RIP selfie stick, Hello Hover Camera

The Hover Camera is a very simple-to-use drone dedicated to taking selfies pictures or videos.

Beijing start-up company Zero Zero Robotics basically combined two of the most defining technological trends of the 2010s – the selfie stick and the drone (a flying robot) – into one totally futuristic and niche product: the Hover Camera. As the name suggests, it is intended primarily to hover although it may also move.

• Safe – because the four brushless motors (which Zero Zero apparently developed itself), reside within a carbon-fibre cage. It would be next-to-impossible to clip your fingers with a prop, unless you have impossibly tiny fingers.
• Portable – because when it’s folded it measures 182x132x33mm (or a little more than 7.17” x 5.2” x 1.3”) and fits in a small pouch you could throw in your purse or clip on your belt loop.
• Foldable – because, well, it folds.
• Easy-to-use – Yup. Just power it up, place it where you’d like it to Hover, and let go. The Hover Camera, in what appears almost a magical stunt, remains wherever you place it. It features a downward-facing camera and sonar, so it calculates and maintains its position.

The Hover Camera is controlled by an iOS or Android app, so anyone with a smartphone can connect via WiFi and easily learn to control this quad (though the WiFi range is limited to a maximum of 20 metres, according to the company’s specifications).

What’s cool, is that the company has built in a few smart features.

The Hover Camera can follow you, or orbit. It has face-tracking and body tracking – and can even spin in one spot to capture a panorama shot.

As for the image? It’s captured in 13 megapixels via a 1/3.06” CMOS sensor. The maximum image size is 4208×3120 pixels with a field-of-view of 28mm. What’s more, it’s capable of recording 4k, 1080p, and 720p – all at 30 fps. You can control the pitch of the camera angle from -90 degrees (pointing straight down) to +30 degrees (which would give you an up-the nose angle if hovering close to you at chest height).

On paper, all that looks pretty solid. Throw in its ability to just hang there wherever you put it, and it’s pretty impressive. The company home page includes some choice quotes from reviews, including:

“It allows you to grab it and reposition it like a floating tripod” – c|net

“You can grab hold (of) it any way you want without getting cut by the propellers.” – engadget

And, from Dronelife.com: “You’re going to want one.”

On that last point, we’d say – Maybe. And maybe not.

The Hover Camera retails for $599 US. If the Hover Camera shot great video and had an extended range and long flight times, we’d say “Awesome – sign us up!” Unfortunately, however, the Hover Camera is severely limited in those three areas.

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5 things to kill your DJI Mavic battery

The Mavic Pro is an incredibly popular foldable drone from DJI. In this article we’re going to go over Mavic battery.

DJI claims it can power the Mavic Pro for up to 27 minutes under ideal conditions. In my field tests, which combined high-altitude flying on a breezy day, some low-altitude testing of the obstacle avoidance system, and a few jaunts across a football field in the high-speed Sport mode, all while rolling footage at 4K resolution, I netted 23 minutes of flight time by utilizing 90 percent of a fully charged battery. Recharging takes about an hour, and spare batteries are priced at $89. If you think you’re going to get a couple of spares, consider the Fly More bundle—priced at $1,299, it includes two extra batteries, ten propellers, and a carrying case.

Scan Amazon.com for feedback from Mavic Pro battery buyers to discover reviews like “For the size these batteries are great. So far I have 5 of them and so far all work as well as they did the day I got them (all have about 50 cycles on them so far). The Mavic is a fantastic drone and these battery provide great flight time in a small package.”

The Intelligent Flight Battery for Mavic Pro from DJI has its own integrated battery-management system that takes into account everything from remaining voltage, amount of power being used, temperature, and more to calculate remaining flight times, so you always know when to head home. It also has a host of protection mechanisms in place to prevent overcharging and over draining, both of which can damage a LiPo battery permanently. When placed in longer term storage, LiPo batteries should only be kept at 50% charge. Any more or less could cause permanent damage. If left unused, DJI Intelligent Flight Batteries will discharge power until 50% to maintain good health.

This video is about 5 things that can kill your DJI Battery. Check it out and learn what you should NOT do with your DJI batteries. It also applies to Mavic battery.

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Hover Camera:the drone that takes care of filming you

You are a follower of selfies and you want to take the height with dronies? The drone Hover Camera should become your new friend.

Remember the Lily drone? This quadcopter that follows you to the track to film you with its function follow me. Since then, many drones have come to the forefront and we have been able to meet the Hover Camera drone, a foldable and compact drone that is carried everywhere with you. Its design does not mean a drone, but rather a bird that would be enclosed in a cage. Because the propellers are protected, it is impossible to cut your fingers on takeoff for example.

The Hover Camera drone is capable of filming in 4K and its camera is stabilized numerically. Its face recognition algorithms facilitate the flight in perfect autonomy, but the drone does not know how to avoid the obstacles. We are finally in the presence of a totally autonomous flying camera. Except that if you talk about autonomy, with only 8 minutes of autonomy. It’s little, very little!

During the demonstration, the Hover Camera drone was not very comfortable since the demonstrator did not let it take too high altitude. So we could not judge the automatic tracking capabilities of the device. We are curious to know the performance of the craft when faced with a Mavic Pro which had proved rather convincing on its ability to track and avoid obstacles.

The Hover Camera drone is available at 599 dollars, or about 600 euros once the various taxes are added. It’s a bit expensive in the face of a Parrot Bebop 2 that has been equipped with automatic tracking features and is much more powerful.

 

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Any Way To Use iPad Mini With Mavic Pro?

Many owners are looking for some ways to use iPad Mini with the Mavic Pro as the iPhone screens are way too tiny for kind of work and the problem with lots of iPhone battery drain.

Yes it makes the interface in the DJI Go app less crowded and gives you more room for controls with the iPad Mini. It also has a bigger battery, so you don’t have to rely on your phone to operate the drone.

Then how to use iPad Mini with DJI Mavic Pro?Below is a step-by-step guide for you.

What you need

Turns out the DJI Mavic Pro Controller was designed to perfectly fit an iPad Mini 2,3, or 4. We’re not sure about Android compatible tablets, but please comment for our readers if you know! This article is focused on iPad Mini.

iPad Mini 2, 3 or iPad mini 4?

The iPad Mini 4 has a faster processor and a better screen, which reduces glare outside — a big plus for flying. You also get the Touch ID which makes it easy for a quick setup. The iPad Mini 2 is still a good device and compatible with the Mavic Pro. There are great deals on both the mini 4.

Right Angled Lightning Cable

Using a regular cable with the iPad Mini in the controller will result in the cable sticking out and bothering your hand during flight. The way to fix that is using a right angled USB. The ideal cable length is between 6–8″, which turns out is hard to find.

Luckily, there is a cable on Amazon for $10 inside a little plastic keyholder — which you can break open and free up the perfect sized right angle cable.

How to Setup iPad Mini with Mavic Pro

Step 1) Remove the Plastic Insert

Step 2) Insert iPad Into Controller

Step 3) Plug in Cable

That’s it! Enjoy the larger screen for flying, and increased battery life!

( Source )

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Put GoPro Karma grip gimbal to good use at such a price

( Video via Abe Kislevitz )

The GoPro Karma grip is GoPro’s 1st party gimbal.  For years 3rd parties have made various GoPro gimbals, and they’re pretty awesome. Now with Karma Grip gimbal, GoPro has their own offering.

The Karma Grip Base is officially the piece that holds the Karma gimbal, so basically, it’s the handle. This comes with the Karma drone kit, or can be purchased separately for $299USD. Note, it doesn’t come with a camera – you’ve gotta supply that yourself.  You can see how it pulls out below from the drone and the attaches to the grip base.

The GoPro Karma grip gimbal has controls for shutter buttons, changing camera modes, changing stabilizer angle, and powering the camera on and off. Plus, you can specify highlights on the fly.

A few buttons allow you quick access functionality:

Record button: Starts or stops video or takes a photo. You can press and hold the record button to power on the gimbal and start recording quickly.

Mode/Power: Change between photo/video modes, and power on/off the gimbal.

Highlight button: Quick Set a highlight tag so you can quickly identify it later in your edit.

Lock Orientation button: This allows you to keep the camera level to the ground or set at a specific orientation or direction.

Next, you can then mount the grip to any GoPro compatible mount. For example you could snap it on the GoPro backpacks (Karma Case or Seeker bags), as well as just about any other GoPro mount you’ve got (such as pole mounts or whatever else).

Alongside with the Karma Mounting Ring, which allows you to mount it to existing GoPro mounts and thus put it on things like bars, bikes, and stripper poles. Really, anything roundish. This year they’re planning a Karma Grip extension, which is basically like a giant selfie-stick.

The Karma Grip gets two hours of battery life, and can be recharged using the new GoPro charging accessories as well.

At $300, we certainly think this is an expensive add-on to buy for your GoPro, so make sure you plan on putting it to good use! We also noticed the gimbal does block part of the screen — making it a little harder to see what you’re filming.

We think the Karma Grip is a great bundled bonus when you buy the Karma drone. But separately for $300 is it tech we want? While we like that it gets the job done and works nicely with your GoPro, we do think it’s a little expensive. Keep in mind there are other options out there for under $200 that are also compatible with smartphones.

 

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Hover Camera:Maybe a first drone for the younger consumer

In 2016, drone has become one of the hottest consumer gadget and we have seen more variations of drones in the market, from 4K camera quadcopter to indoor toy drones without a camera to foldable drones that fit in your pocket. More interestingly in the past few months, foldable drones have become a widely discussed topic among all other drones in the press and social media.

Not all drones are made equal and this also holds true for foldable drones. For many first time drone buyers, price and aesthetics often become key deciding factors for their purchase. However, consumers should really ask themselves how they intend to use the drone. Is this going to be another acquired hobby? Are you interested in capturing amazing aerial footage? Are you just looking for the fun and thrills of flying? Or are you looking for something that can do both?

The Hover Camera Passport, DJI Mavic Pro and GoPro Karma were among the most talked about foldable drones in recent months, so we took a look at some reviews from technology media and bloggers to sum up it all up.

What’s great about it:

• Cool design, compact, portable and easy to carry around
• Charging hub can charge two batteries at the same time
• It crashes into things but it doesn’t fall to the ground
• Can grab or catch the Hover Camera drone because the propellers are inside a casing

Some shortfalls:

• No dedicated transmission system which means greater chance of interference using Wi-Fi, shorter range flights and less ideal for outdoor flying esp. in windy conditions
• Computer Vision is a hit and miss especially in detecting and tracking moving subjects
• No gimbal for the camera so footage were wobbly and shaky
• Camera and sensor size is smaller, only comparable to a smartphone camera and not optimized for aerial imagery
• No GSP, which means less stable and not ideal for outdoor flying
• 8 min battery life only so not idea for travelers

Conclusion: A neat idea for a drone, but not quite there yet in terms of footage quality, tracking and stability. Maybe a first drone for the younger consumer if they are just looking for something fun and cool.

Stay tuned for the second half of this review as we share our analysis of two other foldable drones, the DJI Mavic Pro and GoPro Karma.

( Source )

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The Most Complete Instructions on DJI Products and Accessories

DJI has a wide range of products and accessories. The following tables clearly show DJI’s products and compatible accessories. DJI’s product line covers aerial drones and handheld imaging solutions including the Inspire Series (Inspire 1 and Inspire 2), the Phantom Series (Phantom 3, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro), the Mavic Pro, the Matrice M600, the Ronin Series (Ronin, Ronin M and Ronin MX) and the Osmo Series (Osmo, Osmo+, Osmo Pro, Osmo Raw and Osmo Mobile), etc.

1. High-end All-in-one Drones— Inspire 1, Inspire 2

2. Consumer Drones— Phantom 3, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 Pro

3. Small and Foldable All-in-one Drone—Mavic Pro

4. Professional Aerial Flight Platforms— Matrice M600 Pro

5. Professional Handheld Gimbal Stabilization Systems—Ronin, Ronin M, Ronin MX

6. Consumer Handheld Gimbal Cameras and Stabilization Systems— Osmo, Osmo+, Osmo Pro, Osmo Raw, Osmo Mobile

Through the tables above, I’m sure that you have got a better understanding of DJI’s aerial drones (the Inspire Series, Phantom Series, Mavic and Matrice) and handheld imaging solutions (Ronin Series and Osmo Series). The information may vary, and it is for your reference only.

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Inspire 2 360°QuickSpin review

DJI Inspire 1 has become one of the must-haves for professional aerial photographer. Interchangeable lenses provide many possibilities for various scenarios.

In actual task, pilot and gimbal operator would each have on RC to focus on flight and gimbal respectively. With rotation limit, however, Inspire 1’s gimbal can only rotate ±320°. When gimbal spins too fast or it doesn’t spin along where the aircraft is heading, the camera view moves away before you can finish shooting.

We tested what happens when Inspire 1’s gimbal reaches rotation limit: (with one RC, in Gimbal Free mode)

Tip: You can define C1, C2 to control gimbal rotate/pitch.

You can see clearly: the gimbal stops rotating when it reaches mechanical limitation. If the drone keeps flying, camera also shifts away.

DJI lauched a new feature “360°QuickSpin” with Inspire 2 to tackle this problem, which can be opearated automatically or manually.

Automatic QuickSpin

On the interface of flight controller setting, choose ‘advance’,  then choose ‘automatic QuickSpin’;

The instruction on DJI GO writes:

When the gimbal is about to reach rotation limit, aircraft would go for a 360° QuickSpin. Please notice, this feature is only applicable when the drone is 3m or more above the ground.

The drone would spin clockwise if the gimbal was rotating clockwise.

In other words, QuickSpin doesn’t affect the direction of aircraft’s heading or how gimbal was rotating.

We tried it when Inspire 2 was hovering. Like Inspire 1, Inspire 2’s gimbal can only rotate ±320°. when the gimbal rotates over 270°, the Inspire 2 would automatically spin 360° in the same direction.

A pop-up information saying “When the gimbal reaches movement limit, the aircraft will rotate to release it” will also appear in the app.

We shot QuickSpin on ground:

Shot QuickSpin from above with another drone:

From GIFs above, you can see QuickSpin didn’t always go for a perfect 360° spin. My guess would be: if the pilot pushes the joystick during QuickSpin, the effect would show up when Inspire 2 stops the spinning. So the aircraft shifts and the spin doesn’t seem like 360°.

Manual QuickSpin

You can set C1 or C2 as Quickspin in RC setting interface. When the gimbal is about to reach rotation limit, you can manually order Inspire 2 to spin back. In manual Quickspin, there is no requirement for aircraft’s altitude.

We found: when gimbal rotates more than 120°, you can press C1/C2 to start Quickspin.

Shooting from ground:

Shooting downward:

See? Without pushing joystick, a perfect 360°spin.

When the gimbal reaches rotation limit, recenter the gimbal would ruin your footage. In QuickSpin feature only the aircraft rotates, so what you shoot won’t be affected. But would the spin affect footage fluency? Check two GIFs below:

FPV view shows how the aircraft spins quickly, meanwhile, when you press C1 button, you will see gimbal camera’s view is quite stable.

why？

During QuickSpin, the aircraft’s direction would be locked, ensuring zero shift of direction. In addition, the excellent dampening ability of Inspire’s gimbal helps to keep the video fluent.

Another QuickSpin GIF in twilight:

In conclusion;

1.“360°QuickSpin” is completely different from “recenter gimbal”. In the former, only aircraft rotates without disturbing shooting video, while in the latter gimbal spins.

2.We strongly suggest: shut the slide block of starting QuickSpin when you operate QuickSpin manually. In Automatic Quick Spin, it starts as the gimbal spinned 270°. If you wish to use QuickSpin again after 270°in manual operation, remember to shut down that slide block.

3.Lastly, we hope gimbal cameras can rotate 360°consecutively. Most 360°gimbals use slip ring, like that of zhiyun-tech, or DJI’s early Zenmuse GH4 5D A7R. But slip ring is costly and often needs maintanence. We are looking for new technologies to realize 360° spin!

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