Three reasons you should not buy a drone
Today I had a friend on Facebook comment on my drone post. He told me that he has been thinking about buying a drone for a while and asked if I had any suggestions about which one to buy as a newbie.
I get this question a lot, and before I make a recommendation I need to understand where the person is coming from. As I mentioned in my last drone post, while they are fun to fly but I don’t consider a drone a toy. Sure there are toy drones you can purchase for $100 or less now, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.
When I say drone, I am talking about semi-professional to professional drone equipment from companies such as DJI and GoPro. These devices are built for a specific purpose which is to take photos and videos. So when someone asks me for recommendations about buying a drone, my first question is, are you a photographer? So that leads us to the three reasons not to buy a drone.
1. You are not a photographer
If you have never taken a photo in your life besides on your iPhone, you probably shouldn’t be buying a drone, at least not yet. I would say your money is better spent heading over to Best Buy to pick up a $500 DSLR camera and the $10 a month subscription to the Adobe photography suite. You should spend some time learning the basics of photography before you go out to make a $1000+ purchase on a drone.
The reason I say this is because all the principles of photography still apply when you are taking photos with drones, including ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. If you don’t understand the basic principles of photography yet, then adding the extra element of piloting an unmanned aircraft through commercial airspace is not where you should be focusing your time yet.
2. You are not interested in editing videos
Flying the drone is just the start, after you land it is when all the work starts. You have to import the footage from the drone, which can definitely be amazing. But the raw footage by itself is usually not that interesting, it is all the editing you have to do to make the videos interesting to your audience or your client.
I have hundreds of hours of footage sitting on a few hard drives, and that’s probably where much of it will live for eternity. But I have also been able to use a lot of it to create some beautiful videos around the world.
Creating those videos came at a price though, a lot of learning and work to make them interesting and beautiful. And drone footage by itself is not that interesting, you need other footage to make a video. Again this is why when you are just starting out, your money is better spent on that $500 DSLR camera.
3. You just think it’s cool to have a drone
Sure it is cool, they are amazing pieces of technology. But if you aren’t going to use that technology to create awesome content, then you are going to fly that drone a few times and then it is going to sit in your closet. That’s a lot of cash that could be spent better elsewhere.
Also, flying drones is a responsibility. They can be dangerous and also people may not like it when you are taking photos of them or their property. I’ve had people feel threatened before by it, so it is definitely something to watch out for. You must be respectful and you must be responsible.
As I stated, it is not really a toy, it’s a tool. And we want to make sure we use these tools safely. So if you are not ready to take on that responsibility, please hold off on buying a drone until you are. Hint hint to the parents thinking about getting their kids drones for their birthday or Christmas.
With all that being said, they are amazing tools and have changed my life. I’m happy with my purchase, but I have put in the time and effort to make the investment worthwhile. So just be sure you are ready to make that jump, otherwise go work on your photography and video skills first, you’ll be happy you saved the money.
