The 2024 Best Drones for Real Estate Photography
There are so many amazing drones for real estate photography in 2024 it’s actually hard to go wrong.
Aside from the amazing imagery almost any drone on the market will give you, there are a few that do have some features and specs that make them a better tailored solution for the job.
One vital piece of information to remember before I spill the beans on the 2024 drones you should consider, the drone is still a tool that needs to be mastered and manipulated to create stunning images.
Important Features To Consider For Real Estate Drones
- Battery life – There’s no worse feeling than flying your drone for a short duration and having to land it and swap batteries. Although not as imperative as other operations (mapping) battery life is still an important consideration when flying for real estate. Also, batteries are expensive. Keep your costs down.
- High resolution (RAW/HDR) – Unless you are an absolute beginner drone pilot, you should have an idea of what RAW file types and HDR imaging is. HDR is incredibly useful for when you are doing AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) to nail all your highlights/shadows of an image.
- Manual Control Settings – For the most part, most drones in 2024 allow you to manually expose your image to the desired settings of the exposure triangle (ISO | Shutter Speed | Aperture). However, if not, you should avoid that drone at all costs.
- Obstacle Avoidance – This one doesn’t apply for me but I know it’s important for a lot of more novice flyers and can be useful in some situations. If you are comfortable flying without avoidance great, but some flyers should still be looking for this feature.
- Video –
2024 Top Real Estate Drones I Recommend
This list will largely be compiled of DJI drones as they run the market in the aerial space. Don’t get overwhelmed, they are just incredible at what they do!
Top Value Drone for Real Estate Winner
DJI Air 3
The Air 3 is the overall winner because of its impressive spec sheet and affordable price.
Video heavy users will love the 4k video and 10bit video capabilities.
Something that’s also amazing about the DJI Air 3 for real estate photography is the 24mm f/1.7 and 70mm f/2.8 cameras. This means photographers can capture low light and wide images as well as tighter and more compressed shots!
Photo output is a whopping 48 megapixel RAW file!
Another thing of beauty is the never ending battery around 46 minutes and it’s ability to be a drone that doesn’t make much noise.
The overall winner would have been DJI Mavic 3 but the price tag is much higher and the Air 3 provides some amazing quality for its price.
Budget Drones for Real Estate Photography
DJI Mini 3 Pro
The DJI Mini 3 Pro is an amazing budget drone for aerial real estate photographers. Why?
- 48 megapixels (MP) photos
- 4k video specs
- Horizontal + Vertical capture. Amazing for sharing on social networks
- Quality battery life! 34 minutes of flight time
- Lightweight! Sub 249 grams
Its not that this a bad drone, just some of the video and photo specs aren’t as good as higher quality models on this list. Also, because it’s so lightweight, the drone doesn’t perform the best in windy conditions.
Overall, an amazing piece of gear to have in your arsenal.
DJI Mavic Air 2
The DJI Mavic Air 2 is another amazing drone for real estate creative services. But why?
- Economically price – roughly $900
- 4k/60fps video specs
- Quality battery life around 34 minutes
Other Things to Know Before Flying Real Estate Projects
FAA Part 107 Certification
Whether you like it or not, flying drones for monetary compensation is an FAA regulated law. So, what that means is you will need to be FAA Part 107 Certified Pilot to accept any projects that pay you or promote the listing in anyway.
A workaround for this is if you’re currently not Part 107 Certified, is to have a Part 107 pilot monitor your flight. The best thing if you’re serious, is to go and get certified!
Common Deliverables for Photographing Real Estate Listings
Projects can vary wildly dependent on your client and their deliverable needs. Some common deliverables for aerial real estate listings might include:
- Photo + Video Package
- Lifestyle/Area Features
- Walkthroughs
- 3D Mapping/Inspections
- Land Appraisals