DJI Ships New, Entry-Level Phantom Quadcopter
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- June 7, 2014
Phantom FC40 Offers More Affordable entry into drone cinematography
By James DeRuvo (doddleNEWS)
When DJI Innovations came out with the Phantom 2 Vision, and then its Phantom 2 Vision+ upgrade a few months later, they really raised the bar for what a quadcopter drone could accomplish for aerial cinematography. Previous models relied on a GoPro Hero attachment to do all the photography, but DJI went to the drawing board and created their own HD Camera that not only shot stunning images in 1080p, but also relayed that image to the operator on the ground via WiFi to his iPhone. But it’s rather steep for beginners, and that’s why DJI has announced a lower cost Phantom FC40. And it still does a lot of what its more pricey cousins are doing.
Looking for a good first step into multirotor flight and FPV? Pick up an Phantom FC40. It’s simple, affordable and ready for FPV right out the box. – DJI Innovations, YouTube
Check out the video and then we’ll talk about the specs:
The specs of the FC40 are as follows:
- With new 5.8G Remote Control and Receiver
- Featherweight 2.4G Wi-Fi Camera With 720p/30fps HD Video
- User Friendly Smartphone App For First Person View(FPV)
- 10x Digital Zoom Function While In FPV
- Low Latency Live Preview
- Remote Control Mobile Phone Capture
- Capture Images & Record Video While Flying
- In-phone Album Synchronization
The FC40 is able to offer a low, entry-level price point because the HD camera that DJI includes only shoots in 720p at 30fps with a constant F2.2 aperture, and offers a 100 degree wide angle field of view. That’s fine for the YouTube set, and really, for a beginner it’s not bad. And since you can always remove the 720p camera and insert your own GoPro Hero 3+ in a housing, you can have the best of both worlds in an entry level quad that shoots full HD.
The FC40′s 700 mAh battery offers flight times of about 10-15 minutes. Not as impressive as the Phantom 2 Vision, and it’s also a built in battery, so you can’t really swap it out. And you can control the angle of the camera remotely either, having to manually set it before taking flight. And it still offers the dual band wifi controller which allows you to use the DJI App (for both iOS, and Android now) to control recording capabilities and get GPS telemetry for the remote control.
It’s important to keep in mind that this is an entry level model, so you have to make concessions there. It’s primarily a learning model, but one with decent performance of it’s kin.? Cost of the FC40 is about $560, as compared to around $1200 for the Phantom 2 Vision. And smack dab in the middle, DJI also has the Phantom 2, which for around $700, is a basic quad that you can bring your own camera to. Add another $200, and you can get the Zenmuse gimbal control unit to boot.
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