At CES on Sunday, China’s DJI Innovations showed off its forthcoming S1000, an 8-rotor UAS that was built specifically to carry Canon’s 5D Mark II or Mark III. For those not familiar with camera gear, that’s a setup capable of shooting feature films or documentaries.
DJI knows that it has plenty of competition. Companies like Parrot have already sold countless UAS with built-in cameras. But now DJI is aiming higher, hoping that filmmakers and news organizations alike will come calling for its monster UAS, a massive device (by consumer standards) that dwarfs many of its rivals.
For now, it’s not clear how much the S1000 will cost. But it’s safe to say it will cost more than DJI’s 6-rotor S800, which runs about $6,000. It’s also unclear when it will be released, but the company did say that it will be sometime during the first quarter of 2014.
DJI said that when it does come out, the S1000 will be a UAS of choice for filmmakers and journalists alike. Already, the company said, news organizations like the Associated Press and the BBC are training their journalists to use aircraft like these.
Photo: Daniel Terdiman/CNET
Source: CNET