Drone Tours in Marion, IL

MG Drone Tours films indoor and aerial drone tours in Marion, Illinois. We are an FAA Part 107 certified operation based in Johnsonville, 55 miles east of Marion, insured to $5 million, with finished video delivered in two days.

Call 618-835-2598 or request a quote.

Commercial property is what Marion needs filmed

Marion is the commercial center of Williamson County — retail, restaurants, medical offices, storage, light industrial and hospitality, sitting on the I-57 corridor. That is a different filming problem from a farm listing.

For a business, the useful footage is almost always inside. A customer deciding whether to book a venue, choose a clinic, tour a gym or rent a unit wants to see the actual space — the layout, the ceiling height, how the rooms connect, what condition it is in. A photograph of the parking lot does not answer that. A continuous indoor fly-through does.

We fly a small FPV drone by hand through the inside of a building in one unbroken take, with no GPS holding it steady. It is a separate discipline from flying a camera drone over a roof, and it is the part most drone operators in southern Illinois do not offer. MG Drone Tours has filmed indoor tours since October 2022, including a working doggie daycare filmed with dogs and staff still in the building.

Nearest published work to Marion

Our published portfolio does not yet include a Marion address. The closest filmed work is:

Marion is closer to our base than Carbondale is, so there is no travel premium for a Marion booking.

Flying near Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge

Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge sits immediately west of Marion, and it affects where a drone can legally operate. National Wildlife Refuges generally do not allow drones to be launched from or landed on refuge land without authorization from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In practice that means a property near the refuge boundary needs the flight planned around it — launching and recovering from the client’s own ground, and keeping the aircraft off refuge airspace. This is the sort of thing worth settling before the shoot rather than on the day, and it is part of why an FAA-certified operator is worth having on a commercial job.

Common questions

Do you serve Marion and Williamson County?

Yes. Marion is 55 miles from our base in Johnsonville — closer than Carbondale — and Herrin, Carterville, Johnston City and the rest of Williamson County are all inside our normal service area.

Can you film inside an operating business?

Yes. Indoor tours are flown around people, pets and normal day-to-day operations. Jagger’s Doggie Daycare was filmed with dogs and staff in the building.

Can you fly near Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge?

We plan around it. National Wildlife Refuge land generally requires U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorization for drone launch or landing, so shoots near the refuge boundary are flown from the client’s own property with the refuge kept out of the flight path.

Are you FAA certified and insured?

Yes. Derrick Martin holds an FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, and MG Drone Tours carries $5 million in liability insurance. A certificate of insurance can be provided for commercial clients who require one.

How quickly do I get the finished video?

Two days. Filming itself takes 30 minutes to an hour on site for a typical property.

Book a Marion drone tour

MG Drone Tours
Johnsonville, IL 62850
Phone: 618-835-2598
Hours: Monday–Friday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Request a quote for your Marion property, or see the full portfolio.