Drones?

Knikki

Knikki

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I know nothing about drones and the only manufacturer that seems to to pop up is DJI which seem to make a whole range of them.

I'm not interested in the video side of things I'm interested in getting stills from them for a project I would like to do this year.

I guess you can get still images from them as one I saw had a 12Mb camera but when I looked at a video review it concentrated on the video side, which I get but not what I want.

Any ideas on easy one to use, not massively expensive, probably get one on the used market and also how easy is it to get a still image out of them?

Note: at the moment this is just an idea I'm floating around this empty head of mine.

Cheers
 
As business took a video of our garden using a drone after some landscaping work and was able to also shoot a still/s during the flight, He sent me both the edited video and the stills shot separately so it certainly can be done.
 
We have a mini 4 pro and pretty happy with it, if buying now would probably get the mini 5 pro with the bigger sensor and other improvements - more £ though.
 
If you're looking for something cost effective look out for a used DJI Mini Pro 3, I've sold mine recently on eBay as I wasn't using it.
You'll probably also find lots of 4s for sale now as people want to upgrade to the 5.

Take a look at what you need from a CAA perspective as well, operator ID and flyer ID.
 
Drones are superb tools for still photography and just as good as they are at video, I pretty much only ever take photos with my drone and the aerial panoramas it can produce are amazing.

The Mini 3 and Mini 4 are definitely a good starting point since they're very capable drones with a 1/1.3in sensor so a bit bigger than the common 1/2.3in sensors with a big more you can work with in the raw files. Since they're under 250g they can fly with less restrictions than most other drones so they're allowed to fly closer to people and buildings. The Mini 5 steps up to a 1in sensor which is what I have in my older Mavic 2 Pro which I find is a good size for a drone because it has reasonably dynamic range which is often important with aerial shots due to the bright sky and dark ground.

PANO0001-Pano-245 (Large).jpgPANO0001-Pano-258 (Large).jpg
 
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Hanley said:
Take a look at what you need from a CAA perspective as well, operator ID and flyer ID.
Click to expand...

Definitely do this as the regulations have just changed with stricter rules.

Flying remotely piloted aircraft | UK Civil Aviation Authority

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) provides essential guidance for flying drones and model aircraft safely and legally. Learn about registration, operational categories, airspace rules, privacy, insurance, and advanced flying requirements, including commercial operations and remote pilot...
www.caa.co.uk www.caa.co.uk

new rules explained in this video.

 
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mikeyb said:
Definitely do this as the regulations have just changed with stricter rules.

Flying remotely piloted aircraft | UK Civil Aviation Authority

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) provides essential guidance for flying drones and model aircraft safely and legally. Learn about registration, operational categories, airspace rules, privacy, insurance, and advanced flying requirements, including commercial operations and remote pilot...
www.caa.co.uk www.caa.co.uk

new rules explained in this video.

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I may be wrong, but that is for new drones purchased after 1st January 2026.
If you buy one of the current models used then old rules still apply, I think. :)
 
I *think* you have always needed an operator ID, and that ID number must be on the drone itself so that the authorities can see who the owns it, and needs to be re-renewed every year (I think it's about £12-£17 can't remember the exact amount). Think this applied to any drone that wasn't a toy and had a camera (whether it's for video or stills), and for all drones over 250g ??

I think the Flyer ID was optional but recommended and is an online theory test (free), which isn't very difficult and more common sense, and last 5 years. I have both, although to be fair I hardy fly my mini 4 pro these days. Must dig it out again.

Not sure what the new 2026 rules are though ?
 
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I received this email on Christmas Eve, I just binned it as I don't currently use a drone, but I recovered it as it might be of interest.



Dear Operator,
Several important new rules and regulations will apply to drone and model aircraft operations from 1 January 2026.
Click to expand...
This email is to update you on some of the changes being implemented and how it will affect your operations.

What’s new:​

Class marks and new product standards​

  • Class marks and new product standards will be introduced and make it easier to know what your UAS can do and where it can fly. Operators using class marked aircraft will have more freedom under simpler rules.

Green flashing light at night​

  • If you fly a drone or model aircraft at night, your aircraft must have a green flashing light fitted and turned on for operations at night.

Flyer ID for flying aircraft weighing 100g or more​

  • Anyone flying a drone or model aircraft weighing over 100g or more will need to pass the test to get a Flyer ID.

Remote ID​

  • All UK class marked drones (UK1, UK2, UK3, UK5 and UK6) will need to broadcast their Operator's Remote ID and information when flying.
  • From 1 January 2028, this will become a requirement for legacy drones (non-UK class marked), model aircraft and privately built drones.

Market surveillance authority for UAS​

  • The CAA will take on the role of the UK’s new UAS Market Surveillance Authority (MSA). The authority will be responsible for checking that all UAS available in the UK meet safety standards and will be able to take action where they don’t.
As our skies get busier, and drone technology advances, these changes will help to keep everyone safe and secure, strengthening public confidence for the future of our exciting and growing sector.
The CAA website has been updated to reflect these changes and provide further stakeholder guidance for each of these areas.
Regards,
UAS Regulatory Review Project Team
UK Civil Aviation Authority
 
mikeyb said:
I received this email on Christmas Eve, I just binned it as I don't currently use a drone, but I recovered it as it might be of interest.



​
Dear Operator,

This email is to update you on some of the changes being implemented and how it will affect your operations.

What’s new:​

Class marks and new product standards​

  • Class marks and new product standards will be introduced and make it easier to know what your UAS can do and where it can fly. Operators using class marked aircraft will have more freedom under simpler rules.

Green flashing light at night​

  • If you fly a drone or model aircraft at night, your aircraft must have a green flashing light fitted and turned on for operations at night.

Flyer ID for flying aircraft weighing 100g or more​

  • Anyone flying a drone or model aircraft weighing over 100g or more will need to pass the test to get a Flyer ID.

Remote ID​

  • All UK class marked drones (UK1, UK2, UK3, UK5 and UK6) will need to broadcast their Operator's Remote ID and information when flying.
  • From 1 January 2028, this will become a requirement for legacy drones (non-UK class marked), model aircraft and privately built drones.

Market surveillance authority for UAS​

  • The CAA will take on the role of the UK’s new UAS Market Surveillance Authority (MSA). The authority will be responsible for checking that all UAS available in the UK meet safety standards and will be able to take action where they don’t.
As our skies get busier, and drone technology advances, these changes will help to keep everyone safe and secure, strengthening public confidence for the future of our exciting and growing sector.
The CAA website has been updated to reflect these changes and provide further stakeholder guidance for each of these areas.
Regards,
UAS Regulatory Review Project Team
UK Civil Aviation Authority
Click to expand...
As I thought, any legacy drone is the old rules until 1st January 2028 :)
 
I bought a mini4pro for stills, I wasn't into the video side initially. However, I have since found that I enjoy both. If you wanted full manual settings which include aperture priority, you would have to opt for the bigger Mavic drones, however, rules are more strict for the bigger drones, especially the Mavic 4 which falls into a heavier weight category.

This is the reason I went for the mini, to have the freedom to fly without the need for the additional licences. You still have the ability to manually change shutter, iso etc, just not aperture as it is fixed at f1.7.

If I was buying now, I would go for another mini, but I would opt for the mini5pro as it has a one inch sensor.
Flying at night, you would need to display green flashing lights, however, if you are taking photos, then the built in green lights will be fine. When shooting video, the lights turn off, so if you go down that path, you would need to add a green flashing strobe.

To sum up, if you purchase a mini 5 pro, you'd need to go on the CAA website and get an operator and flyer i.d. I think the cost is about £12 per year. To get those, it's just some simple tests on the website which you complete before getting the relevant id. You then need to display the operator i.d. on the drone, ie, print it out on a piece of paper and stick it on as I have done, or get a label printer or something. I think that's it, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head. Oh yes, download a free app, The Drone Map or something like that to your phone, then check for any restrictions in the area each time before flying.
 
Another change that starts this month is that EU class marked drones will be considered equivalent to the UK class marking for the new two years, this means for example the Mavic 3 and Mavic 3 classic (but not the Mavic 3 pro or Mavic 4 Pro because they're over the 900g limit) can fly in the least restrictive A1 class similar to the sub 250g drones.

Also the A3 limits for flying near people and residential buildings (but not commercial buildings) have been reduced from 150m to 50m without an A2 license so that covers most non class marked consumer drones over 250g.
 
All drones over 100 grams with a camera require an Operator ID and a Flyer ID from 1 Jan 26. Night flying requires a flashing green strobe. Any new models introduced from 1 Jan will need to UK class marked and transmit Remote ID. It's true that C marked drones are valid to use until the end of 2027, but would need to transmit Remote ID from 2028. More recent C marked drones already have the hardware built in to start Remote ID with a firmware update and then registering that ID with the CAA, tying it to the Operator.

However, the devil is in the detail. There is no guarantee the CAA will extend recognition of C marked drones after 2027 and no guarantee DJI will implement the built in capability of older series like my Mini 3. That means such drones could fall into the legacy category with the most restrictive flying conditions regarding buildings and people. A lot of DJI drones turn off the lights when filming. An add on flashing light adds circa 4 grams for the light and another 12 grams for a Remote ID module, that's a real problem when a drone already weights 249 grams and would be pushed out of the 249 gram class. CAA have indicated they will not exempt the additional weight for the additional measures they introduced.

This is currently a dog's dinner in the making. For a new user, I would suggest 3 options. Firstly, buy an older but viable drone such as a Mini 4K for a couple of hundred pounds and get just under 2 years out of it and no night flying for video. Option 2, buy the most recent series like a Mini 5 Pro, which DJI are less likely to ignore, with them turning on Remote ID and enabling the lights to remain on within a menu. Third, just wait until a UK0 sticker starts appearing on new drones (Mini 6?) or DJI start to issue new labels or new stock of existing models with UK labels.
 
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Dear all.

Thank you very much for the information and it seems there is a little bit more to getting and flying a drone than I first thought.

@mikeyb thanks for the links and to the video one interesting thing is that in the video it names thedronemap.com which, if I look at it shows that where I live I'm very close to a restricted zone and a couple of the places I was thinking of using it are in restricted zones, the joy of living near an airport. I knew you could not obviously fly a drone close to an airport but did not realise there were such wide zones around them.

Anyway, I will have a rethink.
 
The damn things should be banned. We've had them flying over our garden while my daughter was sunbathing and one one occasion flew up to her bedroom window - and that's just the occasions we're aware of. They're a massive invasion of privacy and what little legislation there is just isn't enforced.
 
With regards airports, you tend to find a no fly zone in a circle around the airport, then "fingers" spreading out in various directions which are the aircraft's approach and depart paths for take off and landing.

I work near a HM Prison, and there's a no fly zone around that (for obvious reasons), but I've already in my short time with a drone, been challenged by the Police when flying near the no fly zone, but not in it (about 1/2 mile outside), and I'd had to show them on the DJI controller screen as well as on my phone, that I was actually not in a restricted area. They left me alone after that, but it just highlights the restrictions you need to be aware of.

Also, I've noticed that even though they don't appear on any map as part of a no fly zone, that many parks and nature trails in my Town have been marked as "no Drones" by the local council. Honestly, finding somewhere to even practise flying is becoming more problematic each week.
 
MartinJvilla said:
The damn things should be banned. We've had them flying over our garden while my daughter was sunbathing and one one occasion flew up to her bedroom window - and that's just the occasions we're aware of. They're a massive invasion of privacy and what little legislation there is just isn't enforced.
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That's awful.
Did you report the instances?
 
Chris_911 said:
That's awful.
Did you report the instances?
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No. I did track the thing back to its launch point - a back garden about 100yds from our house and having already made it fairly obvious that I was ready for a serious escalation - read into that what you will - the activity stopped. I don't know if they were scared off or the novelty wore off but we've not seen it since.
 
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I think illegal instances like that are the reasons why the registration and fly categories are being tightened up.

That should never have bloody well happened and the owner of that drone I guess is lucky that he wasn’t eating hospital food.

I would guess 95% of drone operators are responsible people, but that remaining 5% is what gives all drone operators a bad name.
 
MartinJvilla said:
No. I did track the thing back to its launch point - a back garden about 100yds from our house and having already made it fairly obvious that I was ready for a serious escalation - read into that what you will - the activity stopped. I don't know if they were scared off or the novelty wore off but we've not seen it since.
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Good for you.
But if you didn't report it you can't really comment about legislation not being enforced?
 
Knikki said:
Dear all.

Thank you very much for the information and it seems there is a little bit more to getting and flying a drone than I first thought.

@mikeyb thanks for the links and to the video one interesting thing is that in the video it names thedronemap.com which, if I look at it shows that where I live I'm very close to a restricted zone and a couple of the places I was thinking of using it are in restricted zones, the joy of living near an airport. I knew you could not obviously fly a drone close to an airport but did not realise there were such wide zones around them.

Anyway, I will have a rethink.
Click to expand...
It might be the same one you were seeing but this is the site I use to check for restrictions:

Drone Safety Map | Altitude Angel

dronesafetymap.com dronesafetymap.com

This includes information on temporary flight restrictions which I've found some other tools like the DJI NFZ one don't show.
 
Theres a supprising amout of places you cant fly them. My oppo does all the drone stuff (great big heavy thing) and the maps he showed me have lots of interlocing red areas, for these he has to get ATC consent to fly in.
Trying to video a hotel for the owners was a nightmare, with ATC and high winds it took ages to actually do what seems a simple job.
I suspect a lot of the ones I see flying dont have any licences or anything.
 
We were walking near Ogwen cottage the other day, had the drone but knew it was a no fly zone and there was a sign which stated no drones along with a few other restrictions. Walking across a field when a fighter jet came over us well below drone height, hearing the noise we had maybe 2 or 3 seconds before it was over us. Definitely a no drones area :)
 
Chris_911 said:
Good for you.
But if you didn't report it you can't really comment about legislation not being enforced?
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Agree, but given that - and I'm being tactful here - English wasn't their first language and I have little faith in the local police being on my side I left it at that.
 
If you have never flown a drone get a mini 4 / 5 class and enjoy. It is probably the easiest and the least daunting. If you care about video more, or don't have aspirations of printing greater than A4 these are also solid choice. Mini 5 obviously has improvement over 4 for video. For stills however it doesn't look there is much difference between mini 3 pro, 4 and 5 though....

I have really outgrown mini 4, and reluctantly got rid of it. Mavic 3 and 3 Classic promises much improved resolution for stills and fits in the A1 subcategory. It is likely only until end of 2027 but that's nearly 2 years away - so likely you will just upgrade to something new before then anyway. As mentioned above stay away from 3 Pro if you don't fancy A2 demotion.

Mavic 4 is a beast in its own category, both literally and optically. I looked at RAW samples online what little I could find, and mavic 4 very clearly wins these on main camera (resolution, edge sharpness, dynamic range - the whole lot), and adds that super useful if limited 70mm capability. Super useful for doing high res panos or architectural work, maybe even roof inspections.

Likely I won't need one until probably spring time when clients start wanting their aerial garden and exterior shots so still have a little bit of time to think about getting the mavic 3 or 4.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Theres a supprising amout of places you cant fly them. My oppo does all the drone stuff (great big heavy thing) and the maps he showed me have lots of interlocing red areas, for these he has to get ATC consent to fly in.
Trying to video a hotel for the owners was a nightmare, with ATC and high winds it took ages to actually do what seems a simple job.
I suspect a lot of the ones I see flying dont have any licences or anything.
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There's a number of areas marked on the map which are advisory rather than a legal requirement but you can click on the restriction to check what it is so you have an idea whether you can fly or not. I've noticed some rural areas it has warning zones marked because it's a preservation area or something but I can't find any actual legal requirement that means you can't fly there.

I've been debating with people on the current complexity of the drone rules which I just think are increasingly a mess and I think exactly the same that a lot of people just don't bother to follow them. I've certainly seen drones above 250g which had the 150m limit being flown close to people and buildings plus I doubt they were properly labelled up either. Although I do find it ridiculous that drones under 250g have minimal restrictions and any over have much severe restrictions which I assume was based on the assumption that you couldn't make a particularly capable drone with that weight which DJI quickly disproved. I think it was sensible to add remote ID as a requirement for C1 but given the lack of restrictions on C0 drones, they should have had the same requirement.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I've certainly seen drones above 250g which had the 150m limit being flown close to people and buildings plus I doubt they were properly labelled up either.
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The big trouble usually happens if there is a crash or another type of serious incident.

We also unfortunately have a number of uninsured drivers and many more under influence of bare minimum weed. I see that as far more pressing problem that is sadly not being addressed properly
 
Moey said:
There are laws in place, but like everything, such as driving, you are always going to get those that can't be arsed to abide by them.
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Don't get me wrong, I appreciate its a growth technology with huge implications particularly within the military and emergency services but, like electric bikes it gets corrupted by the unscrupulous. Given my family's rather unwelcome experiences with them I have a fairly unforgiving view of them.
 
MartinJvilla said:
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate its a growth technology with huge implications particularly within the military and emergency services but, like electric bikes it gets corrupted by the unscrupulous. Given my family's rather unwelcome experiences with them I have a fairly unforgiving view of them.
Click to expand...

I guess like many things, you only notice the ones that use them obnoxiously. I have to admit, as a relatively new drone user, one of the main things that holds me back most using it more often is not wanting to p*** others off. We've probably all been somewhere pretty that is ruined by the presence of an angry electric wasp flying about the place.

That said, as a photography tool, in the right environment (i.e. giving proper consideration to others) they can be fantastic. Opens up a whole new world of composition. I dipped my toe in at the cheaper end of the market (sub £300), buying a used DJI mini 2 fly more kit. Still images are surprisingly impressive to be honest! I suspect they'd fall apart in poor light but so far I've been really pleasantly surprised. I might ultimately upgrade to a mini pro 4 or 5 if I find I'm continuing to use it a lot. Quite a bit more money so I'm on the fence. Main appeal is the larger sensors, portrait orientation option, obstacle avoidance, object tracking (for video) and the option of the controller with integrated screen so less faff to get up flying. But, I would still suggest a Mini 2 is a really good starting point if you're not sure how big a hobby this will become. I know a lot of people who have bought a drone, used it a lot for a few weeks and then it's not seen the light of day again after.
 
I have just jumped in with both feet and bought a DJI Mavic 4 Pro.
I'm really excited about the still image possibilities this will open up.
My piloting skills will have to improve a lot before I can successfully shoot video though.
Definitely going to get some additional qualifications - the A2 CofC and Level 1 Remote Pilot.
 
gad-westy said:
I guess like many things, you only notice the ones that use them obnoxiously. I have to admit, as a relatively new drone user, one of the main things that holds me back most using it more often is not wanting to p*** others off. We've probably all been somewhere pretty that is ruined by the presence of an angry electric wasp flying about the place.
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Even after flying drones for many years that's still my main obstruction to flying more and I try to make sure the drone is never near anyone. I bought an Avata FPV drone which is fun to fly but it's really noisy, it's designed to fly low and it needs a spotter so it's been a waste of money because I barely use it.
Chris_911 said:
I have just jumped in with both feet and bought a DJI Mavic 4 Pro.
I'm really excited about the still image possibilities this will open up.
My piloting skills will have to improve a lot before I can successfully shoot video though.
Definitely going to get some additional qualifications - the A2 CofC and Level 1 Remote Pilot.
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It looks an amazing drone and I've been toying with picking one up although my aging Mavic 2 Pro is still doing a good job and I'm less stressed about it going wrong. Something I found very useful when I bought my first drone and worried something might go wrong in the air was to read through the crashes/flyaway section on mavicpilots:

Crash & Flyaway Assistance

mavicpilots.com mavicpilots.com

Although many people claim their drone just flew away or crashed due to no fault of their own, most cases are due to pilot error so it's useful to know what mistakes people make and how to avoid them.
 
gad-westy said:
I know a lot of people who have bought a drone, used it a lot for a few weeks and then it's not seen the light of day again after.
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That's what mini 2 and 4 - or specifically their image quality - did to me personally. They are no 5D3, let alone R6! I still used it for clients work, same like using a toilet brush - you have to when you have to.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
Although many people claim their drone just flew away or crashed due to no fault of their own, most cases are due to pilot error so it's useful to know what mistakes people make and how to avoid them.
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I seriously wonder if that is maybe caused by flying well beyond the line of sight, or even behind cliffs, rocks or tall buildings.

I did however have a brown trousers moment, when the stupid thing announced LANDING just 15m away from me over a lake. Still well over 15% charge. You just have to keep the sticks up and force it to fly back. I instinctively got it right. This is what they do. Super annoying and dangerous. Basically I now consider battery finished at 30%.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I seriously wonder if that is maybe caused by flying well beyond the line of sight, or even behind cliffs, rocks or tall buildings.
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It absolutely is the cause of many accidents either directly because the pilot couldn't see branches, a power line etc, around the drone and collided with it or the drone had a small problem that became fatal because the pilot couldn't see what was happening to correct the issue. There are numerous topics on that forum where the user has been flying way out of sight then the transmission has dropped or something else has happened and they've no idea what happened to the drone which might have tried to fly home, might have landed, may have crashed etc. so they need help from experts to work it out (who often do an amazing job). If the drone was in sight you'd be able to immediately see what it was doing and possibly save it or at least know where it landed.

Some of them really beggar belief as well...one user bought a new Mavic and for their first flight tried to see how far they could fly it out and back from the beach over the sea. A bad idea anyway but they didn't account for the tail wind on the way out so the drone had no chance to make it back against the strong headwind and met its demise on the sea bed. Another user for the first flight took the drone out at night in high winds and tried to fly it at 1500ft or some crazy height where the drone was fighting winds of over 55mph, the logs showed the drone valiantly fighting the winds to try and get back but losing and drifting some distance before it ran out of power and landed itself..
 
Quick update.
Powered on my drone to activate it and bind with the controller....
Cue high frequency oscillation/small displacement of the gimbal accompanied with a terrible buzzing.....
Long exchange with the excellent DJI support Livechat and it's on its way back to be replaced for a new one.
 
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