Looking to buy a Drone-what do you recommend?

[NHCharger]

As the title says, I am considering buying a drone. I know nothing about them. I asked my bro-in-law for some advice and pricing and he said plan on spending 1k. I see them for under $500.00 on Amazon.
I am looking for one that will take decent pics, I build/renovate a lot of decks and an overhead shot of the project would be nice. Would also use it to inspect siding, roofing without getting on a ladder.
Don't need something that can fly 4 miles away and return on it's own or take pics of ants from 500 feet in the air.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Don’t buy one that’s built in Iran.

 

[kiwigtx]

As the title says, I am considering buying a drone. I know nothing about them. I asked my bro-in-law for some advice and pricing and he said plan on spending 1k. I see them for under $500.00 on Amazon.
I am looking for one that will take decent pics, I build/renovate a lot of decks and an overhead shot of the project would be nice. Would also use it to inspect siding, roofing without getting on a ladder.
Don't need something that can fly 4 miles away and return on it's own or take pics of ants from 500 feet in the air.

I don't know about your area, but a friend of mine is a Real Estate agent, and because he sells a lot of rural property, he has a decent drone. I have seen some of his videos, and they are very well put together.

I don't know the brand, but I'm sure something similar at a reasonable price can be sought in USA.

Here's an example he did recently for a property he is selling...

 

[Mopar Hunter]

I don't know about your area, but a friend of mine is a Real Estate agent, and because he sells a lot of rural property, he has a decent drone. I have seen some of his videos, and they are very well put together.

I don't know the brand, but I'm sure something similar at a reasonable price can be sought in USA.

Here's an example he did recently for a property he is selling...

Beautiful scenery. How far away is that from you?

 

[kiwigtx]

Beautiful scenery. How far away is that from you?

Currently about 400 miles.....but I grew up only 2-3 miles away from that farm.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Currently about 400 miles.....but I grew up only 2-3 miles away from that farm.

South island?

 

[kiwigtx]

South island?

North. The bottom end.

 

[dodgedifferent2]

A friend of mine who is in real estate told me to pay a good price.
Going from memory she said the higher end ones have a stability gyroscope installed.
Also, the higher end ones go off of co-ordinates rather than your finger controls.
They can also be directed to "follow" and return to the home position (starting spot) when an issue. Apparently they fly higher to a safe spot (above treees) to get home.
I was also impressed with the distance some of them could fly out to.


Thats about all I asked about.

 

[Dave6T4]

Something that will drop a surprise down the chimney at the Kremlin!

 

[Geetex]

Currently about 400 miles

That works out to be approximately 938,667 washing machines, based on a 27" wide washing machine, that's pretty far.

 

[kiwigtx]

That works out to be approximately 938,667 washing machines, based on a 27" wide washing machine, that's pretty far.

Thank you.

 

[kiwigtx]

Funny but true story - about 8 years ago my Chinese neighbour was flying his drone above our properties.....I figured he was testing it. A few weeks later, I asked him if I could get a copy of the footage over our house.
He said "No"

I thought Hmmmm....maybe he's a bit sensitive about sharing.

I asked him again - this time...I only wanted over our house ....again he replied "No"

Man of few words, and not many of them English.
His wife came out and said he can't share any footage as he hasn't downloaded from the camera....and he was out at the coast flying the previous day and the drone just flew away on its own. He never got it back.

I have to assume that they can be commandeered or stolen during flight by clever people. Apparently, it just suddenly took off in the opposite direction and never returned.

 

[T2R9]

Oh yeah they can get away from you, especially over large body of water.

We have a few at work, a good all around solid drone is a DJI Phantom 4 pro. Yes it is more than $500 but will last, has tons of features and is very easy to fly. We bought ours in 2018 after we had major flooding from Hurricane Florence and its still going strong.

 

[Scott Engelhardt]

I bought one of these. It has follow me feature so it can record Thor when we are pheasant hunting
Holy Stone - Dare to fly. Soar to live.

 

[kiwigtx]

Oh yeah they can get away from you, especially over large body of water.