Best Drone Camera for the Money — A 2023 Buying Guide

Best beginner drone with camera and gps

7. DJI Mini II

DJI has cemented their brand as the leading name in modern aerial photography. They are constantly at the forefront of drone technology, pushing it further with each of their many iterations. The DJI Mini II is not their highest-quality drone but it is their best option for beginner drone pilots.

If you are looking to get your first drone, the DJI Mini II should be a strong contender for your pick with it’s low price point, small size, ease of use, and overall level of quality.

The PowerEgg X Wizard isn’t the flashiest drone nor does it have the highest-quality camera BUT it does have a couple of features that make it stand out from the pack. The first is its powerful waterproofing and overall weatherproofing. Be sure to check out our guide to filming in the rain for helpful tips.

If you plan to fly your drone near any body of water or out in the rain, many drones run the risk of being completely destroyed in the process, but the PowerEgg X Wizard will come out unscathed. The body of the camera is built to be waterproof by default and the drone even has a waterproof mode that further increases its resilience to water damage.

The other feature that makes the PowerEgg X Wizard stand out from other drones is the AI flight capabilities. The drone can be piloted by remote or allowed to fly autonomously with its built-in artificial intelligence programming. The AI is even equipped with facial recognition which can be used to lock onto a subject and track them while piloting autonomously, perfect for when the pilot and subject are one and the same.

Unfortunately, the AI mode and the waterproof mode can not be active simultaneously, you must choose one or the other. This is somewhat limiting, although the physical body of the camera is constructed to be water resistant even without the waterproof camera mode being activated.

As a little bonus, this drone can also be converted into a hand-held camcorder mode if you want your drone to double as a standard, non-flying video camera. This camcorder isn’t great but it is a nice feature to have. For a rundown of digital cameras that are worth your time and money, refer to our guide.

The Autel EVO II is one of the most powerful drones on the market. Though slightly larger than the Mavic camera line, the Autel EVO II is still able to fold and achieve an easily-transportable size. The big draw to the EVO II is the camera quality which is capable of shooting in 8k resolution!

Though the 8k footage is capped at 25-fps, the Autel EVO II can also shoot 6k at 50-fps and 4k at 60-fps, so you have plenty of options. Even though 8k may be the way of the future, currently, the difference between 4k and 8k footage can be pretty difficult for the average viewer to discern. This is especially true when viewed at home on a standard television or computer monitor.

The majority of consumers do not have 8k monitors in their homes yet, so the enhanced quality will be lost on many viewers outside of theatrical settings. 4k footage is likely to be high enough quality for most video purposes. And there are plenty of great 4k cameras on the market.

The DJI Mavic II Zoom is a part of the expansive Mavic II line of drones. This is not quite the best overall drone in this camera series but it gets close. With both a slightly-reduced price point and a key outshining feature, the Mavic II Zoom remains a worthy contender when it comes time to select your drone.

The key feature of the Mavic II Zoom is right there in the name, the “Zoom” functionality. Plenty of quality drones on the market do not feature any kind of camera zoom capabilities. And those that do mostly feature digital zoom, which frequently leads to quality loss. The Mavic II Zoom is equipped with a zoom lens capable of 2X optical zoom plus another 2X digital zoom at lossless quality. This can be a powerful tool to have in your arsenal as a drone videographer or photographer.

The Mavic II Zoom even has a nifty feature that mimics the effect of a dolly-zoom. If you are looking for creative ways to make your ads or videos stand out, the drone dolly-zoom feature is a sure way to set yourself apart from the pack and leave a lasting impression.

In other regards, however, the Phantom 4 Pro is the clear higher-quality choice of drone camera. The Phantom 4 Pro is capable of shooting 4k footage at 60-frames-per-second, while the Mavic Pro II is only able to shoot 30-frames-per-second. For a deeper explanation of why this difference matters, refer to our filmmaker’s guide to frame rates.

The Phantom 4 Pro is also the only drone on this list to feature a mechanical shutter, which can make a staggering difference when it comes to the quality of individual frames and corrects the rolling-shutter issues that plague other drones. The mechanical shutter is a strong selling point for the Phantom 4 Pro.