It’s the size of a bottle of water, unfolds, flies, and takes Hollywood quality 4K video, not to mention 12 megapixel stills. DJI, which has become something of a gold standard when it comes to drone cameras, has just unveiled the Mavic Pro - billed as a professional grade drone camera made super simple to use.
“There’s a lot of intelligence onboard so that you can fly and feel confident that the system understands its environment. It’s going to avoid obstacles, it’s going to track its subject, all effortlessly so that you can go out and create," DJI's Michael Perr says.
There’s also gesture control so when the drone is up high you can give it a wave to follow you or make a square with your hands telling it to snap a still.
And those who follow drones, no pun intended, say among those who will likely be most impacted by innovations like this are those out there who do not create content for a living.
Peter Asaro is an assistant professor of media studies at The New School who teaches a class on drone filmmaking.
“It gives a video quality that you’re going to get from any kind of high end system with HD video," Asaro says. "But it’s doing it in this incredible low cost, low weight, easy to carry, easy to use, that sort of breaks down a whole lot of barriers all at once. I think it’s going to turn a lot of consumers into professionals."
As for that price, the Mavic Pro starting at $750, about half that of DJI’s more professional facing Phantom drone.