Challenging DJI With Platforms For Aerial Photography, Cinematography

In the world of aerial photography and cinematography, DJI has been the dominant force with its versatile and affordable drones for that market. It has also been the subject of potential governmental bans and now tariffs may pose a threat, despite the cooling of trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

Now there is a new player in the market that poses a direct competition to DJI: SiFly, a startup out of Santa Clara, California, has just emerged from stealth mode and unveiled its next-generation all-electric, autonomous drone platforms that provide 4 times the flight time, 10 times the range and a higher payload at prices competitive with products currently on the market.

SiFly’s centerpiece is its Q12 drone. It offers continuous hover for 2 hours as well as up to 3 hours in forward flight to enable up to 90 miles of operating range along with a payload capacity of 10 pounds. All with a quieter noise profile.

Although SiFly apparently has not yet focused on photography or videography, it’s probably just a matter of time until they pivot in that direction, if they haven’t already and kept it under the radar.

The improved operational capabilities would also seem a natural fit for new opportunities in BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line-Of-Sight) missions that previously could not even be considered.

SiFly’s tech and capabilities have been confirmed with thousands of successful flights that also validate its capabilities in real-world missions such as with Amaral Ranches in California’s Salinas Valley.

The Q12’s onboard algorithms and cloud-connected data streams have demonstrated the vehicle’s capacity to deliver large-scale real-time insights. Such intelligent connectivity also harmonizes very favorably with the needs of aerial photographers and cinematographers as backup data repositories for imagery and video.

FMI:  sifly.co/