Hey Terry, of course you can start Agri-photography, but as you stand it's a bit like entering a VW Beetle to a NASCAR race? Your kit from what I understand can currently take full spectrum image photographs/ video, and what farmer would not like a nice aerial picture of his farm? But that's about the limit of what you can offer right now, so you have a bit of work to do to get a better offering? Firstly, you need to get certificated to ask for payment of your services. You can pretend that it is a hobby, and ask the farmer for cash under the counter, but the minute you submit an invoice, you are deemed a pro? Then comes the "services" you can offer. The power of Agri-photography lies in these data services and not in simply flying a drone taking standard pics? You will need to upload your pics onto a cloud service such as Agribotix etc, which unpacks your photos into various useable formats, such as where crop stress exists, or temperature, water, weeds etc indicate some useful and actionable advice to the farmer. Bear in mind that these software platforms can be pretty expensive, and especially if you are offering real time analytics, uploading your massive data files on site via mobile broadband can be very costly too? Unfortunatly, you also need special cameras on your drone for almost all of these services, so your standard cameras are very limited in offering any level of analytics too. The bad news is that your Phantom 4 is not friendly to the commercial infra-red and NDVI spectrum cameras on offer (I think there is one camera manufacturer that will "add" a NDVI camera onto your P4, but then you lose your factory warranty, not a great option ?). The DJI pilots seem to have to move backwards to the Phantom 3 Advanced to get these expensive cameras on an aerial platform. It's a real dilemma since DJI have recently announced that they are not supporting anything under the Phantom 4 from now on? I am hoping that somebody comes up with an economically viable P4/P4P offering soon? Your Inspire is an an option, but the infra red cameras (such as the FLIR) are going to test your relationship with your bank manager. Hope this helps a bit, but perhaps the takeaway is that if you are going to offer agricultural services, expect to have to ramp up your kit, knowledge and data services quite a bit to enter the professional arena?Hello Members,
Can I start into Agriculture photography with a Phantom 4 and Inspire 1 V2 just as they are?
Thank you,
Terry Evans
Hey Terry, of course you can start Agri-photography, but as you stand it's a bit like entering a VW Beetle to a NASCAR race? Your kit from what I understand can currently take full spectrum image photographs/ video, and what farmer would not like a nice aerial picture of his farm? But that's about the limit of what you can offer right now, so you have a bit of work to do to get a better offering? Firstly, you need to get certificated to ask for payment of your services. You can pretend that it is a hobby, and ask the farmer for cash under the counter, but the minute you submit an invoice, you are deemed a pro? Then comes the "services" you can offer. The power of Agri-photography lies in these data services and not in simply flying a drone taking standard pics? You will need to upload your pics onto a cloud service such as Agribotix etc, which unpacks your photos into various useable formats, such as where crop stress exists, or temperature, water, weeds etc indicate some useful and actionable advice to the farmer. Bear in mind that these software platforms can be pretty expensive, and especially if you are offering real time analytics, uploading your massive data files on site via mobile broadband can be very costly too? Unfortunatly, you also need special cameras on your drone for almost all of these services, so your standard cameras are very limited in offering any level of analytics too. The bad news is that your Phantom 4 is not friendly to the commercial infra-red and NDVI spectrum cameras on offer (I think there is one camera manufacturer that will "add" a NDVI camera onto your P4, but then you lose your factory warranty, not a great option ?). The DJI pilots seem to have to move backwards to the Phantom 3 Advanced to get these expensive cameras on an aerial platform. It's a real dilemma since DJI have recently announced that they are not supporting anything under the Phantom 4 from now on? I am hoping that somebody comes up with an economically viable P4/P4P offering soon? Your Inspire is an an option, but the infra red cameras (such as the FLIR) are going to test your relationship with your bank manager. Hope this helps a bit, but perhaps the takeaway is that if you are going to offer agricultural services, expect to have to ramp up your kit, knowledge and data services quite a bit to enter the professional arena?
Depends on what service you are going to provide. I provide a basic crop damage and visual inspection service now. But this field is so much more. Currently I am working with an Ag group to provide just the raw data to them for processing. I expect that if we come to terms I will be spending about 50 grand on two drones with an assortment of sensors. An investment I will not make without a contract in hand. A far cry from where I started with a couple of P4s.Hello Members,
Can I start into Agriculture photography with a Phantom 4 and Inspire 1 V2 just as they are?
Thank you,
Terry Evans
Aliveman, I just noticed your post and noted your statement dated Jan 30, 2017 "It's a real dilemma since DJI have recently announced that they are not supporting anything under the Phantom 4 from now on"Hey Terry, of course you can start Agri-photography, but as you stand it's a bit like entering a VW Beetle to a NASCAR race? Your kit from what I understand can currently take full spectrum image photographs/ video, and what farmer would not like a nice aerial picture of his farm? But that's about the limit of what you can offer right now, so you have a bit of work to do to get a better offering? Firstly, you need to get certificated to ask for payment of your services. You can pretend that it is a hobby, and ask the farmer for cash under the counter, but the minute you submit an invoice, you are deemed a pro? Then comes the "services" you can offer. The power of Agri-photography lies in these data services and not in simply flying a drone taking standard pics? You will need to upload your pics onto a cloud service such as Agribotix etc, which unpacks your photos into various useable formats, such as where crop stress exists, or temperature, water, weeds etc indicate some useful and actionable advice to the farmer. Bear in mind that these software platforms can be pretty expensive, and especially if you are offering real time analytics, uploading your massive data files on site via mobile broadband can be very costly too? Unfortunatly, you also need special cameras on your drone for almost all of these services, so your standard cameras are very limited in offering any level of analytics too. The bad news is that your Phantom 4 is not friendly to the commercial infra-red and NDVI spectrum cameras on offer (I think there is one camera manufacturer that will "add" a NDVI camera onto your P4, but then you lose your factory warranty, not a great option ?). The DJI pilots seem to have to move backwards to the Phantom 3 Advanced to get these expensive cameras on an aerial platform. It's a real dilemma since DJI have recently announced that they are not supporting anything under the Phantom 4 from now on? I am hoping that somebody comes up with an economically viable P4/P4P offering soon? Your Inspire is an an option, but the infra red cameras (such as the FLIR) are going to test your relationship with your bank manager. Hope this helps a bit, but perhaps the takeaway is that if you are going to offer agricultural services, expect to have to ramp up your kit, knowledge and data services quite a bit to enter the professional arena?
Looking into Sentera for a fast, easy, accurate, and cheep way to get into the Ag mapping field.Hello Members,
Can I start into Agriculture photography with a Phantom 4 and Inspire 1 V2 just as they are?
Thank you,
Terry Evans
They announced that they have cut production on them. Support remains but we cant know for how long since DJI seems to be very inconsistent with there product updates. In my opinion the P3 is still a great drone but who knows how long they will support them now that production on the p3 series and p4 standard is stopped.Aliveman, I just noticed your post and noted your statement dated Jan 30, 2017 "It's a real dilemma since DJI have recently announced that they are not supporting anything under the Phantom 4 from now on"
My P3S is still under warranty so how is it that DJI isn't supporting anything under the P4???????
I have a P4 and started a business about 6 months ago.. Now, finding out that I am needing 3 or 4 Inspire 1 drones and one with FLIR. After adding in the fact I will probably need probably 3 Terabit storage to save the video as I download each SD card and continue to fly, and a $1500 fast LapTop to work with, then purchase a LARGE storage space online to store days and days of video.. Its getting expensive!!! But the ends are justifying the means!!! All depends how much you are willing to gamble... I threw the kitchen sink, and rolled SNAKE EYES!!!
No one has any large data usage yet. Its for aesthetics and to give clients a cool live shot. There is no practical application beyond "cool", however that doesn't mean that video isn't a huge deal. Being able to see moving imagery is always more exciting and how excited you can get your customer plays a huge role on closing deals.
I cant speak for Southern Style but most people use RGB imagery and try to gain some NDVI info from it. Its quick and dirty. I feel bad for this guy because I can bet with my one P4 pro with a Sentera single NDVI+ I am getting better data than he is with 4 inspires. The inspire is a cool drone but is features are not being used to the full potential when imaging fields. The inspire is great for 360 view because of the rotating gimbal but when you are flying pointing down it is a waist of money and I never was impressed with the flight time.
The FLIR sensors are awesome! Don't get me wrong, but they aren't tailored made for crop health like Sentera's NDVI+.
In my opinion Sentera is the way to go. We employed a Sentera NDVI sensor on a P4P this past growing season with excellent results. We are now adding an M210 to our tool box... again, using Sentera sensors and software.Looking into Sentera for a fast, easy, accurate, and cheep way to get into the Ag mapping field.
I am just wanting to find out from those of you on here and flying commercially how much people are charging for aerial precision agriculture surveys using software such as pix4d and of course a NDVI camera .