First drone to start Business

[tavorh]

Guys,
As title mentions planning on starting a aerial photography business to take shots and film buildings and construction sites. I am a civil engineer I think it would be a good idea since I work in construction and have exposure. I started flying a hubsan x4 with the hd camera and wanting to get a drone to take good high definition footage. Is the best bang for the buck the DJI Phantom 3 Standard for $699 or should I go Professional for $1250. I want to make the smallest investment necesarry but at the same time if business goes well might need the 4k from the professional although almost double the price? What are your thoughts. Is the 1080p good enough for panoramic and highdef footage?

 

[msinger]

1080p should be fine. Most people who shoot in 4k are downscaling the video to 1080p anyhow.

 

[Darmie]

Advance. They are up to 2.7k anyway, and besides, the battery charger that comes with advance is said to charge slower than the pro, I built my own DC charger for field power anyway, so, that's always an option. I think you would want the lightbridge. It's wonderful seeing HD down link and having a good radio link with everything that comes with it.
I fly my pro with 1080. It works on my TV and with my old computer where 4k did not. If and when I ever get a good editing package, I'll then go back to 4k recording. I really think the standard is missing out on the lightbridge. Only reason I invested in the P3P is for the lightbridge. Only reason I own an Ipad air 2 is for the lightbridge. it's just wow. I'm sure there's a nitch for the standard, but consider the advance or pro and a good tablet, ie IOS, (No I"m not an apple fan boy) as your investment. .. besides, nothing like flying and letting your customers take a look at the screen as you fly.

 

[msinger]

tavorh, and just to clarify, the Professional shoots 4k (not the Advanced).

 

[nickyb]

Advanced would be the ticket, shoots at 2.7k I think now. Saves you money so you can buy more batteries for those bigger building shots. Good luck with you business.

 

[Panther6834]

First, I wouldn't even consider the Standard. Stick with deciding between the Advanced & Professional. Also, the Advanced isn't $1250...it's $1000. It's the Professional that's $1250.

As for the 1080p vs 2.7L vs 4K, I shoot videos for my church, plus I'm starting a (part-time) aerial video & photography (in that order of preference) business. I always shoot 4K, then, after editing (I use Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, Adobe Premiere Elements 13, & PowerDirector Ultimate 13), I output the final video to 1080p. There are several advantages to shooting in 4K, then outputting to 1080p...I won't list them, as you can easily Google it, but, unless you want to shoot 60fps (4K maxes out at 30fps), you'll find plenty of info as to why you shoot shoot 4K, then output lower.

 

[Meta4]

I want to make the smallest investment necessary but at the same time if business goes well might need the 4k from the Pro although almost double the price? What are your thoughts. Is the 1080p good enough for panoramic and highdef footage?

The Advanced offers the most bang for buck.
It gives exactly the same picture quality as the pro and the 2.7K video is near as good as 4K.
There's very little call for video over 1080p anyway.
If you want an idea of picture and panorama quality, check my photo site for more like this.

 

[John Locke]

I agree, DON'T EVEN think about the Standard model, the Advanced model is the best value. Half the value of Phantom is Lightbridge, without it you have an old technology drone using Wi-Fi, which sucks. However you'll definitely want to buy the 100watt charger that comes with the pro version, costs $60. It charges twice as fast, we'll worth it. You can use the 57watt charger to charge the controller while charging batteries.

After you get your business rolling you'll want to buy an Inspire. That's really geared for what your planning.

I recommend you research your state for regulations on drone work for hire. It's not simple. There are lots of threads on that subject. Search "333". Hopefully the FAA will make it less foggy on the regulations in coming months. You'll definitely need liability insurance.

 

[Panther6834]

The Advanced offers the most bang for buck.
It gives exactly the same picture quality as the pro and the 2.7K video is near as good as 4K.

To be completely honest, while I agree with the "most bang for the buck", I have to disagree with the "2.7K video is near as good as 4K", as well as the statement about the Advanced having "exactly the same picture quality as the Pro". First off, 2.7K has a 30% higher pixel density than 1080p. Second, when outputting to a lower resolution, 4K (3840x2160) outputs to 1080p much better than 2.7K does, as the pixel density is exactly 4x that of 1080p, this both have a16:9 ratio. On the other hand, 2.7K resolution (2704x1524) has an aspect ratio of 15.968:9, thus it is not equal (height to width) to 1080p or 4K.

Using Blu-ray fps as a similar example, while all Blu-ray players can play 720p video at up to 60fps, low-end (and some mid-range) players can only play 1080p video at the standard 24fps rate (although newer players should be able to play 1080p at up to 60fps). Traditionally, movies are filmed at 24fps. If you have a TV that only operates at 60Hz, while it can smoothly play 30fps & 60fps video, it had to do the "old-fashioned" 3:2 conversion for 24fps video. Moving up to a TV that's operates at 120Hz (or higher) gives you the ability to smoothly play all standard frame rates, without conversion. Thinking back to the 15.968:9 aspect ratio of 2.7K video, your editing software will have to slightly stretch the video when you downscale it to 1920x1080, which is exactly what your widescreen TV does when you play a 4:3 ratio video, and have it fill the entire screen. True, the 2.7K-to-1080p conversion distortion won't be as bad add the 4:3-to-16:9 conversion, but I'm sure you berth the picture.

I recommend kicking out the extra $250 to buy the Pro. If, in the end (ie. after editing, & final export), you truly want the best looking video, you WILL end up with much better, and more consistent, results starting with 4K. Otherwise, you might as well shoot 1080/30 or 1080/60 video...and which case, the Advanced would be what you would go with. The great thing about having the Pro, instead of the Advanced, is that, if I want slo-mo video, I can shoot 1080/60, and slow it down in editing...or I can shoot high-res (4K) for the best quality, & downscale in editing.

It's your choice...Either way, stay away from the Standard, & I wish you the best in your business.

 

[Meta4]

I have to disagree with the statement about the Advanced having "exactly the same picture quality as the Pro".

OK ... to be more specific, the Advanced has exactly the same STILL picture quality as the Pro.

 

[Mako79]

Pro dude. 4k, Gold stickers, faster charger and a little fan on the gimbal - none of which i need.

Everyone who uses 4k is always talking about down sampling to 1080p. Why? because no one can play 4k let alone edit or cant be be stuffed.

At this point in time, 1080p at 60fps is the sweet spot - smooth panning, tv, you tube etc... if you can stay in the air for 2 yrs without incident or upgrade then maybe consider 4k.

The fast charger is useless... rather invest in an extra battery in the field. And in time, you get proficient and usually get the shot in 5 minutes and spend the remaining time dicking about or draining the battery.

But each to their own.