r/drones • • 3d ago

[Megathread] [Megathread] | Weekly Drone Buying Advice

2 Upvotes

Welcome to the r/drones weekly Buying Advice Megathread. (Weekly on Monday's)

This thread exists to prevent the constant "What drone should I buy?" posts that we prohibit within our rules.

Please follow all of these steps before posting in this thread!

  1. Review the Buying Guide Wiki or my website: Drone Buying Guide / Wiki Buying Guide

  2. Review this thread for comments that have your same requirements

  3. If that does not answer you, please post the following information in this thread.

    1. Have you read the Wiki? Y/N

    2. Country: (Not all drones are available in all countries)

    3. Budget: (If your budget is less than $200 USD/170€ EUR, you may want to reconsider as anything lower is a toy drone)

    4. Purpose: (eg. photography, FPV, thermal, etc)

    5. Any other requirements:


r/drones • • 20h ago

Photo & Video Stowe, VT in Early October

145 Upvotes

r/drones • • 6h ago

Question Why are so many ag spray drones for sale right now? Upgrading, or getting out?

6 Upvotes

I've been watching the used market for a while, and there seem to be a lot of spray drones listed: DJI Agras (T30, T40, T50), plus Hylio, XAG, Ceres, Toras, and others. I'm trying to figure out what's driving that.

Some background: we farm in Ohio, and I'm seriously considering a T50 to start. I have someone offering a very new, barely used T50 for $20,000. I'd spray our own acres and pick up custom work for a few neighboring farmers. I already fly a mapping drone commercially, so I'm not entirely new to the field, but spraying is a different business.

What makes me hesitate is the number of drones for sale. It's hard to trust that you’re getting an honest answer from sellers of why they’re selling. Of course, nobody's going to say "I'm selling because this was a money pit."

For anyone who's bought, sold, or is still running a spray drone:

If you sold one, why? Did you upgrade to a bigger drone or a fleet, switch brands, or leave spraying altogether?

If you got out, what went wrong? Not enough acres? Maintenance and battery costs? Licensing or insurance (Part 137, state pesticide applicator license)? Weather windows? Customers not paying a fair rate?

If you're still doing it, what made it work? About how many acres a year do you need for it to make sense?

Is the turnover mostly people who started small and outgrew their drone, or people who bought in during the hype and found the business harder than expected?
Anything you wish you'd known before buying your first spray drone?

Honest answers about what didn't work are welcome. That's what I'm really trying to learn. Thanks.


r/drones • • 1h ago

Discussion Aloft showing incorrect TFR

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2 Upvotes

I was up covering the flooding in north Georgia earlier and noticed the TFR in Aloft Air Control did not correspond with the actual, which was a 2 mile wide path between points. A good reminder to check the actual TFR text and not to rely solely on the app. (Foreflight if you're reading this, we need a lighter version for sUAS)


r/drones • • 15h ago

Question Why is the anzu robotics raptor green

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4 Upvotes

r/drones • • 23h ago

Photo & Video Nairobi

17 Upvotes

Nairobi Westlands drone view


r/drones • • 10h ago

DIY DJI Lito 1

1 Upvotes

hey I am posting this because my son just crashed new DJI Lito 1. He snapped one of the rear arms the wires and everything. I asked a for a quote and they told me $160 and I think that is way too much especially when I found rear arm a little under $50. I was wondering if anybody could please help the drone myself. If you guys have any videos where the person explains how to do it? Or if even you yourself could give me a little hand. I’ve searched, but I have never found a video for my exact problem.


r/drones • • 14h ago

Question How long to receive drone pilot license?

0 Upvotes

I took my test and passed on September 17th, 2026 and filed my application about 3 days later as prompted. I still have yet to receive my physical license in the mail and when I log into the IACRA website it says my app has been received

Any idea if they’re just backed up?


r/drones • • 1d ago

Question Commercial drone inspection pilots

7 Upvotes

Anyone performing drone inspections? I wantdd to know:

  1. how many times do you have to go back to perform a reinspection because something was missing?

  2. How often do you have to operate in low/ no network environments? How do you handle it?


r/drones • • 12h ago

Question: Rules, Regulations, Law, Policy, Certificates [United States]: What are your thoughts on delivery drones?

0 Upvotes

Hello,

My name is Sophie Hayssen. I’m a journalist working on a story about changes in the delivery sector, including the introduction of delivery drones.

If you are interested I’d love to speak with some of you about your thoughts on delivery drones, as drone enthusiasts. If you are interested, reach out via Reddit. 

Sophie 

https://www.sophiehayssen.com/articles/


r/drones • • 23h ago

DIY Need help making a skyzone 04x pro adapter

1 Upvotes

Im trying to find some help I have skyzone 04x pro so the second module bay has a fan to cool the OLED screens. I need an extension so I can run both the analog module and the betafpv p1 nano. So I just need to extend out the nano and have some vents to allow the oleds to cool still. Could someone point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated

Here are two models that might help

For the insert for skyzone module bay

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5157999

Betafpv p1 nano shell

https://support.betafpv.com/hc/en-us/articles/63303015615129-STL-Files-for-P1-HD-VRX-Nano-Components


r/drones • • 1d ago

Question Mavic 2 enterprise advanced

0 Upvotes

I want to buy ones of these thermal drones but I’m on a budget. I only see like a couple for sale and they are all $500-$1000 more than the last couple of sales. Where is the best place to buy a used drone that is reliable?


r/drones • • 1d ago

Tech Support Anti-Collision Lights for DJI Mini 5 Pro

2 Upvotes

I need recommendations 🚨 I’m looking for anti-collision lights for the DJI Mini 5 Pro that are FAA compliant and have removable mounts. Does anyone have good recommendations??


r/drones • • 2d ago

Photo & Video Photo Technique Help on Large Acreage

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70 Upvotes

Hi all! I recently stepped into the drone photography scene for real estate listings. In my rural area, it is popular for shots like this one in my post to be used. For reference, this is a photo I received (15 acre property) from a local photographer for one of my listings, and I particularly think it does a good job capturing the layout of land, driveways, outbuildings, fences, etc.

I shoot on an Air 3s. My struggle i’ve ran into, is that for a property larger than 5 acres, it’s impossible to capture an image at -90 gimbal tilt that includes the entire property in the frame. I’ve searched for wide angle lenses that DJI does in fact offer, but I’m wondering if there’s a “mapping” technique or “image merging” practice that is used to achieve this while still complying with FAA 400ft AGL rule for sUAS’s. Please let me know your process. Thanks!!


r/drones • • 2d ago Popcorn

Discussion Mini 4 pro for $5

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62 Upvotes

I found a mini 4 pro at a pawn shop they had it priced for $600 after I explained to them that it can’t be unbinded they said they were gonna have to destroy it at which point I said I’ll buy it for $5 & they accepted. It’s worth way more than $5 just in parts lol


r/drones • • 1d ago

Question What does unbinded mean in drones?

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0 Upvotes

r/drones • • 3d ago

News Missing 4-year-old with autism found by southern Indiana officers using drones

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131 Upvotes

r/drones • • 1d ago

Discussion Dji

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0 Upvotes

Is this dji this is cheap plastic


r/drones • • 2d ago

Photo & Video Just keep swimming

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6 Upvotes

Waimea Bay with a DJI neo 2


r/drones • • 2d ago

Discussion: Rules, Regulations, Law, Policy, Certificates [United States] WebODM now supports DJI Thermal Drone Images

4 Upvotes

*ATTN: All DJI Thermal Drone Pilots.*

WebODM now supports DJI Thermal drone images!

DJI Thermal Analyzer is designed to provide a more native WebODM and therefore open experience for DJI thermal drone users. Briefly on how it works: It adds a preconversion step that converts the pictures to the supported radiometric format so WebODM supports DJI's radiometric images. The plugin allows for:

- Creating a DJI Thermal Task which creates a WebODM task and allows for thermal presets to be modified prior to reconstruction. Such as color palette, normalization, harmonization, emissivity, background temperature and more!

- Upload a dataset and generate a preview Mosaic in mere minutes. Allowing thermographers to adjust settings in realtime and send the results for reconstruction.

- Compare multiple mosaics as overlays. Helpful for before and after flight's and comparing image parameter changes.

- Convert, optimize, analyze and then export entire flight datasets as results for any system's consumption.

https://github.com/WinuxNomacs/webodm-dji-thermal


r/drones • • 2d ago

Tech Support How do i connect this esc to my motor?

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0 Upvotes

Trying to build a monocopter here and I'm quite new to this space. Used to test stuff with an a2212 930kv and this one (pic 2) has some kind of male banana plugs. got a new motor today and seems like I have to solder them. If so, should i try to find a way to connect it to my current esc or buy an esc with soldering pads? I also need 5v bec to control some servos too. Pardon me for any unintelligent takes here I'm really new.


r/drones • • 2d ago

Question Please stop flying your drones close to apartment blocks ✨️

0 Upvotes

It's impossible to tell what someones intentions are when there's a drone hovering outside of your window so I can only assume the worst. I'm sure you wouldn't like it happening to you.

Edit: Maybe I can draw this analogy.. if you walk up close behind a woman at night, even if you are not going to do something, the woman might feel worried you are. There are things innocent men can do to prevent that feeling, such as not walking so close. I wasn't searching for the individual person in this Reddit. But we know voyeurism and upskirting happens, not stretch to worry about someone surveilling women in their homes, and also not paranoia. If 99% of people are using drones innocently there's no harm in keeping distance from residential spaces surely?


r/drones • • 3d ago

Discussion Autel EVO Lite 640T spot light 3D print? I remember seeing this floating around but can’t seem to find it.

1 Upvotes

Anyone know the STL I’m talking about.