I'm spec'ing out a mapping drone for agricultural surveys and trying to balance payload capacity with image quality requirements. Agricultural drones typically support payloads from 1-15 kg, with most commercial units handling 5-15 kg effectively. Looking at multispectral cameras in the 1-3kg range, but also considering if I should go heavier for better sensor quality.

Commercial drones can lift 1-5 kg, while heavy-lift versions handle 10-25 kg+, but a mapping drone carrying 2.5kg LiDAR payload may see flight time drop from 40 to 25 minutes. What's your experience with the payload vs performance tradeoff?

Are there specific sensor/camera combos in the 2-4kg range that give good bang for buck in terms of mapping accuracy?

For ag mapping, I'd stick around 60-70% of max payload capacity for safety margins. Professional operators typically allocate this percentage to ensure stable flight performance during monitoring operations. A good multispectral + RGB combo in the 2.5kg range gives you excellent data without killing flight time.

Most professional multicopters carry 1-5kg of cameras, LiDAR units, multispectral sensors effectively for precision agriculture, infrastructure inspection, and 3D mapping. You're in the sweet spot - don't over-engineer it unless you specifically need sub-centimeter accuracy.

Been running a 3.2kg sensor suite (multispectral + thermal) on my Matrice and honestly the flight time hit isn't as bad as expected if you optimize your flight patterns. Heavier payloads do demand more motor power and shorten battery life, but professional photography drones with 1-10kg capacity handle it well with proper planning.