Sony drones?

A.O. · Jan 3, 2021

itsneedtokno said:
Sony sensors are used on a new submersible drone. Can't remember the name.

Saw the news today.

I think it's micro 2/3

I would love to have a submersible drone, I have a couple ponds I would like to explore but all that I have seen are tethered..

Johnmcl7 · Jan 12, 2021

Sony have shown some details of their Airpeak drone which is designed to carry their cameras:

This is Sony’s Airpeak drone

Coming later in 2021.

www.theverge.com

wco81 · Jan 12, 2021

Johnmcl7 said:
Sony have shown some details of their Airpeak drone which is designed to carry their cameras:

This is Sony’s Airpeak drone

Coming later in 2021.

www.theverge.com

If it could carry a full frame Sony mirrorless, the thing would have to be huge.

Maybe bigger than Inspire, which supports a micro 4/3 camera?

But a Sony full frame mirrorless with a sizable lens would weight 2-3 pounds.

If they supported their 1-inch compacts with long zooms, like the RX-100, they might be able to keep the weight down.

But the article says capable of carrying Sony Alpha and those are at a minimum APS-C, so comparable more in size and weight to at least micro 4/3 cameras.

You won't be taking this one aboard any flights as carry on luggage. Well you might be able to but not carry on any other electronics gear.

Johnmcl7 · Jan 12, 2021

It's carrying a FF mirrorless camera in the picture so definitely going to be a fairly big drone.

wco81 · Jan 12, 2021

So the Inspire 2 is $2600 from DJI Store.

I would imagine this would be more in the area of $4000 or more.

It would probably appeal to some TV and movie production houses, probably cheaper than the custom rigs they may use for getting broadcast or movie quality images and footage.

Johnmcl7 · Jan 12, 2021

I'm curious to see what the cost will be but as much as I love the idea of getting my Sony cameras airborne that drone will be hefty, it makes the mirrorless cameras look reasonably small.

Meta4 · Jan 12, 2021

Johnmcl7 said:
I'm curious to see what the cost will be

There probably wouldn't be much change from $10K for the drone.
The gimbal alone probably costs more than a Mavic 2 pro.

wco81 · Jan 12, 2021

I wonder if Sony would be able to deliver a drone with a reliable transmitter with good video transfer from distance, not to mention flight time per battery.

Their Sony Alpha camera apps. are not strong.

Johnmcl7 · Jan 12, 2021

Meta4 said:
There probably wouldn't be much change from $10K for the drone.
The gimbal alone probably costs more than a Mavic 2 pro.

I think that's a good bet but think how much I could save by using existing camera gear

I can't even imagine flying something wit this sort of cost *and* some of my best camera gear attached to it.

wco81 · Jan 12, 2021

It would definitely make more sense for professionals who would make money from the gear and has insurance, not to mention being able to write it off as an expense for tax purposes.

Meta4 · Jan 12, 2021

Johnmcl7 said:
I can't even imagine flying something wit this sort of cost *and* some of my best camera gear attached to it.

I can't imagine lugging the box around to the places I like to fly.
For a bigger camera (bigger than a Mavic) on a portable drone, keep an eye out for Xdynamics who are probably announcing the release of their Evolve 2 soon at CES 2021

anotherlab · Jan 12, 2021

If you are doing professional video work and already use Sony mirrorless cameras, Airpeak is going to be something that you are going to least consider. Between already having lenses and filters to swap around, you'll already know the software profiles.

Competition is good. DJI has been so insanely successful, they have sucked most of the oxygen out of the room for the other drone companies. Sony is one of the few companies that has the resources to compete with DJI. They have deep pockets and can run Airpeak as a loss leader (for a while, anyway) to sell more cameras and glass.

SkyeHigh · Jan 12, 2021

wco81 said:
I wonder if Sony would be able to deliver a drone with a reliable transmitter with good video transfer from distance, not to mention flight time per battery.

Their Sony Alpha camera apps. are not strong.

Sony aren’t best known for their software. I fought it for years in the broadcast industry and often used third-party software to control their products.

icecoldgin · Jan 12, 2021

Looking at the Sony drone, DJI is not going to lose sleep over this.

Now, where are their Mavic killers? ?

MavicMikeMinh · Jan 13, 2021

The Sony Airpeak is rather a competitor to Inspire than Mavic or Phantom.
But it's good to see another company entering the drone market.
A slick video is here: Discover Sony @ CES® 2021!

(Trivia: The car they film has an Austrian number plate, the camera van is from Berlin.)

anotherlab · Jan 13, 2021

icecoldgin said:
Looking at the Sony drone, DJI is not going to lose sleep over this.

Now, where are their Mavic killers? ?

This won't affect DJI at all. A little competition helps them when people go after them for owning the market. Sony is trying to carve a piece out of the Inspire market.

I don't see them going after the Mavic market, not for a while anyway. Sony has the cameras now for Airpeak. If they want to have an integrated camera for a Mavic competitor, then they are designing a new one from scratch, one that can only be used for a drone. So that's R&D resources that would be lost if the drone doesn't sell.

You can price an Airpeak higher than an Inspire if the cameras and camera integration offer an advantage. At the Mavic level, you have to be at the Mavic price level or you will not be able to compete with them. Or you have to have a feature that disrupts the market. Like a drone with an IP68 rating and would float if it went down in the water. If they were being clever, they would have it work with the PlayStation VR headset.

Johnmcl7 · Jan 13, 2021

I'm not well up on the commercial DJI drones but given the Airpeak is designed for FF mirrorless cameras then it looks like it's aiming above the Inspire series and more towards the Matrice series?

Meta4 said:
I can't imagine lugging the box around to the places I like to fly.
For a bigger camera (bigger than a Mavic) on a portable drone, keep an eye out for Xdynamics who are probably announcing the release of their Evolve 2 soon at CES 2021

For me realistically the Mavic 2 size/weight is about as big as I could go as I usually carry the drone on my back for a fair distance while walking and cycling plus frequently combine it with a camera and a couple of lenses. It's never going to happen but being able to play with the A7S's high iso video on a drone would be amazing.

wco81 · Jan 13, 2021

Johnmcl7 said:
I'm not well up on the commercial DJI drones but given the Airpeak is designed for FF mirrorless cameras then it looks like it's aiming above the Inspire series and more towards the Matrice series?

For me realistically the Mavic 2 size/weight is about as big as I could go as I usually carry the drone on my back for a fair distance while walking and cycling plus frequently combine it with a camera and a couple of lenses. It's never going to happen but being able to play with the A7S's high iso video on a drone would be amazing.

Ditto.

That Evolve 2 drone is more in the Inspire price range and size/weight.

Besides carrying it around, if you ever need to go on an airliner with it, you'd have to dedicate a big chunk of your carry on luggage allowance to carrying the M2P as it is. You also have to carry other electronics on board, you do not want to check them.

So you can't easily carry on anything like the Inspire on commercial flights, unless you don't have any other gear, like laptops, iPads, certainly other cameras.

sancap · Jan 13, 2021

Elvis44 said:
Anyone interested/excited/curious about this - Sony Japan / Airpeak If they could repeat the success of their A7 line of cameras, this would bring welcome competition to the DJI's (almost) monopoly.

I am definitely interested about Sony joining in. As a commercial operator flying a Mavic 2 pro and an M600 (as well as most of DJI's lineup) with a Sony A7R3, I want to see other options. I doubt Sony is going to come out with smaller drones similar to mavics. IMO they will stay with platforms carrying larger camera systems for while

The issues with the M600 and Sony A6/7 series is the lack of camera control. Although there are 3rd party software and hardware that can solve camera control, they tend to be a bit clunky. Since the Sony platforms do not have an onboard GPS, adding GPS to images is another issue using 3rd party soft/hardware although there is solid aftermarket equipment for that.

Fully integrated systems will be a game changer for the operators that need to fly the Sony systems. If the size and portability is manageable that will be another game changer. Most of us who are flying the Sony cameras do not expect to be able to carry it on an airplane and will pay for transport and include it in the cost of the project. I have only had regional jobs where my M600 is stored in my truck and have not had to put it on an airliner.

I expect the Airpeak to come in well over 10K base model only, no gimbal or sensor.