Rumors were circulating earlier in the year around GoPro and their entrance into the drone business in the first half of 2016 and those rumors were later confirmed by GoPro’s CEO, Nick Woodman. As the end of the year approaches, the first video footage of GoPro’s quadcopter has been released online.
At Code Conference in May of this year, Woodman talked about GoPro’s first quadcopter and how “he quad is in some ways the ultimate GoPro accessory”. While the GoPro CEO didn’t mention specifics on price, he did mention that GoPro is “consumer focused company” implying that the price point would satisfy the average customer.
On GoPro’s website, the company released the first footage of its prototype quadcopter and confirming that they have plans to release the quadcopter in the first half of 2016. The footage captured is only from their advanced prototype model and the stabilization system. However, the announcement on the company’s website reassures viewers that no post-production stabilization was added to the footage.
Soaring above the trees, the footage from the quadcopter is simply breathtaking from its smooth stabilization system. The most notable aspect of GoPro’s footage is the quality and the quadcopter’s ability to create 1440p HD video for YouTube. However, GoPro has not commented whether their drone will match DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter that is able to create 4K videos with its UHD video camera. Many drones on the market have been using UHD video cameras, so if GoPro wants to keep up with the competition then expect to see their quadcopter to bring high quality videos as well. While the first footage of the GoPro’s quadcopter is promising, it will be facing a lot of competition in the drone market with quadcopter such as the DJI Phantom series and the Parrot BeBop quadcopter. Given the reliability of GoPro cameras and popularity within the market, expectations will be very high for the company’s first quadcopter. However, GoPro has given some of the best technological advances in photography, so buzz will be surrounding the release of this drone.
