If you’re looking into buying a drone because you areinterested in aerial photography or videography, your
first major decision will be whether or not to purchase
a drone that comes with a built-in camera or simply
supports an add-on camera. As with anything, there are
pros and cons to purchasing a drone with built-in
camera support.
The pros for purchasing a drone with an integrated
camera include:
Ease of use: A drone with a built-in camera does not
require much setup or configuring beyond charging
batteries and plugging in a storage device like a USB
drive or SD card.
Flight-specific filming features: Drones with integrated
cameras typically have advanced features like video
streaming to mobile devices and recording to remote
storage. This is very helpful for viewing what you’re
shooting as you shoot it. Also, you can record the
streaming video footage to remote storage so you can
back up the footage as you film it to protect against
failures on your storage media.
Support: Support for your drone means support for your
camera. This may seem like a small thing, but it’s one
less call and one less warranty you have to deal with.
The cons of purchasing a drone with an integrated
camera include:
Camera quality: Drone companies build drones, not
cameras. Therefore, integrated cameras are typically
an afterthought and lack the power of an add-on
camera of a reputable brand.
Custom features: Integrated cameras tend to lack
custom features and controls that are typical of an
add-on camera, such as manual image adjustment
modes, recording modes, and frame rates.
Battery life: Integrated cameras typically feed off of
the main battery. Adding additional batteries will add
additional weight and thus reduce fly times.
Integrated camera features
When making a decision on a drone with an integrated
camera, there will be several different features that you
should take into consideration. These features include:
Sensor size: Digital cameras have an internal sensor
that captures light information and then translates that
information into data to make your picture file. As it
goes, the bigger the sensor, the better the image
because the more light it can gather. Small cameras
will always have small censors.
Credit: Source: Andreas Kambanis/Creative Commons
Judge your camera buy the size of its sensor.
Lens: The camera lens is almost as important as the
sensor size. This is because the lens is responsible for
focusing and directing light into the sensor. The size
and shape of the lens will greatly affect image quality,
almost as much as the sensor size.
Resolution: In video, the resolution is the number of
dots (pixels) that can be squeezed into the video
image. You might think of resolution in terms of your
television because the quality of your television is
typically measured by its resolution. A television that is
high definition has a resolution of at least 1280x720.
That means 720 pixels vertically and 1280 pixels
horizontally make up the image on the screen. Sample
high-definition resolutions include 720i, 720p, 1080i,
1080p. Ultra definition is an image that is bigger than
1080p.
Frame rate: The number of times a camera can take a
picture in a second is frame rate. The most common
frame rate for film is 24 frames per second. Higher
frame rates are useful in improving the look of video in
high and ultra-definition. Higher frame rates can also
be slowed down to create slow motion.
Photo resolution: Photo resolution, which is measured
in megapixels, is a misleading number because the
quality of an image has more to do with the size and
quality of the pixel not the number of the pixels.
File format: Digital images and video are stored in files,
which are saved in different file formats. Different file
formats require different software to open and
manipulate them. Different digital image and video files
also have different levels of compression. Compression
removes information from a file to make the file size
smaller. In images and video, compression means a
loss of quality.
Storage options: Integrated cameras may come with
the option to add external storage like a USB drive or
an SD card for storing pictures and video. The more the
storage, the fewer the times you’ll need to swap media
or dump footage which equals longer flying times.
Credit: Courtesy of Tucker Krajewski
Compares different drone storage media.
Buying a drone that has an integrated camera
There are currently several drones available for
purchase that come equipped with an integrated
camera. Each drone comes with a unique mixture of
features and quality. Take a look at the features of
these drones.
DJI Phantom 2 Vision
The DJI Phantom 2 Vision includes the following
features:
14 megapixel camera
Resolution/Frame Rates: 1080/30p or 1080/60i
Sensor Size: 1/2.3 inches (Super small)
Storage: MicroSD Card (32GB Limit)
Lens: 100°
Credit: Source: WalterPro4755/Creative Commons
DJI Phantom 2 Vision with camera.
Parrot AR Drone 2.0
The Parrot AR Drone 2.0 includes the following
features:
Video Resolution/Frame Rate: 720p
Lens: 92°
Storage: USB or stream
Video Format: H.264
Credit: Source: Christopher Michel/Creative Commons
Parrot AR Drone 2.0 with camera.
Source :dummies
