DJI’s latest mini drone the Spark puts their signature technologies in your pocket.
DJI’s latest mini drone the Spark literally puts their signature technologies in your pocket.
Note: This article was first published on 25th May 2017.
Measuring just 143 x143 x55 mm and weighing only 300g (takeoff weight), DJI’s latest drone – the Spark is certainly small enough to fly around the home and easy enough to bring out with you. Despite its tiny size, the Spark has a max flight time of 16 minutes, can ascend at a max of 3m/s, and has a max flight speed of 50kph (in Sports mode).
It also has DJI’s FlightAutonomy system, which uses the main camera, the 3D sensing system, dual-band GPS, high-precision inertial measurement unit, and 24 powerful computing cores to calculate not only where it is, but what obstacles lie around it. This gives the drone the ability to avoid obstacles in its path, and to automatically return to its home point if the battery gets too low, connection is lost, or you hit the Return to Home (RTH) button.
Talking about the main camera, that features a f/2.6 wide angle lens with a 25mm equivalent focal length that’s paired with a 12MP 1/ 2.3” CMOS sensor and a 2-axis mechanical gimbal with UltraSmooth technology that reduces shake and rolling shutter effect. The Spark also gets two new shooting modes: Pano – for making easy vertical or horizontal panoramas, and ShallowFocus – for creating that shallow depth-of-field effect we all love.
In terms of controls, the Spark can be again controlled via the DJI GO 4 app on your phone, or with the remote controller, or via gesture controls (over short distances). There’s also the option of getting a true first person view from the drone by using a pair of DJI Goggles, so you can really get the experience of flight.
As you can see in the video below, it certainly seems like the Spark is a most attractive way to get into drone flying. It’s available now in a choice of five colors – Alpine White, Sky Blue, Meadow Green, Lava Red, and Sunrise Yellow. Get the just the Spark drone for US$539, or the Spark Fly More Combo for US$749 from the DJI website.
The estimated shipping date listed is from June 15, 2017, but it seems like most options are already sold out, so we'd certainly sign up for the in-stock reminders if you’re keen.
Source: DJI