At NAB in Las Vegas, DJI showed off the latest upgrade to its Phantom series of aerial drones, called the Phantom 2 Vision+. Its predecessor, the Phantom 2 Vision, was only introduced about half-a-year ago, but apparently its makers felt that it was ready for an overhaul, and what an overhaul they gave it! The popular aerial drone that lets you record Full HD video from a bird’s-eye view now has even better specs, and is much easier to operate, according to DJI.
So, what did DJI actually change? Most importantly, the Phantom 2 Vision+ has a more flexible camera module. Not only can it be tilted a full 90-degrees (so that you can point it straight downward), it is now also mounted to a three-axis gimbal that compensates for any movement the quadcopter makes. This way, you’re always guaranteed to have a stable image. Just like its predecessor, the camera uses a 14-megapixel sensor and records either 1080/30p Full HD video or 720/60p HD video that can be played back in slow motion.
The Vision+ is also 50-percent faster than its predecessor, up to 50 feet per second, or 34 miles per hour. This ultimately means that you’ll be able to follow much-faster action. In order to make sure that you don’t run out of juice in the middle of a shoot, the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ can stay airborne for up to 25 minutes on one charge, and there is a car charger available so you can always have charged spare batteries at your disposal.
The drone also has a new Wi-Fi module with longer reach (2,300 feet to be exact,) so that you can take your airborne adventures even farther away from where you’re standing. With its GPS module, the Vision+ can keep a stable position once it’s up in the air, which should make it easy and safe to operate, even for beginners. And thanks it its new software, it will automatically inform you about any no-fly zones in the area, which is especially useful if there’s an airport in the vicinity.
The Vision+ comes with a remote control for the drone itself, but the camera has to be controlled via a smartphone or tablet through DJI’s Vision app. A small smartphone can be clipped onto the remote of the Vision+ (as can be seen in the video below,) but if you’re planning on controlling the camera via your tablet, you better have someone else steer the drone. The DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ retails $ 1,299, which is only $100 more than its predecessor. Availability info has yet to be announced.
(Via Engadget)
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