Lightweight drones

Summer’s a great time to get into drone flying – here are three to try 

- Matt Kollat, Derek Adams

Whether it’s capturing breathtaking landscapes, video footage of your holiday, or even inspecting the tiles on your roof, modern camera drones offer unparalleled ways in which to capture crisp 4K video and high-resolution images without your feet moving an inch.

With another warm summer just over the horizon, now is the time to consider buying yourself that camera drone you’ve always wanted but perhaps kept putting off because of all the legal hoops you need to jump through in order to fly it.

Well, don’t let the spectre of official licensing rules dissuade you because today’s sub-250g drones – like the trio of keenly-priced, high-flying titans we’re looking at – are exempt from the majority of regulations so you can fly them almost anywhere.

Sub-250g category drones are not only small and portable, but they pretty much fly themselves and will stay aloft for up to 30 minutes while transmitting pin-sharp real-time video back to the operator on the ground from up to six miles away. Their tiny cameras, meanwhile, can produce stunning 4K or 2.7K video and pin-sharp high-res images via a simple tap of a smartphone button. So what are you waiting for?

WHAT’S ON TEST…

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