Best Affordable Drones with HD Camera

HD cameras allow you to capture your world with amazing clarity and quality. If you’ve gotten spoiled with these cameras, you’ll naturally want a drone with the same.

However, a lot of these drones are shockingly expensive. What are some more affordable options with a high-quality camera?

The best affordable drones with HD cameras include:

• DJI Mini 3 Pro
• DJI Air 2S
• Autel Robotics EVO Lite+
• DJI Mavic 2 Zoom
• Skydio 2+
• PowerVision PowerDolphin

Join us on this informative dive into the world of affordable HD camera drones.

We’ll share specs, features, and details on what makes each of these drones such an exceptional pick for $1,000 or less. You won’t want to miss it!

1. DJI Mini 3 Pro #

Dimensions: 171 x 245 x 62 mm unfoldedWeight: Less than 249 gramsMax Range: 7.5 miMax Altitude: 500 mMax Speed: 35 mphMax Flying Time: 34 minsCamera: 1/1.3-inch CMOS

✅ Pros #

• Truly awesome camera for drone photography and videography, retaining more detail, lighting, and quality
• Lightweight enough that you can enjoy laxer drone laws
• Good flight time you can expand with the Intelligent Flight Battery Plus

❌ Cons #

• Lacks plugs, so you’ll have to buy them separately

One of DJI’s smallest drones also has one of the top cameras, especially if you don’t want to spend more than $1,000 on a drone.

Let’s get into the meat of the matter, the camera. The Mini 3 Pro has an incredible camera, as you would expect of a DJI drone. Its 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor produces dual native ISO.

The improved dynamic range will make a major difference in your drone photography, as the details will be resplendent in the shadows and highlights.

The CMOS sensor has an f/1.7 aperture ratio and 2.4μm pixels.

Both features increase the amount of light in your photos. Even if you’re shooting during sunrise or on a cloudy day, your photos will look richer than ever.

Your images will come out in 48MP, even RAW files. When you zoom in, you’ll notice tremendous clarity, which doesn’t always happen when shooting in RAW format.

All your images will come out more colorful and vibrant no matter the format, thanks to D-Cinelike Color.

What about video? The Mini 3 Pro can shoot that in spades.

The CMOS sensor produces HDR output and is capable of slow-mo video in 1080p 120 frames per second. The video quality is 4K 60 fps when shooting at regular speed.

A lot of features make the Mini 3 Pro a drone photographer’s best friend. For instance, it’s insanely portable, and that the drone can fold up and fit in your pocket (or photography bag) is a nice touch.

The drone is also very lightweight, just under the weight threshold for registration with the FAA.

Not only that, but at that weight, you might be able to fly with looser laws. That will allow you to get nearer to buildings and crowds so you can take even more fantastic shots.

The base flight time of the Mini 3 Pro is 34 minutes, which isn’t shabby at all. However, you can fly even longer if you buy the Intelligent Flight Battery Plus, which expands the flight time to 47 minutes!

The Mini 3 Pro has three modes of obstacle detection, dual-vision sensors, and DJI’s Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems or APAS 4.0.

Send your live videos to others as they happen with the O3 transmission system, which retains video footage at 1080p 30 fps quality so everyone can enjoy the same crystal-clear clarity as you as you stream.

» MORE: DJI Mini 3 / Mini 3 Pro – How to Live Stream on YouTube (Video)

The drone’s gimbal can rotate 90 degrees, opening up the possibility of vertical photography and videography.

Now you can capture footage in a format that’s compatible with many social media platforms, from YouTube to TikTok.

You can also take breathtaking panoramas using the Sphere, Wide-Angle, Vertical, and 180-Degree modes!

2. DJI Air 2S #

Dimensions: 183 x 253 x 77 mm when unfoldedWeight: 595 gramsMax Range: 7.5 miMax Altitude: 5,000 mMax Speed: 42 mphMax Flying Time: 31 minsCamera:  1-inch CMOS

✅ Pros #

• High-quality camera with a CMOS sensor for taking photos and videos
• Rich color profile with 10-bit Dlog-M color profile
• Incredible dynamic range
• Many features for photographers and videographers, including Hyperlapse, MasterShots, and FocusTrack
• Plenty of obstacle avoidance features 

❌ Cons #

• Gets expensive fast with the Fly More Combo

Another DJI masterpiece sure to help you shoot better footage than ever is the Air 2S.

» MORE: DJI Mini 3 vs. DJI Air 2S (Which One is Right for You?)

This drone features a 1-inch CMOS sensor and HD camera that can shoot 4K 60 fps or 5.4K 30 fps video footage. The sensor can also produce 2.4μm pixels.

Your photos and videos will have a true-to-life color tone and impressive clarity.

Speaking of color tone, the 10-bit Dlog-M color profile allows the drone’s camera to capture up to one billion colors. Your footage won’t lack color one bit!

RAW photographers, this is for you.

The dynamic range of the Air 2S is 12.6 stops. Whether you have perfect lighting or lighting that’s less than preferable, the drone’s camera will still produce all the visuals you’d expect from a DJI drone.

The dynamic range also makes it easier to process your photos in post, as you’ll have to edit your images less since they look so crisp.

Also benefitting you during the post process is the intelligent HDR technology. If you have several similar shots, the HDR technology will merge them.

Widen your view with panoramic videos and photos, and use the Hyperlapse feature to speed up your world.

You can activate these features within the Air 2S with a single push of a button. Experiment with the Sphere, Wide-Angle, and 180-Degree options too!

The intelligent MasterShots feature enables the drone to perform up to 10 unique maneuvers when filming and tracking a subject. Three of the modes are Landscape, Portrait, and Proximity.

You can also use FocusTrack’s suite of features, including ActiveTrack, Point of Interest, and Spotlight for more tracking.

Equipped with APAS 4.0, the Air 2S also detects hazards when flying backward, forward, down, and up.

Further, the drone has an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast or ADS-B flight system included.

These obstacle avoidance features allow you to fly without worrying so much about crashing your drone into a nearby tree or building.

Do you want to transmit your video footage on the go? The Air 2S includes DJI’s O3 system with four antennas.

This system can achieve 12 kilometers of video transmission in 1080p quality by switching between 2.4 and 5.8 GHz frequencies to pick the one with the least interference.

3. Autel Robotics EVO Lite+ #

Dimensions: 427 x 95 x 384 mm when unfoldedWeight: 835 gramsMax Range: 7.4 miMax Altitude: 3.1 miMax Speed: 42.5 mphMax Flying Time: 40 minsCamera: 1-inch CMOS 6K

✅ Pros #

• Great flight time and range
• Impressive HD camera
• Cool modes and options like Defog Mode and SkyPortrait

❌ Cons #

• The standard package is quite expensive

How does shooting in 6K quality sound? With the Autel Robotics EVO Lite+ drone, it’s possible!

With its 1-inch CMOS sensor, this camera is capable of some truly incredible things.

For instance, it has a daytime ISO range of 100 to 6400 for photography and videography. By night, the ISO range is 48,000 (just remember that you usually cannot legally fly a drone at night).

Further, this drone boasts up to 16x digital zoom, 1080p 3x lossless zoom, and. 1.3x 4K lossless zoom.

You can adjust the focus range to 0.5 meters+ and set the focal length to 29 millimeters. The max video resolution is 5472 by 3648.

The SkyPortrait feature is automated and tells the drone to ascend then pan back to take photos of and your family and friends. You can even blur backgrounds of your photos if you wish!

Defog Mode is another great inclusion. If you’re shooting in a hazy, cloudy environment, the drone’s camera will set the vibrance levels automatically to ensure your footage doesn’t turn out mucky and unusable.

Adjust the aperture between f/2.8 and f/11, setting the depth of field and altering exposure according to how it most suits your photography.

The HDR makes the highlights and shadows look better than ever, and when the camera shoots at various exposures, you can go back later and pick your favorite setting.

Transmit your awesome footage at 90 Mbps quality up to 12 kilometers away. While doing so, the EVO Lite+ keeps the frequency between 2.400 and 5.250 GHz, even if you’re surrounded by interference.

The EVO Lite+ includes obstacle avoidance sensors to detect hazards 150 degrees in front of it, reducing its blind spots.

4. DJI Mavic 2 Zoom #

Dimensions: 322 x 242 x 84 mmWeight: 905 gramsMax Range: 18 kmMax Altitude: 6,000 mMax Speed: 44.7 mphMax Flying Time: 31 minsCamera:  1 2/3-inch CMOS

✅ Pros #

• Patchworks your images to save you editing time
• Great camera capable of 12 million pixels, good aperture range, and super resolution
• Many automated modes to look like a drone expert
• Gimbal enhances midrange drone photography

❌ Cons #

• Very heavy
• No longer in production

How about another DJI drone for your consideration? The Mavic 2 Zoom, although not the newest Mavic drone, still has an impressive HD camera, so it had to go on our list.

The 1 2/3-inch CMOS sensor with 12 million pixels features a FOV lens with a 35-millimeter format equivalent of 24 to 48 millimeters. Its aperture range is f/2.8 to f/3.8.

The drone can shoot super-resolution images in 48 MP quality.

The camera will take nine shots simultaneously and then create a patchwork image that amalgamates all the best features in one shot.

The composition of the images is ultra-accurate and still has that original flair and flavor of your shooting location.

The drone’s gimbal enables hybrid autofocus. This means that contrast and phase detection are combined to improve the accuracy and focus speed of the camera.

Even if you frequently zoom in and out on your subjects, the hybrid autofocus feature never wavers.

The gimbal allows for fantastic midrange drone photography thanks to the 48-millimeter telephoto lens. This lens will boost the photo’s parallax effect while compressing the perspective just so.

Use Hyperlapse time-lapse photos with a tap. After taking some faster-than-life shots, you can save them in RAW and JPEG formats simultaneously.

However, you will need to purchase a microSD card separately.

The 13 EV camera has H.265/HEVC support for 4K videos and reduced image noise, even when taking photos in low-light environments.

To find the best quality, you can also use OcuSync 2.0 to transmit your footage at 1080p between two frequency bands. It’s not the newest OcuSync due to the Mavic 2 Zoom’s age, but it will do!

Do you want to configure a flight path for the Mavic 2 Zoom? Waypoints let you do it. You can take one time-lapse shot or several shots you can edit in post.

CourseLock sets the drone on a fixed course, flying left, right, backward, forward, or straight with gimbal adjustments along the way.

You can also use modes like Circle (automatic circular flight path) or Free to determine the flight path the Mavic 2 Zoom takes.

ActiveTrack 2.0 is also included with obstacle sensing, high-speed tracking, trajectory prediction, and precise recognition.

The included aerial shooting modes are Boomerang (where the drone follows an elliptical pattern to return to the starting point), Asteroid (a quick descent while circling around the subject), Waypoint 2.0, Point of Interest 2.0, and Dolly Zoom.

Access panorama photography with Horizontal, 180-Degree, Vertical, and Sphere modes.

5. Skydio 2+ #

Dimensions: 229 x 274 x 52 mm without battery and antennas downWeight: 800 gramsMax Range: Up to 6 kmMax Altitude: 1,640 ftMax Speed: 36 mphMax Flying Time: 27 minsCamera: Sony IM577 1/2.3-inch CMOS

✅ Pros #

• Ultra-high-quality camera for taking photography and videography to the next level
• Many autonomous modes to choose from
• Don’t need to be a drone pro to use

❌ Cons #

• Okay range

The Skydio 2+ is another drone to add to your shortlist if you want to take HD-quality photos without spending a fortune.

The drone comes equipped with a Sony IM557 1/2.3-inch CMOS camera capable of taking photos at 72MP quality and videos at 4K60 HDR quality.

The Panorama feature enables you to shoot spherically, vertically, and horizontally.

You have an eye for photography, but perhaps you’re not so great at flying drones. That’s okay, as the Skydio 2+ has automated features such as tracking, obstacle avoidance, and tracking.

You can keep this drone afloat even if you don’t have the most experience.

6. PowerVision PowerDolphin #

Dimensions: 21 x 9 x 5 inWeight: ~ 5 lbsMax Range: 0.5 miMax Altitude: N/AMax Speed: 10 mph (in water)Max Flying Time: 2 hrsCamera: 1 2/3-inch CMOS

✅ Pros #

• The camera is powerful for HD photography at sea
• Has an impressively long battery life

❌ Cons #

• Heavy
• Only intended for the sea, not sky

How about a different type of drone with an HD camera, the PowerVision PowerDolphin? This sea drone can shoot both underwater and over the water.

The 1 2/3-inch CMOS sensor and dual-joint 4K UHD camera can rotate and shoot at a wide 132-degree angle. Its field of view is anywhere from -150 degrees to 70 degrees to rotate with a surprising amount of freedom.

The drone produces images in 12 MP at an ISO range of 100 to 6400 and max image sizes of 4000 x 3000.

Seamlessly switch between three still photography modes: Interval, Burst Shooting (three to five frames), or Single Shot.

The video resolution is available in 720p 120 to 240 fps, 1080p 60 fps, or 4K 30 fps, depending on your mode.  

This drone is zippy too, traveling above the water at 4.5 meters a second. Even better is that the drone is bolstered by a battery that lasts two hours at a clip!

That battery is a 5800 mAh IPX8 battery designed to handle water travel, as it’s waterproof.

This smart drone features a PowerSeeker mode with sonar technology to determine fish distribution and water topography .

If you’re into fishing, you can quickly learn about the dynamics of the underwater environment and select the perfect spot to fish.

PowerSeeker also enables underwater waypoint mapping, especially in conjunction with the PowerVision Vision+2 app, which is free to download.

The app and drone will scan the waters you select to create a map full of topographic details.

Taking HD photography with a drone and spending less than or about $1,000 is not an impossible feat, as the drones we looked at today prove.

With a great drone, you can expand your photography and videography portfolio and perhaps even make money with your drone. Good luck!