You my dear friends all know the drone photography + cinematography, UMAV’s, quadcopters, whatever the hell you wanna call them is all the rage these days. You don’t need me to tell you that. But even I couldn’t have predicted when I was first playing around with this stuff back in 2008, 09 and 2010 how fast this technology was going to blow up (figuratively). And…well… I’ve gotten to know the fine folks from DJI Global, attended their launch event in SF end of last year…and lo and behold, I last week scored their newest machine–The Inspire 1– and holy crap. #nice stuff.
Even if you’re not a pro, the DJI Global Inspire 1 drone (or unmanned aerial vehicle, but that’s a debate for another day!) is going to make you feel like one. For the first time (with any degree of quality), this sexy beast has its own camera, made by DHI, just for UAV filming. There are lots of other bits too…some great, and the jury’s out on some other features… My rants and ramble are in the above video, but here’s a quick list o’ specs:
- 4k camera mounted on the drone
- 12mp stills
- 1.2 mile radio range
- 3-axis gimbal
- Wireless 720p HD live view back to earth via the mobile app, so you always know what it’s seeing
- GPS to help guide it — and find it, in case you’re a bad pilot
- Indoor mode with spacial awareness
- Average flight time: Between 18 and 22 minutes
Other hot features on the Inspire 1 that make it sweet? Frickin lazers! Ok, just kidding. But it’s got landing gear that retract and expand on takeoff and landing, without sacrificing the 360-degree view of the camera. It’s also got an optional double-remote feature, so one person can be manning the UAV, while the other pilot is aiming the camera itself. How cool is THAT? That arrangement most closely mimics the approach the professional drone operators have been using for years. Now it’s in your hands.
Anyway, there’s more deets in the video above. And I presume we’ll be seeing more from upcoming competitors like GoPro, Adorama, 3D Robotics, SteadiDrone and many others.
Check out this unboxing video above to hear my take and get a feel for how hearty (and sexy) this craft is.
[Any questions on this? Hit me in the comments. Have other fav drones or optimistic with one coming out? Chime in as well…]
Great look into the Inspire. I see GoPro will be releasing some firmware updates in February with frames rates and all that. Looks like they’ve been keeping an eye out on this baby.
Would love to see how it handles indoors. A luxury hotel would love this type of cinematography for their website and press kit. Just gives you another look without all the rigging. The possibilities are endless!
agreed on the hotels.
and yes – i’m expecting the GoPro product to be stellar.
Freaking awesome..
Cheers Chase,
As of late there is a huge interest in drone-tography. My interest piqued when I saw your REI work. However, I am not piqued enough to smack down drone with 4K money just yet. What I am hoping for is a CLIVE show about the topic ND some clips of how this dual control and usage of this shiny new toy performs.
ha. ok. working on all that 😉
One day you are sited in Seattle and the drone is filming here in Portugal 🙂
Cheers Chase,
Not sure what you mean pedro, but i love Portugal! 😉
What I meant to say is that with technology evolving this way and this drone for example already get going until the 1,2 milles away, any day soon you can almost send the drone filming anywhere in the world while you are sitting in your sofa at home 😀
Great unboxing, like the text on screen style that you went for in this one too, nice job man.
when you do it in one take, you forget a lot of stuff or need to emphasize it 😉