Teased at CES 2021 in January, Sony has revealed complete details pertaining to Airpeak S1 Drone. The drone aims squarely at the professional video market.
Sony has made it clear that the Airpeak S1 is fully designed and made in Japan. This statement is made because of the legislation and controversy around drones from China.
Coming to the announcement made on Sony Airpeak S1 drone’s capabilities and features, it is built to work with Sony’s mirrorless cameras, including the A7S Mark III, FX3, and even with the 8K-capable Alpha 1 models. They can be attached to a special version of the Gremsy T3 gimbal that is designed specifically for the Airpeak. Any how Gremsy T3 gimbal has to be bought seperately.
One of the Sony Airpeak S1 drone’s biggest selling points is its stability and wind-resistance. it can stay stable in winds of up to 44.7 miles per hour (that is 20m/s).
It has 5 sets of stereo cameras that lead the drone and and an infrared rangefinder that stops the drone from hitting obstacles and stay steady even without satellite reception.
Also, Read: Sony Alpha 7S III Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera Launched
Sony had even enlisted the Japanese space agency (JAXA) for some of the tests for the drone. The Airpeak can reach a top speed of 55.9 miles per hour in just 3.5 seconds. However, drone’s speed or acceleration while flying a camera is not mentioned by the company.
Watch videos related to Airpeak Field Testing posted by Sony
The Airpeak S1 can be operated with a controller. Apart from it, Sony has an app called Airpeak Flight. The app is available for iOS/iPad OS as of now. It will allow to control the camera and gimbal. The Airpeak can be operated by a single person, but also allows dual-operators, where one person controls the flight and the other person controls the camera. Sony says the controller’s range is still under testing.
Sony Airpeak S1 comes with two pairs of propellers, the controller, two batteries, and a charger and has a price tag of $9,000.