We live in a world where drones are constantly evolving, becoming more consumer friendly and dropping in price. There are many reasons to be excited about these in-air camera-wielding devices. But today, we are seeing one of the coolest new products that might potentially change the game for consumers looking to get into aerial photography.
The new Lily Camera has a number of features that make it stand out from other offerings that we have seen. Unlike its competitors, this drone appears to being nearly foolproof when it comes to flying. To get started, all you have to do is throw it straight in the air…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YLxGFLpOl0
Drone photography and videography is currently dominated by DJI’s offerings. To stand out from the industry leader and other competitors, Lily Camera has elected to make its device easier and more consumer friendly than its competitors. It all starts with the flying process. Users can begin by throwing the drones straight in the air, or even in the water (rated IP67), to get the flight started. From there, the Lily Camera will turn on its motors to keep the drone in the sky.
It uses a wrist tracker to keep your location in its sights as it begins recording, thanks to a number of different sensors. The waterproof housing on the tracking device allows users to utilize the wristband while skiing, wake boarding, or other water sports. It’s not the slickest solution that we’ve seen for controlling a drone, but the waterproofing is nice.
Lilly Camera uses a number of different modes to record action. You can either keep it out in front, record from behind or circle the action, offering a number of different shots along the way. The drone location is controlled by the wristband which has a few buttons that dictate its movement. Lily will be able to fly at a maximum speed of 25MPH for about 20 minutes on a 2 hour charge. This puts it in-line with the DJI Phantom 3’s battery life. When it is ready to ship, it will have facial recognition abilities that will help it to track users as they move throughout the shot. Lily Camera is monitored via the iOS app which tracks battery power, location data and more.
As for the video quality, it will be capable of recording 1080p at 60 fps, slow motion at 720p (120 fps) and will also be able to deliver 12 megapixel still images. Overall the technical specifications are very impressive, including a three axis gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS amongst other sensors that are built-in. The Lily Camera will not be available to ship until February of next year, it is currently available for preorder with a price of $499. Once the preorder window closes in June, it will jump up to $999 dollars which will be the final retail price.
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This is some pretty irresponsible “reporting”. Firstly, the “pre-order price” is really the crowdfunding price, just because you pay $499 does not guarantee you will get one. The company has to actually complete the programming and mass-production of these. Everything written about this product is taken directly from the company website and/or promo video. Other media outlets have actually had demos of this device and have responsibly reported its many failings and imperfections.
All that being said, I truly hope for success for this drone manufacturer. I would love to buy one. But the risk of crowdfunding this is too great for me.
Quick question relating to pretty much all drones. Say if I was snowboarding threw trees and one happens to get in the way of the drone while recording me. Does the drone have the technology to be aware of, and avoid, the tree or would it be completely unaware and crash?
For this drone, the answer is no; and for the majority of other drones the answer is also no. The latest DJI Phantom 3 (as far as I know) is the only one that has sensors that can detect objects in its path.
Oops. Got the frame-rates reversed. Should be 1080p at 60 and 720p at 120.
Ya know what? You’re absolutely right. Thanks for the heads up, I updated the post.