Finally after several rumors and the occasional delay, GoPro presented its first drone “ Karma ”. To stop relying their cameras on other manufacturers and have a whole recording system integrated with which we can do aerial shots all while being able to remove the stabilizer.
GoPro is popping to the concept of drone as a tool to make it as center of the action, since the thought is to create it as a part of our activities but without making an extra load of equipment, since from the backpack to its parts, everything is portable and can be loaded into a backpack.
Karma is presented as a quad-copter with folding design that you can carry in a backpack without any problem. Backpack includes not only the drone, but also a controller with which we can operate Karma remotely, this controller itself has a own touch screen with a 5 inches 720p display that will allow us to activate many functions as well as a pair of joysticks to control the flight of the quad-copter and the position in which the camera is pointing.
The dimensions of the quad-copter are 303 x 411 x 117 mm, while open with a weight of 1006 grams. Its maximum speed is 56 Km/H and can reach a maximum altitude of 4,500 meters. It operates under the frequency of 2.4 GHz at a maximum distance of 1000 meters. Karma is compatible with the new GoPro cameras, the HERO5 Session and HERO5 Black, so we can use with the Silver and Black Hero4.
The interesting part of the Karma’s design is that it integrates a gimbal, three axes accelerometer at the front which is responsible for giving stability for the camera. However this stabilizer can be removed and used separately with a cane called Karma Grip or it can be connected to one of the straps of the backpack, so the stabilization system is available at any time for various scenarios.
If we look at the spec sheet we see that Karma integrates a 5100mAh rechargeable battery which results only 20 minutes flight time, fortunately the battery is removable and can be charged separately in one hour with a GoPro charger. Remember that both the Grip as well as the controller are integrated with batteries and the good news here is that the same integrated charger serves for all three devices. Grip can run only for 1.75 hour and can be charged in 2 hours, while the battery of the Controller lasts for 4 hours and can be charged in 2.5 hours.
The new drone Karma GoPro will go on sale from October 23 at a price of $799 for the kit including the drone in its backpack along with its stabilizer and stick, however if we want the kit drone camera will have to shell $ 999 for having a HERO5 Session, or $ 1099 for the HERO5 Black.
Image credits GoPro Hero
