Following the launch of DJI's Avata 2 FPV drone, there is certainly a buzz about what this drone is capable of and that got me thinking about how this drone could impact the drone flythrough market.
The DJI Avata 2 is a first-person view (FPV) drone with propeller guards designed for dynamic flight and capable of capturing cinematic video. This puts it well in the "cinewhoop" market - a type of drone that has increased in popularity for the ability to fly indoors and close to people safely. We use these types of drone to capture flythrough tours and fly on the wall videos for venues and events.
With the same camera sensor as the DJI Action 4, DJI are clearly aiming to go after the GoPro wielding cinewhoops that many pilots currently use as the standard for indoor drone filming. Whilst footage from this new camera appears to be competitive with GoPro cameras in outdoor environments, video examples and user experiences have not been well reported for indoor, low light environments. Previously, when filming at low frame rates with the original DJI Avata, the FPV feed that the pilot uses to navigate with the drone would become noticeably "laggy", making it more difficult for pilots to fly smoothly and predictably, which can be problematic indoors. It is yet to be seen whether this problem remains with the DJI Avata 2 and the O4 transmission system.
That being said, this is a small sector of the indoor drone market and unless the Avata 2's sensors cause issues with flying in certain environments, it wouldn't surprise me if this drone dominates the cinewhoop sector. DJI's original Avata provided a great entry point to FPV flying and I feel that the Avata 2 is a real threat to the cinewhoop drone market.
However, at 377g and the requirement for sub-250g drones in built up areas in many countries around the world, the Avata 2 won't be killing off the entire market just yet.
What I think is interesting is that even DJI's consumer drones like the Mini 3 Pro, are arguably "Pro-sumer" in the fact that they can be used for commercial work and deliver high quality pictures and video. The original Avata did not quite live up to the same standard, but I feel the Avata 2 now firmly hits that "pro-sumer" nail on the head.
If you're looking to take up FPV drone flying then the Avata 2 is a great place to start. However, flying a drone is just one aspect of creating stunning aerial and flythrough videos, and we at Fly Flow Media are experts in planning, choreographing and conducting safe and visually captivating drone flythrough videos.
If you are looking to capture a drone flythrough video for your business then please get in touch: dan@flyflowmedia.com