Here Comes The Drone For Pros – The DJI M600
In the early days of camera drones, these small flying machines only had the capacity to carry small and not-so-powerful cameras. DJI, which is the manufacturer of the drone quadcopter "Phantom" series, recently unveiled a new drone that will help change professional film making in so many ways. According to a report in The Verge, DJI revealed a powerful addition to its pro line which is the Matrice 600 or M600, at the National Association of Broadcasters Summit in Las Vegas.
The M600 is a hexacopter which means it can carry bigger and more professional cameras. The director of photography for "Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda was there to assist DJI in showing what the drone is capable of doing, including the most important which is carrying a heavy and professional cinema camera. Its selling price is heavy too, at $4,599, but the company hopes that professional film studios will see the device's capabilities and deem it a good investment in the long run.
According to a report in Engadget, the new drone adjusts the way it flies automatically, depending on what it is carrying. It is considered the successor of the "Spreading Wings" series of DJI, which is their pro line. The M600 features retractable landing gear so that it does not get in the way of the camera. It is also foldable and comes with self-cooling motors and propellers that are dust-proof. It comes with a new A3 flight controller which is essentially the "brains" of the drone and is the one that adjusts flight parameter depending on its cargo. It also comes with a Lightbridge 2 camera link that provides higher frame rates and HD live-streaming capabilities that gets sent to the pilot, at distances of up to three miles.
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The drone is powered by six DJI Intelligent Batteries and based on tests, will run for 36 minutes with a Zenmuse X5 camera and for 16 minutes with a bigger camera weighing no more than 13 pounds. Should one battery fail, the drone can still stay up in the air as these batteries can be turned off with one button.
Along with the drone, DJI also launched a new version of the handheld Ronin gimbal called the DJI Ronin MX and an update to its handheld stabilizer, the Osmo.
