Commercial systems desk · 11 mission lanes
Choose the client mission, assemble the smallest complete system, prove the handoff, then upgrade only when paid demand creates a requirement.
Mission selector
Selected mission
Choose the smallest camera system that meets the shot. Build crew, insurance, permissions, monitoring, and media handling before lifting a larger camera.
The treatment chooses the aircraft; the aircraft should never invent the treatment.
Buyer
Producers, agencies, studios, brands, and destination teams
Accepted output
A planned aerial sequence with camera originals, logs, rights, and a production-safe operating record
Open the full mission guideMinimum viable system
Check an item only when the system meets its field acceptance test. Owning the object is not the same as being ready to sell the work.
System readiness
0/4
Stored for this visit only. Verify requirements on every assignment.
Controlled establishing, reveal, orbit, tracking, and geography shots
Why it earns a place
A familiar compact or integrated-camera system covers a large share of commercial production with less crew and operating burden.
Ready when
Required codec and framing verified, exposure and focus method tested, and camera originals accepted by post.
Hold the intended shutter, aperture, ISO, color, and motion language
Why it earns a place
A production shot must match the larger camera plan rather than merely look smooth in the flight app.
Ready when
Filter fit, color shift, gimbal behavior, exposure method, and no-filter contingency tested.
Align pilot, camera intent, visual observer, talent, and producer
Why it earns a place
The crew must agree on framing, marks, aborts, and reset before the aircraft moves.
Ready when
Monitor or review feed, shot call language, radio plan, visual observer role, and approved takes log.
Protect media and make it usable in editorial and color
Why it earns a place
Production value is lost if files are mislabeled, incomplete, unsupported, or handed off without verification.
Ready when
Two copies, verified transfer, reel naming, camera report, take notes, rights, and delivery specification.
Field pack
Production radios and headsets
Keep pilot, observer, director, talent, and safety calls unambiguous.
Director monitor or approved review feed
Confirm framing and takes without crowding the pilot station.
Media shuttle, readers, and checksum storage
Create two verified camera-original copies.
Wind, sun, and continuity record
Match repeated takes and document why a shot changed.
Procurement method
This page recommends capabilities and systems, not a universal shopping cart. Exact aircraft, payload, software, security, and approval requirements remain assignment-specific.
An orthomosaic, listing gallery, thermal dataset, search record, and cinema take are different products. Write the handoff before choosing hardware.
Cover aircraft, payload, power, field control, software, source custody, QA, and delivery. A drone by itself is not a working stack.
Run the complete workflow and test the output in the client's destination system before promising compatibility, accuracy, or turnaround.
Add RTK, thermal, LiDAR, zoom, FPV, or a larger aircraft only when a funded assignment creates a requirement the baseline cannot meet.
Continue the working path
Use the mission guide to learn the deliverable, the software desk to choose the production stack, the requirements checker to identify approvals, and the profit calculator to include processing, subscriptions, travel, insurance, and equipment reserve.
Source policy
Regulatory cautions link to FAA, EPA, USGS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other primary or official material. Product buttons route through Drone Authority's existing tracked catalog; Amazon links may earn a commission, while manufacturer options remain available when they are the useful source. Compatibility, prices, support, and rules can change.
Verify current FAA requirements