Flying drones just got safer and more autonomous with significantly better video capabilities with the DJI Phantom 4. DJI, one of the world’s leading drone manufacturers, unveiled the latest iteration of its Phantom drone series at New York’s Terminal 5 Tuesday highlighting the Phantom 4’s autonomous capabilities.
“Just a few years ago, getting an aerial image was very hard,” Michael Perry, DJI director of strategic partnerships, said Tuesday. “Just to carry your creative vision into the world.”
He said to get a perfect professional shot it typically took three people: pilot, spotter and cameraperson. Now, two new features DJI debuted with the Phantom 4 are designed to provide better/steadier videos while improving obstacle avoidance. Both TapFly and ActiveTrack will make even the beginning pilot look like a pro, Perry said.
TapFly allows you to fly the Phantom 4 with just the press of a button. Simply press the direction. you want the Phantom to fly and it will zoom off. It then gets real-time intelligence of its flight environment. Want to go in another direction? Tap again and DJI said the Phantom 4 would seamlessly head in that direction without jarring any footage.
ActiveTrack allows you to select an object with the press of your finger on a screen (such as an iPad) and the Phantom 4 will automatically follow that object and keep it perfectly in frame. No transmitter or receiver is required for the object to wear.
In a video example, DJI showcased a bike riders barreling through a wooded trail and the Phantom 4 was able to keep up the pace, hold a steady shot and avoid tress and hills that were suddenly in the way.
“We’re enabling everyone with this new fantastic aerial filmmaking that wasn’t possible before,” DJI’s Executive Creative Director Sheldon Schwartz said Tuesday.
The additional camera (now five of them) and sensors (six) allow the Phantom 4 to read the environment. The Phantom 4’s main camera features 4K with 12MP and shoots 120 frames per second with 1080P. Its 8-element lens, DJI said, increases sharpness of vides while also decreasing distortion and aberrations.
According to DJI, the Phantom 4 also has a new function called “Sports Mode”, which allows confident pilots to fly the drone at speeds of up to 45 mph while maintaining stability with the camera. The Phantom 4 ascends at 26 ft per second while descending at 13 ft per second.
The Phantom 4 expanded its battery life for its newest model from 4480 mAh to 5350 mAh and DJI says the device will fly for 28 minutes on a single charge, which is up from 25 minutes on with the Phantom 3. Three minutes may not seem like much, but with the additional cameras this feature shouldn’t be understated.
DJI’s Phantom 4 will retail for $1,399 and the pre-order start today at DJI.com and Apple.com. Shipments, DJI said, will begin March 15 and will then go on sale from most Apple retail locations. All other sales of the DJI Phantom 4 from normal regular partners begin April. 1.
“This is absolutely the most intelligent, powerful system we’ve developed to date,” Perry said. “… Now, it’s time to go fly.”
