Drone Surveying

[TheSnowyPilot]

Hello there,

Just a quick question about drones and the surveying industry.
My dad owns a glass engineering business in which he or his team sometimes check out damage done to different buildings and evaluate why this might have happened.

Sometime in the future if I stop being a chicken I hope to ask about how he would feel if we combined my piloting (after getting myself fully qualified to do whatever had to be done obviously) and his surveys.

Realistically speaking on camera quality rather than size/portability, what DJI drone would be suitable for this?
I have a Mini 3 and an Air2S currently although I have to say now I have a job the Phantom 4 has piqued my interest.

Any recommendations?

 

[Meta4]

Realistically speaking on camera quality rather than size/portability, what DJI drone would be suitable for this?
I have a Mini 3 and an Air2S currently although I have to say now I have a job the Phantom 4 has piqued my interest.

Any recommendations?

The Mavic 3 is very good, but the Phantom 4 pro has a feature none of the folding drones have, that can be very useful at times.
It has switchable atti mode which would be very useful if you had much call for indoor work, or work in GPS-restricted locations.
It also allows you to disable the downward facing sensors to fly as high as 30 metres (v1) 60 metres (v2) when flying without GPS.
You can't disable VPS for DJI Fly drones and they can only reach 3 metres without GPS.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

The Mavic 3 is very good, but the Phantom 4 pro has a feature none of the folding drones have, that can be very useful at times.
It has switchable atti mode which would be very useful if you had much call for indoor work, or work in GPS-restricted locations.
It also allows you to disable the downward facing sensors to fly as high as 30 metres (v1) 60 metres (v2) when flying without GPS.
You can't disable VPS for DJI Fly drones and they can only reach 3 metres without GPS.

Plus a mechanical shutter which is preferable in survey situations...

 

[DavidT_ NZ]

Hello there,

Just a quick question about drones and the surveying industry.
My dad owns a glass engineering business in which he or his team sometimes check out damage done to different buildings and evaluate why this might have happened.

Sometime in the future if I stop being a chicken I hope to ask about how he would feel if we combined my piloting (after getting myself fully qualified to do whatever had to be done obviously) and his surveys.

Realistically speaking on camera quality rather than size/portability, what DJI drone would be suitable for this?
I have a Mini 3 and an Air2S currently although I have to say now I have a job the Phantom 4 has piqued my interest.

Any recommendations?

I use my Air 2 for land survey work, flying vertical and close up inspection photography either in standard still frame mode or using the digital zoom in video mode (from which image captures can be taken later). Basically, if I can see it, I can film it. And the resolutions are excellent. But the Air 2 does require reasonably good (normal daytime) light levels, so in shaded areas that would need consideration. I haven’t used your drones but they would both certainly be worth trying before investing in something more expensive. I also have an inexpensive set of DJI rotor guards for my Air 2 but have not needed to use them (yet). I would suggest that you practice flying around the roof above your home and get familiar with close proximity photography on aerials, satellite dishes, chimneys, pipes, etc. The Mavic Air 2 can be parked quite safely and then rotated and manoeuvred into position, even in quite strong winds. Just check your GPS satellites as you move, in case trees or structural work cuts some signals. I have not done indoor work with an Air 2. But from YT videos, your two drones look pretty good. Give them a try first. Safe flying! And practising at home should reduce some of your anxieties!