Is the Air 2 supported by Drone Deploy?

TnDronePilot · Jul 25, 2023

Hi All. So I got an email from one of those drones-for-hire sites as I was asking about what drones can be used for their services. Here is part of his response:

"The main drone to make sure you have is something that is compatible with Drone Deploy that has a 20MP camera. I hope that your Mavic Air 2 is the Air 2 S. If not, we cannot use that drone for anything."

So I went to Drone Deploy to investigate before I considered upgrading to the Air 3 for that kind of work and just an upgrade from the Air 2. Below is what the website says. So is the guy correct that the Air 2's 12MP camera is not enough (even in 48MP Quad Bayer mode) or is DP not being specific enough about witch Air model meets the requirements?

Meta4 · Jul 26, 2023

TnDronePilot said:
"The main drone to make sure you have is something that is compatible with Drone Deploy that has a 20MP camera. I hope that your Mavic Air 2 is the Air 2 S. If not, we cannot use that drone for anything."

So is the guy correct that the Air 2's 12MP camera is not enough (even in 48MP Quad Bayer mode) or is DP not being specific enough about witch Air model meets the requirements?

It sounds like he is being very specific, particularly about sensor size, which is the most important indicator of image quality.
The Air 2 is supported by DroneDeploy and can be used for mapping, but the company you are considering dealing with want a drone with a camera sensor not smaller than 1".
The Air 2S has a one inch sensor, the sensor in the Air 2 is much smaller at 1/2 inch.
btw .. the names for sensor sizes have nothing to do with the actual dimensions of the sensor.
Nothing on a one inch sensor measures one inch.

This diagram shows a comparison of the sensor sizes of some common DJI drones

GadgetGuy · Jul 26, 2023

The Air 3 also won't satisfy your discriminating drones-for-hire site camera requirements. It is neither 20MP nor a 1” sensor on either camera! Effective pixels aren't real pixels. The 48MP effective pixels are Quad Bayer bogus pixels. The true pixels are 12MP on each. You'll need either an Air 2S, a Mavic 2 Pro, a Phantom 4 Pro, or any version of the Mavic 3 series. Those are the only DJI drones with true 20MP cameras.

Arnold LeVine · Jul 26, 2023

and check the actual drone-for-hire reputation, or actual users comments if you can find them before you make a big financial decision if what you can earn from them is the only reason you are looking to upgrade. They are often bottom feeding jobs that are hardly worth the time. I have also had exceptions to that rule that were good jobs, (but rarely)

TnDronePilot · Jul 27, 2023

GadgetGuy said:
The Air 3 also won't satisfy your discriminating drones-for-hire site camera requirements. It is neither 20MP nor a 1” sensor on either camera! Effective pixels aren't real pixels. The 48MP effective pixels are Quad Bayer bogus pixels. The true pixels are 12MP on each. You'll need either an Air 2S, a Mavic 2 Pro, a Phantom 4 Pro, or any version of the Mavic 3 series. Those are the only DJI drones with true 20MP cameras.

Thanks for the info. Funny that even the Matrice 30T I just got wouldn't qualify for those guys. Its two cameras are also 1/2" CMOS. The zoom has 48M Effective pixels while the wide has 12M.

I was just looking for some extra aerial work with either drone until my inspection portfolio started getting me clients. You all are not the first to mention that most of those fly-for-hire are BS.