The first thing we are going to look at is the Neat Area (NA) for sensor/lens. The image NA is determined by the amount of side and front overlap of the flight lines. The NA is the image area with the least amount of distortion that will be used when stitching the images together in the processing software.
The amount of lens distortion will vary for each drone platform and will also vary between the same drone model due to the less stringent manufacturing process.
The higher end cameras/sensors such as PhaseOne camera will have less lens distortion however they are very expensive.
Good business practice requires balancing the operating funds with the Return on Investment (ROI). The biggest bang for the buck.
The testing and solutions found in this mini-series will review the most common drone platforms that we have access to as noted above.