10 Best Camera Drones 2024 | UK Photographer Reviewed

Camera drones can capture stunning, clear footage if it has the right resolution. The most popular type of resolution found in professional camera drones is known as 4K, while lower-grade cameras film in regular HD. The significant difference that separates these two features is the number of pixels. A 720P HD camera, for example, picks up 1,280 × 720 pixels, while a 4K camera has 3,840 × 2,160 pixels.

You can buy a cheaper camera drone that shoots in 720P HD and still manage to capture good quality content. Although, if you're interested in clear, future proof video fidelity, we'd recommend that you buy a 4K camera drone, or even higher. We've found the best ones of each and listed them down below!

When watching drone footage on Youtube, we don't realise what exactly the drone is enduring whilst filming. During almost every flight, the drone is exposed to changing winds and sudden switches in altitude or direction. This can make the footage very shaky and practically impossible to rewatch, which is why every professional camera drone should have a gimbal.

A gimbal is a feature that controls and absorbs the jittery movements that you see on raw camera footage by holding down the weight whilst supporting several areas of the camera. It's this element of balance that is so strongly required when making videos or even taking pictures with a camera drone, so you should definitely take this into consideration. 

The most popular gimbal for camera drones is the 3-axis gimbal which supports the tilt, roll, and pan, allowing the drone to move up, down, and side to side without shaking the camera. 

When it comes to flying, you want to be able to take your drone as far as it needs to get that perfect shot. To save you from chasing around trying not to lose signal, look for a camera drone with a strong range. This means that you can control your flight path right from where you're stood, so you can kick back and relax.

When you're buying your drone, think about how you plan to use it. If you want to record long flights, you'll need a wide range to give you more time. More often than not, professional drones will have a range of about 6+ kilometres, which is perfect for beginners and pros. 

If you're wanting to get the hang of simply lifting the drone off of the ground and practising a few tricks, you can get by with a weaker range for the time being. Though if you like to fly high, fast and far, opt for ranges longer than 6 kilometres.

If you prefer analogue photography, check out our Best Instant Cameras!

With technology advancing as rapidly as it is, we're not surprised at the rocketing number of drones that are now compatible with smartphones. With this feature, you can slot your phone in the manual controller to give you a live view of your drone's perspective, saving you time and energy trying to get the perfect shot. 

Some drones that connect to your smartphone allow you to control everything through an app. This means that you can access intelligent skills like ActiveTrack and FollowMe to track specific people or objects in the frame. These extra features abandon the concept of the traditional handheld remote, which is great for young enthusiasts who aren't quite ready for drone coding and programming.

A drone can be blessed with an 18km range, but can also have a weak battery which means that you need to work quickly to get a good frame before your battery drops. 

A solution to this is buying multiple battery packs to charge up and take with you while you're out and about. But we'd still strongly advise that you find a camera drone that has a substantial amount of battery to last you long enough. 

This is anywhere above 12 minutes, although the practise drones usually have around 7 minutes which is good for beginners. You can find out which drones have the best battery life in our comparison table.

Beat the draining battery life with our 10 Best Portable Solar Panels!

Most drones are compatible with SD cards or microSD cards, which make it much easier to film long videos without running out of storage space mid-flight. It's good to check to see how much content you are able to capture with your drone by determining the ways in which you want to use it.

 Professional filmmakers need lots of room for footage, but if you're just trying to get a birds-eye view whilst out on a hike, you can manage with as little as 8GB. Most drones will have at least 8GB of storage and an additional slot for an SD card, although if you have a beginner's basic camera drone, it's likely to just use an SD card which you can remove and format once you're ready to reuse it.

High-tech fold-up arms make this a lot easier, as you can fit the drone right in your backpack before you hit the road. Although, keep in mind that this isn't one of those features that's to be expected when buying an expensive drone. In fact, even some of the most popular camera drones have a solid structure that doesn't fold and needs its own case. It's simply a matter of brand and model, so remember this while you're choosing yours.

For keen travellers, we've complied a list of the Best Backpacks for Travel!