Sony's high-performance drone "Airpeak S1" that allows you to enjoy aerial photography using α.The actual selling price is about 1.1 million yen, and a separate contract such as maintenance is required.
Drones have become an integral part of the world of video and photography. On TV and movies, we often see aerial images that are thought to have been taken with a drone, and since we can aim at the subject from a position that was not possible with photographs, there are many photographers who actively use it.
However, drones for video and photography are almost monopolized by DJI of China, both for consumer use and large-scale commercial use, which are widely sold to the general public. Sony's "Airpeak S1" was introduced in such a situation. It is a large drone specializing in shooting images and photographs using the α series mirrorless camera, and is attracting attention not only from professional video creators but also from amateur enthusiasts.
So why did Sony make a drone? Until now, most domestic drones have been large-scale commercial models whose main uses are pesticide spraying, transportation, and structural inspection management, and only products from manufacturers that are unfamiliar to general photography fans. It is a little surprising that Sony, one of Japan's leading manufacturers, has entered the world of such domestic drones.
It is said that the reason why the company entered the market is the existence of the "AI Robotics Business Division", a product development team that utilizes Sony's technical know-how such as AI, robotics, and sensing. The division has been developing the dog-shaped robot "aibo" and the electric vehicle (BEV) "VISION-S", and the third one was the Airpeak S1.
The reason why the Airpeak S1 is made larger is that it not only secures the ability to load a mirrorless α with a lens attached, but also considers ease of maintenance and management. Lightweight materials such as carbon are used everywhere to actively reduce the weight of the aircraft. By the way, the number of propellers is four. Some large drones for shooting have 6 or 8 propellers, but it is said that this number was selected in consideration of the balance.
The maximum loadable weight called payload is 2.5 kg. The total weight of the camera, lens, and gimbal to be mounted must be included in this. The battery lasts for about 22 minutes without a payload when fully charged, and the "α7S III" equipped with a wide-angle lens "FE 24mm F1.4 GM" is treated as a genuine gimbal "GBL-T3" made by Gremsy. It will take about 12 minutes if the payload is loaded. By the way, the battery is equipped with two huge ones due to power consumption, but it supports hot swap that you can remove and replace the batteries one by one without shutting down the power supply.
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The α series is basically recommended as the camera to be installed. By connecting to the drone with a USB cable, you can check various setting information and the battery status of the camera in real time with the control application "Airpeak Flight" in addition to the image from the camera. The Airpeak S1 and α series, and the flight app Airpeak Flight, can be thought of as a trinity.
The Airpeak S1 has three major features. Flight performance, safety performance, and automatic navigation.
Regarding flight performance, the maximum speed is 90km / h! You can easily follow the scene where cars and wild animals run. Due to its high flight performance, it is said that stable flight is possible even in the situation of wind speed of 20m. In the case of a general consumer drone, it is wise to cancel the flight when the wind speed exceeds 5 m, but it seems reliable that the Airpeak S1 can fly even in slightly rough weather conditions. Of course, the body adopts a dust-proof and drip-proof structure. According to a Sony representative, "We aimed to ensure that creators could take the pictures they wanted to take in any situation."
For safe flight, infrared sensors are installed at the top and bottom of the aircraft, and stereo cameras are installed at the front, back, left, right, and bottom to constantly grasp the surrounding conditions of the aircraft and avoid collisions. It is rare for a large drone to have such thorough safety equipment, and it seems that you can take powerful images and photos that boldly approach the subject with confidence.
Automatic navigation is possible by using the paid cloud service "Airpeak Plus". You can fly based on an advanced flight plan and save flight data, so you can fly on the same route, at the same altitude, and at the same camera angle with a single touch. If you shoot with this function in different seasons, you can shoot aerial images that can express the transition of spring, summer, autumn and winter from exactly the same angle. You can think of it as a function unique to drones that specialize in video shooting.
The first impression of flying the Airpeak S1 is that it is very stable. At the time of the flight, a strong wind with a wind speed of 6 to 7 m was blowing, but there was no flicker in the aircraft. Even flights that required delicate control, such as the nose-in-circle, showed the movements that the pilot envisioned. The behavior is stable even if you make a sharp turn, and you can fly like on-the-rail. The pilot's stress seems less. You can rest assured that the basic operations related to flight and drones such as DJI will not change significantly. This time, I flew a large drone for the first time, but it seemed that I could fly with the same feeling and procedure as before, except for the display of the flight application and detailed functions.
[Video] Video taken with the Airpeak S1.You can shoot videos with a sense of speed while having a sense of stability.
The appearance of the Airpeak S1 seems to be a very important point in predicting the future of domestic drones. The reason is that it was made by Sony itself, which handles video-related equipment, it is a system that has sufficient functions as a shooting drone including an application, and there is no shortage of equipment for safe flight. As if to prove it, it is said that sales have been steadily increasing since its release. In the future, the opportunities for the Airpeak S1 to play an active role in video and photo shooting sites will surely increase.
When asked about the sales schedule of consumer drones for the general public that we are interested in, "I want to not disappoint fans' expectations" "Drone will be registered, flight license will be required, etc. If the environment for flying is prepared, the possibility is not small. " From these, I would like to pay attention to Sony drones.
Born in Miyakonojo City, Miyazaki Prefecture. After graduating from Nihon University College of Art, Department of Photography, he became independent as a photographer after working as a magazine photographer and a design planning company. Since then, he has been active in various fields, mainly in camera magazines, general newspapers, and web media. He is a member of the Japan Professional Photographers Society (JPS).
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