The DJI FPV drone is a revolutionary technology built for drone racers, drone fans, and the whole drone industry. The DJI FPV comes with a wide variety of accessories such as a pair of goggles, a remote controller for optimized performance, and air unit module, and of course its well-known camera. Though the DJI FPV is built mostly for the sake of boosting your drone racing performance, and to make it much comfortable to operate when competing in a contest of speed, some users are wondering if it is capable of taking high-quality pictures.
The DJI FPV drone is capable of remotely taking photos since it comes with a camera that can take 12 MP photos, along with 4K quality videos. The DJI FPV drone is fully capable of recording your drone racing sessions, and for you to take awesome scenery shots when traveling.
There’s no doubt that you will be wowed by the overall capability of the DJI FPV drone, which I will describe in-depth for you This article will also cover some tricks on how to properly take photos while using the drone at its full capacity when being used for racing, as well as some tips I learned from my own experience with the drone. I will help you fully explore everything that this high-performance racing drone has to offer.
Can the DJI FPV drone take pictures?
As mentioned above, the DJI FPV drone can be used to remotely take photos, thanks to the 12MP camera that came with it. However, most users say that the DJI FPV’s features for the camera are only suited to creating 4K HD videos, and lack quality in the still photo department. The main reason why most users say this is because of the specifications of this racing drone.
The DJI FPV drones are not primarily designed for travelers or for aerial photography. But it does not mean that it is totally a washout in terms of taking pictures, especially if you still insist on using this drone for travel purposes.
The FPV has a 12 MP camera installed in it, though it is possible to customize it with your own type of camera. The camera of the FPV is capable of capturing high-quality photos and 4K video.
However, the manufacturers did not seem to focus on the photos due to the high-speed performance of the drone, which might make picture-taking a relatively incompatible activity. That’s why they focused on the video quality of the drone, which also has a video transmission of up to 10 kilometers.
One complaint that some users mentioned is that there are times where the DJI FPV does not store photos to phones that are synced with it. Some even say that the drone can only capture videos. It’s because the DJI FPV is designed more for video recording due to its high-speed performance specifications.
Capturing still photos is somewhat of a side option that can easily be enabled if the drone has an SD card installed. In the future, there might be updates that can make photo capturing more efficient. So just stay tuned!
Tips When Taking Photos With The DJI FPV
Here are some tips to help you get the best quality photos possible, including scenery and action-packed drone racing moments:
Always lower your speed
The DJI FPV is designed for racing. Thus, you have to slow down the drone’s speed when using it to take pictures, if you want to snap anything besides a blur. Capturing racing scenes as photos, rather than videos, will be much better if you install a camera that can take still photos even when in high-speed motion.
Also, lowering your speed helps you get that perfect angle much more reliably. Just remember that you don’t need to rush when finding that perfect shot. The FPV has three flight modes for speed adjustment, which will be discussed later.
Learn to fly backward
Flying backward for taking photos is equivalent to doing a selfie but with a drone. You have to master the DJI FPV’s controls in flying backward for you to take cool photos such as a photo of yourself in a grandiose scene from a mountain summit, or when doing aerial photography.
Choose the right settings
Just set the right flight mode for your FPV when taking photos to ensure that your drone will not move too fast when picking the best position for taking a photo. You also need to install propeller guards for added safety.
Plan and measure your drone’s position
The best tip that I can offer to help you get the best photo or video with the DJI FPV is to plan everything out first. You have to observe your surroundings, understand how the photos will look when you shoot them with your camera, and you have to measure everything out as well.
When I say measuring your drone’s position, I mean that you have to see if the size of the area you will be using for the shot will not cause any problems. Things to consider include obstacles, powerlines, objects that will obstruct your view, etc. This is very important when taking very high, or very low angle photos.
Follow this tip when taking videos and trick shots where the drone has to move through tricky spaces, such as passing through a hole or an obstacle that you made for your drone to pass through. The DJI FPV is recommended for taking shots requiring high maneuverability or at any angle because it is a high-mobility drone.
Features and specs of the DJI FPV drone
As an overview of the DJI FPV’s performance, here are the rest of its specifications:
- Superior Speed – The DJI FPV is popular for its top speed, just like most of the finest DJI drones. It has a superior-top speed that reaches around 90 mph (140 km/h).
- Outstanding Acceleration – The DJI FPV can accelerate up to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just less than 5 seconds. This is something that only this drone can do!
- Multiple Flight Modes – The DJI FPV is built with different types of flight modes:
- N-mode- This is the recommended mode when taking pictures only, particularly when traveling. The N-Mode only has a maximum speed of up to 34 mph (54 km/h). It is perfect for beginners who need to fly the drone safely as they understand the full capability of the DJI FPV. It also helps prevent any serious damage when learning how to properly control the drone.
- M-Mode – The M-mode is meant for pro racers only! This ensures that you will be able to experience the full capability of the DJI FPV drone. If you are curious about the maximum speed and acceleration mentioned above, just turn M-mode on.
- S-Mode – A mode perfect for amateur-level drone racers. The S-Mode is just perfect if you are attempting to master the drone before you maximize its potential. The S-Mode still has the limiter just like the N-mode, providing you with simplified flight controls while allowing you to at least fly at a drone racer’s desirable speed.
- Range – The DJI FPV is known to have a maximum range of over 11 miles (18 km).
- Ceiling Limit – It can also easily pass through obstacles while up in the air with its ceiling limit of over 19,000 feet (6,000 meters).
- Flight Limit – Unfortunately, the flight limit of the DJI FPV maxes out at 20 minutes only, unlike most racing drones that can last up to 30 minutes. Some users even claim that the FPV lasts less than 20 minutes if M-mode is activated.
- Ascension Speed and Wind Resistance – It can also go up faster than most drones because it has an ascension speed of up to (30 to 34 mph) 50 to 55km/h.
- Size
- Weight – 1.75 pounds (796 grams)
- Dimensions – 10x12x5 inches (255x312x127 mm) only.
Everything else in the box
Here are the rest of its features once you purchase the FPV drone:
- Intelligent Flight battery
- 4 propeller pairs.
- Remote control and replacement sticks for it.
- Gimbal protector
- AC adapter and cable
- USB Type-C data and OTG cable
- Goggles
- Goggles headband
- Goggles padding
- Goggles antenna and battery
- FPV remote controller
- Top shell
- GPS
Does the DJI FPV have follow me?
The Follow Me feature has become a very useful tool in most modern drones. The Follow Me feature, as its name suggests, is an automated feature that can let the device follow you automatically, which is great when monitoring your drone’s position while you can take your focus off of staring at the drone as you do something else such as running, biking or skiing.
The DJI FPV does not have a Follow Me feature. That’s because the manufacturers decided to make the FPV more specifically for racing, which meant they had to remove some typical features found in most entry-level drones.
However, it does have a GPS tracker to easily find its location. If you want to look at DJI drones that have the Follow Me feature, check out models such as Spark, Mavic 2 Pro, and Phantom 4 Pro.
Who is the DJI FPV intended for?
Despite the lack of the Follow Me feature, the DJI FPV is intended for both professionals and beginners because it is user-friendly. Its three flight modes are the main reason why both beginners and professional drone racers love the FPV, as well as the fact that it’s a new and trendy drone model.
But take note that the FPV has a shorter flight limit than most racing drones, making it quite hard for them to use the drone at first when attempting to finish a racecourse in a short amount of time. But once a pro racer gets a grasp on how it can perform with such a short time limit, rest assured that it can compete with ease against other drones that can last longer.
Therefore, you can easily say that the DJI FPV drone is suitable for most drone racers, rather than travelers as seen with everything I discussed on this topic. It is also good for travelers because you can limit its performance in speed if you only want to focus on taking photos with it. Just do not forget to plug in an SD card to enable the still camera setting, as well as save all those travel photos that you want to keep.
Image Source: DJI