Aerial photography has developed rapidly in the last 3 years. If you have followed this trend and bought a camera buzz, you’re about to have a lot of fun. But after spending a while with the drone, you’ll realize that they don’t look like the AMAZING photos you’ve seen on Instagram. Don’t be surprised, because many of those photos were probably taken with a few extra props. All photographers depend on additional accessories to make their lives easier and take their photos and videos to the next level. Rest assured, you can too. Listed below are some of the most useful drone accessories that I have had the opportunity to use and test. These accessories can help you improve your overall drone experience, improving video quality, flying adventure, and safety.
1) Extra propellers and propeller guards: The propellers (also known as fans or blades) are the most fragile part of a drone. You should always have extra propellers with you when you are going to fly your drone. If you crash, your drone’s propellers are the first parts to break. I have enough experience with drones and have had more than 20 different drones. But even I initially crashed when I first received my DJI Phantom 2. Prop guards are another story. They are not necessary, but they are useful if you are flying indoors or overhead in confined spaces. Over the past six months I have used prop guards only once or twice, but most people use them every day. If you crash your drone frequently and break the propellers a lot, then you should definitely get prop guards.
2) Extra battery: Drone technology has come a long way in recent years. The latest DJI Phantom 4 Pro offers 30 minutes of flight time according to its website. For most non-commercial drone pilots, this will never be enough. Taking into account the time spent flying and landing, you will have 20 minutes to record images. So be sure to buy an extra battery pack or even more for reliable backup anytime you need it. If you own the Phantom 4 Pro, you may want to upgrade to the fast battery charger instead of the one that came with the bundle. It will charge the P4 Pro battery in 40 minutes instead of 65 minutes with the normal charger.
3) Extra battery charger: The extra power from the battery makes much longer flight times possible, however they also need to be charged. Once you have 2 or even more batteries and each battery requires sixty minutes to charge, the standby time period can quickly increase to hours with additional batteries sitting idle. So it is better to buy an additional battery charger or better yet you might want to get the multi charger which allows you to charge your batteries simultaneously.
4) Vehicle Battery Charger: When you’re away from a road trip and the only source of electrical power you have is your car battery, that’s why it’s important to get a car battery charger for your drone. So if you have 1, 2, or maybe 3 power batteries, even when you’re on the go, you’ll most likely use up all your power juice at some point, so what you certainly need is the ability to charge your batteries when not near a power point.
5) Tablet or iPad: Controlling a drone while flying it along with streaming video online from your smartphone, becomes cumbersome, to say the least. The screen is too small to get a clear view of what’s going on up there. So you’re better off buying a reputable tablet that has a big enough screen to provide a reliable feed of video clips. Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy tablet or some other equivalent tablets with sufficient processor speed are generally great possibilities depending on your financial budget.
6) ND filter: To manage the amount of light entering the camera lens and to manage small shakes, while increasing motion blur, getting an ND filter is a smart choice. ND filters are a real must have, in my opinion they make video on Phantom series drones look more cinematic and they are great because they don’t add considerable weight to your drone’s gimbal. The new gimbal on the P4 Pro is extremely light and fragile, I’d also expect to add weight to the front of that camera lens.
7) GPS tracking device: When you fly your drone in remote areas, such as mountains or in the sea, it will be very difficult to find your drone if you ever crash it. A drone GPS tracker attached to your drone legacy can come in handy when you are on a mission to rescue your drone. Using the GPS tracking app on your smartphone, you will be able to locate your drone on your smartphone’s maps, with an accuracy of up to 2 meters.
8) Storage space: Additional power batteries will not be practical when you do not have enough space to store the images you record. The default 16 gigabyte micro SD card included with the DJI Phantom 4 pro can only store about 50 minutes of video footage. Consider buying a 64Gb micro SD card if you don’t want to transfer the video clips to your PC after every 2 flights.
9) Backpack or Travel Case: If you plan to take your drone along on your travels, camping, biking, or road trips, you’ll find that the default packaging that comes with drones won’t last long and won’t be comfortable to carry, to say the least. For a more comfortable and secure solution, get a backpack or travel case made specifically for drones; you will find plenty of options available. In my opinion, hardshell packs are the most functional and stable packs for the value.
Photography and video tools have always been dependent on accessories, just like drones. You should consider spending on accessories if you’re trying to shoot awesome drone video.
