Things You Should Know Before Buying a Drone

Drones are becoming quite popular these days, especially if you’re a filmmaker or potential social media icon (which is pretty much everybody, if you ask me). We all want to make the most out of our creative projects, and drones allow you to get some of the most amazing shots ever – but that doesn’t mean you know everything. As a matter of fact, we’re going to talk about a few things you should know before you even consider buying a drone.

Drones are essentially little machines that can fly through the air with ease, capturing amazing footage in the process. It’s been used time and time again for various YouTube projects and has become one of the more common pieces of equipment being used for videography these days. They allow you to capture lush-looking landscapes as well as stuff you would never be able to see without a drone – that is unless you could fly around the sky with a heavy film-camera on your shoulder. It’s expected that well over a million drones will be sold this Christmas, and the number is going to grow exponentially as time progresses.

Before you go about buying a drone, it helps to understand what the product itself can achieve – as well as how you’re supposed to be using it. Paying over a thousand dollars for a drone and then not understanding how to use it just seems sort of silly, right? Not only that, but there are certain rules that need to be followed when operating a drone. Certain places within the United States don’t permit the use of drones, and it could lead to a fine (or even worse, jail time). The drone debate is still slugging on, as people from opposite sides of the argument are constantly trying to dig up more evidence. Some say drones are good, and others say it is bad – I say it’s up for you to decide.

Not Every Drone is Easy to Fly

Drones, as a matter of fact, are quite hard to pilot. If you aren’t well-off and need to conserve your finances, buying a drone and crashing it to the ground on the first day isn’t exactly ideal. To make the most out of your purchased drone, you have to know how to fly it; which won’t always be easy. There are drones out there that feature flight controls, one that would mimic an RC racer of sorts; but there are others that can be much more complicated (or even worse, a lack of complication). Some drones allow you to pilot them through the use of your smartphone; all you’ve got to do is download a specific app and you’re good to go.

That’s good for people that don’t want a massive controller to be used, but it also takes away from the precision of control that you can work with. Not only that, but when there’s no controller included, odds are it’s going to be one of the cheaper drone varieties you can find. Quadcopters are hard to fly, so imagine some of the more quirky and powerful drones that they’re releasing today! The Phantom 3, Inspire 1 and even Q500 4K would be the easiest drones you could fly today (in my opinion).

Not only are they not easy to fly, but not every single drone is going to come ready to fly. The RTF acronym stands for Ready-to-Fly, while BNF stands for Bind-and-Fly (with ARF for Almost-ready-to-Fly). ARF models call for a few components to be purchased on a personal level and are usually for connoisseurs. There are even waterproof drone options out there!

There Are Tons of Vendors

If you don’t like the vendor prices you see at a specific place, never fear – there are plenty of vendors located all over the map that carry drones and drone-related products. Hobby King is a large chain of stores that sell plenty of drone parts, as well as many other accessories. Larger retailers can be found in both China and the United States, but that doesn’t mean other regions will be completely void when it comes to providers.

Investments May Be Necessary

If you’re an enthusiast, you may need to make a much bigger investment than you initially thought. Going about buying motors and transmitters is good fun, but it can get expensive (and fast!). Investments aren’t always a must, but when you start to develop a deeper passion for flying drones, it’s something that just comes around. Start off easy, and if you’re serious about your drone flying process, you can begin to invest more and more towards your projects. Not only will you be investing money, but time as well. Situations like purchasing a waterproof drone because you’re worried about splashing would be worth it!

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