100 mp drone camera.

[R.Perry]

Don't know if anyone has taken a look at Sony's new iXM 100 mp camera. Pretty incredible camera but just a little pricey. Camera is 40,000 dollars, has four lens 35, 80 mm and motorized 80 and 150, lens are 10,000 each.

That is insanely expensive for what it is, any thoughts on its value or usefulness.

 

[Moosewax]

Don't know if anyone has taken a look at Sony's new iXM 100 mp camera. Pretty incredible camera but just a little pricey. Camera is 40,000 dollars, has four lens 35, 80 mm and motorized 80 and 150, lens are 10,000 each.

That is insanely expensive for what it is, any thoughts on its value or usefulness.

Mostly useless at least for photogrammetry outside of rare cases.

1) good luck processing any kind of significantly sized project with images that big.

2) good luck finding a client that even has the hardware to use data that big. You will end up compressing your data for 99% of your clients and losing that glorious resolution.

We use a Sony A6000 (20mp) for our photogrammetry deliverables, and we still end up compressing our data for many of our clients.

 

[mdurbanek]

Moosewax is correct - file manipulation will require an insane processor (a Mac Pro that, by the time you're done with it is tricked up to $8K) and tremendous file storage. But I still wish I had one of each - the camera, the lenses, and the Mac Pro!

 

[R.Perry]

I agree with both of you. My thought was why would Sony create something like that if there is no practical application? I suppose if you wanted to print billboards but where are you going to find the printer.

I also shoot at 20mp and need to compress many photos.

Even if there was a application, that is way out of my budget for photography equipment. The last lens I bought was 1200 dollars and I thought that was too expensive.

 

[R Martin]

Moosewax is correct - file manipulation will require an insane processor (a Mac Pro that, by the time you're done with it is tricked up to $8K) and tremendous file storage. But I still wish I had one of each - the camera, the lenses, and the Mac Pro!

@Moosewax and @mdurbanek ,

I currently fly an Inspire 1v2 which is fine for small jobs but large scale doesn't translate. I'm faced with a 100+ acre job site with multiple buildings and I am in the process of working up a capital investment justification. My sensor choices are all Sony; the A6000, the A7RII and the RX1RII. I am required to maintain a GSD of 0.5 inches per pixel. I am going to be operating in Class G airspace so for the first time I can fly at 400 feet AGL without any permission required. We already have a workstation running Pix4D to process our imagery. Any PR work can be handled by the Inspire. I am leaning towards the 42 megapixel camera to maintain my required GSD and still operate at or close to 400 feet to minimize the time in the air (we also have a lot of field verification the old school way with 2 Trimble Geo 7x units for utility work on site).

I realize the workload on the workstation will be heavy to process that amount of images at that size. I also realize that with two bodies on the ground and eight hours a day on site the workload we are going to face without aerial backup is going to be unmanageable and we are going to fail to document the job in the manner we need to. So where do you draw the line?

 

[mdurbanek]

Not sure I understand all of that, but it sounds like a great gig!

Seems like it might not just be an equipment issue but also a manpower one due to the multiple buildings on a site of that acreage. Do you have personnel at the ready? Also, how many times a day would you need to fly the site to give you peace of mind for your backup?

I don't do too much construction lately, but I used to. The place where I lost money was the wasted time trying to keep up with the changes in the production schedule. The most often I was contracted for was once a week. Of course that was seldom the day when something important was going on and I'd have to go back.

The second issue for me was once the exterior was sufficiently buttoned up. Then there is crappy lighting inside for months, and endless waits for the freight elevator. You know who's on the bottom of that totem pole...

 

[R Martin]

I'm a state employee so the manpower issue is what it is. We have two people who will be on-site 5 days a week until the project is complete for UAS and mapping work. I expect to retire on this one. I guess that it will take between 7-10 years before the project is over. We are going to be operating on demand through the utility phase. This is a new campus from the ground up with no infrastructure in place. Once the slabs are poured we can slack off until we hit final completion. Our main goal is 100% coverage of subsurface utilities and then general mapping. We will have the Inspire for PR and marketing photography and videos. I am in the process of acquiring a FireFly 6 Pro for the large area work.
Our responsibility ends at the slab technically. Our focus is utilities owned by us or managed by the City or other entities (AT&T, MCI, Charter cable, ATMOS gas, ect...) Campus mapping and asset management is a secondary charge. If I can swing some good time lapse video and still shots throughout the process that is just icing on the cake.

 

[mdurbanek]

Sounds like you know as much as you can know going in. Good luck, it sounds like a cool job. If you have the budget to fly in some high-priced hot shot from California, let me know...I'll see if I can find somebody!

 

[R Martin]

Sounds like you know as much as you can know going in. Good luck, it sounds like a cool job. If you have the budget to fly in some high-priced hot shot from California, let me know...I'll see if I can find somebody!

lol I'm trying to leverage some training on the new aircraft in New Hampshire next summer for both of us here. Anything to get out of the Texas sun.