DJI - Mavic 3E

There really isn't a very good American made drone to replace DJI that is well supported and cost effective. We originally bought an American made drone for surveys with a cost of $15k. After 3 years it wasn't working correctly and it needed at $10k upgrade to keep functioning. We got a DJI M3E for a fraction of the cost and it works much more efficiently , has tons of support videos and forums, and can be replaced for a few hundred dollars with DJI Care.

without question I would get something that had a telephoto lens like an Air 3 or Mavic 3 or Mavic 3 Pro. With a wide angle lens like an avata you'll never get closeup that would be the kind of thing you'll want. The 3x tele on the Mavic 3 Pro would be the best lens although the 7x might be excellent if you have room to frame it. Keep in mind you can't fly over people with out special permissions. You'll want to look into those rule and of course you have to have a Part 107 certificate to do this. Don't shoot into the sun or with the sun toward the front and you will be fine with regard to lens flare. If you don't have that Part 107 you'll really need to take some time and get it.

If the claim of nearly $3000 is accurate. We'll see. It's cool but realistically I don't need this. My Mavic 3 is more than good enough for my use and I'll get a Neo 2 eventually for travel. (If we can find any in the US once they start production 😢)

incidental transit over people is not really encouraged but ~~technically within regs~~ also not really enforced. with a mavic 3 I would recommend staying far away and using the telephoto lens if you want to do everything by the books for OOP you need prop guards, approved chute (if >250g), RID, and possibly everyone in the venue needs to sign an acknowledgement disclaimer that a drone will be flying over them. kind of a PITA IMHO the best drone for OOP would be something like a DJI neo with RID module, hoverair X1 w RID module, or similar super light drone w guards already installed from factory

I shoot a lot of large scale panoramas. I have a Mavic 3 that produces excellent results. I use to travel with it but it's just a lot to carry in the already bulked up gear bag. [Example](https://www.flickr.com/photos/tattrat/52411846639/in/album-72177720295759984) Now I only use it when I'm staying local. [Example](https://www.flickr.com/photos/tattrat/51796938182/in/album-72177720295759984) For travel, I have a Mini 4 Pro. I have been consistently impressed with the footage and photos I can get with it. Amazing little piece of kit. [Example](https://www.flickr.com/photos/tattrat/54255392468/in/dateposted-public/) Unless you're really pixel peeping, I think the Mini 4 Pro really holds it's own.

I have flown an Air 2S, Mini 3 Pro, Mini 4 Pro, Mavic 3, Mavic 3E and a Matrice M30. I get the best photos with the Mavic 3 and 3E since they both have a 4/3rds wide camera sensor. They are also good at night. The Mavic 3E has a mechanical shutter which none of the consumer drones have. This virtually eliminates rolling shutter effects and makes for sharper photos. The Air 2S has a 1" sensor and can shoot 5.1K video. Still shots are also very good. My Mini 4 Pro takes surprisingly decent video, but still photos have a lot of artifacts due to the compression and the small sensor. If you want DSLR level quality, you will need to go up to an Inspire 3 or an RTK 350 which can mount a number of really high end sensors.

A phantom 4 rtk is still top of the line for survey grade mapping. Next step up would be a Mavic 3E but, like you said, its a bit confusing with DJI right now. I still occasionally use a phantom 4 pro at my survey firm alongside pix4d for processing data.

Most capable drone would be probably Mavic 4 Pro but based on your budget, I would say look into used Mavic 3 Pro. Mini 4 Pro is another great option. I do have an extra Mavic 3 for sale if you are in the USA. Let me know.

I got the part about being a photographer...I just didn't get "so," unless your post continues an earlier one. I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen. I think most of us hope that all current drones will remain approved and will continue to be supported and sold by DJI in the US Even if that case scenario doesn't happen and they no longer sell here, we still hope that the FCC or others can't find a way to make flying difficult or illegal. This administration is like no other in our lifetime (or perhaps even in the history of the US), so who knows what they will try to do. I have a Mini 3, Mini 4 Pro and Mavic 3 and I have no plans to sell them. Actually, I am considering also getting the Mavic 4 as well as I shoot for film/tv. Even if the worst happens and we have to give up our drones (which seems unlikely), one hopes that we can use eBay to sell them to buyers outside the US at a discount so they aren't a total loss.

Yeah, the industry is becoming over saturated due to the ease of entry and use. Most firms that need LiDAR already have the equipment. Added to the fact that it doesn't sound like OP is a Surveyor or has extensive experience in the area to begin with. A ton of people see videos and think it's easy. The drone flying part isn't bad but the processing can be rather difficult if you don't know what to look for. Stuff can very easily go wrong and be a huge liability. When you get into the big leagues of delivering LiDAR then you typically already have a strong foundation for geomatics and photogrammetry. Also the cost is way more than op quoted. You need GNSS equipment, a powerful computer and multiple software. That can easily double your quote even for lower end hardware. Op if you really want to get into the industry I would recommend you start with an M3E/M4E and spend a few months to a year learning all the basics. Learn how to set CP/GCP and verify you work. Learn how to work with geoids and datum's. Learn how to fix your data when RTK stops working which it frequently does.

Go for the mini 4 pro. The sharpness can be reduced in the settings page and you can also use ND filters to decrease shutter speed to help make it look more natural. The convenience of having a drone weight <250g esp. when travelling overseas is unmatched. If the weight and needing a higher certification is not an issue, then go with the air 3/3s or Mavic 3 for better cameras.

The "Field handling" section got me lose any kind of trust in their seriousness. How can they claim that it's harder to deploy a Mavic 3E compared to their big weird thing? Their (lack of) accuracy claims are also pretty much unfounded. Their selection of cameras are more or less competitive compared the P1 (and its options) and the M4E (very different main camera than the 4T). Image quality isn't meaningfully different, and their minimum flight height (min GSD) is much higher as their unwieldy machine can't safely fly low and slow. Nothing is gimballed from what I can see, so their only (though repeated) claim of oblique is through the wide angle lens... By the way, your dismissive tone isn't appreciated. I'm a qualified surveyor, MSc in engineering, PhD in photogrammetry, and I teach geomatics, geodesy and surveying at university. I understand the spec sheets, I hate the marketing BS.

I use the DJI Mavic 3E the most. It's very cost effective. I also use the M300 with L2. We're a DJI reseller for full disclosure. The M3E is used for orthomosaics of sites, topos of bare ground, volumetric work, etc. The M300 & L2 are used more for initial site surveys where there's vegetation. Once the ground is cleared, the M3E does what I need. Often I pair both drones with the M3E capturing data for the aerial image, and the L2 sensor for the LIDAR. Each workflow requires slightly different overlap amounts and by splitting the work across two drones, I can fly larger sites more efficiently than if I tried to fly the L2 with enough overlap for photogrammetry processing. I've covered 700 acres easily in a day using both the M3E and M300/L2.

I would really recommend spending the money on the Mavic 3E or even Matrice 4E. Ask around your department, there's a good chance that other projects could make use of it, and would split the cost. We went through this at my university a few years ago, and banned the purchase of drones outside of the DroneLab, so the DroneLab can get proper equipment that projects can rent for cheap. Having 4 Air 3S flying 4 times a year costs as much as having a M3E flying 12 times a year, and everybody gets better data.

I recently got a waiver for ops over people with a mavic 3. I got the ParaZero parachute designed for it along with the prop guards and anti collision lighting. I submitted a waiver request for my area to last 2 years with my equipment and some operational guidelines and it was approved after about 6 weeks.

I do topography for earthworks (cubing, surveying), quarries and mines. Last week, I did \~3000 acres (12km²) in 2 days with the M3E with no problem. Without wind, I could have done it in 1 day. For this type of area (and smaller) the M3E is perfect, especially as its operating cost is much lower than the M300. In my opinion, for the M300 to be justified, you need either to have high accuracy requirements (the sensor being better), to have absolutely huge areas (as mentioned above, the M3E is a machine that already allows you to do a lot), or to need a device that can support heavier sensors, typically for Lidar.

I do this work with an Mavic 3E. You really need models with the mechanical shutter for the lowest rolling shutter effects. I did photogrammetry work with my Matrice M30 - a recent job was of a Conservation area - it took 45 minutes and a battery change with the Matrice and 15 minutes with the Mavic 3E.

Avata 2! It's super easy to learn the standard controller. Picture quality is excellent in the head set. I have no complaints about mine. I fly a Mavic 3 also and of course it's a far more advanced drone, but the Avata can be more fun sometimes. If I just want to cruise around and try tricks- Avata 2. Pics and videos- Mavic 3. The neo is cute but I don't see it as a good purchase.

They'll stop software updates, support/repairs will become difficult. I'm getting out sooner than later.

The P4 is a good drone and we used one for years. However, for the money, an M3E is a huge upgrade. Better camera, faster camera, longer flight times, etc. Plus the controller software is so nice. If you get to the point where you are doing a lot of flights, and you will, the M3E is an absolute workhorse that yields great results.

For all intents and purposes, the Phantom 4 was replaced by the Mavic 3E. It's no longer supported but you can still buy batteries and replacement propellers so that you can use the drone for as long as you'd like. I fly frequently within one of the most obnoxious areas in the country, the Washington DC FRZ. Nothing within the inner limits, but I have had dozens of FAA waivers to fly within the 15 mile radius. I've also flown adjacent to a number of military bases, all fairly recently with a Phantom 4 Pro v2. You should have no issues with a phantom 4 RTK outside of the government going nuclear and bricking all DJI drones, which I doubt they would do to currently compliant drones. Your drone is a workhorse and could easily provide you with years of good data and would last you well until after we know what is going to happen long-term with DJI. If they manage to get past this current madness, I'd keep your eye out for a Mavic 4 announcement eventually (I'd love a 3E but they're hard as hell to get these days for obvious reasons). Just make sure that any drone you get for mapping has a mechanical shutter. This goes for pretty much any company. As for US made drones... sadly there really aren't too many good options right now. They're expensive as hell and untested with plenty of quirks and no pedigre. What kind of work do you do in Alaska? Is it fairly wide open swaths of land? Or more urban? I've been eyeing the WingtraOne recently as its made in Switzerland, has a vertical take off, and has the stupid fast speed of a fixed wing drone. But it's also significantly more expensive than a DJI.

I got an open box mini 2 SE for really cheap it may have been 250.. It wasn't my first one but once I got that one it changed my thoughts about spending money on drones. I believe 2 days later I purchased the Mini 4 pro brand new and a couple weeks later I think I got Mav 3.. And now I have a bunch of DJI drones new/used and whole bunch that were open boxed drones. They all have the care package on them and started the day I got them. Really a good deal. But I do think it was a mistake for me to keep purchasing drones that were 40 to 230 that were not DJI. Atom and Loheer and maybe Contixo would be okay first drones because you can fly pretty good with those. But nothing like any DJI drones and the photo/video is hands down 100X better with DJI

A Mavic 3 Enterprise is your best option. That budget should get you the drone plus a bunch of batteries. Depending on what accuracy you need, you could add on an RTK module as well.