Like its natural namesake, the PowerDolphin skims along the surface, able to see above and below. Read: The best underwater housings for cameras and phones This could make a boat trip more fun, or even add educational value to exploring lakeside pools. For most, this will be all the underwater drone needed, and the app is well-featured, even supporting live streaming to social media. That means you’ll need to be cautious of getting water on the touch screen but on the plus side the battery is contained in the drone and is the only element you’ll need to charge and the 720p live feed is ideal for piloting with. Secondly the umbilical is significantly shorter, though the surface end is actually a floating Wi-Fi buoy, so you can throw it in the water and, so long as you’re within Wi-Fi range of it (admittedly not far given the water), you have control, maximizing the use of the 15m (50ft) tether.įinally, that control is all on-screen using the app, so there is no physical controller unit. So how has Chasing sliced the price so low?įirstly the camera is a more modest 1080p, supported by only 250 lumens of light (at shallower depths this shouldn’t be an issue). It’s certainly the same striking yellow and pleasingly incorporates the maneuverable five-thruster design, which makes it possible to tilt the body (and, by extension, the camera) up and down. If you think that might make it hard to control, worry not – the depth lock feature is retained from its bigger brother too. This is in many respects a smaller version of Chasing’s Gladius Mini. The thoughtful app is easily operated, and VR compatible, and the 4K camera produces great results, with the only complaint really being that in rougher seas the image stabilization could be better. The five thrusters make the drone quick to respond – useful as you need to tilt the body up or down to look around. You can lock the pitch, but the camera (and accompanying 1,200-lumen lights) cannot be separately turned, making this a real pilot’s craft, and fun with it. Smart features include depth-lock (like altitude hold on a flying drone), and there is 64GB storage to record. On the downside, the protective caps for the 50m or 100m tether cable are easily lost, but otherwise, the drone is solidly built and can be thrown into the sea after setup and can easily take a few knocks underwater. Setting up is reasonably easy – an included towel means you can set the drone down on sharp coastal rocks safely. The Chasing Innovation Gladius Mini is supplied in a nice backpack (not unlike one photographer who might use to carry a body and lenses), with a laptop in a separate bay. The latter isn’t just good fun, it makes enjoying the 1080p live feedback easier than on your phone screen on a bright day, although the price differential between the Explorer and Wizard versions is considerable in some stores. There is a PowerRay Explorer which is the basic video shooting drone, and a more expensive PowerRay Wizard edition which adds the PowerSeeker sonar device (which can detect the underwater landscape and use temperature data to identify fishing hotspots), bait dropper, and a carry-on friendly travel case and Zeiss VR One Goggles, which provide an alternative means of exploring the depths from the deck. 32 or 64Gb SD storage is provided depending on the version you choose (but you can put your own card in). With a maximum ISO of 1600, the camera is more than capable in the depths the PowerRay can manage, though the 1/2.3-inch sensor could be bigger in a perfect world. The depths can be a murky place, even the first few meters, so the Ray adds two dimmable 450-lumen headlight lights to illuminate your subject, which can be captured in 4K (30fps max) or 4,000 x 3,000-pixel stills.
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