Best Drones for Aerial Photography in 2021

By Poornima Rawat / Technical Correspondent THE GPS TIME

If you are a photography freak or an enthusiastic traveler keen of exploring the world around, creating a travel vlog and wants to capture the aerial view or videography of beautiful landscapes or buildings etc, but looking for a right drone to do so, then you are welcome to have a look on these best camera drones in 2021 list.

Drones have greatly evolved since past than what they were used to be. And now they are found everywhere with updated technology bringing a great user experience. Here is the list of some best drones for photography you must check out.

DJI Mavic 2 Zoom

If you want to shoot a long range 4k video then this one is for you as DJI Mavic 2 Zoom has a video resolution of 4K HDR 30fps, with an optical zoom lens and a 1/2.3-inch 12-megapixel sensor giving a super resolution photos.

It is easy to fly and portable drone, supporting a battery life of 31 minutes (3850mAh). The unique feature about this drone is its zooming option. While shooting a full High Definition video, 4x lossless zoom (including 2x optical zoom) gives you a very closer view of distant objects which makes to capture the unique scenes very easily while maintaining a safer distance.

The hybrid autofocus tracking system of the drone gives a clear and sharp appearance of the subjects while zooming in and out. Its Super Resolution feature capture even minute details of the target and retain the original look of the photography.

  • Video resolution: 4K HDR 30fps
  • Camera resolution: 12MP
  • Weight: 905g
  • Battery life: 31 minutes (3950mAh)
  • Max Range: 8km / 5mi | Max Speed: 72kph / 44.7mph
  • Controller: Yes


Parrot ANAFI FPV Drone

Parrot Anafi FPV is ultra-compact and lightweight, easy to carry everywhere drone which comes in a best mid-priced camera drone range. With its 4K HDR camera, 180° vertical-turn gimbal and 3x zoom, the drone gives user cinema-quality videos with breathtakingly effects.

The foldable Parrot Anafi comes with a great hard-fabric zip case and a kit combining this drone with head-up display (‘first-person view’) goggles to give a breath-taking immersive flight experiences. The 21-megapixel camera drone “racing and arcade” mode is designed for participation in drone races or if someone wants to shoot in a high speed then this drone is quite good allowing you to broaden your horizons.

  • Video resolution: 4K Cinema (4,096×2,160) or 4K UHD (3,840×2,160) at 24/25/30fps
  • Camera resolution: 1/2.4-inch 21-megapixel
  • Weight: 320g
  • Battery life: 25 minutes (2700mAh)
  • Max Range: 4km / 2.5min | Max Speed: 55kph / 35mph
  • Controller: Yes


DJI Mavic 2 Pro

Mavic 2 Pro is the best premium consumer and professional drone for photographers and videographers. If you are more concern about the quality of the images then this is the great drone for you to buy. Like other DJI Mavic drones it is also small and foldable drone easy to carry along.

The Mavic 2 Pro comes with Hasselblad L1D-20c Camera Iconic Image Quality and shoots 20MP still images. The drone supports a 10-bit Dlog-M color profile and records over 1 billion colors while retaining more in-depth details in both highlights and shadows. Equipped with 1-inch CMOS sensor it gives better performance in low-light environments with a more extensive ISO range, max ISO lifted from 3200 to 12800.

If you want to watch the captured videos or photos on your television sets then this drone can be easily plugged into a 4K TV with HLG making the HDR video so appealing immediately by showing the footage with the right colour tones.

  • Video resolution: 4K HDR 30fps 
  • Camera resolution: 4K/20 megapixels
  • Weight: 907 g
  • Battery life: 31 minutes (3850mAh)
  • Max Range: 8km / 5min | Max Speed: 72kph / 44.7mph
  • GNSS : GPS+GLONASS
  • Controller: Yes


Ryze Tello

If you are a beginner in the world of photography and confused about which drone will suits you the best, then here it is Ryze Tello for you which is cheap enough to suit your budget too.

It is the smallest palm-sized drone with a camera resolution of 720p and flight time of13 minutes. This drone is a safer option if anyone wants to try practice the drone indoor as the stability sensors and rotor guards keeps the surrounding safe.

This small and sleek drone does not need FAA registration due to its less weight and can be controlled with the help of Tello app which is free for Android and iOS smartphones, through Scratch programming interface and remote controller.

  • Video resolution: HD 720p
  • Camera resolution: 5MP (2592×1936)
  • Weight: 80g
  • Battery life: 13 minutes
  • Max Range: 100m | Max Speed: 8m/s

Phantom 4 Pro V2.0

DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2.0 is a highly professional drone for filmmakers and serious photographers. It is one of the latest update from the Phantom family of DJI’s designed especially for the professional creator. The drone can shoot 4k/60fps videos and have 1-inch CMOS sensor, a camera resolution of 20 MP.

The drone have 5-Direction Obstacle Sensing capability for secure safety and OcuSync 2.0 HD transmission system which ensure the reliability and a stable connectivity. With this drone a videographer can capture high-resolution slow-motion shots due to its advanced video processing system that capture videos in Cinema 4K at 100 Mbps.

•       Video resolution: 4K/60fps

•       Camera resolution: 20MP

•       Weight: 1375g 

•       Battery life: 25 minutes (5870mAh) 

•       Max Range: 7km / 4.1mi | Max Speed: 72kph / 44.7mph

  •    Controller: Yes