


Sport mode is a Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation that turns the placid, gentle, smooth and reassuring flight of the Phantom into a frenzied, hectic mosquito of a thing that changes direction on a dime. Since there haven't been any earth-shattering upgrades to the camera, my initial expectation was that the P4 was going to be a bit of a gimmicky update. The camera hasn't changed much, just some lens refinements to remove a bit of chromatic aberration and barrel distortion – both of which were really only an issue for pixel peepers on the P3.Ī new Sport mode gives the new beast some 12 km/h (7.5 mph) more top speed, as well as making it rise and descend much faster than ever before and giving it super-zippy high-rate turning abilities.Īnd a couple of extra shooting modes have been added – tap to fly, which gives you a controlled forward flying rate as you tap on your screen to decide which way to go, and ActiveTrack, which lets you select a target on your screen and optically tracks it while flying around to keep it in view. It launched the Phantom 4 just 11 months after the 3, which became the first consumer camera drone with built-in obstacle avoidance.īattery life is up by 3 minutes to around 28 minutes in the air, and there are redundant dual accelerometer and GPS modules to give the platform the closest thing on the market to an industrial level of reliability. Yuneec's Typhoon Q500 integrated its own detachable 4K camera, and featured a built-in video screen and a hand-held stabilizing handle.ĭJI didn't mess about. But before too long, competitors started giving it a run for its money.ģD Robotics launched the Solo drone, which matched up well with the P3 in terms of specs, put the focus on smooth cinematography, and allowed you to use your own GoPro camera.
#Phantom 4 camera lens distortion professional#
The Phantom 3 Professional only had one real competitor when it launched – and that was DJI's own Inspire One, a much bigger drone costing 2-3 times as much. These gimbal-stabilized compact camera drones are small enough to carry in a backpack, cheap enough for most anyone to get a hold of, incredibly easy to fly, and they put aerial camera capabilities well within most people's reach.
#Phantom 4 camera lens distortion series#
DJI's Phantom series has always been a step ahead of the game.
