Which drone to choose for professional use?

A small flying device, the drone has brought a slight wind of revolution in the field of audiovisual production. Thanks to this machine, images are captured in places that are very difficult to access. Offering an excellent aerial view of the places, subjects and scenes to be filmed, the drone is today a flagship equipment in the professional world.

Photographer, video or cinema clips director, documentary maker…, are you looking for such a device to take images of exceptional quality? Choose from the 5 drones presented in this article, the best on the market because of their technical characteristics.

Choice of a drone for professional use: DJI Mavic 3 or the Mavic 3 Cine version

After the release of the DJI Mavic 2 Pro, the DJI brand has decided to go upmarket to the delight of photo and video drone pilots. In November 2021, the much-anticipated and eagerly awaited DJI Mavic 3 was finally released. From the first days after its launch, this new model is already arousing the enthusiasm of drone users. As if trying to be forgiven for the long wait, the DJI company has accompanied the DJI Mavic 3 with another version: the Mavic 3 Cine.

This surprise is appreciated by customers and people who are now discovering the world of the world leader in the manufacture of drones. No matter what professional drone operations you want to do, one of these two versions should be right for you. DJI’s goal in launching these two models simultaneously is to meet a variety of needs and budgets.

If you have known the DJI Mavic 2 Pro, expect a larger sensor with the DJI Mavic 3. The 4/3 CMOS sensor of the L2D-20c camera is the result of a partnership between DJI and the Swedish manufacturer Hasselblad. The rendering of the captures is vivid with an accentuated color precision. The camera contains a telephoto lens whose role is to carry out recognition and flight programming. Its 162 mm equivalent focal length is used for remote analysis of the elements to be captured.

The compact and foldable DJI Mavic 3 has a diagonal of 380 mm. The manufacturer justified the lengthening of the arms compared to the previous model by the desire to make the machine more resistant to winds. The device weighs only 900 g at most. Its battery has a capacity of 5,000 mAh, consuming 77 Wh of energy and having an autonomy of 46 minutes. These data are all higher than those corresponding to the DJI Mavic 2 Pro.

The DJI Mavic 3 has an adjustable opening dedicated to the management of the exposure triangle. You can therefore adapt the aperture of your drone to weather conditions, while maintaining shutter speeds. With a dynamic range of 12.8 stops, you have the flexibility to effectively deal with highlights and shadows in post-processing. Compared to the DJI Mavic 2 Pro which has a field of view of 77 °, the DJI Mavic 3 offers a better angle with its 84 °. Equipped with several sensors for optical detection and VDAF technology, the camera delivers optimum focusing speed.

The video capabilities of the DJI Mavic 3 make it an excellent drone for professional use. Using the machine, you will be able to shoot in DCI 4K, which corresponds to a resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels. The camera records 120 fps (frames per second), compared to the 30 fps of the DJI Mavic 2. Digital zooms are possible. It is at the level of video recording and rendering that the mavic 3 Cine differs from anything the manufacturer has produced in the past and the DJI Mavic 3 in particular.

This drone features all the video qualities of the DJI Mavic 3 and goes beyond. You can use it for recordings in Apple ProRes 422 HQ 5.1K. The DJI Mavic 3 Cine has a 1TB SSD drive to support the bitrate of 3,772 Mb / s and store the captured images. The hard drive is built into the device. You will need to connect it to a computer to extract the files. A specific cable accompanies the DJI Mavic 3 Cine drone and allows you to copy up to 10 GB of files per second.

Parrot Anafi

Is the price of the DJI Mavic 3, DJI Mavic 3 Cine, or DJI Phantom 3 out of your reach? In the absence of one of these high-end models, go for the Parrot Anafi, an affordable drone with interesting features. The device is adjustable, which allows you to set it up according to your way of guiding drones. With automatic flight modes, you will easily fly the aircraft.

Weighing 320 g, the Parrot Anafi is a tiny beast of technology that knows how to adapt to climatic conditions. Foldable, this drone is easily stored in a bag. The manufacturer has been able to improve its product over the versions. You will find on the market, the Parrot Anafi model with a 4K camera in Full HD. This will serve you to capture images of a very appreciable quality. Another interesting thing about this camera is its vertical tilt on an axis of 180 °.

The Digital Zoom feature allows you to magnify images when capturing up to 280%. The drone’s control stick has a long range of 4000m. Once charged, the battery has an autonomy of two hours, the time to fly the Parrot Anafi for 20 to 30 minutes. You can recharge it from the USB type C charger on the power bank or from the computer.

DJI Inspire 2

Before Mavic 3, the drone giant, DJI, was able to conquer professionals a few years ago with the Inspire 2 model. The latter will play a role of great substitute for Mavic 3 if you don’t have the budget for the latter. Inspire 2 is a drone designed in aluminum and magnesium alloy. Its carbon fiber arms are retractable. This second version of the original Inspire model takes again the qualities of this one which it supplements with characteristics and innovative functions.

Inspire 2 stands out for its double self-heating battery can withstand a temperature of – 20 ° C. This means that the drone can hover in the icy environment of Denmark or Greenland and land unscathed.

In addition to its battery, its camera is also double and its sensors are more numerous. Up to 30 m altitude, the drone’s optical systems allow it to identify and avoid obstacles. The device is thus protected in full flight, even at a speed bordering on 54 km / h.

Inspire 2 presents a powerful image processing system (CineCore 2.0) that handles large volumes of data in a short time. Several video formats are available, including Adobe CinemaDNG RAW to which the CineSSD storage system is dedicated. This last Easily processes the stream of images captured in 5.2 K at 4.2 Gb / s.

One of the strengths of this product from the DJI brand is its top speed of 94 km / h. In addition, 4 seconds are enough for it to go from 0 to 80 km / h. For professional use, this drone guarantees efficiency and speed.

Altar Evo 2

It is with the arguments of practicality and very high definition that Autel Evo 2 enters the restricted circle of professional premium quality drones. With a weight of 1.14 kg and a size of 27 x 35 x 11.5 m, the device strikes the spirits with its gigantism. But it is easily transported since its arms are foldable. One assembly and disassembly system equipped with a key is available to facilitate handling of the drone.

With a 48-megapixel sensor, the Evo 2 camera takes advantage of QuadBayer technology. It delivers photos with a maximum definition of 8,000 x 6,000 pixels and 8K videos at 24, or even 25 images per second.

The camera allows you to vary the speed of image capture thanks to other 4K, 2.7K and 1080p definitions available. Autel Evo 2 has a remote control with foldable handles and has a 3.3 inch OLED display. With this remote control accessory, you don’t need a smartphone to fly the drone. The radio control nevertheless comprises a foldable support to receive a mobile.

Thanks to its proximity sensors, Autel Evo 2 detects obstacles and indicates them to the pilot by displaying colored pictograms on the remote control screen. The application Autel Explorer allows you to create and store flight plans of the drone. The shooting sequences can be automated afterwards. This is a practical feature for a professional pilot.

Finally, note that as a transitional measure until January 1, 2023, drones that do not comply with regulation 2019/945 are authorized to be piloted under certain conditions. For example, for drones weighing 500 g or less, overflight, away from gatherings, of uninvolved persons is permitted, but should be considerably limited. To perform such an operation, you must have completed and passed the Fox Alpha Tango online training.

To fly drones weighing 2 kg or less, 50 meters from people, you must have completed training and passed an exam corresponding to subcategory A2. Ensure compliance with the regulations concerning the operation of drones in open category for the professional use of your device.