Shown in the PMA @ CES exhibition area, DJI’s Phantom 2 Vision ($1199) combines the power of a quadricopter drone with an iOS-controllable 14-Megapixel camera. Using a Vision app, the drone can be given GPS milestones and its camera can be monitored in-flight, so long as your iOS device is within roughly 300-foot Wi-Fi range. The drone is controlled separately with an included RF remote control system, and promises up to 25 minutes of flight time on an included battery.
Phantom 2 Vision’s integrated camera is an f/2.8, 140-degree field-of-view recording system with 1080/30p or 1080/60i video modes, saving content to an included 4GB micro SD card. Tilt control is handled within the iOS app, and you can rotate the copter around with the RF controller. If your iOS device is paired with the unit before flight, you can watch your flight in realtime as it’s recording.
While the drone is very impressive at maintaining a mostly stable level during flight, all it takes is a disruption in the RF signal for it to go off course, as we saw during one demonstration.