What’s good for endangered birds of prey might actually prey on GoPro’s hold on the point-of-view camera market.
Sony’s 2-ounce Action Cam Mini has been flying high since its release in September, thanks to an organization that has been strapping the tiny HD video camera on the backs of eagles to raise awareness about threatened species.
Darshan, an imperial eagle, flew Saturday from the world’s talent building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. As he sought his handler, he gave BBC viewers a breathtaking five-minute live view before making a quick drop, following a signal to land.
BBC posted the video on YouTube, where it’s been viewed more than 1.6 million times since Saturday.
Darshan also showed off the view beneath him in a quick flight from London City Hall to the Tower Bridge in November. Again, the Action Cam Mini, 30 percent smaller than its predecessor, recorded in full HD with its Steady Shot technology making the swooping flight look smooth.
In October, Freedom Conservation‘s bird handlers brought a white-tailed eagle named Victor to Paris, where he and the Action Cam Mini flew from the top of the Eiffel Tower for a bird’s-eye tour of the city. That video posted to YouTube has had 1.3 million views.
Since its release, the Sony Action Cam Mini (about $200) has impressed tech reviewers even in cases where the writers give GoPro’s pricier new camera, the Hero 4, a slight edge.
To make the camera lighter and smaller, Sony pulled the GPS from the camera and put it in a Live View Remote that the user wears on the wrist. Some of the knocks against the mini cam have to do with battery life (about 70 minutes), camera controls being downsized and a slight downgrade in picture quality.
Technical qualities aside, product placement seems to be where the competition in the POV market is most heated. Where can’t you put one of these cameras?
