DJI is rolling out the Standard specifically for first-time pilots, which leans on the DJI hallmark of stability, flight and imaging to guarantee new fliers a fun and rewarding experience.
“Based on the remarkable success of the DJI Phantom 3 Professional and Phantom 3 Advanced, we wanted to create a new drone that addresses people who are curious about aerial imaging, but not quite ready to commit to a more professional system,” said Frank Wang, DJI’s CEO and Founder. “The Phantom 3 Standard makes it easy to get into the air to take great photos and videos.”
While positioned as the entry level drone in the DJI Phantom series, the Standard oddly comes with a newly designed and integrated 2.7K camera. That’s right. The new entry level Phantom records video at up to 2.7k HD video at 30 frames per second using a 94 degree distortion-free lens. The camera can also shoot still images at 12 megapixels in both DNG Raw and JPG formats.
Pilots can see what they’re shooting on a mounted smartphone using a standard WiFi connection, which shows exactly what their camera sees in nearly real time in HD. The updated DJI Go app allows the pilot to capture photos, start / stop record for video and adjust camera settings.
The remote controller is an updated version of DJI’s previous Phantom 2 Vision+ controller, with an integrated WiFi range extender and wheel to angle the camera.
Completely a Phantom 3 at heart, the new DJI Phantom 3 Standard includes GPS-based stabilization and flight times up to 25 minutes using DJI’s interchangeable Intelligent Flight Batteries for the Phantom 3 series. That flight time is a slight improvement over other Phantom 3s, likely a result of some fine tuning of the frictionless motors.
The DJI Phantom 3 Standard will be compatible with intelligent flight features including Follow Me, Waypoint Navigation and Point of Interest flight planning.
Follow Me – The drone intelligently follows the user based on their orientation.
Waypoint Navigation – Allows users to set a multi-point route that the Phantom 3 flies automatically while leaving camera control (pan and tilt) to the user. Users simply have to pull back on their controller and the Phantom will retrace its path to the beginning.
Point of Interest – Lets users define an object that the Phantom will fly around in a circle with the object framed perfectly in the center, capturing a cinematic shot that is otherwise difficult to fly manually.
These intelligent features, originally released for DJI’s professional products, will be available through a firmware upgrade for the rest of the DJI Phantom 3 series and the DJI Inspire 1 in coming weeks. They are also available through SDK apps already developed by third party DJI developers.
The DJI Phantom 3 Standard is available now through the DJI website and DJI resellers for $799.
