No one can deny just how beneficial drones can be for real estate photography. According to the latest industry statistics, properties advertised with aerial shots sell 68% faster than those that don’t.
Drone-taken photos can help listings stand out even further when they’re processed with the right picture editing techniques. Some of our tips—aside from availing our services, of course—include cropping images to define their focal points, using the healing brush tool to declutter their backgrounds, and tweaking saturation and contrast to make them look sharper and more vibrant.
However, all these things will be harder to do if your drone can’t take great aerial shots to begin with. To truly reap the benefits this device has to offer in real estate photography, make sure the one you’re using comes with these essential features.
High-resolution sensors
For more flexibility and better results when editing real estate photos, aerial shots should be as easy to work with as possible—so you need a drone that offers superb image quality. When looking at the drone’s specifications, it’s important to look for high-resolution sensors. QVC features this sort of information front and center for each product in its electronics section, which means its wide selection is easy to browse. The section covers bestselling cameras from household names Fujifilm and Canon to reputable drone companies like HOVERAir.
After looking at the site’s drones, you’ll find that HOVERAir’s X1 PROMAX has some of the best specs for professional real estate photography. Its compact, 1/13 CMOS sensor maximizes light-gathering to capture more details in the day and reduce “gritty” textures in darker settings. Combined with an additional 107° field of view, such sensors can make it easier to photograph properties more easily. Aside from letting you do so at any hour of the day, they’ll also capture images that contain more detail. That means you can work more efficiently with fewer but more high-quality aerial shots that are easy to edit in multiple ways for listings.
Good stabilization systems
Given how small drones are and how quickly the outdoors can affect their movement, you’ll want the ability to take aerial shots that aren’t blurry—even when the wind picks up. That’s what makes drones with a good stabilization system so vital. You’ll specifically want one with a sturdy gimbal that provides steady flight by absorbing vibrations, even on windy days. DJI, one of the biggest names in the drone industry, offers a few great options to this end. Many of its models feature cutting-edge designs that allow for stable flight, even in lighter, cheaper drones that are more likely to wobble in the air.
Among them is the 4k-ready DJI Neo, which is one of the best lightweight budget drones available at Walmart and won’t break the bank for beginner real estate photographers. The Neo’s design, which leaked a month before its release last September, includes a ½ image sensor capable of taking high-quality images—a feature early packaging photos marketed as being “ultra-stabilized.” That’s because the drone leverages a single-axis mechanical gimbal and boasts Level 4 wind resistance. With the additional use of DJI’s RockSteady and HorizonBalancing stabilization technologies, you can easily take crystal-clear aerial images for listings before you need to stop shooting.
Long battery life
The average drone can fly for anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes before it runs out of juice. However, you might need to shoot for longer if you want to take exterior shots from multiple angles, are working on larger properties, or run into poor lighting conditions halfway through. Although you can always pack extra batteries, you’ll be able to maximize your backup power if your drone can handle longer flight times.
For this, you can look to the models from ZenaTech, which the company itself touts as being great for taking photos in real estate advertising. Aside from being 4k-capable and providing stabilized imaging features, the likes of the ZenaDrone IQ Nano come with an automatic charging station that can push flight times beyond half an hour. That’s expected to extend even further now that ZenaTech is testing new, high-density batteries meant to further improve the capacity of the durable, long-lasting, and fast-charging Lithium Polymer variants currently used by its drones. Getting your own drone from a brand that ensures a similar level of battery life quality means you can take your time capturing aerial shots that help properties sell.
