As my friend James has mentioned in the Camera Rumors round-up, it's Pumpkin Spice season (scary how fast time flies, huh?) Personally I'm trying to drop a few pounds, so it was black Americano when I went to the DroneX exhibition last week.
In the few hours I was there it was interesting to experience the mix that the industry has become. The first two stands in the hall were 'Hobbyking' and a Ukraine-focussed defence company.
In truth the former is more of a name; these days the electric motors on sale are not just the kind used to build FPV quads. It was also interesting to see the name Sony prominently, but not DJI (save for on other exhibitors' stands) nor Autel. Sony's prominence had a lot to do with Visual Skies, where I learned a bit about the making of Ridley Scott's Naoloeon – worthy of a separate story!
Ther other big set piece last week, with reverberations that continue, was Skydio's annual event which took place the same evening on the other side of the Atlantic.
Most interesting for the average user was not the impressive developing tech on display for coordinating fleets of X10 autonomous drones, but the comments of CEO Adam Bray about the accusations of the company's lobbying against free trade (and, especially, DJI).
Since my piece on warnings of pain for DJI owners in America, I've received some emails either parroting Bray's point that DJI is spending more on lobbying (true) or trying to show me that DJI is lobbying on defence. The thing is DJI have to lobby on defence even to protect their consumer market as the legislation threatening the company is categorised as 'defence' legislation; when I put this to the would-be 'source' they simply referred to the usual online data repositories and other unsupported vaguiries.
So Skydio's "Everything Changes. Again." turns out to mean very little in the short term, but Bray might be right about the long term move to regional drone industries and since Skydio seems to have no interest in consumer or even photographers we can hope someone else might.
Those hoping for a DJI competitor should look instead at HOVERAir, where the IndieGoGo campaign has passed 6250 backers for the 8K model.
• IndieGoGO HoverAir X1 Pro campaign page
That's a pretty high-end alternative to the no doubt very Christmas-friendly DJI Neo. We're still waiting to learn more about – new, cheaper goggles which might make FPV more palatable for the wallet as the holiday season approaches – we'll discuss that on the rumour list's DJI page...
There are also a lot of rumors, about an upcoming update to the top-tier folding drone, the Mavic 3 Pro – a Mavic 4 (more on the next page) – and an Air 3S box has been photographed, so the next few months could be at least as busy.
Interestingly 'beyond line of sight' tech is also being normalised for drones as small as the Mavic 3, which I'll be posting about in the next few days.
What about the other big names in drones? As I mentioned Parrot drones have been returning to French roots this September, 3D-modelling the Palace of Versailles in the company's largest project of the kind yet.
What of DJI? Turn to the next page...
DJI Rumors
DJI Mavic 4
We've not seen an update to DJI's premium folding drone since the Mavic 3 Pro in April 2023, but there is a lot of evidence that's about to change, some from pretty good sources. The phase 'Mavic 4' has appeared on more than one tweet, or, er, 'X'!
When the first DJI drone bearing the moniker Mavic arrived in 2016 – the Mavic Pro – with its then-revolutionary folding legs it marked the beginning of the end for the iconic Phantom line but, with the Insipre already out, there it wasn't clear this was the shape professional operators would be adopting, despite the 'Pro' in the name!
Over time we've seen lighter options (and weight regulations) bring the Mini, Mini Pro, and Air series drones arrive, while craft roughly the same size as the original Mavic have become ever more capable.
Anyway, the evidence...
So. A wild #Mavic4 popped up in China yesterday, notice the absence of sensors on the front and the camera being a perfect sphere making it possible to even photograph straight up. Will we see this before Christmas? Cheers! pic.twitter.com/GvHPtlKjP6September 22, 2024
Credibility Assessment: High
Jasper Ellens is one of the most reliable DJI rumor tweeters. He shared accurate images of the Mini 4 Pro, Action 5 Pro camera, and the DJI Neo drones ahead of their releases, so it's fair to assume he has accurate information. At the end of September he's also added what he thinks is a Mavic 4 FCC registration.
Here he might just be reposting an image from China, but the 'perfect sphere' which is a new camera mount has been seen in previous rumor images. He could just be a quick researcher though – Igor Bogdanov posted this image a day earlier, as well as this image of what looks to be the same camera module way back in July which suggests the testing cycle has been going on a while now...
Oh, and don't forget that in my own interview with DJI's Head of Global Policy he also happened to say "Mavic 4"...
👉Eh...The new DJI M4 camera was shown too soon. Oh, well. 💁♂️#dji #djimavic4 pic.twitter.com/IBpZTfjy4YJuly 19, 2024
It looks to me like the word 'Hasselblad' is there on the front, and until now that's only appeared on the high-end Mavic.
Anyway that FCC registration that has him convinced might be the icing on that cake:
I am positive this is the #Mavic4 FCC registration. We see a bigger battery, indicating flight time improvements and a #double registration like previous Cine and Pro versions. DJI is trying to hide the FCC names but it doesn't matter. Hello #Mavic4. pic.twitter.com/qB3IvfQooZSeptember 28, 2024
DJI Air 3S?
The DJI Air series has become a firm favorite for photographers and content creators because it's a little heavier than the Mini Pro series. DJI used the extra solidity in the, er, air to allow the Air 3 to carry two cameras in hybrid form, a concept familiar from the Mavic 3 line and most phones.
That drone was launched in July 2023 so, understandably, users are looking to DJI for some level of update. DJI aren't really under any pressure to deliver annual change, but we'd expect it before two years are up, so the fact rumors are swirling now isn't a surprise, and perhaps the winter market is important.
The Air 3 is light enough to fit in the EU C1 weight class, which makes it especially appealing.
I've also seen this German drone training provider repeating the rumors about the Air 3S, so clearly some people in the trade are convinced!
👉DJI Air 3S is getting ready) The guys have found another confirmation... Tentatively October https://t.co/dsWflnmhFRSeptember 14, 2024
Credibility Assessment: High
Igor Bogdanov – or "Quadro News" – is one of the most reliable sources of information of DJI news we've come across, regularly seeming to get hold of images of future DJI products before anyone else. What's most interesting is that, if you go back and look at them, his 'speculations' at the names have high degree of success too ("Is it a Mavic 4?" or "Is it an Air 3S?" come along before packaging images surface).
DJI Goggles N3
Perhaps the most interesting is another tweeted image appearing to show new "Cheaper" goggles. Youtuber DroneCamps RC posted a tweet by Jasper Ellens (yes, from all the other rumors/leaks!) and suggested that chaper LCD panels instead of OLED might be used in (what he calls) upcoming 'Goggles N3'.
The pic still seems to show pass-through cameras though – that can't be free!
Credibility-wise it's hard to say much about that detail, but it would make sense to get cheaper goggles out before Christmas given the relatively low price of the DJI Neo and the whopping price of the current Goggles.
Professional drone rumors
Perhaps the most interesting thing I saw at the DroneX show in London was more than a rumor, but the real-life presence of SkyWash in the UK, meaning the skywash drone – which is, in essence, a pressure-washer strapped to a drone – now has an international presence.
The drone is remarkable because it's capable of delivering a powerful water jet to windows without needing anyone to climb to them and, as UK Managing Director Aidan Coyle pointed out to me, the largest cause of death in the workplace in the UK (according to the ONS) is falling from heights.
The device operates like a tethered drone, save that a hosepipe – not a power cable – is the tether (in fact to my slight surprise batteries were still used on the demo unit I touched at the show).
Very excitingly, inductive power for drones might be on the way thanks to the tech of Inductive Power Projection – this is definitely a company to watch.
