Drone purchase thoughts

[Hoopster3]

Drone for work

Long explanation, trying to be brief.

Had a Parrot AR drone a few years and got a original Mavic Pro in 2016 so have been flying recreationally for over 10 years. I'm in the process of gathering information to start a part-time drone business for photography, land surveying, agriculture and whatever else I can target work toward. I would be most interested in a high quality camera, stabilization, thermal is a new huge draw for me, and rangefinder seems useful. I also don't have an unlimited budget so realize I may not get everything.

While I'm extremely up to date on my 2016 Mavic Pro, my research has bounced me around a little bit on newer models. The Enterprise models are interesting and I quickly realized my Mavic Pro won't be up to the task of what I'm wanting to accomplish. I had no reason to look outside of DJI, until now. I'm located in Iowa and there is uncertainty surrounding drone laws, specifically DJI in the United States. These drone regulations are hard to follow and I'm not sure if I should make a purchase in short order to beat a possible ban or to wait and possibly lose out???

I'm fully aware of holding a 107 certificate, LLC for a business, insurance, ect. I would like feedback on the options I'm currently considering and am open to others. The ability to actually acquire one could be a different story as well.

DJI Mavic 3 Thermal
DJI Matrice 4T
DJI Matrice 400 (expensive)
Autel Evo Max 4T

Reading up on Autel, all I find is complaints about quality and customer service. I also don't want to invest this much into DJI if it will become unusable in the near future. Of course, I would prefer stay within the DJI ecosystem I already know.

At 1st I thought the Mavic 3T would be my best bet, but (correct me if I'm wrong) the 3T doesn't have the same land surveying capabilities of the 3E and the 3E doesn't have thermal. It seems like I'm looking for ONE thing to do it all and my budget doesn't allow for that.

I'm in no rush and waiting until 2026 when we might have drone law updates might just be the safest bet. Open to thoughts, critique and other ideas. My budget is around $5k and a used drone in excellent condition would be considered.

Also...Am I crazy for looking to start a drone business with all the uncertainty?

 

[Cafguy]

Also...Am I crazy for looking to start a drone business with all the uncertainty?

Kinda...Yea.
Even as close as 6 months ago I would have told you that you would have a wonderful fleet and you would be ready to tackle the world!
Now in my honest opinion I am not sure what to tell you! I will tell you that the studios hire people to build their Drones and its really the only way now to insure that you stay in the air these days.
DJI Makes some of the best Drones out there BUT you are in the U.S. and DJI has had enough of the political game they were thrown into. If you purchase an enterprise model in the U.S. Any parts or warranty has to go over a bridge made of pretty thin ice to get to you.
Its a VERY good question really. DJI brought everyone into this world with very cheap Drones that were high quality.
I think now it will be up to a rag-tag band of Drone builders to hold it all together!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Also...Am I crazy for looking to start a drone business with all the uncertainty?

Yup! Your timing couldn’t be worse.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Drone for work

Long explanation, trying to be brief.

Had a Parrot AR drone a few years and got a original Mavic Pro in 2016 so have been flying recreationally for over 10 years. I'm in the process of gathering information to start a part-time drone business for photography, land surveying, agriculture and whatever else I can target work toward. I would be most interested in a high quality camera, stabilization, thermal is a new huge draw for me, and rangefinder seems useful. I also don't have an unlimited budget so realize I may not get everything.

While I'm extremely up to date on my 2016 Mavic Pro, my research has bounced me around a little bit on newer models. The Enterprise models are interesting and I quickly realized my Mavic Pro won't be up to the task of what I'm wanting to accomplish. I had no reason to look outside of DJI, until now. I'm located in Iowa and there is uncertainty surrounding drone laws, specifically DJI in the United States. These drone regulations are hard to follow and I'm not sure if I should make a purchase in short order to beat a possible ban or to wait and possibly lose out???

I'm fully aware of holding a 107 certificate, LLC for a business, insurance, ect. I would like feedback on the options I'm currently considering and am open to others. The ability to actually acquire one could be a different story as well.

DJI Mavic 3 Thermal
DJI Matrice 4T
DJI Matrice 400 (expensive)
Autel Evo Max 4T

Reading up on Autel, all I find is complaints about quality and customer service. I also don't want to invest this much into DJI if it will become unusable in the near future. Of course, I would prefer stay within the DJI ecosystem I already know.

At 1st I thought the Mavic 3T would be my best bet, but (correct me if I'm wrong) the 3T doesn't have the same land surveying capabilities of the 3E and the 3E doesn't have thermal. It seems like I'm looking for ONE thing to do it all and my budget doesn't allow for that.

I'm in no rush and waiting until 2026 when we might have drone law updates might just be the safest bet. Open to thoughts, critique and other ideas. My budget is around $5k and a used drone in excellent condition would be considered.

Also...Am I crazy for looking to start a drone business with all the uncertainty?

Regardless of complaints, your best bang-for-buck would have been Autel's EVO2 with the ability for the user to swap camera payloads between 8K: 6K and a really good thermal... but... Autel is equally stuffed courtesy of the legislative attack-dogs hell-bent on inhibiting the US use of anything built in China.

 

[Starz]

Possibly look at the Matrice series DJI products. They can carry various different cameras.

 

[Hoopster3]

Kinda...Yea.
Even as close as 6 months ago I would have told you that you would have a wonderful fleet and you would be ready to tackle the world!
Now in my honest opinion I am not sure what to tell you! I will tell you that the studios hire people to build their Drones and its really the only way now to insure that you stay in the air these days.
DJI Makes some of the best Drones out there BUT you are in the U.S. and DJI has had enough of the political game they were thrown into. If you purchase an enterprise model in the U.S. Any parts or warranty has to go over a bridge made of pretty thin ice to get to you.
Its a VERY good question really. DJI brought everyone into this world with very cheap Drones that were high quality.
I think now it will be up to a rag-tag band of Drone builders to hold it all together!

Thank you for the response. Luckily I was only wanting to do this as a side job, but actually hoped it would have a chance for growth. Just the freedom of getting paid to have this much sounds pretty freeing.

I feel like I'm too used to the quality and ecosystem DJI has provided at a pretty reasonable cost. Now I'm stuck between a DJI ban and being forced to pay for a product much more expensive created by a company without a decent history of success, but does have a loud amount of users complain about customer support.

 

[Hoopster3]

Regardless of complaints, your best bang-for-buck would have been Autel's EVO2 with the ability for the user to swap camera payloads between 8K: 6K and a really good thermal... but... Autel is equally stuffed courtesy of the legislative attack-dogs hell-bent on inhibiting the US use of anything built in China.

I thought Autel was going to be safe because they moved manufacturing out of China?

 

[Hoopster3]

Possibly look at the Matrice series DJI products. They can carry various different cameras.

I would love the Matrice 400, but that price is kinda out there.

 

[Starz]

I would love the Matrice 400, but that price is kinda out there.

There are other Matrice series out there. The 210 V2 is a very usable platform.

 

[Starz]

a DJI ban

Regardless of when and IF that occurs, and a rather big IF, the amount of used product available in the market will last for y e a r s .

 

[Hoopster3]

Regardless of when and IF that occurs, and a rather big IF, the amount of used product available in the market will last for y e a r s .

The used product will be around but what about: warranty coverage, on going updates and customer support?

I can't imagine DJI devoting too many resources to cover existing purchases with no way to bring in future income from the country.

 

[Starz]

Warranty coverage is just another avenue of repair service which there is no short supply of.
Updates are not mandatory and certainly won’t keep a product on the ground without said update.
DJI has no real need to concern themselves with what does or doesn’t end up in this small speck of the globe. There are still lots of Mavic Pro’s in the air without any help from DJI.

 

[mavic3usa]

This is an excellent article, I could not have said it better myself.

Thousands of drones will be grounded overnight.

 

[Starz]

That seems a bit far fetched in my little mind.
But, I do have some beachfront property in Blyth, Arizona that is available if anyone has a need.

 

[Felix le Chat]

This is an excellent article, I could not have said it better myself.

Thousands of drones will be grounded overnight.

Bit of a click bait title: but an interesting read regardless.

 

[MS Coast]

This is an excellent article, I could not have said it better myself.

Thousands of drones will be grounded overnight.

The first line of the linked article reads, "That’s not speculation — it’s the guaranteed outcome of the sweeping drone regulations currently advancing in the United States."

I skimmed enough of the reminder to realize that it's one person's wild fears about future regulation, combination of "Wolf!" and "The sky is falling."

 

[Starz]

one person's wild fears about future regulation

Which is the method used to attract readers.

 

[Swerve]

While the headline might seem to be clickbait-ish, the article is well written and more importantly factual. The current administration is not motivated by safety, sound science or even sound business practices. It is mainly interested in making headlines while distracting from the numerous Emoluments Clause violations they commit on a daily basis. Just last week Sec. of Transportation Duffy held a press conference with FAA head Bedford outlining their "strategy" to eliminate the US's dependence of Chinese drones. This included an announcement that there would be a demonstration by Skydio following the briefing. I'm sure Rep. Elise Stefanik was tickled pink. Her colleague who is now a high ranking Skydio exec. is equally gleeful. Meanwhile 1st Responders, Safety Inspectors, Life Guards, Farmers, etc. across the nation are left wondering WTF? Small business owners in the UAS field are equally perplexed. Meanwhile Skydio is awarded a $74 million military contract. Not because they're the best, but because of dirty, underhanded politricks.

 

[Starz]

underhanded politricks

Also known as
Its’s not what you know, its who you know.
And that is how the system has worked for over a hundred years!
And it isn’t going to change.