Ending weeks of speculation and high-profile leaks, DJI Global has officially announced the DJI Avata FPV UAV drone.
The newcomer is the first cinewhoop style drone that carries a 4K camera, and coupled with DJI Goggles 2, promises an easy-to-use immersive flight experience with fluid motions and tight turns.
“DJI Avata was built to awaken a desire to fly in everyone, with immersive flight technology that allows anyone to explore the almost out-of-body experience of FPV flight,” said Ferdinand Wolf, Creative Director at DJI.
“DJI Avata is breathtaking to fly for even a novice pilot and includes enhanced safety features that give anyone the freedom to try creative aerial moves. Paired with the DJI Goggles 21and the DJI Motion Controller, DJI Avata seems to ride with the wind.
Whether you fly for the fun of it, to make great clips for social media, or to dazzle viewers in the production studio, DJI Avata will show you why its engrossing flight experience pulls you into a new world of soaring possibilities.”
Image Credit – DJI
The Avata is designed as a standard FPV or first-person view racing drone, with ducted fan-style propeller guards molded into its unibody design.
By making the guards part of the body construction, the Avata can absorb glancing blows and strong impacts, while still maintaining its flight profile, and by activating “Turtle mode,” the drone can even reorient itself after a flip onto its back.
Image Credit – DJI
The drone also has an emergency brake and hover feature which can slow things down to a stop, so the pilot can catch up with the pace of the drone’s flight path.
And with a touch of a button, the Failsafe Return to Home feature will bring the drone back to its point of origin, even if the transmission is lost or the battery life reaches a critically low level.
Meanwhile, the DJI Goggles 2 Augmented Reality display will display the home point so the pilot knows the proper distance between the pilot and the drone.
Image Credit – DJI
In addition, the Avata has an infrared sensing system and two downward-facing obstacle avoidance cameras to maintain position and help the aircraft remain oriented in 3D space when flying indoors, or when the drone loses its GPS satellite navigation.
The sensors can also distinguish between bodies of water and the ground, in order to determine if a site is suitable for landing. The Avata is capable of flying in a trio of flight modes, offering a variety of control envelopes.
There’s Normal mode which relies on Satellite navigation and visual positioning to keep the drone operating similar to other DJI drones, Manual Mode for increased freedom of navigation and limitless control, and Sport Mode, which is a combination of both, providing high-speed maneuvering with the positioning protection of key safety features.
Image Credit – DJI
These options make the Avata an excellent tool for the so-called “cinewhoop” style of filmmaking, where users can capture dramatic, yet fluid turning aerial images both inside and outdoors, with tight turns and banks.
The use of DJI RockSteady, and HorizonSteady image stabilization, eliminates a majority of the image shake to provide sharp and steady footage while keeping the image oriented toward the true level.
Users can also practice their high-performance moves using the DJI Fly App, which includes a built-in virtual flight simulator that mimics Avata’s flight profile.
The app familiarizes new pilots with drone flying movements in an easy, and risk-free environment while giving more seasoned pilots the opportunity to test new settings and features of the joystick-style DJI Motion Controller.
The camera’s 4K system has a 48-megapixel 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor and an ultra-wide 12.7mm f/2.8 lens with a viewing angle of up to 155 degrees. The camera is capable of capturing 4K video at 60 frames per second, as well as slow motion 2.7K footage at 100 fps.
The camera also writes to the drone’s onboard 20GB storage capacity, allowing for long-duration image capture without the need for a microSD card installed. Meanwhile, the drone supports DJI’s D-Cinelike color mode for a broad color palette and dynamic range.
Image Credit – DJI
The DJI Goggles 2 are smaller, lighter, and designed for comfort. And with twin antennas, the Avata maintains a crisp 1080p HD display at 100 frames per second while connected to the Goggles 2 through DJI’s O3+ transmission protocol.
The 50 megabit H.265 stream has an ultra-low latency of 30 milliseconds and can maintain a signal at a maximum distance of up to 10 kilometers. Although it’s important to remember that drones must be kept within visual sight due to various flight regulations.
Even coupled with the 4K camera and unibody safety features, the Avata drone still manages to be super light with an overall weight of just under 15 ounces (410 grams). It has a battery life of up to 18 minutes.
The DJI Avata is available today for a retail price of $629 without the remote control, or DJI Goggles 2 and can be flown using the DJI Fly app, or when using compatible controllers and FPV headsets to control and view from the drone. The Avata Pro-View Combo includes the Avata, DJI Motion Controller, and Goggles 2 for $1,388.
There’s also an Avata Fly Smart Combo for $1,168. Users can also pick up the Fly More accessory kit for $279, which includes two DJI Avata Intelligent Flight Batteries and one DJI Avata Battery Charging Hub. The drone is also available in a try-before-you-buy scenario through DJI’s SkyPixel Product Tryout Program.
[source: DJI]
Order Links:
- DJI Avata FPV Drone (B&H)
- DJI Avata Fly Smart Combo (B&H)
- DJI Avata Pro View Combo (B&H)
- DJI Avata Fly More Kit (B&H)
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate partner and participant in B&H and Adorama Affiliate programmes, we earn a small comission from each purchase made through the affiliate links listed above at no additional cost to you.
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