San Francisco, CA—The camera
drone industry is growing at breakneck speed.
Engineers especially in China are competing to make most reliable,
safest, and easiest to operate drones.
DJI is the undisputed leader
of the pack. They put out the wildly
successful Phantom and Phantom 2 consumer models multi-rotor drones.
They either use the great
little GoPro Cameras or their own built in offering. DJI should stick to drone making and there is
now evidence that they are partnering up with Panasonic and at least one other
company to make photography history.
I’m beyond delighted with my
Phantom 2 and GoPro unit. I learned how
to fly it through the generosity and kindness of an American Airlines pilot pal along with my drone hobby shop proprietor Sergio of PiroflipRC in Van Nuys, CA.
There is a learning curve and
the drone engineers are not writers but still must write the instruction manuals
nonetheless. When you add in a Chinese
to English translation, things tend to become, lost or scrambled.
Thankfully there are lots of
helpful YouTube tutorials to watch but there is still nothing like an experienced
pilot personally guiding you through your flight checklist. The excitement of having that
drone too often causes the new owner to rush out and fly alone rather than wait
for some assistance. The results are often
needless crashes and broken parts.
When a brand new drone model
hits the streets there are often a few bugs waiting to be discovered and corrected. There are complicated software and hardware
issues that must undergo beta testing.
The competition to get any new model out robs the makers of sufficient
time to discover problems.
It was just a few months ago
when DJI and the Public Relations people unveiled the all new Inspire 1 at Treasure
Island to an invited group of dronie VIPs.
DJI hired two terrific
photographer pilots to make epic demonstration films.
One was in Germany and the other in Southern California. The films were incredible eye candy or what I like to call drone porn to drool over.
The California pilot photographer
was so rightly proud of his work he put it up on YouTube days before the planned Inspire 1 unveiling. That mistake in judgment cost that pilot
dearly.
There was another noticeable
problem in that the Inspire 1 camera and gimbal. It could be seen visibly shaking from vibrations during flight. That seemed simple enough to fix but it was a
definite turn off for many potential buyers.
There was yet another issue
with the camera using European 4K rather than the USA version. Frankly they should offer a new modular
gimbal for the superior GoPro cameras.
Also most drone owners already have them anyway and they should not be forced
to buy an arguably second rate camera they don’t want or need.
The Inspire 1 is a dream
machine in every other respect. It
returns to the controller rather than the take off location allowing it to be
operated from a moving boat or vehicle.
Its parts positioning prevents the propellers or landing gear from ever
being in the camera shot. Unlike the Phantoms the Phantom 1 can fly indoors safely without GPS.
The Inspire 1 allows for using two
operators, one for the device and the other for the camera. It’s well worth the additional $1,500 over
the Phantom 2.
DJI decided to simply hand
out their new Inspire1 to bloggers like me.
Well not exactly, because sadly, I
did not get one. DJI needed some good reviews published by the unveiling
date.
When you send out a product
for review you must be prepared for anything.
One lucky recipient reviewer had the Inspire lift off from his driveway
and then as luck would have it, it crashed right into his garage door.
DJI quickly took responsibility
saying the problem was fixed by a firmware update. Whatever the reason was, that YouTube video
was really rude and cost DJI a bundle after getting 650K viewing hits.
DJI has not been normally been brave enough
to eat the financial losses of crashed or lost drones and there is no insurance
for consumers. The risk of a sudden $3000 plus loss can be a frightening and real possibility.
My personal strategy is to
wait a few months and let others go through the experimental difficulties with
the new products so I can suffer less pain. Of course these Inspires were
provided by DJI.
I’d say the DJI leadership and
marketing people learned a hard lesson.
Perhaps that photographer that jumped the gun deserves a second
chance? Who knows more then he does now to
never release the client’s video until its time?
Next time DJI should let me
get the product and write the review.
Let me say again that my DJI
Phantom 2 is an incredible part of my growing multi-rotor camera air
force. I also want their S100O to use
with a Panasonic GH4 and a live broadcast quality transmitter for TV news or
streaming video broadcasts.
Then, I want a spare S1000
incase the other needs servicing for whatever reason.
DJI must hire lobbyists and
lawyers to fight off FAA and legislative tyranny. I know how to lobby the various legislative
bodies effectively and would want to take that assignment on if I ever had a
chance to do that.
In the meantime, the drone competition is red hot and DJI has the lead, but for how long?
Sit back and watch a brand spanking
new DJI Inspire 1 attack a perfectly good garage door!
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