Buying a Drone

Johnmcl7

What sort of budget do you have in mind? Drones are not something you can really skimp on and as a starting point I'd be looking at a DJI Mavic Pro to do what you need. It has a decent flight time, a three axis gimbal (which keeps the camera stable as the drone moves), it has good performance from its motors which allows it to keep stable in windy conditions, it does 4K video and it has a dedicated connection between the controller and drone.

There are cheaper drones but you'd need to decide if the compromises you take are worth it for you, the likes of the DJI Spark is a good bit cheaper than its Mavic sibling but it's weaker in all areas particularly its reduced flight time and lower speed which means it struggles more in the wind. The batterylife of a drone isn't like a phone or similar when you can just run it flat, it takes battery power to get the drone to where you want and you need time to get it home and landed, I try to make sure I start my drone landing at no less than 30% battery power. Once it reaches 10% battery it will automatically start landing itself regardless if it's over water or unsuitable terrain. Although current drones are heavily automated and much easier to fly they still need quite a bit of practice and experience with them as a lot of people end up with expensive crashes due to misunderstanding how the drone works or not realising the drone is far from foolproof.

I'd also echo the cautions above that the surveying of roofs you're describing likely wouldn't be legal unless you were CAA certified which isn't cheap or easy.

For the references to Gatwick and regulations it's worth bearing in mind those flight broke pretty much every rule there is already so complaints about a lack of regulation and tighter rules being needed don't make any sense. If someone isn't following the current rules then they're not going to follow tighter ones either.

To be a bit more positive though I've had a Mavic 1 since release and now a Mavic 2 and think they're amazing devices, I love getting mine out in the countryside and take in the views from a very different angle.

ballyblack

re Mavic 2. thank you in advance

is this the one?:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/DJI-Quadcopter-24-48mm-Adjustable-Aperture/dp/B07GD9HGYM/ref=cm_wl_huc_item

or?

https://!!!!!!/2T0cwiS

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