Best 360 cameras for your drone
In this section we’ll take a look at the best 360 degree cameras for drones on the market, see which fit your favorite drone and how much they weigh.
So you’re looking to record 360-degree video from your drone, and you can’t find any decent drone out there to do the job.
There’s a reason for that: a drone with a good 360-degree camera doesn’t exist.
Some people tried in the past to create drones that are exclusively made to hold 360 cameras, but the results were less than desirable.
Adding a 360 camera on a drone
There have been a few tries at creating such a drone before, one called the Janus 360 by Drone Volt, which was released in 2017 and cost over $10000, but the results were sub-par. Another one would be the Aerial Pro 360, which also had very unstabilized results, despite its high price.
The most serious way in which you can actually achieve 360-quality video from your drone is by attaching a 360 camera to it.
Fortunately, there are plenty of accessories and increasingly good cameras that can be used for this build.
Here’s what the build will consist of:
I’m going to recommend specific 360 cameras for drones a bit below, so now let’s see what you need to build a 360-camera drone:
This is quite important as picking a popular drone (especially one from the DJI Mavic series) will allow you to easily find a mount for fitting any 360-degree camera.
If you would buy or own a less popular drone you might have to either 3d print or somehow build your custom mount for the drone.
Most action camera mounts for drones also fit a 360 camera as they have the same screw size for the fitting.
So here are the drones on which you can easily mount a 360-camera drone, without the need for printing one:
DJI Mavic Air2 - a powerful but compact drone, it’s easily able to carry even some of the heavier action cameras and 360 cams. It also happens to be my favorite camera drone under $1000.
DJI Mavic 2 - An even stronger and sturdier Mavic drone, the Mavic 2 pro or zoom have accessories you can find on amazon and can easily carry a GoPro or a 360 camera on its body.
Xiaomi Fimi x8 - Thanks to its Mavic-like body shape and folding system, the Fimi x8 can fit a universal camera mount made for the Mavic series.
DJI Mini 2 - Although very tiny, this quadcopter can actually fit an accessory and even carry a smaller 360 camera on top. But it will indeed make it slower in flight.
DJI Phantom-like drones - There are mounts that fit the Phantom 3 and Phantom 4 series just as well, being mounted on the bottom legs. These types of mounts would also fit similarly shaped drones like the Autel X stars for example.
In this section we’ll take a look at the best 360 degree cameras for drones on the market, see which fit your favorite drone and how much they weigh.
Specs
Compatible Drone
One of the best and most popular action cameras also happens to be one of the best 360 drone cameras. Even more, it comes with a drone mounting package for the Mavic 2 pro and Zoom called “Aerial Edition”. So it’s more than able to stabilize drone shakiness.
The insta 360 One R is a modular action camera that can allow you to get a few different modules on it so it is super versatile:
It’s lightweight, versatile and can be used on most drones I listed previously (even on the DJI Mini 2, but with a little bit of trouble).
It’s best used for the following drones:
It’s a great 360 camera for a drone thanks to its relatively low weight and the amazing video results it creates.
The invisible drone mode is achievable with the Insta 360 R aerial module and a DJI Mavic 2 and it makes it so the drone completely disappears from the shot, unlike any other camera out there.
You can also buy ND filters for it.
Specs
Compatible Drone
The GoPro Max is still one of the better 360-cameras you can buy, and even though I thought it would be heavier, it only weighs 154 grams. This makes it one of the heavier on this list, but still light enough to be carried by most serious camera drones out there, like:
Can you mount a GoPro Max on a DJI Mini 2?
Yes, you can mount a GoPro max on a DJI Mini 2, as you can see in the video below, however, it is on the heavier side, so it will drain the battery faster and might result in crashes if you’re not careful.
Specs
Compatible Drone
The Original Insta 460 One X has been replaced by the One x2 and is no longer in production. The new camera has a larger battery so it’s a bit heavier than the original.
However, it also comes with additional features that you might find interesting.
While it didn’t seem on paper like a big upgrade from the original, this version does come with quite an improvement in the footage itself, along with other things:
Here are the main differences between One X and One x2:
| FEATURES | INSTA360 ONE X | INSTA360 ONE X2 |
|---|---|---|
| Display | LCD Display | OLED Touchscreen + 360° Live Preview |
| Waterproof | X | IPX8 to 10m (33ft) |
| Microphones | 2xStereo | 4x360 Directional and Stereo Audio |
| Battery | 1050mAh | 1630mAh |
| Run Time | 60 Minutes | 80 Minutes |
| Video Coding | H.264 | H.265, H.264 |
| Color Profiles | Standard, LOG | Vivid, Standard, LOG |
| 360 Video Resolution | 5.7K | 5.7K |
| Wide Angle Video Resolution | X | 2560×1440 |
| Weight | 115g | 149g |
| Dimensions | 48 x 115 x 28mm | 46 x 113 x 30mm |
One of the best and most popular action cameras also happens to be one of the best 360 drone cameras. Even more, it comes with a drone mounting package for the mavic 2 pro and Zoom called “Aerial Edition”. So it’s more than able to stabilize drone shakiness.
The insta 360 One R is a modular action camera that can allow you to get a few different modules on it so it is super versatile:
It’s lightweight, versatile and can be used on most drones I listed previously (even on the DJI Mini 2, but with a little bit of trouble).
It’s best used for the following drones:
It’s a great 360 camera for a drone thanks to its relatively low weight and the amazing video results it creates.
The invisible drone mode is achievable with the Insta 360 R aerial module and a DJI Mavic 2 and it makes it so the drone completely disappears from the shot, unlike any other camera out there.
You can also buy ND filters for it.
I think a part where I talk about what to avoid for sure is necessary, as it will make the process of decision simpler and maybe helps you figure what's important in a 360 camera for a drone (and in general).
The Vuze series are cameras from a few years ago that aren’t great quality like you’d expect nowadays.
More so, they’re large and bulky, so wouldn’t fit well with a drone.
Another quite old release, but the main factor that makes it not so great for using on a drone is the fact that it weighs 230 grams, which is quite heavy compared to today's alternatives.
Besides the funny name, it also hasn’t aged that well.
The Qoocam is a 360 camera that doubles as a 180 3d camera and while it was pretty good when it came out, this year it’s way below standard compared to the competition.
A short guide and video on how to create a panoramic photo with your drone (even if you don't have a 360 degree camera)
If all you need is a 360 photo from the air, you might not actually need to buy an expensive 360 camera.
All you need to do is take photos around the drone and stitch them together in a software or manually.
Of course this is pretty tedious to do, however many of the drones today have automatic 360 panorama photo options. The drones with 360 panorama features are:
There might be other drones out there with this automatic function, but I just haven’t heard of it.
These drones can take more than sphere panorama, there’s also an Asteroid quickshot as well that stitches a 360 panorama together with a video to make it look like you’re on a tiny planet and you’re filmed through an asteroid or something.
If all you need is a 360 aerial panorama photo, you can most of the time do this with the drone itself, but if you want actual 360 video from the air, getting a lightweight 360 camera is necessary. Make sure you buy a more recently released one, as they have made considerable progress during the past few years.
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