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Hey guys
I currently have an inspire 1 that I bought to potentially open a business. I might have the opportunity to do land surveying and inspections with investors willing to lend me up to 30k. Can I do serious work with just the inspire on my own or should I be looking at something higher end? Thanks in advance
 
Well my background is in mid to large scale construction. So my initial plan is to stop on every large project I see and offer my services. I figure at first I'll start offering inspections of the buildings up high. If I had a dollar for everytime I could have used an eye in the sky I would be very well off. Simple stuff like exterior installation inspections etc. For example I had an awning installed on the side of a building about 150'up a few years ago and the specifications called for a special mounting bracket. I found the brackets in the dumpster a few days later and when I confronted the installer he insisted the manufacturer shipped extra. I had a photographer friend use his high power camera to take a few shots but he couldn't get a good shot. I was the super on the job and I brought the information to my PM who said not to worry about it so I had him sign off on the install and put it to bed. A year later I got a call that the awning had sagged and I needed to inspect. I ended up renting a lift and as I suspected the bracket was never installed. The sub had been paid in full by now and it cost the company $30,000 to reinstall the awnings properly. I was almost fired due to the whole scenario and what saved my *** was the fact I made the PM sign my prints. As the super I had the authority to spend up too $5000 on any sub I felt I needed without authorization. I would have spent $1-$2000 on having a drone pilot inspect for me. Funny because the company would not allow me to buy a $1000 phantom but they would spend $2000 on some pictures.
Anyways sorry for long story but I'd like to start there, but from what I've been reading my inspire 1 with x5 isn't gonna cut it for large area mapping and surveying. I've read something with a high power camera and the ability to carry a Lidar rig would be the best place to start. Big money but the return potential seems much better. My only worry is that I borrow all this money and the work is scarce, then by the time I pay off the loan the equipment would have come down in price substantially.
 
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For that situation - you'd be better off looking at a M2xx - and maybe even the M210RTK to allow for precision flying, together with the zoom camera (which is extremely expensive in itself) - that would suite that - for mapping and 2d/3d surveying again it would depend on the area, however from what you are saying it would sound like the M2 series might work well for you - it also has a longer flight time (slightly). The M2xx won't be available for another few months and is totally untested!

We use the Inspire 2 with the X5s camera which is excellent for the mapping and survey work we do and I can do all the work we need with a single flight of 22-23 mins giving me 2-50 acres depending on the lens I use and the height.

The Inspire 1 Pro Black we had before that was an amazing UAS, and we could get 1cm/px resolution all day long, however I wanted the extra 4mp on the camera, and the redundancy on the battery. The Inspire 1 is a tried and tested solution, the Inspire 2 is getting there, the M200/M210/M210RTK isn't even available and will have a learning curve for both the UAS and available software for mapping etc

Does that help ? (I haven't even touched on other equipment needed)
 
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Hey guys
I currently have an inspire 1 that I bought to potentially open a business. I might have the opportunity to do land surveying and inspections with investors willing to lend me up to 30k. Can I do serious work with just the inspire on my own or should I be looking at something higher end? Thanks in advance
yes, initially its more than enough.. later stage you can go for i2 with X5S camera
 
The big benefit of i1 today is the ability to use the Z3 zoom camera for inspections. I'd use nothing but i1 for the purpose of inspection. The Z3 with 3X optical zoom should be your "go-to" camera, since the X5 feels a bit heavy for the i1, even though it works. Remember, inspections are just that, inspections. There's way more value in close up photos than a slightly better image from a few more megapixels. The Z3 zoom is priceless for inspection jobs, and not available on i2 yet. If you have jobs that always require X5, or possibly X5R, then the i2 craft is ideal due to having more power and an all around more robust craft that's larger and more capable to carry heavier cameras.
 
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Well my background is in mid to large scale construction. So my initial plan is to stop on every large project I see and offer my services. I figure at first I'll start offering inspections of the buildings up high. If I had a dollar for everytime I could have used an eye in the sky I would be very well off. Simple stuff like exterior installation inspections etc. For example I had an awning installed on the side of a building about 150'up a few years ago and the specifications called for a special mounting bracket. I found the brackets in the dumpster a few days later and when I confronted the installer he insisted the manufacturer shipped extra. I had a photographer friend use his high power camera to take a few shots but he couldn't get a good shot. I was the super on the job and I brought the information to my PM who said not to worry about it so I had him sign off on the install and put it to bed. A year later I got a call that the awning had sagged and I needed to inspect. I ended up renting a lift and as I suspected the bracket was never installed. The sub had been paid in full by now and it cost the company $30,000 to reinstall the awnings properly. I was almost fired due to the whole scenario and what saved my *** was the fact I made the PM sign my prints. As the super I had the authority to spend up too $5000 on any sub I felt I needed without authorization. I would have spent $1-$2000 on having a drone pilot inspect for me. Funny because the company would not allow me to buy a $1000 phantom but they would spend $2000 on some pictures.
Anyways sorry for long story but I'd like to start there, but from what I've been reading my inspire 1 with x5 isn't gonna cut it for large area mapping and surveying. I've read something with a high power camera and the ability to carry a Lidar rig would be the best place to start. Big money but the return potential seems much better. My only worry is that I borrow all this money and the work is scarce, then by the time I pay off the loan the equipment would have come down in price substantially.

Sounds like you maybe should be looking towards the M200 with Z30 for the work you're looking to do, an Inspire 1 with Z3 could cut it as well. Based on your information, your primary necessities are zoom and flight time. M200/Z30 vs. I1/Z3 is a big jump in price and but it sounds like you could have some pretty steady work lined up.

We would be more than happy to discuss your intended uses in further depth with you and lay out the pros and cons with different equipment routes for your application.
 
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