5 Best Drone Accessories To Improve Your Footage (2024)

Best Drone Accessories
Best Drone Accessories

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So you’ve bought a drone and want to take your footage up to the next level? No problem.. here are a few drone accessories to help 😉

Chances are if you’ve purchased a drone, it’s because you’re looking to improve your films and videos, right? Of course, they’re also a ton of fun!

But ultimately, they’re tools we use to get some really interesting, unique shots that help us improve our films.

However, as good as they are straight out of the box, there are certain limitations. They won’t capture that amazing, beautiful aerial footage you’ve been dreaming of straight away. Alongside experience and knowledge, you need a few added extras.

So, we’ve put together a list of the 5 Best Drone Accessories To Improve Your Aerial Footage.

1. ND and Polar Filters

Firstly, when looking at accessories for your drone, ND and polarizing filters have to be the number one priority. They’re a complete game changer and an absolute essential.

  • In order to get the most smooth, cinematic footage, you need your shutter speed to remain low (usually 1/50).
  • ND filters are basically sunglasses for your drone camera.
  • They allow you to stay low on the shutter speed without all of the highlights (or everything) being blown-up and over-exposed.

Meanwhile, if you’re flying over oceans and rivers at the wrong time of day, sunlight and glare can be a real issue. Polarizing filters help take away the glare of sunlight on water, or the reflections in glass, allowing you to shoot through and under the surface. Super useful.

PolarPro Vivid Filter Collection

Personally, our favourite filters are made by Polar Pro which we’ve linked above. However, there is a lot of choice and options so it’s worth doing a bit of research. Bear in mind the type of drone you’re flying with too!

2. Tablet/Monitor

Secondly, depending on which drone you purchase, 9 times out of 10, you will be required to fly using an app on your phone, or a screen fitted into the remote controller that’s quite small.

We highly recommend investing in a larger tablet. A larger tablet consequently means more screen size. This will enable you to have a much better look at the footage you’re shooting and therefore, you’ll get better shots.

Small details can often be lost whilst using such small screens and it can be really frustrating to find mistakes or things you’ve missed only when you sit down to edit. Save yourself the worry and hassle by making this one of the priority accessories for your drone.

There are multiple tablets on the market so, we’ll leave it up to you which exact one you’ll get. If you don’t have the largest budget, then an iPad or iPad Mini may be off the table.

Huawei Mediapad T5 Tablet

We’ve found some brilliant, cheaper alternatives such as the Huawei MediaPad T5. Whatever you choose, we recommend a few basic rules:

  • It has the specs to run the latest version of your drone’s flying app
  • Up-to-date operating system & capable onboard chip
  • The screen is large (at least 5 inches in diameter)
  • Battery life can last for a full day out filming

CrystalSky Monitor

Alternatively, DJI also offers their own monitor – the CrystalSky. It’s large, bright and completely in sync with all their software. It even renders the following accessory unnecessary!

3. Monitor Hood

Furthermore, to help aid you whilst filming and ensure you really nail the shots, you should invest in a monitor hood as one of your drone accessories.

Because no matter how big or small your screen is, phone or tablet, it’s an LCD. Therefore, it will at some point catch the glare of the sun and reflect.

Consequently, you’ll become frustrated as you can’t truly see what it is you’re filming. You won’t know if you’re actually getting the best aerial footage because your vision is impaired.

A monitor hood is one of the most simple drone accessories but it can really make a huge difference in your flights.

4. Drone Cleaning Kit

This seems obvious. No matter what type of camera you’re using – whether it’s a DSLR, a cinematic or a flying camera (your drone), you need to invest in a camera cleaning kit.

These are very easy to find online at very affordable prices. There’s really nothing worse than taking your time to set the drone up, switch it on, run all your pre-flight checks, and send it up 100 meters only to then realise there’s a smudge on the lens.

Even worse, imagine a scenario where you think you’ve got some epic aerial footage, you sit down the next day to edit it and only then do you realise that there’s a speck of dust on the lens that’s ruined the shot. You can’t go back and re-shoot.

So, save yourself this hassle and get a cleaning kit. Take the time once a week or before each flight to carefully clean the camera lens and make sure it’s fully prepped to capture that beautiful aerial footage.

5. Antenna Signal Booster

Lastly on our top 5 drone accessories, is antenna signal boosters.

Depending on your drone, you may be flying with a Wi-Fi connection. From time to time you may experience signal drop-outs which means you can’t control the drone properly or your video lags and drops out.

As a result, you just can’t get those smooth, dreamy shots. Very quickly, it becomes very frustrating.

By making signal antenna boosters one of your top drone accessories, you safeguard against this. Here’s why you buy a signal booster;

  • The antenna reduces the angle of the signal, receiving it to the transmitter with fewer problems and interference.
  • This strengthens your video stream and ensures you have full control of the drone at all times – even when at great distances.
  • This allows you to fly further more comfortably, thus enabling you to focus solely on the one thing that matters – great aerial footage 👍

Bonus Drone Accessory: High-Vis Vest

We’re throwing in a bonus here because we think it’s such a great little hack.

You’re probably struggling to make the connection between a high-vis vest helping to improve your aerial footage so, let us explain.

Drones are still relatively new and wonderful. When people see them, there’s always going to be a few who want to come and ask you some questions. They may be inquisitive and friendly. If you’re unlucky, some may be less happy.

We’ve found that simply by wearing a high-vis vest, members of the public are much less inclined to approach you. The high-vis vest implies that you’re a professional and this is your job.

By limiting how many times people interrupt you, you’re able to remain focused on the job at hand and really nail those shots!

Wrapping Up – Best Drone Accessories

So that’s the top five (six, actually) drone accessories we think you should be investing in.

When it comes to accessories for your drone, there is a whole variety of options but we would say, if you’re on a budget and can only purchase the essentials, these are the ones to go for.

Stay safe out there and enjoy your flying!

Author
Josh Edwards
Josh Edwards
Josh is a filmmaker and YouTuber. He has a real passion for travel and documentaries. Follow him on Twitter and YouTube.
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