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I'd like to make a high res picture of an area of land (football pitch size -ish) from above. First thought was to use a drone to take a series of smaller pictures and stitch them. A quick look on amazon and most of the cheap drones have poor cameras, which I suppose is to be expected, and more importantly only face forward. The better cameras and swivel cameras only seem to appear on expensive drones which will probably put them out of contention. So, is there a cheap, down looking drone out there that takes reasonable pictures? Or is there an alternative method? Maybe some way of getting a good camera high up? I have tried kite photography many years ago and it was a pain and unsuccessful but might be easier now with lighter cameras with wifi control. Even considered just using a long stick but I suspect to be light enough it'll be too flexible. The land is quite uneven which limits options a bit, too.
Hire a MEWP.
Big Budget - Helicopter & DSLR?
Low Budget - Build some really, really big stilts
How high a resolution do you need?
Simplest option would be to mount a gopro on a monopod, set it to the required resolution (probably quite low given the close range) and 1 photo/2 seconds, attach that to a trolley and walk across the field pushing it at a constant speed (if you're clever you could work out the speed required to minimize the overlap between photos), repeat in a grid pattern.
Downside of this is you'll probably end up with lots of photos of grass which even a decent stitching app can't figure out, and a shadow in every image unless you always walk into the sun early in the morning. It would also be prone to a lot of distortion without an overall shot to line them up with.
The answer is probably hire a drone operator who's probably been asked to do something similar before and has the hardware, software and know how to do it quickly.
How cheap is cheap? Could get something like a Phantom 3 second hand for £200 or so. The camera is pretty good, and can point straight down.
Or hire someone with a drone to take photos.
Hire a drone photographer if it's a one off. Estate agents are all over them for their 'houses of distinction'
Yeah, used Phantom 3 standard is a good option.
It has bracketing so you can take several bracketed photos then use HDR software (I use Photomatrix essentials) to produce high quality high dynamic range photos, which you can then stitch together with panorama software to produce one high resolution image.
Facebook group of local drone enthusiasts ask for a favour.
Hang a camera off a kite.
It's what we did before drones.
How Hi Res? Google Earth Pro will deliver a 4800x4800 image?
Turn up at the local flying club with a camera and offer petrol money for someone to take you over.