I got a flyer in the email for the Parrot drone with a year of pix4d model software for $1099.
While it only has a 14 mpx camera, the software by itself normally costs more than that, or that's what I thought?
I don't know anything about it, but it Seems like a good entry drone to get into the business, unless I am missing something.
I haven't seen anything at that price in the Parrot line that looks robust enough for mapping. After you subtract the base cost for Pix4d it looks worse.
If you want entry level you can pick up a Phantom 3 for under 400 and lease the needed software for less. Even at 12mp the gimbal and sensor will give you better results than the smaller and less stable parrot cameras.
More good news is if you wait a few months you will get more for less. Purchase research on SUAS goes completely stale in 3 or 4 months...
My understanding is that anything less that 20 Mp really doesn't work. At least not to survey standards.
There is a lot more to it than megapixel rating. We did some very good work with a P3 which is 12mp. The key is having a decent size lens. The gimbal on the Phantom series also makes for cleaner images. Its hard to beat at the entry level..
More important than pixel numbers are sensor size and shutter type, along with a good Gimbel. The 4 Pro has a 1-inch sensor and a mechanical shutter. All of the phantoms below the 4 pros have smaller sensors and digital shutters.?ÿ Which are subject to rolling shutter syndrome and image blur.
We have recently acquired those for sale.?ÿ The Pix4D license is a one-year subscription to their Pix4DMapper.?ÿ That is what holds the price down.
We had a webinar with our Birmingham office folks who are way more invested in drone mapping and they see this as an entry level unit.