Cameras for Real Estate Photography

The 3C's: Camera, Capture, & Correction

For any aerial photography job the first question is what camera equipment do I need for the job? And because we're talking about aerial photography, we're really talking about what drone(s) are needed for the job to deliver what the customer is looking for.

In this post, I'll walk you through what drones are used by Fly High Photos, things I consider & why one drone might be a better choice than another.

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At Fly high photos, I only fly DJI drones. Why? DJI is the market leader in the drone industry. They lead in innovation, ease of use, breadth of choice and purchase price.

My use case is primarily real estate, so I look for what drones have a good camera, or fit a niche scenario not covered by the other aircraft in the fleet. The considerations I go through are laid out in the decision table below:

Camera Drone Considerations for a Job

Considerations	Air 3	Air 3S	Mini 4 Pro	Mavic 4 Pro
High quality RAW image capture	Yes	Yes - Better than Air3	Yes	Yes
High quality video capture	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Social Media quality image & video	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
First Person View Support	Yes	No	Yes	No
Max Flight Time	46 min	45 min	45 m*	51 m
Telephoto Camera	70mm	70mm	No	70mm 168mm
Max wind resistance	45 mph	mph	24 mph	mph
Can fly indoors	No	No	Yes (w/ prop guards)	No
Crash Durability	Low	Low	Low	Low
Temperature	14° - 104° F	14° - 104° F	14° - 104° F	14° - 104° F
Video Res	4k/100fps	4k/120fps	4k/100fps	6k/60fps
Max Image Size	8064x6048	8064x6048	8192x6144	11520x8640
360 Sphere & Panorama Images	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Omni Directional Object Detection	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
LiDAR  - Light Detection & Ranging	No	Yes	No	Yes

Some Use Case Scenarios to consider

1. High winds, Pro images and Video needed for real estate

2. Low winds, Pro images and Video needed

3. High Res 360 (Sphere) or Panorama Images

4. Social media video flying down a gravel road