Subsequent up in our “Ask Drone Lady” collection is about drones for small enterprise advertising and marketing content material. You probably have a query for Drone Lady, contact her right here.
I personal a everlasting business/residential roofline lighting and panorama lighting design enterprise. After installations we might rent a drone videography firm, nevertheless the one we use mainly charged us however by no means delivered our content material. We’re contemplating buying our personal drone for top of the range video content material for our web site and social media. I’m between the DJI Air 3 and the DJI Mini 4 Professional — any suggestions?
Um, my query for you is, what’s that drone videography firm?! That’s not okay in any respect! Observe to all drone videography firms: please ship in your guarantees and don’t make the trade look dangerous.
ANYWAY, I’ll transfer previous that and at the very least search for the silver lining right here, which is that purchasing your personal drone and studying to shoot it your self is usually a greater long-term answer for house owners of small companies like yours anyway. You’ll have far more inventive management, you’ll be able to shoot any time you need and also you received’t be on the mercy of another person’s reliability.
Top quality digicam drones are getting cheaper and cheaper, so — assuming you’ve got an attention-grabbing in flying and taking pictures — it’s not an enormous funding the way in which it was a decade in the past.
Excellent news: each drones you’re contemplating are glorious decisions, and you actually can’t go mistaken with both.


The DJI Mini 4 Professional might be the correct name for many small enterprise house owners in your scenario. At 249 grams, it’s beneath the FAA registration threshold for leisure use, it’s extremely transportable, and the digicam high quality — 4K/60fps, 48MP stills, 1/1.3-inch sensor, omnidirectional impediment avoidance — is great for social media and web site content material. For roofline lighting installations, that are inherently close-range and sometimes in residential neighborhoods, the Mini 4 Professional’s compact dimension and impediment avoidance gives you extra confidence flying round constructions and timber.


The DJI Air 3 steps it up with a dual-camera system — a wide-angle digicam plus a 3x medium tele — which supplies you extra inventive versatility and is especially helpful if you wish to get detailed close-up pictures of your lighting installations with out bodily flying the drone nearer to a construction. The picture high quality is noticeably higher in low-light conditions too, which issues lots for roofline and panorama lighting content material since your finest pictures will occur at nightfall and after darkish when the lights are literally on and visual.
That low-light consideration may really be the deciding issue in your particular use case. Lighting installations look their finest at evening. The Air 3’s bigger sensor and dual-camera system will deal with these nightfall and night pictures higher than the Mini 4 Professional.
Yet another notice that you could be already concentrate on: Because you’re capturing for what you are promoting — web site, advertising and marketing, social media for a business operation — that counts as business drone use beneath FAA guidelines, which implies you want a Half 107 Distant Pilot Certificates to fly legally.
To get one, it’s essential to go a written examination, which it’s essential to take in-person at an FAA-approved testing middle. It’s not troublesome to go, however I actually solely say that IF you undergo an on-line research course first. I’d counsel utilizing Drone Pilot Floor College. Utilizing this hyperlink can get you $100 off.
My suggestion: if price range is a consideration, begin with the Mini 4 Professional — it’ll produce lovely content material and the portability is genuinely helpful. If you wish to spend money on the absolute best picture high quality for these essential night and nightfall pictures of your lighting work, step as much as the Air 3. Both means, you’ll find yourself with content material that’s much better than no matter that videography firm would have delivered.
Pleased flying — and pleased lighting!
Sally The Drone Lady
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