Aerial drones and quadcopters let photographers capture a whole new perspective on life. Whether it be flying through an abandoned city or diving right into the burning hot maw of an erupting volcano, drones have put aerial photography into the hands of many more users. Today DJI is introducing a new aerial drone called the Phantom 2 Vision+.
The new quadcopter features a higher-resolution 14MP camera that shoots in Adobe DNG RAW, which will make shots much more flexible in post-processing. The new camera can also record 1080p video at 30fps as well as 720p at 60fps. A stabilized three-axis gimbal, meanwhile, levels out any camera shake as the Phantom 2 Vision+ bobs and weaves through the air while allowing the camera to sweep around in a 360-degree dome underneath the drone.
Like the Phantom 2 Vision drone before it, this plus model comes ready to fly out of the box with a simple radio controller. It comes programmed with a bit of intelligence letting users program in coordinates for the drone to fly to automatically. It can also hover in place as long as winds are blowing below 25 mph.
The drone has a maximum range of 2,625-feet (800-meters) and it will simply fly back to you like a boomerang—a boomerang with four rotating blades, that is, so don’t try to catch it. DJI also released a new bit of firmware for all its Phantom drones, which lets drone pilots steer clear of airports and other user-generated no-fly zones.
The camera system is controlled by a DJI app available for iOS and Android. From your phone you can reorient the camera and even get a live feed of what the camera is seeing, as the drone transmits the picture over Wi-Fi.
You can preorder your Phantom 2 Vision+ from B&H Photo for $1,299. There weren’t any details on availability, but in the meantime check out some more images and video of the aerial drone after the break.
DJI – Introducing the Phantom 2 Vision Plus from DJI on Vimeo.
