The best drones for a roadtrip!
With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, our travel options are limited and as a result, holiday goers are opting to travel locally and see what the Australian landscape has to offer. In this article, we will go through which drones are the most recommended for you upcoming road trip/ day trip and where to purchase them.
Drones have progressed significantly over the years, getting smaller, more powerful with higher quality cameras. They provide you with an entire new perspective on your surroundings, giving a perspective which was once only achievable by helicopter. You can easily carry the drones in your backpack, perfect for day hikes especially as they don't weigh too much. Depending on which drone model you get, you can get the drone to do an automated video such as a circle around you, perfect for when you are on top of a hill/cliff. You can also use Active Track (follow me mode), which is fantastic for getting the drone to follow your vehicle, jetski, yourself or another person!
You can get really creative with your photos as well with the flexibility of moving in any direction in the air! We've included some sample shots to show what you can capture.
All the drones here share the following same features;
Up to 10km Transmission Range (FCC mode)
Return To Home (GPS, One Touch)
Quickshot (Circle, Helix, Dronie, Asteroid)
Find My Drone Functionality
120m Default Maximum Height
DJI Mini 2 — $949 and under
12MP Camera
Up to 4K Video @30fps
Up to 31 Minute Flight Time
The DJI Mini 2 is the newest of the three and the cheapest of the three.
The Mini 2 is an intelligent, convenient and super impressive drone that provides excellent image quality in both photos and videos. Whether you're shooting along the beautiful coastline of Australia or in the mountains, the Mini 2 can handle it all.
With a maximum battery life of 31 minutes, the DJI Mini 2 provides more than enough time to compose the perfect shot. It can also resist level 5 winds, which is unheard of for its size and will fly up to an altitude of 4,000 meters. These wind standards are good for most locations around Australia, however flying costal on a windier day may need caution. The drone will notify you when the wind speed is picking up and if it is too much, it will automatically land.
The 12MP camera provides content that will impress and is on a 3-axis gimbal, providing excellent stability and smoothness. When the wind picks up, the drone will compensate to ensure the horizons are level, which means you'll have consistently smooth video. Additionally, the 4x Zoom enables you to transition between shots of varying distance and composition, even when shooting HD Video! This is perfect considering the CASA rules requiring the drone to be 30m away from people, therefore you can zoom and fly at a safe distance!
The advantage of this small drone on a roadtrip, is that you can charge through the USB-C port from any USB charger such as a car charger or a power bank. None of the other drones listed here will allow you to do this.
The DJI Mini 2 comes in two variants, the unit and the combo. You can click here to read more about the combo and see why it is better value for money!
DJI Mavic Air 2 — $1899 and Under
12/48MP Camera
Up to 4K Video @60fps
Up to 34 Minute Flight Time
The DJI Mavic Air 2 was released in 2020 with great reception, being a lightweight drone with excellent 4K video and photos up to 48MP.
The Mavic Air 2 offers advanced features for those looking for more out of a drone such as Active Track 3.0, Obstacle Avoidance Sensors and APAS 3.0. This means the drone can automatically track an object AND avoid colliding into obstacles, it is one of the most intelligent drones DJI has released.
The Mavic Air gives greater content creator flexibility with it's D-Cinelike flat colour profile, which retains more information for post-processing. The HEVC (H.265) video codec records more image information whilst using less storage and preserves the dynamic range and detail of your footage, ensuring next-level content in no time.
If you're not into colour grading, that's all good. DJI have made taking photos and videos to the highest quality extremely easy with it's HDR video and Smart Photo. Essentially what happens is a single frame separates exposure levels in different areas, accurately capturing light and dark details. The images are layered to create a colourful, balanced and eye-catching picture with higher dynamic range. This combined with scene recognition such as HyperLight for optimal results. The scene recognition optimises different camera parameters for various scenes and supports intelligent recognition of five categories; sunset, skies, grass, snow and trees. Hyperlight optimises photos taken in low-light conditions and HDR significantly increases the dynamic range and clarity of your image.
Enjoy longer and safer flights with the DJI Mavic Air 2 with impressive battery life of 34 minutes and pull off epic, fast-paced shots with a max flight speed of 67.6 km/h.
The DJI Mavic Air 2 comes in two variants, the unit and the combo. You can click here to read more about the combo and see why its a better value for money!
DJI Mavic 2 Pro — $2299 and Under
20MP Camera
Up to 4K Video @30fps
The DJI Mavic 2 Pro is the dream drone from DJI where it embodies DJI's advanced and signature technologies and has redefined what is possible in the world of Aerial photography. Most of the beautiful drone photos/videos you see on Instagram and prints are shot with the Mavic 2 Pro.
You also have the ability to shoot 4K at 10-bit, which provides excellent colour reproduction and allows you to colour grade to a high and professional standard. This allows the Mavic 2 Pro to record over 1 billion colours compared to the 16 million with 8 bit recording. If shooting in the HLG mode, you can plug the drone straight into a HDR compatible TV and it will play back the footage at the right colour tones. This increased contrast makes the HDR video so appealing. The 1 inch sensor has up to four times more effective than the Mavic Pro and Mavic Mini 2. The large sensor also means better performance in low-light environments with a more extensive ISO range, max ISO lifted from 3200 to 12800.
Unlike the other drones above, you can adjust the aperture on the camera, which delivers outstanding image quality in both high and low lit environments. When shooting in low light, set the aperture to f2.8 to allow more light in and to capture bright and clear photos.
Along with the outstanding camera, you get class leading features such as Hyperlapse (Free, Circle, Courselock and Waypoint). Plus you will get ActiveTrack and the best feature, waypoints. This is were you can pre-plan determined routes for the drone to fly, making it fantastic for automated flights, making it the true companion to take on your holidays.
Where to buy?
All three drones listed are available for purchase from our online store or at our physical retail outlets. We provide our best price guarantee, which means we will give you the best price instore, if you find a lower advertised price, we may match or beat the price. Furthermore, you will have access to all our services, such as repairs, rentals, training and our New Pilot Experience. D1 is proudly the first and only Authorised Retail Store in Australia, so you know you will get the best price and the best service!
