In the past I’ve briefly looked into the requirements for commercial drone videography/photography. Nope. I’m sure all the estate agents using drones for fancy videos/photos in their listings have definitely complied with the requirements. The “fast-paced” property market definitely allows adequate time for the necessary approvals, risk assessments, site surveys, etc, involved in commercial drone usage… /s
@Gareth Halfacree I can send you my Mavic Mini, if you want to play around with one for a few weeks, before you wade wallet deep into the hobby. I haven't used it in ~ a year so I wont miss it for a month.
You're a star, but I've already ordered the Mini 4k. Given what's happening in the tech industry right now, I couldn't see the price going anywhere but up! I am also now the proud owner of Operator and Flyer IDs. Nice and easy, that!
Which is fine, assuming the app you just downloaded onto your phone is completely inactive when you're not using your drone.
Ah, the wonders of a laser printer, vinyl label sheets, and some 3M Book Tape as lamination. (Yes, I know the kerning on "UAV" sucks, I couldn't be faffed adjusting it.)
I have flown! I probably need to adjust the return-home altitude, as ascending to 100m on a now-cloudy day makes maintaining VLOS a challenge. Also: grey drone, grey clouds. Why don't they make these things in Safety Orange? But! I have flown, and the drone is safe. Didn't get stuck in any trees, didn't slam into any buildings, still has the same number of rotor blades it set off with. And that's probably it for today, as the wind is picking up. And it'll be raining tomorrow. And the day after...
All good then GH! If like me, your eyes aren't good these are a good accessory, but potentially more tricky for a Mini https://www.flyingtech.co.uk/product/strobon-cree-standalone-led-strobe-light-usb-rechargeable/ If mine's alive, you're welcome to borrow it - green IIRC YES, DON'T fire it up pointing at your eyes
I actually snagged something similar (but cheaper) - with four little very bright LEDs. And a remote control. And RGB mode. Trouble is, the only place to put one is either on the top or on the battery door, and in either case it's mostly (or totally) pointing upwards... It's a close call for keeping it in the smallest category, too: the light and a velcro patch added to the drone tip the scales at 249g takeoff weight. Just squeaks under! Doesn't seem to affect the flight, having it stuck on the battery door - sent it up about 50m over the garden before it started drifting in the wind and I decided it was definitely time to land and pack it up for the day, handling seemed unchanged. I'll probably leave the velcro on but not bother with the strobe unless I'm flying at night (when it's a legal requirement) - not that I've any plans to do that any time soon!
What we found with velcro is you need a bit of superglue to hold it on, as the velcro is often stronger than the glue they use!!!
Weather's not been cooperative, but I managed a little 12-minute tootle around the garden before it got properly dark. (The thing's got a green strobe built-in, but I'm not sure it's bright enough to keep the CAA happy during a night flight.) Didn't send it off over the houses and fields, just literally circling the garden and up and down a bit. Felt like it wasn't as good at holding position this time, which is probably 'cos the down-facing camera for low-altitude position tracking doesn't work so well in the dark. It's a *lot* twitchier on the right stick's forward-backward left-right-strafe movement than the left stick's up-down left-right-turn movement - a little goes a long way, even without switching to "Sport Mode" to boost the speed! Camera's a bit pants in low light, but that's to be expected - this is one of DJI's cheaper camera drones, after all. Landed safely again, no impacts. Though I did splash out on "DJI Care," two-year coverage: if I beef the thing into the side of a building and it asplodes I can pay £27 for a replacement up to four times, and if it flies off into the sunset without me I can pay £105 for a replacement but only twice (and that counts as two of the four maximum replacements total.) If I don't claim, I get an extra year's warranty.
Good shout on the DJI care. I was on holiday and flew around in this huge wide open field. Somehow managed to hit the only lamppost around. I don't think I could have hit it if I was aiming for it. Basically other than a house there's nothing else I could have hit other than this couple of inches wide pole of metal. I did not have DJI care. Screenshot 2026-04-05 232702 by veato posted 5 Apr 2026 at 23:27
A sunny day! I can just about reach Thornton Viaduct from my house, but it's right at the very limit of where I can reasonably claim I've still got effective VLOS contact. (The drone, of course, will happily fly ten times further than that, but the CAA would tell me off!) EDIT: 360-degree pano! https://photos.app.goo.gl/vjk1x36PhomLMmfq9
Youngest has her Flyer ID now, and had a few flights in the garden to practise. Big fan! 38/40 on the test - and, interestingly, got the same two wrong as I did (same wrong answers, even - erring on the side of caution!)
Gosh darn it, Gareth. You've only gone and necroed a thread and that's enough to convince me to spend my hard earned cash on what could potentially be a much more expensive hobby... My DJI Neo (Fly more bundle) just arrived. Absolutely loving it, plan to take it to the park today to have a go with the controller but I'm experiencing full joy with the autonomous functions! I love that you launch it from your hand after selecting your wanted function (Follow me, circle, shoot up in the air all cool like etc.) but when you're done you just place your hand under it and it settles down and perches there. Anyway, beacuse of that I've nicknamed it Kes.
