Promotional booklets and nimble salespeople tell us about new quadrocopter models (multicopter) that will "meet all our requirements." In any online store that sells these kinds of gadgets, you can find more than a hundred options for drones. It is very easy to get lost in all this diversity, so we’ll try to systematize everything we know about these gadgets and answer the basic questions most often asked by inexperienced users: how to choose a quadrocopter for beginners, for experienced ones, to take with a video camera or without, how many blades etc.
Choosing a good flying machine that would perfectly meet all your requirements is not so simple. To begin with, all quadrocopter models differ from each other in several basic characteristics that affect both the capabilities and cost of the drone, and therefore it is necessary to find a certain balance of these indicators before choosing a quadrocopter.
Number of blades
Multicopters are remote-controlled unmanned aerial drones, where the root “multi” means “a lot”. One of the most popular varieties of these devices is quadrocopters, that is, drones with four bearing blades, but on sale you can see gadgets with two, three, six and eight screws.
Here the principle is simple - the more blades, the more power and more stable the flight. But you need to understand one more simple thing - more blades, which means more engines, and this at times reduces the battery life of the drone and the battery charge literally melts before our eyes. Therefore, it is up to you to decide which quadrocopter to choose: a stable course even in bad weather conditions and a short battery life or something average, but with an acceptable flight time.
Dimensions
All multicopter can be divided into three main size groups. The first is small and ultra-small drones. Such offers are mainly for beginners, lovers and children. Such devices fit easily in a bag, and sometimes even in a pocket. Before choosing a quadrocopter for a child or an amateur novice, keep in mind that due to their small size, such devices are burdened with problems with flight stability, and a strong gust of wind can not only knock them out of the way, but also knock them to the ground.
Medium Devices
Medium-sized drones are the most popular with most quadcopter enthusiasts. Both beginners and professionals use them. The dimensions of the device allow you to carry it in a backpack without any problems. Such drones can be equipped with a camera with a good resolution, but most often you have to buy this fashionable addition separately, so keep this in mind before choosing a mid-size quadrocopter.
Big drones
Large devices are used, as a rule, for professional purposes. This became a real fetish among those who stopped perceiving drones as some kind of easy hobby, thereby turning their favorite pastime into a serious hobby or even a job.
Large drones can carry a very solid load and plan steadily at a good height. Very often, such devices are equipped with additional rechargeable batteries, as well as special suspensions for adapting SLR cameras. It is impossible to advise models of this category to beginners or children - too expensive a toy. In the event of a breakdown, components are far from cheap, although it is quite difficult to break the screws of such models due to their quality and durability, keep this in mind before choosing a large quadrocopter.
Camera availability
This moment is cornerstone for each specific drone. As mentioned above, there are models where a video camera is included. Moreover, there is a very strange pattern - the larger the dimensions of the drone, the less likely it will be a quadrocopter with a camera.
How to choose the best option? It's pretty simple. Medium-sized drones are universal multicopters, which are most often equipped with an integrated camera, and with a high resolution of 10-14 megapixels. Such aircraft can be recommended not only to novice pilots, but even to teenage children (preferably under adult control).
Most pilots prefer to personally mount cameras on their drones, choosing the pixelation that they need. As a rule, we are talking about the extreme GoPro model, famous for its "jammed" and an abundance of useful functions. This point is also worth considering before choosing a quadrocopter with a video camera.
In small models for children and beginners, the camera comes as standard, and overwhelmingly it is built into the body of the drone. Due to its size, this is a relatively simple device with a low resolution of shooting (0.3-2 MP).
Camera quadrocopter control principles
Popular and high-quality drone models can be piloted using a smartphone, tablet or laptop. Communication is carried out due to the Wi-Fi wireless protocol. And this is very convenient, because it is controlled by the drone through an intuitive and familiar interface.
Thanks to the touch screen, the pilot can control the direction of flight of the quadrocopter, its height and speed. In addition, the user can access the camera image in real time, with the ability to shoot video and photo materials from a bird's eye view.
Everything would be fine, but there is one fly in the ointment in this principle of control - the drone can fly only a certain distance (about ten meters), that is, within the range of the Wi-Fi signal. As an alternative, you can use branded remote controls that will allow you to reset restrictions and increase flight range to several kilometers. The only disadvantage of this method is the complexity of management due to the abundance of additional functions and various kinds of specific features that conventional mobile gadgets lack. Keep this in mind before choosing a quadrocopter. Some models can be combined with branded control panels, allowing, for example, to use your mobile device as a monitor, if there is none on the remote control.
Offline work
This is another important point that will help answer the question: “How to choose a quadrocopter?”. The larger the battery capacity, the farther and longer the drone will be able to fly. The average battery life of most aircraft is between 8-15 minutes as standard.
Large models can be optionally equipped with external batteries, which will extend the flight time by about half an hour. With medium and small drones, such an “upgrade” is more difficult to do, since the power of the screws does not allow you to lift a lot of weight, and one such battery weighs a lot. In addition, such a revision is not always possible at the hardware level.
The problem of short battery life can be partially solved by a set of replaceable batteries, which can be easily replaced by landing the multicopter on the ground before that. The cost of an additional set of batteries for medium-sized drones is not so high, so there is no critical problem here, and once again inspecting the screws when landing during battery replacement will not be out of place.
Popular models
Above, we have identified the main points that you need to pay attention to when choosing a quadrocopter for beginners. Below is a list of the most successful and modern models for both beginners and professionals. All of them are equipped with an intelligent video camera and have well-balanced technical specifications along with an adequate price, and therefore it is worth taking a closer look.
Popular drone models:
- DJI Spreading Wings S900.
- Byrobot Drone Fighter (battle drone).
- DJI Phantom 2 Vision + (availability of GoPro camera).
- Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 (for teens and beginners).
- Wltoys V272 (for children).