Question Help with selection please

Floggist

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Hi Guys, first time poster here. I live on the Isle of Wight and am renovating my house. I am an a credited photographer, but know absolutely nothing about drones except I will need to pass a test to fly one.

I want to take some reasonable quality photos of my house and as it is on a cliff I would like to use a drone to do it. My question is this: how little can I spend on a drone in order to get a reasonable quality picture - say print at A4? I know I could spend big money on a DJI but it's likely to get very little use to be honest. I thought of paying someone to do it but they are all trying to pay off their mortgages off the back of my little job lol!

Any and all replies appreciated thanks.
 
If your dont want to spend a bit of money on a drone with a built in camera , this could be an alternative. I have a few drones already but have been looking recently at the prices of some of the newer ones .....and there not cheap. I see some of the batteries for them are anywhere from £60- £80 upto £132. As you say it's alot of money to spend on something you may barely use.
Some of my drones have built in cameras, some have camera's you attach and some dont have camera's . The ones that dont come with camera's , I use a gimbal with a Action Cam , the likes of the Gopro type camera's . My first was the SJ4000, then a Runcam ,then a cheaper action cam and the last one I bought was a Firefly6. So , you could just buy a cheap drone and attach a gimbal or mount onto the base and buy an action cam ......something that is allways handy to have. My Firefly6 takes astounding pictures and videos , it's 90* no distortion lens has a inbuilt gyro. There are now newer versions of this camera , I know they have versions 7 & 8 but of course there are lots of other models to choose from . A friend of mine bought a Gopro7 a few years ago, great little camera but he paid £375 for it , you can buy a DJI Mavic mini cheaper than this.
To use a gimbal which is 12v you'd need a drone that uses a 12v battery . But I'm sure you could buy a cheap drone and modify it. Got to work out a cheaper option. Just an idea.
 
on the other hand , you may find a new hobby , I had a Mavic Mini for a few months and just bought a Mavic Air 2 , brilliant bit of kit considering the price !!!!
 
Thanks for your reply rickyt.
The amount of money you talk about for a battery is about what I had in mind for the whole drone and camera lol!
Seriously, I have seen a drone which I think will do the job but the spec does not include sensor resolution - it says 'full hd" and "4k". As far as I can see the max resolution I can expect is 8mp - just about enough for an A4 print.

It is an Eachine E520S. What do you think?

If your dont want to spend a bit of money on a drone with a built in camera , this could be an alternative. I have a few drones already but have been looking recently at the prices of some of the newer ones .....and there not cheap. I see some of the batteries for them are anywhere from £60- £80 upto £132. As you say it's alot of money to spend on something you may barely use.
Some of my drones have built in cameras, some have camera's you attach and some dont have camera's . The ones that dont come with camera's , I use a gimbal with a Action Cam , the likes of the Gopro type camera's . My first was the SJ4000, then a Runcam ,then a cheaper action cam and the last one I bought was a Firefly6. So , you could just buy a cheap drone and attach a gimbal or mount onto the base and buy an action cam ......something that is allways handy to have. My Firefly6 takes astounding pictures and videos , it's 90* no distortion lens has a inbuilt gyro. There are now newer versions of this camera , I know they have versions 7 & 8 but of course there are lots of other models to choose from . A friend of mine bought a Gopro7 a few years ago, great little camera but he paid £375 for it , you can buy a DJI Mavic mini cheaper than this.
To use a gimbal which is 12v you'd need a drone that uses a 12v battery . But I'm sure you could buy a cheap drone and modify it. Got to work out a cheaper option. Just an idea.
 
on the other hand , you may find a new hobby , I had a Mavic Mini for a few months and just bought a Mavic Air 2 , brilliant bit of kit considering the price !!!!

Hi Paul, thanks for your reply.

I don't need another hobby! My wife will kill me lol!

Please give me your opinion on the Eachine E520S on eBay.

Thanks,

Andrew.
 
Looks good for the money , no mention of any form of axis on the camera [so , no stablility] but the video quality seems OK . Tons of youtube videos on this model , just been watching some , and most of the reviews are good. One chap said it was very lightweight ,someone else said the battery only lasted 5 minutes. I see it is only a 2 cell battery [7.5v]. Eachine are well known especially for the the fpv racing drones so the the pedigree is good.
Cannot complain about the price either. But , check out the reviews on youtube.........as allways..... before commiting to a purchase.
 
Looks good for the money , no mention of any form of axis on the camera [so , no stablility] but the video quality seems OK . Tons of youtube videos on this model , just been watching some , and most of the reviews are good. One chap said it was very lightweight ,someone else said the battery only lasted 5 minutes. I see it is only a 2 cell battery [7.5v]. Eachine are well known especially for the the fpv racing drones so the the pedigree is good.
Cannot complain about the price either. But , check out the reviews on youtube.........as allways..... before commiting to a purchase.
Well spotted Ricky, I've looked at so many so fast that I thought it had 6 axis stabilisation. That's good advice about youtube too. Thanks!
 
Hi Paul, thanks for your reply.

I don't need another hobby! My wife will kill me lol!

Please give me your opinion on the Eachine E520S on eBay.

Thanks,

Andrew.


fair play :rotfl: , had a look and for what you are wanting , I suspect it will be fine , I wouldn't expect the battery life to be as good as they say , maybe 10 mins max , but for what you want to do I can't see that being an issue , as said previously watch YouTube videos , they are generally a good indicator of what they are like , as long as you don't pick one that try's to compare it with a Mavic Pro or similar:facepalm:
 
Well spotted Ricky, I've looked at so many so fast that I thought it had 6 axis stabilisation. That's good advice about youtube too. Thanks!
Having checked out the YouTube videos, I am not going to waste the money. The footage was rubbish with no gimbal or stabilisation. It moved so much that I'm not even sure it would do sharp stills! I have found a guy with a Mavic Zoom who will do stills and video for £170. I think that sounds better. I couldn't bear poor quality pictures!

Thanks for your help guys!
 
fair play :rotfl: , had a look and for what you are wanting , I suspect it will be fine , I wouldn't expect the battery life to be as good as they say , maybe 10 mins max , but for what you want to do I can't see that being an issue , as said previously watch YouTube videos , they are generally a good indicator of what they are like , as long as you don't pick one that try's to compare it with a Mavic Pro or similar:facepalm:
Hi Paul, please see my reply to Ricky.

Thanks for your help too 👍.
fair play :rotfl: , had a look and for what you are wanting , I suspect it will be fine , I wouldn't expect the battery life to be as good as they say , maybe 10 mins max , but for what you want to do I can't see that being an issue , as said previously watch YouTube videos , they are generally a good indicator of what they are like , as long as you don't pick one that try's to compare it with a Mavic Pro or similar:facepalm:
Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply. Please see my reply to Rick above.

Thanks for your help.
 

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