It’s not like DJI to do anything quietly, really. Whenever they introduce a new product, they always seem to make a big fuss over everything with flashy on-stage presentations and a lot of hype. But during CineGear 2019, they’ve quietly introduced both a new DJI Storm drone as well as a new cinematography service.
Probably why this one was released so quietly is that it doesn’t actually appear to be available for sale. It’s a custom drone built by DJI for their own DJI Studio service, a new cinematography service that DJI is offering. The service has actually been available in the past with the DJI Matrice 600 and Sony A7SII. The new DJI Storm, however, comes with a much higher load capacity designed for high-end cinema systems like those from ARRI, RED and similar.
8 PropellorsMax speed: 80km/h (Sport mode) / 60km/h (GPS mode)Operating temp: -10°C to ~40°CFlight time: 8-15 minutesPayload: 18.5kg (40lb)
To handle the bulk of larger cinema cameras like the ARRI Alexa Mini, LF Sony Venice and RED DSMC2, the Storm is equipped with the DJI Ronin 2 PTZ gimbal. It’s an impressive system, and valuable service, but I wonder how many of their own drone customers they’ll be cutting out of the loop now who also offer these same services, especially when the DJI Storm appears to offer so much advantage over their most powerful available drone – the DJI Matrice 600. With only a 6kg payload, it’s going to be tough for the Matrice 600 to compete. But for much of the world, it appears that might not be an issue, as the service seems to be mostly limited to Asia. At least for now. The Verge has spotted that there appears to be at least one DJI Storm drone in the USA so far, though. You can find out more about the service over on the DJI China website. [via The Verge]
