Interested in aerial imaging? Ready to realize childhood fantasies of controlling your own remote flying machine? This is a starting point to lay out a few of the options in the marketplace and where they fit. The prices included for the current market.

1. Which Drone?

2. Which Drone?
In your first foray into aerial imaging, you will find so
many good options. While there is definitely a leader in
the market now, be sure to consider all of the choices
out there.

3. Which Drone?
This is a quick guide organized into three categories:
Consumer / Prosumer / Professional

4. Which Drone?
Entry level
Consumer

5. Which Drone?
DJI Consumer
This is a little wonder that fits in the palm of
your hand and still delivers nice HD quality
video. It has all of the auto features of it’s
bigger siblings so, it’s a great entry into the
world of drones. Starts at $500
DJI came onto the scene with the original Phantom quadcopter that was the first to introduce GPS
technology to make flying much easier. Now they have several offerings.
Spark

6. Which Drone?
Yuneec Consumer
This is the entry-level option with a full set
of features. Flying with a smaller footprint, it
carries a 4K camera, has multiple modes for
capturing a variety of footage options, and
positioning sensors to keep it from floating
around too much.
Starts at $399
This is a company with many offerings and not much visibility in the drone world. Yuneec offers several options that fit into
similar market spaces as the DJI models with some additional features that make them stand out.
Breeze 4K

7. Which Drone?
Pro-quality and affordable
Prosumer

8. Which Drone?
DJI Prosumer
Half again as big as the Spark, the Mavic Pro
is still exceptionally portable and wields a 4k
camera to boot. Despite its size, it is one of the
most stable drones on the market. This lends
to beautiful, cinematic footage. The choice of
many video content producers. Starts at $999.
DJI came onto the scene with the original Phantom quadcopter that was the first to introduce GPS
technology to make flying much easier. Now they have several offerings.
Mavic Pro

9. Which Drone?
DJI Prosumer
This is the current version of the original
platform. It flies reliably, sports many detection
sensors for crash prevention and has a little
better quality camera than the Maveric. Starts
at $899.
DJI came onto the scene with the original Phantom quadcopter that was the first to introduce GPS
technology to make flying much easier. Now they have several offerings.
Phantom 4

10. Which Drone?
DJI Prosumer
The ‘Pro’ version of the Phantom adds two
additional sensors for added protection and
a fantastic camera upgrade. The images and
video from this drone are stunning!
Starts at $1499.
DJI came onto the scene with the original Phantom quadcopter that was the first to introduce GPS
technology to make flying much easier. Now they have several offerings.
Phantom 4 Pro

11. Which Drone?
GoPro Prosumer
While not as small as most of the DJI options,
the Karma drone makes a lot of sense for
someone focused on the GoPro cameras.
It has been updated with some excellent
software and hardware upgrades and comes
with a backpack for easy transport
Starts at $799 without a GoPro.
GoPro, the leader in action sports cameras, has released a drone that is part of a system dubbed “Karma”. It allows for
exciting ways to take your Hero 5 or 6 to new places. The Karma platform is well thought out and produces fantastic results.
Karma Drone

12. Which Drone?
3DR Prosumer
The original Solo offers a lot of value due to
technology and flexibility (You can use your
own GoPro). The prices of this platform have
dropped as the DJI options pushed ahead in
acceptance which makes it a great deal.
Starts at $299.
A couple of years ago, 3DR lept into the drone space with their Solo platform. Their main promise was an open-source
approach where third-party vendors could add functionality to extend it. 3DR focuses on the industrial space and offers
useful solutions for a variety of utility operations.
Solo

13. Which Drone?
Yuneec Prosumer
The H model of the Typhoon series takes you
into a 6 rotor setup with a full 360-degree
view with no worries about seeing props in
your shot. While it offers a complete array
of auto modes like orbit, follow me, etc. it
also features a Wizard Remote that allows a
second operator to control the camera. At this
price point, it has several advances over DJI
offerings. Starts at $999.
This is a company with many offerings and not much visibility in the drone world. Yuneec offers several options that fit into
similar market spaces as the DJI models with some additional features that make them stand out.
Typhoon H

14. Which Drone?
Yuneec Prosumer
This is the cinema drone for Yuneec and would
be comparable to the Karma from GoPro or
the Phantom 4 from DJI. The key differences
are the ability to fly with dual remotes, the
Steady Grip accessory for using the camera on
the ground (ala GoPro Karma).
Starts at $699.
This is a company with many offerings and not much visibility in the drone world. Yuneec offers several options that fit into
similar market spaces as the DJI models with some additional features that make them stand out.
Typhoon 4K

15. Which Drone?
Control with Fail-safes
Professional

16. Which Drone?
DJI Professional
This is the cinema drone from DJI. While the
images of the Phantom 4 Pro come close,
the Inspire has a number of features that the
high-end production will benefit from like dual
batteries, removable camera and lenses, dual
remotes, and more. It raises the bar on aerial
imaging while not requiring a large crew to
operate. Starts at $2999.
DJI came onto the scene with the original Phantom quadcopter that was the first to introduce GPS
technology to make flying much easier. Now they have several offerings.
Inspire 2

17. Which Drone?
DJI Professional
Since industrial applications utilize more
instruments or larger cameras, the Matrice
drones bring the ease of use technology along
with a physical framework that makes it a great
platform for a variety of specific applications.
They can fly full sized video cameras as well
as scientific instruments used in analysis
and inspections. You could call these the
workhorses in the DJI line up. Starts at $4999.
DJI came onto the scene with the original Phantom quadcopter that was the first to introduce GPS
technology to make flying much easier. Now they have several offerings.
Matrice

18. Which Drone?
Freefly Professional
This platform is the realm of crews and
support vehicles. It comes ready-to-fly your
large videocamera (Think RED) with unique
placement and controls. It features Freefly’s
industry-leading stabilization technology to
ensure smooth results from the effort.
Starting at $11,995.
Freefly rocked the cinema industry with the first gimbal-based stabilizer that could mount a camera and be
operated by a single person. They have since taken their innovation into other realms of camera moves.
Alta

19. Which Drone?
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