GoPro finally debuts its portable Karma drone
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
On top of that the field of view of a GoPro camera is too wide for a drone, DJI have a much more adequate setup. GoPro should have at least supplied a small lens that would fix this problem.
As for portability, assuming that one would be using each brand's backpack to transport each drone, they are actually very similar in size:
GoPro: 540 x 320 x 150 mm DJI: 447 x 318 x 229
GoPro would have a much better chance if they had entered the market at the right price (~500 USD) and emphasised the qualities they are known for - durability and reliability.
That's when the GoPro is folded in the bag?
Wide FOV - 17.2mm Medium FOV - 21.9mm Narrow FOV - 34.4mm
As for wildlife - http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/juvs - I saw a presentation by Dr. David Bird on the use of small drones / UAS for wildlife research and he said that his team had found them to be drastically less disruptive than other methods of research, and that animals became acclimatized to their presence very quickly. Obviously, that doesn't really answer the question as to wether there will be long term effects, but it seems that most animals get used to them/don't mind.
From the NPS website, "Launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service within the boundaries of [insert name of park] is prohibited except as approved in writing by the superintendent."
Because the FAA controls jurisdiction over the airspace, the NPS can't prevent UAV flights, but, they can regulate the operators.
Source: Interdrone conference presentation by Marke Gibson that I attended 2 weeks ago.
"in the airspace above" is a separate distinction, and one they do not have control over.
So I guess the problem has ways of solving itself.
This looks like it gets neither good range/quality or durability, unless the camera is one of the "spare parts" that their site so glibly advertises.
Having flown DJI phantom 3s, and some custom drones to lift Canon 5D3s, I can tell you that the biggest source of nervousness in flying for me is recovering the camera. With a DJI, I am willing to take closer, riskier shots that often end up better. With the 5d3 and now 5DSr, I can get MUCH better shots, but it is risky. I suppose I would feel different if it were professional and I had full coverage insurance.
Unlike the trend that has most corporate ads show token ethnic people for "diversity" in numbers non representative of their percentages in the population and absolutely not representative of their corporate presence -- whereas e.g. the real Board of the company is 9 white men and an asian.
Non attractive people, on the other hand, or regular people, so to speak, are the vast majority -- fat, short, too tall, too skinny, etc.
So it would nice to have all ads display "attractiveness diversity". E.g. if a panel of independent "judges" deems that the people in the ad are too attractive (e.g. all model level pretty), the ad gets canned.
This would help with tons of people's complexes, things like anorexia, teenage anxiety, etc.
Hence the mention of panels that can axe non conforming ads, etc. I'm not talking about voluntary adherence to those advertising principles, rather something like regulation.
That would be another benefit. Less BS consumption, better trade deficit...
"Finally" seems harsh to me in this context.
Shameless plug for a buddy of mine's startup: the Staaker drone does autonomous follow and track (based on radio signals, not vision), makes really sweet stabilised videos with different hover/follow patterns, and has gotten the best reviews out of all the action sports drones launched so far. It's almost like having a personal helicopter camera crew, but without the $10k/hour price tag.
It never shipped, but just curious
Even the 3DR Iris+ (which isn't supported anymore) has these features and you can still find it for $200-$300 less than the GoPro. The only problem is since its not supported, parts are harder to come by. The 3DR Solo is the replacement and they're supporting this model exclusively.
I believe all the Yuneec drones have all these features and well under the GoPro price point. For a few more dollars, you can get a lot more drone with they Yuneec Typhoon H: https://yuneec.com/en_US/products/typhoon/h/overview.html
Just a personal preference, but I've heard DJI has the worst customer service. When I was in the market for my first drone (2014), I was shocked at all the forum posts about their customer service:
http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/horrible-dji-customer-s...
https://www.reddit.com/r/djiphantom/comments/3b2jvp/honestly...
Maybe they've gotten better, but I stuck with 3DR and have had good experiences with them. They respond to emails really fast, if I call, they're patient with me and have helped me out a few jams where my drone was acting up. I didn't have to ship it to them, they walked me through the troubleshooting until it was fixed.
Full disclosure: I own two 3DR drones and a Yuneec Q500. Both companies are US based companies with US based customer support.
The Staaker guys have been field testing with some of the world's best extreme sports athletes over the past year. It's also more expensive than the Lily and the GoPro Karma, at MSRP $1700 ($1100 if you order one now, GoPro not included at either price) it's targeting the semi-pro market more than the competition is.