Karma

[stever40]

looks like the GoPro Karma is back on the market this week. It appears they needed to redesign a latch that holds the battery. For those that are drone users what's your thoughts about the Karma? Would you see it as a contender?

 

[Ronnie]

If you already have a dji phantom 3 or 4 I would pass on the karma more so if you already have a go pro as well.

Here is why from my perspective:
1. For $800 you don't get a camera with the karma and only the GoPro 4, and new 5 or session will work on it. Even on a bundled deal the total cost will be around $1,000, the same as a mavic pro and a lot more than a phantom 3.
2. GoPro disappointed a lot of people the first time they released the karma. They took a bunch of orders a month ahead of the release only to recall all of them a few weeks later. That alone would keep me from being the first to board the bandwagon on the relaunch.
3. If you have Both a phantom 3 or 4 and a go pro 3 or better (or anything similar in both cases) you are not getting any new functionality with a karma (it's old tech compared to what is in most newer dji products) other than a hand held gimbal which is already offered with some yuncee quad copters and dji's inspire. Alternatively you can buy a hand held gimbal from GoPro and other manufactures for $300 or less.
4. The original karma suffered from more than just a poorly secured battery, there are a few videos on you tube showing the karma crashing inexplicably when being piloted by experienced users. If go pro didn't address these basic control issues since the first recall they should not be re-releasing it now.

If you are just getting into flying cameras you may be better off going used initially. I see a lot of great deals on Craigslist sometimes from people who went all in before realizing that they just don't have the time or motivation to take and edit arial videos.

 

[AndyD]

I agree with @Ronnie

If you're going to spend a $1000 on a drone plus camera then invest that same money into the DJI Mavic. They're hard to track down currently in the market but they've been ramping up production and you can get them fairly quickly direct from DJI's website (from what I've read on Mavic forums.) One of the big push for the karma was its portability but it's still twice as big as the Mavic so portability of the Karma is ok compared to a Phantom but poor compared to the Mavic. Also, GoPro makes great action camera but with the wide angle view they shoot in I'm not sure I would like that style of picture from an aerial view, but that's just me personally.