Two Eyes in the Sky

The latest flying machine from PowerVision—the PowerEye—is a dual-vision cinematography drone that lets you see what you’re shooting and where the drone is headed. It’s a win/win combination for safety as well as creativity.

Here’s how it works: Located inside the nose of the drone, an FPV (First Person View) camera shows the operator(s) the flight path of the aircraft. Below, a stabilized, gimbal-mounted 4K UHD (or a switchable Thermal/Natural light) camera is operated independently to focus on your intended subject matter.

If you’re going solo, you can keep an eye on both the FPV and the SMV (Subject Matter View) with the PowerEye app by either using a split screen or picture-in-picture view on your mobile device. Alternatively, the PowerEye can be operated by two people—one operator for each camera. Even if you’re multi-tasking and operating both cameras, the PowerEye has sensors that will sound an alert within 10 meters of any obstacles, so there’s a good safety measure built in. And, it’s four-point landing/lift-off design adds another measure of safety by eliminating the need for hand-held takeoffs and landings.

The UAV weighs in at 8.6 pounds (camera included) and has a maximum payload of 6.6 pounds. It is conveniently compatible with Micro Four Thirds lenses, so you won’t be adding a whole lot of weight or bulk to the aircraft. Rotors and legs collapse to approximately 13 x 11 x 12 inches for easy portability and up to around 30 minutes flight time on its dual, high-capacity batteries. Better yet, it has a 3.1-mile video stream range for control and real-time HD video streaming.

We don’t have pricing or a ship date yet, but look for this interesting and, from the looks of it, highly capable cinematography drone later this year. Meanwhile, check out this video of the PowerEye in action: