AT $499 it is expensive but pretty cool piece of gear
Spark’s got some pretty impressive tricks up its sleeves. It can take off from the palm of your hands and land back in it with little hassle. Even more impressive is a gesture-based control and a selfie function, too. Smiling with you arms folded will trigger the picture taking functionality.
For more complex maneuvers, there’s a smartphone app that can be used to send the drone off in the air in various patterns, gathering some pretty impressive video footage in the process. And the company’s exiting Go 4 app offers up quick video editing on the fly. The video looks pretty solid in the demos — it’s full HD, and the still camera is 12MP. So, no 4K, which, as you’ve no doubt guessed, means this is far from a professional device. It’s more like a flying smartphone. There are a number of photo filters on board as well, that add things like shallow depth of field to images.
The drone itself can reach speeds of up to 31MPH, and a 3D sensing camera, GPS/Glonass and an on-board vision positioning system help keep the system stable, even indoors when the signal is crappy, while the two-axis gimbal helps stabilize video while it’s shooting.
The on-board battery is swappable on the fly – a big deal for a drone this small. And, for good measure, there’s a microUSB port for recharging — not USB-C for some reason, but beggars can’t be choosers, I guess. Each battery promises about 16 minutes of flight time person charge. There’s also a remote for the drone. It’s an optional accessory, which explains why it wasn’t pictured in those original leaks.
Sidd
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ..... Ferris Bueller
What you make up for in ease of use and size you loose in camera resolution, flight time, and altitude the craft can fly. While I really think it is a great first step. The DJI Phantom 3 standard is about the same price and you get a much better camera, longer flight time and the ability to fly 400 feet in the air. The spark only flies 95 feet in the air.
AHhhhh decisions decisions.....
Sidd
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ..... Ferris Bueller