Best Drone for Real Estate Videos 2022
The real estate business is all about capturing the best features of your listing and highlighting them in ways that catch your market’s attention. In this digital age, that means going much further than posting nice photos on the Internet.
While capturing dramatic and stunning images are still very much important when getting your property on and off the market, other strategies should now be in the mix. This includes digital marketing, 360 videos, live videos, events, and even drone videography.
Drone videography and photography are both rapidly becoming some of the most powerful and successful ways to have your properties stand out among the rest. Not only do they offer a more holistic visual of the home, but drones also offer the opportunity to produce varying perspectives far beyond the standard and traditional media we find online.
Because a lot of homebuyers are now scouring the Internet to track their next big real estate investment, it is also where your competitors spend a lot of time. For these two reasons alone, you need to continuously work to earn your potential buyer’s attention and capture their interest within the first few seconds of seeing your listing – and drone videography can help with that.
Below, we have a detailed guide on all things drone technology, how it impacts real estate photography and videography, and how you can choose the best drone for your videos.
What Is The Impact Of Drone Technology On Real Estate?
While drones have been widely utilized around the world for leisure and security purposes, they are still fairly new when it comes to real estate videos. Trying to figure out the best drone for your needs and preferences could be a tedious process when the information and diversity of options are still fairly limited.
However, despite the fact that drone technology is still growing and developing more than ever, it has already proven to be very advantageous in real estate marketing. Not only can you capture more attractive images, but using a drone also gives you the power to take stunning videos with breathtaking views. This kind of media provides your potential buyers with much more in depth information surrounding the property.
Some of the best ways drone technology has impacted real estate are:
Drones Help Produce More Dynamic Videos
Drone videography takes real estate videos to a higher level than traditional ones by rendering more energy, passion, and vibrancy into the visuals. You would not be limited to perspectives taken from the ground level or eye level anymore, because with drones literally rising above, you can start capturing your property in angles it has never been seen in yet.
This allows you to provide a fresh take on the listing and tell its story in a much more exciting way. With drone technology used for videos, the impact you can make on your audience is limitless. Your potential buyers get to enjoy a sneak peak into the life they could live with this investment, which is valuable to say the least.
Drone Videos Provide More Accuracy
The videos taken with a drone are undeniably more engaging but did you know that they are also highly accurate? Traditional videos are usually taken from the perspective of someone standing right in front of the subject, which in the case of real estate can be anything from the front porch, garage, driveway, kitchen, and more.
While this method still gets to showcase the many features of the listing, imagine the impact your property can have when you pair it with clips that show the bigger picture.
One of the general rules in real estate is never leave too much to the imagination. The more details and features you can include in your listing, the better. Since you want to showcase your listing in the most realistic, yet enhanced, way possible, drone videos may just be all you need for that extra push.
Drone Videos Highlight The Best Property Features
We just discussed how important it is to display as many features as you can within your listing, but keep in mind it is just as important to know how to display them!
Traditional or standard videos are great for giving your potential buyers the general idea as to what the property looks like and what it entails, however, complementing these with aerial clips can make a huge difference.
To add to your list of marketing efforts, videos taken with a drone will definitely garner more interest and curiosity among your viewers because of how stimulating the visuals can get. Drones give you the opportunity to showcase features that would have gone unnoticed, making all of your listings a cut above the rest.
Drone Videos Display The Location
It goes without saying that the location of your property is so highly important that it can dictate how well or poorly your listing does on the market. It is only fair seeing as the potential buyers will want to invest their hard earned resources in a prime location that would make day-to-day living the most convenient.
For a lot of those looking to buy a home, this could mean being able to live near a park, a gym, a grocery store, transportation links, churches, and other areas. Moreover, potential buyers who also happen to be growing families may be more inclined to look for houses near good schools.
How valuable a specific location is can be subjective and would mean different things to different homebuyers. For this reason, drone videography can help real estate agents pair the most suitable property for a specific buyer by being able to provide aerial footage of the surrounding areas.
This gives potential buyers a birds eye view of the neighborhood, helping them better envision living there and feel more at ease with the decision to invest in the place.
Drone Video Is A Cost Effective Solution
Before taking videos using a portable drone became more popular, videographers would record clips while riding airplanes – many of them probably still do till this day.
As a cost effective alternative, drones are able to save you a lot of time, effort, and money that hiring an airplane each time you need to take overhead shots of properties.
What to consider when choosing the Best Drone for Real Estate?
Now that you have a clearer concept as to how drone videography can bring your real estate listing to life, it’s time to discuss how to select the right drone camera for you.
You must always consider the type of projects you will be utilizing it for in order to narrow down your needs and personal preferences. By being more in tune with what you are looking for, you can better weigh out if a specific drone can meet (or even exceed) your standards.
To get you on the right path, here are seven factors to take into consideration when choosing your drone for real estate videos.
Factor #1: The Drone’s Camera Performance and Quality
There are quite a number of drones on the market today that heavily vary in specs and price range, in order to cater to differing needs regarding the camera’s overall quality and performance.
While purchasing drones for leisure and fun is one thing, investing in the camera for professional real estate videography is a whole other ball game. With the latter, you have to choose one that can provide quality output each time. When choosing the best drone for taking real estate videos, we highly suggest getting a model with a 4K video that can capture at least 30 frames per second (FPS).
Factor #2: The Drone’s Flight Performance
When analyzing a drone’s flight performance levels, there are three things to consider, namely:
Speed. More powerful drones are capable of reaching speeds that go up to 58 mph (94 kph), which is about the perfect range for capturing fast-moving objects such as busy highways, speeding boats, and others that could really bring out the features of your property’s location.
Gimbal. Drones have a built-in gimbal that is designed to provide stability to the camera itself no matter the wind condition. For the best flight performance that offers little to no shake, invest in a model with a 3-axis gimbal.
Battery Life. A lot of modern drones provide more than half an hour of uninterrupted flight time, which is more than enough time to shoot the bulk or all of your listing. It is also especially helpful to prepare a shot list or flow of your video to ensure your maximize your time.
Factor #3: The Drone’s Flight Safety Features
Safety should always be a top priority. When it comes to taking drone videos, you must be extra cautious that how your drone operates and flies around does not lead to it crashing into anything, damaging the unit or worse, causing injury.
Many modern drone cameras are well equipped with safety features such as crash-avoidance sensors, vision sensors, GPS positioning, obstacle avoidance, and similar tools. One top safety feature you should look for is that return-home button, which allows you to recall a drone, automatically having them fly back towards the starting point should they lose signal or contact with the controller.
If budget is a major factor, you will not necessarily need every single safety feature available so long as you invest in a drone that can cater to your needs. For instance, if your line of work requires you to shoot in complex locations, you should choose multiple advanced features for peace of mind.
Factor #4: The Drone’s Transmission
Real estate videography needs a drone with a powerful transmission since the flight range of your camera is what dictates how far the drone can fly away from the controller (within sight, of course).
This is what allows you to show off the property from varying perspectives at great distances. WiFi transmission is best suited for daily flying in open spaces where there is little to no risk of signal interference. However, if you are expected to shoot projects within complex environments with a lot of trees and structures, you are better off investing in a drone with an extended transmission flight distance and feed quality.
In short, find one that you can comfortably fly around the average size of the properties you usually shoot for.
Factor #5: The Drone’s Intelligent Functions
Whether you are a beginner or seasoned drone videographer, anything that can be automated and serve as a backup plan can go a long way. This is where intelligent functions come in.
Intelligent functions are what give you the power to produce intricate flight patterns, and even set up automatic takeoff and landing, which make dramatic footage look all the more effortless.
Without intelligent flight modes, you will need hundreds of flight hours to be able to produce a seamless, high quality video that is as smooth and crisp as possible. Even with that experience under your belt, it is always more convenient to have automated options.
Factor #6: The Drone’s Portability
The size and weight of your drone is a factor to take into consideration. If you are expected to be traveling from one location to another frequently, or within the same day, then it would be best to invest in a more portable model. Similarly, if you do not have your own car and would have to carry around heavy gear for each project, you can literally lessen the load by finding lightweight (yet quality) alternatives.
At the end of the day, we recommend prioritizing the power and performance of your drone over its size. After all, how well it can capture and process your videos is how you get your ROI faster.
Factor #7: The Drone’s Ease of Use
Last, but not the least, how easy your drone camera is to maneuver is a very important factor. It is understandable to have a little adjustment period with each new technology; however, it would be impractical to invest in a model so overtly advanced that you would have a difficult time figuring out the settings.
We highly recommend getting a drone camera that allows you to take full control over its features and maximize what it has to offer. You can do so by further researching the gadget, its built-in controls, its remote, and the software it comes with.
4 best drones for real estate videos 2022
There are multiple drones on the market today, each with their own advantage over the other. With companies churning out upgrade after upgrade, the options are only expected to get better as the years come.
While some models may excel in drone photography, some others do much better for videography. Below, we have a detailed list of the top 4 drones we recommend for real estate videos in 2022.
DJI Mini 2 (Base Package or Fly More Combo)
The Best Affordable DJI Drone For Professional Real Estate Videography
The DJI Mini 2 is known to be the company’s most compact and portable drone yet. Both beginners and seasoned pilots alike can greatly take advantage of all this model has to offer with its raw power and impressive quality.
What makes it even better is that you can enjoy its amazing results without having to break the bank. It is by far the most affordable DJI drone recommended for videos.
Notable Features:
3-Axis Motorized Gimbal. The DJI Mini 2 has a built-in 3-Axis Motorized Gimbal, which helps you take the smoothest videos with little to no camera shake. Because of the stability it provides, you can expect to get bright, vibrant, and stunning drone video clips each time.
Easy To Use. The drone features a user-friendly operating system that has many tools to make shooting as uncomplicated as possible, such as its One-Tap Quick Shots with the option to produce Boomerangs, 4K Hyper lapse, and even Panorama.
4x Zoom Capabilities. This drone can hold up to 4x digital zoom, and when paired with its stable 3-axis motorized gimbal, you can expect nothing less than stunningly detailed 4K/ 30fps videos with every listing.
Compact Size. Because of its size and portability, you can easily take drone footage both outdoors and indoors.
Pros
- Foldable and portable
- Affordable drone
- 3-Axis Gimbal
- 4K Camera
- OcuSync 2.0 transmission
- 10KM HD Video Transmission
- Quick Shots
- On average it offers 27 – 31 Minutes of flight time per charge.
- 12 MP Photos
- Fly up to 24 mph (38 kph) with ActiveTrack, TapyFly, and other smart features
- Handles up to Level 5 Wind Resistance
Cons
- No color profile options for JPGs and video
- No obstacle avoidance feature
- No HDR capabilities
Fly More Combo. The DJI Mini 2 Fly More Combo gives you up to 6 miles worth of range and an hour and half of battery life.
DJI Mavic Air 2
The Best Progressive Drone For Real Estate Videography
The DJI Mavic Air 2 offers more advanced specs and is perfect for real estate photographers and videographers who are working on complex properties located in challenging environments.
Its obstacle avoidance safety feature gives you peace of mind so you can focus on getting quality footage each time. Furthermore, its ability to take smooth clips with a fast processor makes the process all the more convenient.
Notable Features:
Ability To Record 4K/ 60FPS Videos. The DJI Mavic Air 2 has excellent video quality with the help of its ½” CMOS Sensor and a 3-Axis Gimbal. A combination of the two helps produce ultra smooth 4K/ 60FPS videos that can capture your listing in its best light yet.
Very Portable And Impressively Powerful. The drone sports a quadcopter that offers you a comfortable grip on the palm of your hands. Because of this, you can easily take footage in both outdoor and indoor settings without compromising an ounce of quality.
Intelligent Tracking. The Mavic Air 2 has a Spotlight 2.0 tool that lets you track and lock the focus on your camera, ensuring a sharp subject matter all throughout your video. It also has ActiveTrack 3.0 so you have the power to target a specific angle and keep your subject centered.
Pros
- 48 MP Camera
- Drone Quadcopter UAV
- 4K Video
- 8K Hyperlapse
- 1/2″ CMOS Sensor
- 3-Axis Gimbal
- 34 Min Flight Time
- Active Track 3.0
- Spotlight 2.0
- Automatic Obstacle Avoidance
- OcuSync 2.0 transmission
Cons
- Video profiles could use more options
- App-based editing limited to 1080p output
DJI Air 2S
The Best Mapping Drone For Real Estate Videography
With the DJI Air S2, you can be sure to enjoy spectacular results even in low light settings. The specs on the camera allow you to achieve incredibly sharp footage, with great exposure sensitivity, and a dynamic aperture range.
Notable Features:
Advanced Transmission Technology. Its advanced transmission technologies allow the DJI Air 2S offers to capture video footage in 1080p even from an impressive distance of 7.5 miles. It results in incredibly sharp and smooth video clips, with practically no camera shake or other disruptions in between.
Rich and Vibrant Color Tones. Despite shooting footage during bright sunny days, there are some camera sensors that tend to poorly process these, resulting in dull media. With the DJI Air 2S, that will not be an issue. This drone sports a 5.4K video, ensuring your footage is as rich in color tone and vibrant as possible.
Impressive Dynamic Range In Low Light. Lighting will always be a factor to consider in real estate as it can pose great challenges in a given shoot. However, the DJI Air 2S boasts a built-in 1-inch sensor that has great power to combine varying exposures in 1 illuminated frame. This allows your dark shadows and bright highlights to translate perfectly well through your video footage and offer an impressive dynamic range.
Pros
- 5.4K Video
- 1-Inch CMOS Sensor
- 4-Direction Obstacle Sensing
- 31-Min Flight Time
- 7.5-Mile Video Transmission
- 3-Axis Gimbal Camera
- Remote Control
- 2.4 Megapixels
Cons
- Limited 8 GB of internal storage
- App-based editing limited to 1080p output
DJI Mini 3 Pro
The Best Mid-Range Drone For Real Estate Videography
The DJI Mini Pro 3 is a fantastic drone for real estate videography within its price range. Not only does it have spectacular features, but it is also built to be compact, lightweight, and easy to store with the rest of your gear.
Notable Features:
Incredibly Portable. The DJI Mini 3 Pro can be easily folded up and fit in your coat’s pocket. You can carry it along to almost any shoot, even if you would have to record footage in a variety of locations.
Adjustable Aperture. If you want to take aerial videos to showcase a property’s full potential, you are going to want to go wide. With the camera’s adjustable aperture, you can easily switch it up to get the exact depth your scene needs at any given time.
Moreover, its f/2.8 aperture is very powerful even in low-light environments, allowing you to create stunning videos at 5.1K resolution, no matter the condition!
24mm Equivalent Lens. The camera on the Mini 3 Pro sports a 24mm equivalent lens, which also supports Autofocus and 80 degree FOV. This not only ensure you get sharp footage each time, but you will also no longer have to worry about getting blurred-focused videos.
Tri-Directional Obstacle Sensing. This model is the safest Mini this far, as it is fully equipped with forward, backward, and downward dual-vision sensors for enhanced safety. It also sports the Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS 4.0), that has the power to detect objects within the aircraft’s flight path in real-time in order to avoid any crashes.
Pros
- 4/3 CMOS Hasselblad Camera
- Tri-directional Obstacle Sensing
- Up to 46 Min Flight Time
- RC Quadcopter
- Advanced Auto Return
- 15KM Video Transmission
- 5.1K Videos
- 1080p/ 60FPS Live Feed
- 1080p/ 120FPS slow-motion video
- Highly compact and portable
- Supports direct output of HDR video footage at 4K
- D-Cinelike Color mode for richer colors
Cons
- Limited 8 GB of internal storage on base model
Which One Is Best For You?
Weighing out which of the recommended drones above entirely depends on your needs and preferences. Take a look at the types of projects you will most likely be handling and go from there. No matter the model you choose, you are sure to get stunning real estate videos!
