DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

The PowerEgg “X” drone lets you fly in the rain and even take off or land on water

Jan 9, 2020 by John Aldred 3 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Way back in 2016 at Photokina we saw one of the craziest looking drones we’ve ever seen. It looked like a giant egg – hence the name PowerEgg. Created by PowerVision, it offered a very unique design, but it didn’t seem to really take off (pun unintended). It looked like a great performer, but it was beaten out on convenience by the then-tiny Mavic Pro.

Now, PowerVision is back, with the PowerEggX. It’s a follow-up to the original, and comes in two different models. There’s the Explorer and the Wizard, with the latter designed to film in the rain, thanks to a waterproof housing, and with the included floats, you can even take off from or land the drone on water. Both shoot 4K 60fps video with a 3-axis gimbal, with a heavy emphasis on AI tracking.

While the original PowerEgg was pretty interesting, it was huge. Not too dissimilar to an American football. The one one, however appears to be significantly smaller and lighter. The original was almost 11″ long (272mm) and weighed a whopping 4.6lbs (2.1kg). The new PowerEgg X is only 6.5″ (165mm) long and has a takeoff weight of a relatively slim 862g (1.9lb). That’s actually about 40g lighter than DJI’s Mavic 2 Pro.

The folding mechanism for the PowerEgg X has also changed over its predecessor. No longer does it look quite like an alien mothership in vertical form. Now you attach arms and propellers to the sides of it, looking more like a traditional drone. But it’s not just a drone, it can also be used as a handheld stabilised camera without having to buy or 3D print any extra accessories.

I’m not entirely sure what she’s looking at in this shot, though, as the PowerEgg X doesn’t have a built-in LCD to let you see what it’s filming. Regardless, when handheld it goes into “AI Camera Mode”, using multi-angle facial recognition and “deep learning technologies” to create and maintain a pleasing composition. It even remembers the subject if they leave and re-enter the shot. And PowerVision says it works indoors or out with either slow or fast-moving subjects. It would be interesting to put this to the test to see just how well it holds up.

Attaching the arms puts the PowerEgg X into “Drone Mode”. Here it can shoot 4K 60fps video and fly in winds up to 18-24mph. You can get a realtime 1080p stream from the camera to your smartphone, which is placed in the included remote control unit from up to 3.7 miles away (although, bear in mind various “line of sight” laws around the world). It detects obstacles from up to 65 feet (~20 metres) away, which helps to protect the drone itself as well as nearby people (which you shouldn’t be flying near anyway in most of the world unless they’re involved in the flight).

The “Wizard” version of the PowerEgg X a waterproof housing for flying or filming in the rain, as well as water-landing floats, allowing you to either take off from or land on bodies of water. There is a slight price premium for the Wizard version, but if you regularly fly near water, it’ll likely wind up cheaper than drowning one that can’t handle it.

Both versions of the PowerEgg X drone offer flight times of up to 30 minutes or up to 3.5 hours when used as a handheld stabilised camera. Both also offer various automated AI tracking features as well as gesture mode.

The PowerEgg X Explorer is available to pre-order now for $899, while the Wizard version is also available to pre-order now for $1,249. Both are shipping soon.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

This drone lets you fly it using facial expressions Fly like an eagle: this suit lets you control a drone with your body British? It’s cheaper to fly to NYC, buy an EOS R5 and fly back Create epic rain effects with this $15 rain machine

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: CES 2020, drones, Gear Announcement, PowerEgg X, PowerVision

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Twenty meters of rocks — revisiting the same spot multiple times
Canon cameras can’t tether with Lightroom with the latest macOS update »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • SpaceX shares unique view of Earth in latest video
  • Get ready to photograph two total solar eclipses this year
  • How I started (and succeeded) photographing space from my backyard
  • Insta360’s new teaser says they’re entering the gimbal market
  • Users report blurry photos from Samsung Galaxy S23/S23+ cameras

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy