Denis Barbas published “Climbing the Dolomites,” a film of about three minutes shot on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro, to YouTube on September 21. It follows climbers across the range’s limestone towers this summer, and the aerial work is beautiful.
Viewers who want to pack a drone and chase similar shots need to know Italian park law first. Much of the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2009, sits inside nature parks where flying a drone for fun is banned. In South Tyrol’s parks that ban covers every drone under 25 kilograms (55 pounds), including a sub-250-gram DJI Mini 5 Pro.
Denis Barbas Filmed Climbers in the Dolomites on a Mavic 4 Pro
Barbas, a filmmaker with about 191,000 YouTube subscribers, describes the piece as a cinematic short shot on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro in the Dolomites this summer. His description links to the Mavic 4 Pro color-grading LUTs he sells, which he says he used on all of the footage.
Travel films are his regular beat. He shot “AZORES in 6K” on the Mavic 4 Pro and “MADEIRA 5K” on a DJI Mavic 3, both Atlantic island chains that draw drone pilots for the same reason the Dolomites do.
For anyone planning a trip of their own, where in the range you take off decides whether a flight is legal. DroneXL has run Dolomites drone films before, including an FPV flight through the range in 2022, and the rules have tightened since.
South Tyrol Bans Drones Under 25 kg in Its Dolomites Parks
Since January 30, 2023, drone flights under 25 kilograms have been banned in 18 protected areas of South Tyrol. The list includes the Tre Cime, Puez-Odle, Fanes-Sennes-Braies and Sciliar-Catinaccio nature parks, plus the Lake Carezza and Città dei Sassi natural monuments.
The province’s nature office spells out the rules: the ban applies to all drones under 25 kilograms, with or without a camera. ENAC, Italy’s civil aviation authority, created the restriction as geographic zone ENV-002 and updated it on April 4, 2023, and it appears on the D-Flight map. Exceptions cover state aircraft and flights made for the park administration or in a clear public interest that fits the parks’ conservation goals. Scientific research and technical surveys can apply for an exemption.
The office also lists what it will not approve. Private and wedding videos are out, and so are promotional films, including influencer projects and social media content. Commercial productions are refused unless they are nature documentaries arranged with the office.
The Ampezzo Park Around Cortina Requires Written Permission
On the Veneto side, the Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti d’Ampezzo prohibits drone overflights without written authorization from the park. Its regulation, adopted April 30, 2020, allows that permission for nature documentaries and studies, territorial surveys, and rescue or public-safety operations.
The Ampezzo regulation also requires an ENAC pilot certificate and third-party liability insurance, with requests emailed at least four days ahead. Violations are sanctioned under Veneto regional law 21/1990, and repeat offenders can have the drone confiscated. Land the Regole d’Ampezzo own outside the park is open under national rules.
Lake Sorapis sits inside the park. In August, il Nord Est reported that signs at the lake say drones are banned and many visitors fly anyway. Behind both parks sits Italy’s 1991 protected-areas law, which bans unauthorized aircraft over parks, and ENAC can close the airspace when the managing body asks.
A DJI Mini 5 Pro Skips the Exam, Not the Paperwork
Outside the parks, EU drone rules apply through ENAC, and weight changes the checklist. A Mini 5 Pro pilot needs no competency certificate in Italy. The operator still has to register on D-Flight, put the QR code on the drone, carry liability insurance and check the zone map.
That comes straight from ENAC’s open-category requirements, which drop only the pilot certificate for sub-250-gram drones with a camera. The Mini 5 Pro in the standard Fly More Combo is a C0 drone, and EASA confirmed that status last year even though many units weigh 252 to 253 grams, citing a 3% tolerance in the certification standard. EASA has also accepted a QR code in place of the printed operator number, which is the format D-Flight issues.
The catch is the battery. DJI’s FAQ, as published by UK dealer Heliguy, says the Fly More Combo Plus drone is certified C1, and a C0 unit fitted with the Intelligent Flight Battery Plus loses its C0 status. At that point you need the online A1/A3 certificate, like any C1 pilot.
The Mavic 4 Pro Is a C2 Drone That Needs a Certificate
The Mavic 4 Pro weighs about 1,063 grams and carries a C2 class label in Europe. Its pilot needs the online A1/A3 certificate to fly in subcategory A3, far from people, and the A2 certificate of competency to fly closer to uninvolved bystanders.
DroneXL’s Mavic 4 Pro review noted the C2 label at launch. In A3 the drone must stay 150 meters (492 feet) from residential, commercial, industrial and recreational areas, which a remote ridge usually satisfies. Every class shares the 120-meter (394-foot) ceiling, measured from the closest point of the ground. Over a cliff, that point is the rock face, not the valley floor.
None of this paperwork overrides a park ban. A C2 certificate on a Mavic 4 Pro counts for exactly as much over Tre Cime as a Mini 5 Pro with no certificate at all.
DroneXL’s Take
Barbas made a beautiful film, and he’s an established drone filmmaker. I’d assume he did his homework and got these shots legally. Plenty of the Dolomites sits outside the park boundaries, and a professional knows where those lines are.
The warning here is for the viewer who watches it and thinks: I’ll take my drone to the Dolomites and get that too. That viewer is often flying a smaller mini drone like the DJI Mini 5 Pro or DJI Mini 3 and assuming sub-250 means no rules. In South Tyrol’s parks it doesn’t, and the Sorapis signs show what happens when visitors skip the homework: they fly past the sign anyway. Those pilots are the reason the next restriction lands on everyone else. Don’t be that guy.
Before you book the trip, open D-Flight, work out which park you’d be standing in, and read that park’s rules. Then go find your own shot outside the boundaries.
Sources: Autonomous Province of Bolzano, Parco Naturale delle Dolomiti d’Ampezzo, ENAC, Denis Barbas on YouTube
DroneXL uses automated tools to support research and source retrieval. All reporting and editorial perspectives are by Haye Kesteloo. Read our editorial standards.
