Drones are everywhere, and it is easy to see why. At almost all budget levels the availability of aerial photography has revolutionized the way we can shoot and convey visuals to an audience. For those of us involved in small to mid-sized video production, there is also the possibility for a good drone to reduce our reliance on single purpose rigs.

For instance, a well-flown drone can often replace a jib or crane. While there will always be circumstances that justify the heavier equipment for run and gun scenarios or those with a small crew? The ability of a drone to get those shots is priceless.

This is a first impression pre-purchase discussion of two new drones that are shaking things up. No one here has been part of any pre-release program nor were we shipped “hands on” units. The goal of this post is not an exhaustive spec-by-spec comparison, but a broad-strokes overview of the features and concerns that keep coming up in our discussions with peers.

While drones have made huge inroads, there still hasn’t been a “breakthrough” model. Despite the fantastic machines available, there is no single platform that has taken the industry by storm. I say this despite the de-facto dominance of the various DJI models. It is for this very reason that we have held off purchasing our own drone inventory and opted instead to rent them as needed. That way we did not need to “marry” any specific model or platform but could await developments. What might be the features of a breakthrough drone and do either of our contenders hit the mark?