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Full press release 

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DJI Launches Spark, The Easy And Fun Camera Drone For Everyone

DJI Europe - May 24, 2017 17:00 BST

DJI Spark


DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, has launched the DJI Spark, an easy-to-use, fun-to-fly mini camera drone that lifts off from the palm of your hand to capture and share the special moments in your life on the go.

Thanks to DJI’s powerful technology, Spark is the first drone that users can control by hand gestures alone, successfully removing the barriers between you and your camera in the sky. Even if you’ve never flown a drone before, flying Spark is easy because the only remote controller you’ll need is your hand.

When Spark takes off from your hand, it automatically enters Gesture Mode. This features new advanced gesture controls like PalmControl, which lets users control Spark with hand movements.[1] In Gesture Mode, you can also send Spark up and away from you, take a selfie, and call it back with just your hands.

“Controlling a camera drone with hand movements alone is a major step towards making aerial technology an intuitive part of everyone’s daily life, from work and adventure to moments with friends and family,” said Paul Pan, Senior Product Manager at DJI. “Spark’s revolutionary new interface lets you effortlessly extend your point of view to the air, making it easier than ever to capture and share the world from new perspectives.”

Spark has been designed to be the perfect lifestyle accessory you can take anywhere. It fits easily in almost any bag and weighs 300 grams – less than a can of soft drink. Spark is ready to launch within seconds whenever inspiration strikes and can be operated by a remote controller, a mobile device, or hand gestures alone. Spark will be available in five different colours: Alpine White, Sky Blue, Meadow Green, Lava Red, and Sunrise Yellow.

Visually Smart, Incredibly Intuitive

Spark comes with new and exciting flight options that empower you to effortlessly capture and share your memorable moments. The new QuickShot Intelligent Flight Mode makes creating professional videos fun and easy. Select a QuickShot, and Spark will fly along a preset flight path while recording a short video and tracking a subject along the way.

Four QuickShots are available: Rocket, sending Spark straight up into the air with the camera pointed down; Dronie, flying up and away from your subject; Circle, rotating around the subject; and Helix, spiraling away from a subject as it flies upward. For each QuickShot, Spark will automatically create a 10-second video from your flight that is ready to share on social media, where everyone can see your special moments.

Previously introduced Intelligent Flight Modes such as TapFly and ActiveTrack can also be found on Spark. Developed based on DJI's vision technology, a new TapFly sub mode called Coordinate allows Spark to fly to a location you tap on your mobile device screen. TapFly’s Direction Mode lets you keep flying in the direction you tap on the screen. Using ActiveTrack, Spark will automatically recognise and track an object you choose, keeping it at the center of the frame for perfect shots of objects in motion. Whether you are using TapFly or tracking a subject, Spark’s 3D Sensing System will actively sense obstacles in front of the aircraft.

With the remote controller accessory, operators can switch to Sport Mode and unleash Spark's speed potential of up to 31 mph (50 kmh). Sport Mode sets the gimbal to first-person view (FPV) by default, so the camera moves with you as you fly. Spark will also be compatible with DJI Goggles for an immersive FPV flight experience.

Shoot Like a Pro

Spark houses an impressive camera with a 1/2.3” CMOS sensor that captures 12 megapixel photos and shoots stabilised HD 1080p videos. Spark's 2-axis mechanical gimbal and UltraSmooth technology dramatically reduce shake and rolling shutter effect to capture cinematic shots effortlessly.

Spark includes many previous DJI drone shooting modes with two new additions: Pano and ShallowFocus. In Pano Mode, the camera creates horizontal or vertical panoramas by automatically adjusting its gimbal and heading, taking a series of pictures and stitching them together. ShallowFocus allows you to put part of a picture into sharp focus while the rest of the image is softened, creating photographs with a shallow depth of field.An array of filters and automatic editing templates available in the DJI GO 4 app enables creators to quickly edit videos and share them directly to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms.

Fly with Safety, Accuracy, and Precision

Spark’s FlightAutonomy system consists of the main camera, a downward-facing vision system, a forward-facing 3D Sensing System, dual-band GPS and GLONASS, a high-precision inertial measurement unit, and 24 powerful computing cores. These features allow Spark to hover accurately with vision system assistance at up to 98 feet (30 meters) and sense obstacles from up to 16 ft (5 m) away.

Like all recent DJI drones, Spark can return to its home point automatically with a sufficient GPS signal. While using the remote controller, if the battery gets too low, connection is lost, or the operator presses the Return to Home (RTH) button, Spark flies back to the preset home point while sensing obstacles in its path. Spark also integrates DJI’s GEO System or NFZ geofencing to provide you with up-to-date guidance on areas where flight may be limited by regulations or raise safety or security concerns – helping you fly safely and responsibly.

For optimal performance, Spark is powered by a high-energy density LiPo battery and has a maximum flight time of up to 16 minutes. When flying with the remote controller accessory, Spark allows for 720p real-time video transmission from up to 1.2 miles (2 km) away.[2]

Price and Availability

The retail price of a DJI Spark, including an aircraft, a battery, a USB charger and three pairs of propellers, is £519 (€599). The Spark Fly More Combo includes an aircraft, two batteries, four pairs of propellers, a remote controller, propeller guards, a charging hub, a shoulder bag and all necessary cables, with a retail price of £699 (€799). Pricing and availability of other accessories for Spark will be announced at a later date. Spark will be available for pre-order at store.dji.com, four DJI Flagship Stores, and authorised dealers. Spark pre-orders will start shipping in mid-June. Colour options and Fly More Combo availability may vary at different sales channels.

 

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And at 300gr it's 50 over the 'toy' limit, so you're officially not allowed to fly it without an exemption from the authorities.

Yeah, don't find this too interesting, like someone said the other day... a Mavic with the Phantom 4 Pro camera, that would literally and figuratively take off!

I currently own a 3DR Solo with GPS upgrade, gimbal and Hero4 Black. Haven't flown it yet, because legally it's a drag, though I'm considering the 300 bucks and insurance for an exemption.

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It being primarily gesture driven that is giving food for thought.

You can imagine someone in a group of friends launching it and them all waving at it and it getting utterly confused about which one of them it should be reacting to! 

19 minutes ago, Curtis Ross said:

should be $299

This is exactly how much I thought it would be as well.

I reckon a whole load of young vloggers who've been waiting on this have just gone "oh".

 

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They saw Parrot slowly going up from selling carkits to quads as well. They've slowly been working their way up... their BEBOP 2 has a retail price of 549,99. Before really feeling the heat coming from below, DJI probably thought, well, if they're going up, we're going down in level and price and take some of their market before they take some of ours. There's also a lot of crowdfunding projects for these kind of selfie fliers, surprisingly with massive backing,

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Quote

There's also a lot of crowdfunding projects for these kind of selfie fliers, surprisingly with massive backing,

That's because whoever really cracks the selfie drone market is going to make GoPro levels of money (notwithstanding their recent travails).

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12 minutes ago, jonpais said:

i'm not seeing how $500 is such a lot for a fun drone like this. Entry level for the Mavic is what, around $1,000? How would their next level down be a third of the price? Can your $800 smartphone do this? 

The Yuneec Breeze is about €330 here in Spain. 

Far less featured and bigger but probably enough for the target market for this one which is why I thought DJI would come in at the same price.

The Zerotech Dobby is similarly priced too.

Never seen anyone using either one in the wild though.....

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9 minutes ago, jonpais said:

i'm not seeing how $500 is such a lot for a fun drone like this. Entry level for the Mavic is what, around $1,000? How would their next level down be a third of the price? Can your $800 smartphone do this? 

Yeah I bought the Boomerang app for my smartphone, what you do is you throw your phone like a boomerang and it's supposed to 'untwist' the video. However I can't get my phone to 'boomerang back'. Think the app has a bug!

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4 hours ago, wolf33d said:

@Emanuel is gonna tell you this is amazing, but I am telling you it's shit and useless :)

LOL Did you see my posting over this thread by any chance? ; ) No need my green light to you for your purchase. Go ahead : ) I don't mind you may shoot another of your shiny trip pieces with... : D Then I'd reconsider to post something here ;-)

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