Drones: trade off

[Hatsoff]

In my career I will need drone footage and photography. I am interested in flying a drone and could benefit from flying one and not having to contract and pilot for my work. My question, is it reasonable to buy a drone and the expenses of licensing and camera. Or better to just contract a pilot.

[Burnadell]

How does an occupational therapist need/use a drone?

[CharlieTX]

NO

[BURTONboy]

Depending on what youre doing and how often, my step brother might be able to do some work for you. He bought a nicer drone awhile back in hopes of some side work. Let me know and I can put you in touch with him.


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[freestylest22]

I have a Phantom 4 Pro2.0. It's an awesome tool/toy. Fairly easy to fly. Batteries are expensive, $175. It records in 4k and requires high quality micro sd cards, costly here too. I purchased, antenna booster, charging station, an SKB case and filter lenses for the camera to get better quality pics during different weather conditions. Up keep is minimal unless you crash it. I have well over $2k in mine.

[Hatsoff]

How does an occupational therapist need/use a drone?

I’m getting my real estate license to do land real estate.

[Hatsoff]

I hear it’s around 75$ to hire a flyer depending the job.

[Hatsoff]

I have a Phantom 4 Pro2.0. It's an awesome tool/toy. Fairly easy to fly. Batteries are expensive, $175. It records in 4k and requires high quality micro sd cards, costly here too. I purchased, antenna booster, charging station, an SKB case and filter lenses for the camera to get better quality pics during different weather conditions. Up keep is minimal unless you crash it. I have well over $2k in mine.

Thank you for the break down.

[bmac]

I hear it’s around 75$ to hire a flyer depending the job.

A buddy of mine pays a bit more that when he gets it done, but that is fully edited into a movie clip. Depending on how much time you want to spend hiring out could be the cheapest as there is no upkeep and you can focus on selling and meetings.


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[tvc184]

I’m getting my real estate license to do land real estate.

The only real expense is the Part 107 licensing test which I think was about $150 when I took it. Then toss in the cost of a drone.

Let's say you only want still photos from better angles that only ground level of
home or small businesses and aren't interested in high end video. At $75-$100 or so per session, how long will it take you to pay off a drone package and the test?

If you are listing two homes a year, contract with a pilot. If you are listing a home each week, that will run you about $5,000 a year.

So... if it is just you or a company that only wants better angle photos, get your license and shoot away. Basic editing of still photos isn't that hard.

If you are looking for heavily edited photos and videos, it "might" be beneficial to contract it out. Even then, if I was doing a lot of selling properties and had the time to learn that end of it, I would probably still get the license and learn how to edit photos. You might get into another business at the same time where they hire you out......

The right answer is what is the bottom line going to cost compared to what you want done with the photos or videos and how important to you is it financially. It really isn't that hard to get into with the modern drones being stable and even lower end ones shooting some fairly good photos or video. That is especially true if you have a consumer drone with a larger photo sensor such as the DJI Mavic 2 Pro or the DJI Phantom 4 2.0. I know that freestyle mentioned batteries and range extenders but one extra batteries is enough just to go shoot some home or business shots. I am not sure about the need to extend the range. I have flown mine a half a mine away and the range is likely about 3-5 miles. I don't imagine that you will need to be more than a short distance away from a location for photos of a home you are selling.... especially when you are supposed to keep it in sight by the Part 107 laws. Beyond visual line of sight requires an FAA waiver and I am not sure where that is needed for home sales unless you are trying to sneak up on the home from 4 miles away when it isn't looking...........

For what it's worth, I have a Part 107 license, own or fly at my job about 8 drones and have been to photo shooting and editing classes in person was well as online.