Image Credt: PYG-Tech
Lights for drones are a great way to get some interesting and dramatic night photos and video. It also can reduce some of the noise and grain from low light photos and video. Adding a light to a drone can also be a great tool for photography and video work at night to illuminate subjects or landscapes in interesting ways.
Lights can also make your drone more visible in dark conditions and make it easier to maintain line of sight. This is vital when flying in the dark as recovery is a lot harder than during the day and leaving it overnight is never an option.
This is a quick run through our favourite lighting systems for the drones we use the most at night and darker conditions.
Lume Cube
The Lume Cube is a bit of a different league of light, both in terms of features and price. Its a tiny waterproof light that really packs in some bright light. It is also controllable over Bluetooth using its own app. Another bonus is that is can be used for multiple things, it has a tripod screw mount, so is great as a versatile photography or video accessory.
Lume Cube has additional mounts for the DJI Spark, Mavic and Phantom drones.
Drone Lights for Spark
These lights have 3 brightness settings and a flashing mode, they fit on to the sides of the drone doubling as hand guards from the propellers. They are height adjustable which is useful for getting different types of aerial shots.
Drone Lights for Mavic Air
These are perfect to just unfold the Mavic Air arms and then clip them on when you need them. The mounting brackets are tiny so they can easily be thrown in a bag with your drone. The lights themselves have 3 brightness settings and a frequency flash mode.
Drone lights for Mavic Pro
This dual torch system is setup on landing skids which is great for just snapping on to the drone when you need it. The torches can just stay mounted on to the landing skids and sat ready to go.
Drone lights for Phantom
The DJI Phantom has a great frame for mounting lights and other accessories. These lights simply clip on next to the front propellers and are fully adjustable. The torches also have adjustable brightness settings for different lighting situations.
A budget solution is to attach mini torches to hand guards or landing skids if you have them already attached. You can just attach a torch directly to the body of the drone but it won’t be very flexible for lighting. Always balance any additional payload you add to your drone so it is level in flight. Remember any additional payload can cause reduced battery life and drag in windy conditions.
Share your favourite drone lighting rigs in the comments whether they be off the shelf products or your own DIY solutions.
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