens that should improve its low-light performance. We’ll be testing it later this year.

The DJI Mini 3, released at the end of 2022, is a cheap light drone that has some slight improvements compared to our current budget pick. It brings many of the upgrades of the Mini 3 Pro camera, including a f/1.7 aperture and larger sensor, but doesn’t include the 60 fps 4K footage or the obstacle sensing features of the more expensive drone. It’s also significantly cheaper, starting at $470 for the drone by itself, and has a slightly longer stated flight time, 38 minutes compared to the Pro’s 34. We’ll be testing both models for our next update early next year.

DJI announced a cheaper version of our upgrade pick called the Mavic 3 Classic. This new drone has almost all of the features of the Mavic 3, including its main 4/3 camera sensor, 46 minute stated flight time, and full suite of object detecting sensors, but drops the second telephoto camera. Considering the Classic is about $500 cheaper, it may be a great option for someone who wants the features of the 3 but doesn’t need the telephoto option.

We’ve recommended many DJI drones over the years. If you find an older model with specs that meet your needs and a low price tag, it’s likely to be a good buy. However, drone technology is changing rapidly, and newer drones provide longer battery life, superior cameras, and better autonomous flying abilities.

We had the most fun we’ve ever had flying a drone while inside the headset of the original DJI FPV drone, but we’ve concluded that the newer DJI Avata is a better entry point into this type of flying for beginners. First-person view is a more intuitive way to fly because you can see, for example, that you’re about to fly into a tree, as opposed to guessing where the drone is from several hundred feet away. Traditionally, first-person-view headsets have required quite a bit of technical skill; DJI’s FPV, in contrast, requires very little and offers the bonus of a 4K camera and obstacle sensing. However, both the DJI FPV and the DJI Avata lack the larger sensor and autonomous flight modes—including obstacle avoidance—of our top picks, so they don’t provide the ease of use we’d like to see for people focused on cinematography.

The Parrot Anafi packs in a lot for a low price. It sports a fold-up design and a 21-megapixel camera that shoots 4K HDR video on a 180-degree tilt gimbal. It offers 25 minutes of battery life and can go up to 32 mph. It’s also made by a French company (with a transparent security policy), so it’s a desirable alternative for anyone avoiding less-secure drones made by Chinese companies. Obstacle avoidance is an important enough feature that the Anafi’s lack of obstacle sensors caused us to disqualify it as a potential pick. But if you’re an experienced pilot on a budget and you consider a high-quality camera to be more important than obstacle avoidance, the Anafi could be a better option than the DJI Mini 2. We tested the FPV version and found the included headset useful for lining up shots. The backpack also felt of high quality.

We tested the original Skydio drone and had some problems with its ability to reliably avoid obstacles. We’ve heard positive things about the Skydio 2, and it might be a good fit for anyone who mostly needs an autonomous drone for outdoor sports. But we determined that the wider variety of options with DJI drones, both manually and autonomously, make them a better fit for most cinematographers.

The DJI Mini 2 is the least expensive drone in this guide. Its price is the lowest you can go if you want a model that takes excellent images while also providing autonomous features that make the drone easier and safer to fly. We also have a guide to drones under $100, which offer plenty of features to get you into the air without much extra fuss. It’s possible to find drones priced somewhere in the middle, but we don’t think they’re worth recommending at this time; they sacrifice both camera and safety features, and they just aren’t that satisfying to fly.

This article was edited by Phil Ryan and Erica Ogg.