Drones are increasing in popularity, and the cameras companies are attaching to them are also getting better. With that being said, the better the camera the heftier the price tag!
While it may be true that DJI leads the way when it comes to top-tier camera drones, there are a variety of other brands that have some seriously impressive specs!
Let’s take a closer look at these drones below:
| Drone Name: | Flight Time: | Range: | Camera Quality: | Price: | Purchase Link: | |
| 1. | Parrot Anafi | 25 min | 2.5 miles | 4K HDR | $780 | VIEW |
| 2. | Mavic Air 2 | 34 min | 11.4 miles | 4K | $799 | VIEW |
| 3. | Mavic 2 Zoom | 31 min | 5 miles | 4K HDR | $1,199 | VIEW |
| 4. | Autel Evo 2 | 40 min | 5.5 miles | 8K | $1,495 | VIEW |
| 5. | Mavic 2 Pro | 31 min | 5 miles | 4K HDR | $1,540 | VIEW |
| 6. | Yuneec Typhoon H Plus | 30 min | 1 mile | 4K | $1,899 | VIEW |
| 7. | Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 | 25 min | 4.1 miles | 4K | $1,999 | VIEW |
| 8. | Yuneec H520 | 23 | 1 mile | 4K | $1,999 | VIEW |
| 9. | PowerVision PowerEye | 29 min | 3.1 miles | 4K | $2,616 | VIEW |
| 10. | DJI Inspire 2 | 27 min | 4.1 miles | 5.2K | $4,399 | VIEW |
| 11. | DJI Matrice M600 Pro | 35 min | 3.1 miles | 4K | $4,999 | VIEW |
| 12. | DJI Matrice M200 | 38 | 4.4 miles | 4K | $5,685 | VIEW |
All the drones listed above are amazing, but keep reading to find out what more about them and your next potential purchase.
1. Parrot Anafi
Parrot has always wanted to join the premium drone market, and in 2018 they finally released a drone worthy of playing with the big boys!
The Parrot Anafi has all the qualities to compete with other premium drones on the market. But when releasing this new and improved drone, Parrot didn’t just amp up its prices, instead, they put fewer sensors on the drone.
Why? They left the responsibility of avoiding various obstacles to the pilot and reduced the total cost of the drone by removing the sensors.
Camera: The Anafi is equipped with a 4K camera, which is a first of its kind from the company, they wanted to make a drone good enough to play with the big boys in the drone industry, and this was definitely a good start.
The drone also comes with a new FPV(first-person view) feature; this gives the drone a heads-up display using the new goggles for a fully immersive flying experience.
Flight Time: The Anafi also has a new 25 minutes of fully immersive flight, giving you plenty of time for fantastic drone footage.
Price: The Parrot Anafi will cost you around $780 including the FPV kit.
2. Mavic Air 2
If you are someone who prefers a drone to be portable then you shouldn’t look any further. The Mavic Air 2 incorporates the best features of the Mavic series of drones into a small and easily portable frame.
This not only makes it great to take on your travels but also makes it a great photography and videography drone.
If you can’t quite afford the Mavic 2 Pro, then this is the next best thing.
Price: The drone will cost you around $800, which is crazy because the drone is just that good.
Flight time: Even though the DJI Mavic Air is a small drone it still gives you 34 minutes of solid flight time. This is more than any other drone on this list and in its category!
Range: The drone gives you 11.4 miles to fly the drone, which you won’t really need to use.
Design: The Mavic Air is light, and portable, which makes it very practical for many drone photography enthusiasts. It also has 3-directional environmental sensing tech to assist with the new and improved obstacle avoidance.
Camera: It also features a 3-axis mechanical gimbal to help stabilize the fantastic 4K video.
This drone delivers in all departments, with tons of new capabilities and features, all while being affordable for the average consumer.
3. Mavic 2 Zoom
When DJI wanted to upgrade the Mavic Pro, they didn’t want to just stop at creating the new Mavic 2 Pro, but they also made another version.
The DJI Mavic 2 Zoom is the second version of the Mavic 2. This version has all the features of the Mavic 2 Pro but with a slight twist. The Zoom features an optical zoom lens that is currently the best in the game.
The new lens added with all the new and improved features, make this drone a real force to be reckoned with in the drone world!
Camera: The Mavic Zoom shoots in Ultra 4K and with the added 2X optical zoom lens from DJI and Hasselblad cameras, making this drone one of the best camera drones ever!
Flight Time: Like the Mavic 2 Pro, the Zoom has a 31 minute flight time.
Price: It costs a little more than the Pro at a cost price of $1,599, which is a bit pricey, but it is definitely worth it for this powerhouse of a drone.
4. Autel Evo 2
The Mavic series of drones doesn’t have many competitors in the drone industry but the Autel Evo is really one of their only competitors.
It is not as well known as the Mavic series, but it has certainly made its own mark in the drone world. Experienced drone photographers love this drone for its quality.
Thanks to the excellent collision sensing system, the Autel Evo 2 is great for beginner pilots. The drone features an OLED screen for FPV mode in the standard remote, which is why a lot of people like the drone.
Camera: The Evo 2 has a 4K camera with a 1/2.3 sensor that allows it to produce excellent image quality in the footage.
Flight Time: It has a 30 minute flight time.
Price: The price of this drone is $1,495 which is not cheap, but it is still really good for a drone with great features.
Range: The drone gives you 5.5 miles of amazing scenery to capture.
5. Mavic 2 Pro
In August 2018 DJI released the Mavic 2 Pro to the world, and it quickly became DJI’s leading consumer-class folding drone.
DJI is easily the leading company when it comes to producing drones in the world. This is why its safe to say the Mavic 2 Pro is the leading consumer-class folding drone in the world.
The original Mavic Pro was an amazing drone in its own right, but DJI had to find a way to improve this already amazing drone. They did this by improving the camera and other features of the drone.
Camera: DJI teamed up with Hasselblad cameras to give the Mavic 2 Pro this new amazing camera. Now the new and improved Mavic 2 Pro has a 1-inch camera sensor that allows for 4K video capture at 100Mbps.
The new and improved OcuSync 2.0 will allow for the drone to transmit 1080p live stream video to the controller of the drone. This can be transmitted way beyond legal line-of-sight to the smartphone used to control the drone.
DJI isn’t telling you to break the law, however, they are making it a lot safer just in case to lose sight of your drone.
Flight time: The Mavic 2 Pro has a maximum flight time of 31 minutes with no wind. Giving you plenty of time to take your photography to new heights.
Price: The Mavic Pro 2 will cost you quite a bit, but $1,225 is worth it for this amazing drone.
6. Yuneec Typhoon H Plus
Both the Typhoon H Plus and Typhoon H are some of the most advanced photography and videography drones in the game right now.
Yuneec has kept up with the likes of DJI through the years by releasing drones that are of the same quality.
Camera: The Typhoon H is equipped with a 12-megapixel camera, which is very good for aerial photography. However, the Typhoon H Plus takes it to another level with a 20-megapixel camera, which is absolutely amazing.
The camera is also able to capture ultra-stable 4K Ultra High Definition video.
The Typhoon H Plus is also equipped with a 3-axis anti-vibration CGO3+ gimbal. What makes this gimbal so unique is that it is able to rotate 360 degrees. This gives you more options to maneuver the camera.
Flight Time: You get 30 minutes of flight time, which is plenty of time to utilize the 20-megapixels.
Price: With its current price of $1,899, the Typhoon H Plus is actually a great price for a drone of its quality.
The Yuneec Typhoon H Plus was designed to be affordable for the average consumer but still offers the same capabilities that you would find in a high-end drone.
7. DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0
The DJI Phantom series of drones are legendary in the drone industry, mainly because earlier versions of this drone were the first drones to feature a gimbal-stabilized camera rather than requiring the user to supply their own.
This drone was sadly discontinued a while back by DJI.
But due to the high demand for the drone, and the older versions of the drone were still being sold online, DJI decided to bring it back with the new and improved Phantom 4 ProV2.0.
If you use your smartphone or tablets, you can gain access to additional features like intelligent flight modes.
Camera: The Phantom 4 Pro allows enthusiasts to take amazing 4K video at 60 frames per second.
It also has an OcuSync radio system that allows for 1080p video streaming to the smartphone used to control the drone.
The Phantom 4 Pro is also equipped with a powerful 3-axis gimbal camera featuring a 1-inch CMOS sensor.
Flight Time: The DJI Phantom 4 Pro will give you 30 minutes of flight time to explore and shoot fantastic footage.
Price: You can purchase the Phantom 4 Pro V2 for $1,599.
8. Yuneec H520
The Yuneec H520 was designed with the industrial industry in mind. The drone features six-rotor systems that allow for stable, precise flight.
But the drone isn’t just good for the industrial industry and inspections, but the drone has the right capabilities to meet the requirements of any professional photographer.
The H520 is equipped with long focal-length lenses that will allow the drone to fly at a greater distance from an object that you want to photograph.
Camera: The drone is equipped with 4K/2K/HD video and 20Mp still images, with 30x optical zoom. The 3-axis gimbal helps stabilize the drone and produce smooth video footage.
Flight Time: You will have 23 minutes of uninterrupted flight.
Price: It will cost you around $1,999 to purchase this drone.
9. PowerVision PowerEye
The PowerVision PowerEye is one of the best drones money can buy.
When the drone is in the air, it is truly a monster.
Camera: All the cameras that can be put on the PowerEye have 4K video, and each one will be stabilized by the 3-axis gimbal.
Flight Time: It can stay in the air for a maximum of 29 minutes depending on the camera you have on the drone at the time.
Price: This drone will set you back $2,616.
10. DJI Inspire 2
It’s no surprise that I’m mentioning yet another DJI drone on this list. They are just really good at making premium high-quality camera drones!
The DJI Inspire 2 is yet another one of these amazing drones from DJI, but this one is unique in a few ways. The DJI Inspire 1, which was the first version of this drone, had a very unique design that DJI decided to keep and add to the Inspire 2.
The drone propellers are position high above the drone, away from the main portion of the drone, and therefore out of most shots while allowing for a big, stable frame.
The Inspire 2 keeps the design of the older Inspire 1 while improving the quality of the Inspire 1 when everyone thought it couldn’t get any better.
The drone also has a dual battery to increase battery life and flight time to give the pilot more time to use it.
Camera: The Inspire 2 is able to attach a wide variety of cameras and gimbals that are all interchangeable.
- X4S: This camera is comparable to that of the Phantom series cameras.
- X5S: This camera is the same as the X4S, but with the slight difference of you being able to attach a zoom lens to this camera, which opens more possibilities for better shots. It also has a better image sensor than the X4s.
- Zenmuse X7: The X7 is extremely expensive but is a far better camera than the other two mentioned.
Flight Time: With a flight time of 27 minutes, the Inspire 2 is great if you are looking for a drone to use in the industry who are looking to capture amazing footage. The flight time also depends on the type of camera it is carrying at the time.
Price: The drone is a little pricey with a $3,299 price tag, but it definitely meets all the expectations of the professional photography industry.
11. DJI Matrice M600 Pro
Many professional aerial photographers love this drone because it was designed to be adaptive and can be equipped with different high-end cameras.
The Matrice 600 was designed by DJI to adapt to any situation that you may be in, with the exchangeable cameras and dual battery system.
Flight Time: The Matrice has a remarkable flight time of 38 minutes, which makes for great exploration with this drone. This flight time is possible because of its dual battery system, which allows it to double its flight time.
Camera: The Matrice drones are able to be paired with a lot of different cameras from the Zenmuse camera range offered by DJI.
These high-end cameras include the:
- ZENMUSE XT2
- ZENMUSE Z30
- ZENMUSE X4S
- ZENMUSE X5S
All these cameras are fantastic and offer different capabilities in order to meet the requirements that people in the industry might be looking for in a camera drone.
Range: The M600 has a total range of 3.1 miles, which is exactly what you need when recording vast landscapes.
Price: For the best in the game, you will need to hand over a hefty $4,999.
12. Matrice 200 [The Best For Last]
The DJI Matrice line of drones is always designed to adapt to any situation or condition that you throw at it. Being fitted with different cameras in order to get the best outcome.
Camera: The Matrice 200 drone, like the other drones in this line, it is able to be paired with a wide range of different cameras from the Zenmuse camera range offered by DJI.
These cameras include:
- ZENMUSE XT2
- ZENMUSE Z30
- ZENMUSE X4S
- ZENMUSE X5S
Flight Time: The Matrice has a mind-blowing flight time of 38 minutes, which is fantastic for a drone.
Range: It has a massive 4.4 mile range.
Price. You will have to pay an arm and a leg for this drone, but you will receive the best for $5,685!
