Haven't been posting much lately - here in New Zealand, we've had a very wet winter, and shorter days have meant very little time for flying.

I work for a Regional Council here in NZ, and one of the things we've startred doing is using drones for field-work; surveying farms, river stop-banks, pump stations, culverts etc. For this we have got a couple of Phantom 4's, but they're turning out to be quite cumbersome in terms of portability, so have also got a couple of Mavic Pro Platinum's.

We've recently had our Environmental Monitoring division express interest in using drones, specifically to take water samples of the rivers and streams in the area. Their normal water sample size is 1000ml (or 1 kilo in weight). Could i get some thoughts on whether the Mavic Pro would be capable of carrying such a weight? If so, what sort of gear/harnesses are available?

Or would it be more suited to the Phantom 4?  Would really appreciate some advice!   Should i also post this in the Phantom forum?

Not DJI official.  Nor DJI approved.


Barley over 2-lbs according to this test lift video.  Little shy of your needed 1 Kilo, add in bottle or bucket...


Perhaps make two runs?

Hi. I appreciate your time bringing this query to us. However, it is not advisable to use your drone to lift any objects because this can damage your drone and may lead to a crash. Please fly your drone with caution.  If you have further question, please let us know. Thank you.

Thanks HedgeTrimmer - 2 runs might be viable, but i suspect that we will just use the Pro for survey work, aerial photography.

DJI Natalia, how about the Phantom 4?  Could that lift 1 kilo?   Or are we looking at an Inspire?

^ That might be worth a try at least. Thanks.

Face-AcheNZ Posted at 2018-8-8 16:00
Thanks HedgeTrimmer - 2 runs might be viable, but i suspect that we will just use the Pro for survey work, aerial photography.

DJI Natalia, how about the Phantom 4?  Could that lift 1 kilo?   Or are we looking at an Inspire?

I do apologize but we still don't recommend it too for Phantom 4 and Inspire.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-8-8 16:26
I do apologize but we still don't recommend it too for Phantom 4 and Inspire.

So are you saying that DJI don't make a drone that can take a payload?

Face-AcheNZ Posted at 2018-8-8 16:30
So are you saying that DJI don't make a drone that can take a payload?

Hi, I truly understand that you wanted to use your drone to lift. However, for consumer drone, we really don't recommend our customer to use it for payload.  We have a specific agricultural drone that you can use to lift. You can check the link below for more information. Thank you.

https://enterprise.dji.com/agric ... ndsite&from=nav

Face-AcheNZ Posted at 2018-8-8 16:30
So are you saying that DJI don't make a drone that can take a payload?

Use a M600 for such a task. Or use other heavy lifting drones such as a S900 or a S1000.

Thanks for the responses Keule and DJI Natalia.

The key is that we're going to need something quick to deploy. For example, we have Harbourmasters who fall under our jurisdiction, who patrol our waterways. If they come across some kind of spill - oil, petrol, some other foreign substance - they will need to get a sample before the water currents take it away. They're just not going to have the time to set up a large, cumbersome machine.

So we're still going to give it a try with a Phantom 4 - we're only talking about a 1kg payload, and from what HedgeTrimmer posted, and other "Can it lift it?!" test videos i've seen, it should be capable of it.

I carried a second 4K camera with 8x zoom on top and a cubed led light below with a total payload of 120 grams. Only at night when on vacation. Also, Yesterday I Lost GPS signal Amd thie aircraft flly away. Was this the reason of the extra payload. Also I have to Re-calibrate the compass on the DJI spark ‘s  every time I use it. I love these drones and I have done my research and about to purchase the Air. When t lost God signal , I didn’t panic. I immediately  tap the Rth., nothing happened, I close my DJI go 4 a nap and we opened it, nothing,   I disconnected the cord to my cell phone and we connected also nothing . I lived iarea with lots of high-rises in office building So I aware the range will be only 1500 insteadd for the estimate 5 mile DJI claims. It took over three weeks for DjI explain to me why my aircraft went sideways when the flight records show that the right stick 100%  forward iand 100 percent rightforward.
But of course they can have forum that’s its because pilot.

I know I'm late to this posting, but I wanted to say that I use an S1000 and it is good picking up 10 lbs.  
The Mavic is, as DJI says, just not designed for payloads.   

You may want to look at my offerings at FarnsworthDronePlatforms.com to see how I build "platforms" that can accomplish a variety of mission-specific things.  

Adding water-sampling capability would be a snap to create.  

Depending on the situation, you might be able to sample with something that would be easily dragged to a point for pick-up by hand or some other means... Not much pulling power required for that if the sampling "vehicle" can float...   For example, sample with something attached to an auto-inflating ring buoy (1 pound) that is tethered to the Mavic, and after the sample, tow the ring-buoy to a location where you can get to it, and have the Mavic then 'release' the tethered ring buoy.

-Peter Farnsworth

I work for a fire dept, and we now have a DJI550 with extended arms and 4006-13 740KV T-motors, but about a year ago before we made that purchase I made a spotlight rig for my Mavic Pro.  (I know, way too small, but that's all we had at the time)  After watching the video in the second post, I set my goal weight for the spotlight set up, at 1.8lbs / 816g.  I found a set up that was 1.7lbs / 775g.  It lifted off the ground, besides a wobble, which could have probably been fixed, within 20sec. of just hovering, I got an ESC high temp warning, so I landed immediately.  After total re-mod, got it down to 1.2lbs / 555g, I had no problems and no warnings, even after flying a little aggressive for a minute or so.  I didn't add anything else to see how much more it could safely lift, but I would say the most you'd want to lift safely would be nothing heavier than 1.3lbs / 600g.

Note: I ran tests with 3 different types of props, I don't have any video, but if you would like a more in depth post on my results, a few pics and the specs of the gear I used, check out the link below.

https://mavicpilots.com/threads/weight-lift.14974/post-682617

Good evening,
What the official  Mavic Pro 1 MTOW and MTOM.
Can't find it anywhere.
Best regards