Camera drones used to be something that come with a fairly high price. Now, thanks to Holy Stone, even drones that are under 80$ (kid drones for example) can have a decent and nice camera, which boosts the joy of drone flying tremendously. What Holy Stone brought to the market is not just a variety of good quality camera drones with lower prices, but also a new, cost-efficient way of capturing beautiful life moments.

Here is something you need to know about the camera and the Holy Stone camera drones.

Resolution

Simply put, resolution means the amount of detail that the camera can capture, and it is measured in pixels. A camera with more pixels can obviously capture more details. The photo it takes can thus be enlarged without becoming blurry or“foggy.”

Gimbal

As drones go up in price, you'll notice they start having something called an integrated gimbal. A gimbal is a camera stabilizer vital for producing steady aerial shots. It allows the drone camera to remain in the same position, regardless of the motion of the drone. However, you won't see it on the smaller toy drones, but they don't need it anyway, as people usually fly them indoors or at lower altitudes.

If you want a drone with gimbal, remember to check out our 2022 flagship model HS720G! 2-axis gimbal, 4k cameras, dashing outlook, long transmission range... Definitely one of the best budget drones out there!

SD Card

Also called Mirco SD, TF Card or microSD, but they all mean the same thing. When an SD card is correctly inserted into the drone, it will store all the images and videos the drone take. Before buying, please check the product page to find out if the particular drone model supports a SD card, and what is the largest micro sd card you can use with it. For example, the HS720E only accepts micro SD cards up to 128GB.

(Note: all of our drones do NOT come with SD card.)

Difference in storage of the materials

When a SD Card is inserted, and your cellphone is connected to the drone's Wi-Fi, the photos and videos the drone takes will be automatically stored in both the SD card and the photo album of your phone. However, the resolution of the stored materials can be different, based on the places they are stored. 

For some models, like HS175D, the photos and videos stored in your phone and the SD card have the same resolution. But for some other models, like HS720E or HS700E, the materials stored in the phone will have a lower resolution than those in the SD card. This is because we want to guarantee a smooth and fast transmission between the drone and the phone.

So please don't panic when you find out the photos and videos on your phone is not in 4K or 2K as promised in the ad. The drones do take 4K or 2K footages, they are just stored in the SD card.

Adjustment of the camera angle

The camera angle of some of the models is manually adjustable through the controller. So when you are flying these models, don't forget to tilt the angle up and down to find the perfect frame for your shot. Please refer to the description of the product and its user manual to see if the camera angle is remotely adjustable (all the higher-end Holy Stone drones allow you to do this). The camera adjustment button/wheel is usually located at the top right/left corner of the remote control.

(A few models' camera cannot be adjusted through the controller, but you can still tilt it up and down manually pre-flight. Again, please refer to the specific product page and users manual to find out more information.

Camera settings

If you have a higher-end Holy Stone drone like HS720G or HS720E, you can change the camera setting through the app. When the cellphone is connected to the drone, feel free to experiment with different kinds of camera settings to enhance your aerial shots. Apply different filters. Zoom in or out. Try out all the combinations of contrast, brightness, ISO, etc… There is more than one way to capture life's most beautiful moments.

Maintenance

We would like to offer a few drone and camera cleaning tips for you. Surely, you don't want your drone to become dirty, do you?

After every flight, take the time to clean the propellers, motors, cameras and drone body. If you don’t perform this step, the dirt and grime may gradually build up on and inside your drone. This may cause several problems like motors locking up mid-flight, or the batteries getting overheated.

And you will need these in your drone bag:

1. A good cleaning brush: dust, dirt and debris (like grass) thatss caught in your drone can be a real pain in the a**. You can use it to gently brush away those small things that hide in the corners and hard to reach areas.

2. A microfibre cloth or some camera lens cleaning paper: a camera lens is something very delicate and should be treated with caution. Be careful with what you use, the wrong material can even scratch the lens. Microfibre cloth or special camera lens cleaning paper are much more suitable for this. 

Common button configurations

Taking a photo or a video with a Holy Stone drone is really easy. Normally, there are two types of button configuration when it comes to aerial photography: 1) the "taking photo" button and the "taking video" button are two separate buttons; 2) they are the same button. Please refer to the User Manual to find out which configuration your drone has.

Basically, in Case No.1, you will press the Photo button to take a photo, press the Video button to start the camera, and press it again to exit recording. In Case 2, where the 2 functions are on the same button, you will SHORT press the button to take a photo, LONG press (about 2 sec.) the button to start the camera, and then LONG press again to exit recording.