
GoPro finally debuts its portable Karma drone - stoev
https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/19/gopro-karma/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook&sr_share=facebook
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samfisher83
For that price you can get a DJI p3p which has lightbridge, a proven gimbal,
longer battery life etc. The main advantage this has it has it is a little
more portable. I think they should have sold it for 500 bucks.

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stoev
Exactly. Plus, the range is worse by approximately 80% (depending on the DJI
model), the battery life and maximum speed are lower by approximately 20%.
With the camera included, it is 50% more expensive than a Phantom 3 Advanced.

On top of that the field of view of a GoPro camera is too wide for a drone,
DJI have a much more adequate setup. GoPro should have at least supplied a
small lens that would fix this problem.

As for portability, assuming that one would be using each brand's backpack to
transport each drone, they are actually very similar in size:

GoPro: 540 x 320 x 150 mm DJI: 447 x 318 x 229

GoPro would have a much better chance if they had entered the market at the
right price (~500 USD) and emphasised the qualities they are known for -
durability and reliability.

~~~
coldtea
> _As for portability, assuming that one would be using each brand 's backpack
> to transport each drone, they are actually very similar in size: GoPro: 540
> x 320 x 150 mm DJI: 447 x 318 x 229_

That's when the GoPro is folded in the bag?

~~~
stoev
Yes, that's a comparison of the dimensions of the two backpacks.

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TheGRS
Something that bothers me about these drone cameras is that when people are
using them in remote spots (i.e. the top of a hill or a lake at the base of a
mountain in a national park) they generate a TON of noise. I went backpacking
at Jefferson Park this summer and was woken up to the serene sounds of a quad-
copter flying over our little lakeside spot. Lovely. Hopefully it doesn't
scare off wildlife.

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pierotofy
Report it to the park's ranger. UAV operations are not allowed within U.S.
National Parks.

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abakker
Technically, I believe it is legal to fly a drone into a National Park, as
long as you are not inside of the park while operating.

From the NPS website, "Launching, landing, or operating an unmanned aircraft
from or on lands and waters administered by the National Park Service within
the boundaries of [insert name of park] is prohibited except as approved in
writing by the superintendent."

Because the FAA controls jurisdiction over the airspace, the NPS can't prevent
UAV flights, but, they can regulate the operators.

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BHSPitMonkey
Then what is the meaning of the distinction "from or on" in the quote you
provided?

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adrianpike
"from or on" means exactly that.

"in the airspace above" is a separate distinction, and one they do not have
control over.

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toomuchtodo
Interesting. I had never considered donating and helping the NPS setup flight
restrictions in their airspace until this moment.

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adrianpike
To the best of my understanding, the FAA maintains exclusive control over all
airspace, so you'd want to donate specifically to get some collaboration
going.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Right, exactly! The NPS would have to request permanent TFR status from the
FAA.

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craigkerstiens
The actual gopro site for it at
[https://shop.gopro.com/karma](https://shop.gopro.com/karma)

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abakker
The problem with the go pro in a drone is that you lose either 1) the
durability/waterproofness of a go pro case (the key selling point for me), or
2) the ability to live view through it reliably. If go pro had an interface to
use their normal go-pro mounts on a drone, but had a special case with a
control port passthrough, they'd be in good shape. It is attractive to know
that if I crash my drone, at least the camera won't die.

This looks like it gets neither good range/quality or durability, unless the
camera is one of the "spare parts" that their site so glibly advertises.

Having flown DJI phantom 3s, and some custom drones to lift Canon 5D3s, I can
tell you that the biggest source of nervousness in flying for me is recovering
the camera. With a DJI, I am willing to take closer, riskier shots that often
end up better. With the 5d3 and now 5DSr, I can get MUCH better shots, but it
is risky. I suppose I would feel different if it were professional and I had
full coverage insurance.

~~~
fudged71
Huh? The new GoPro Hero 5 is waterproof without a case and fits on the
drone...

~~~
abakker
Ah, I missed that. My go pro, the hero 4 black, is not waterproof and
currently fits in that drone as well. Additionally, go pros have been used on
3DR drones for a while, but without the benefits of being waterproof. The case
also affords protection for the lens, which the drone does not allow.

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bishnu
It would appear the drone is only capable of filming fit, attractive people.

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evan_
Unlike those other marketing videos that use exclusively unattractive people

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coldtea
In fact that would be a nice thing to champion.

Unlike the trend that has most corporate ads show token ethnic people for
"diversity" in numbers non representative of their percentages in the
population and absolutely not representative of their corporate presence --
whereas e.g. the real Board of the company is 9 white men and an asian.

Non attractive people, on the other hand, or regular people, so to speak, are
the vast majority -- fat, short, too tall, too skinny, etc.

So it would nice to have all ads display "attractiveness diversity". E.g. if a
panel of independent "judges" deems that the people in the ad are too
attractive (e.g. all model level pretty), the ad gets canned.

This would help with tons of people's complexes, things like anorexia, teenage
anxiety, etc.

~~~
tothepixel
Marketing is often based on aspiration. Using the most attractive people doing
the most exciting things is what sells for things like this. You would be
willfully throwing out ROI to promote "feelings".... Tough sell.

~~~
coldtea
> _You would be wilfully throwing out ROI to promote "feelings".... Tough
> sell._

Hence the mention of panels that can axe non conforming ads, etc. I'm not
talking about voluntary adherence to those advertising principles, rather
something like regulation.

~~~
kkarakk
Might as well show your gopro languishing in a desk drawer for most of the
year except for those uber exciting pool/beach shots you take with it ;)
marketing is aspirational, by all means include fit attractive people of all
creeds and colors but the message falls flat if you try to include signal
noise just for the sake of being inclusive

~~~
coldtea
> _But the message falls flat if you try to include signal noise just for the
> sake of being inclusive_

That would be another benefit. Less BS consumption, better trade deficit...

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Splendor
> "After a planned early 2016 planned release, Karma is finally ready to take
> flight."

"Finally" seems harsh to me in this context.

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coldtea
6 months in tech are like 5 years in regular life...

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1024core
After all these years (yes, all 3-4 of them), you'd expect the battery life to
be higher, like say 1 hour? Every drone seems to be stuck at between 20min -
30min of battery life.

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mtw
Does it have vision features like DJIs? Like follow and track a moving object

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semi-extrinsic
It doesn't look like it, no.

Shameless plug for a buddy of mine's startup: the Staaker drone does
autonomous follow and track (based on radio signals, not vision), makes really
sweet stabilised videos with different hover/follow patterns, and has gotten
the best reviews out of all the action sports drones launched so far. It's
almost like having a personal helicopter camera crew, but without the
$10k/hour price tag.

[https://www.staaker.com](https://www.staaker.com)

~~~
dannylandau
Nice! How does it compare to the Lily --
[https://www.lily.camera/](https://www.lily.camera/)

It never shipped, but just curious

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at-fates-hands
Most drones do have this kind of functionality.

Even the 3DR Iris+ (which isn't supported anymore) has these features and you
can still find it for $200-$300 less than the GoPro. The only problem is since
its not supported, parts are harder to come by. The 3DR Solo is the
replacement and they're supporting this model exclusively.

I believe all the Yuneec drones have all these features and well under the
GoPro price point. For a few more dollars, you can get a lot more drone with
they Yuneec Typhoon H:
[https://yuneec.com/en_US/products/typhoon/h/overview.html](https://yuneec.com/en_US/products/typhoon/h/overview.html)

Just a personal preference, but I've heard DJI has the worst customer service.
When I was in the market for my first drone (2014), I was shocked at all the
forum posts about their customer service:

[http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/horrible-dji-
customer-s...](http://www.phantompilots.com/threads/horrible-dji-customer-
service.19877/)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/djiphantom/comments/3b2jvp/honestly...](https://www.reddit.com/r/djiphantom/comments/3b2jvp/honestly_how_bad_is_the_dji_customer_service/)

Maybe they've gotten better, but I stuck with 3DR and have had good
experiences with them. They respond to emails really fast, if I call, they're
patient with me and have helped me out a few jams where my drone was acting
up. I didn't have to ship it to them, they walked me through the
troubleshooting until it was fixed.

Full disclosure: I own two 3DR drones and a Yuneec Q500. Both companies are US
based companies with US based customer support.

