July 2019, nearly 40 degrees every day, and two wrong DJI predictions behind me. But I still believed Europe needed a Spark 2, or at least a DJI drone under 250 grams, and here's why.
Wrong twice
Let's say my last two videos weren't that successful. Twice I got the wrong prediction about DJI's next product: the first time it was the Osmo Action, the second time the RoboMaster. It's because I was anxious and really wanted DJI to release a Spark 2, or at least a drone under 250 grams.
Why 250 grams matters in Europe
For the first time, Europe was about to get one set of drone rules valid across the whole EU, with every country following the same regulation. As I understood it at the time, drones were split into categories by weight, and the lightest one, under 250 grams, wouldn't need a course or an online exam. You'd register and be free to fly, as long as you respected restricted areas and the rules. For the heavier categories you'd need to attend a course and pass an online exam.
That opens a really nice space for people who want to use drones without too much bureaucracy, to have fun and make videos like we do on YouTube, not professionally. Something affordable that lives in your pocket: throw it up, shoot for a couple of minutes, put it back in your bag, and it makes your videos better.
The Spark 2 rumours
The rumours at the time described a Spark 2 at about 240 grams at take-off, with a 4K camera and three-axis stabilisation. For me that was already everything the YouTube market needed, especially under the new EU rules. I thought European buyers would understand the importance of flying legally and it would become DJI's best seller in Europe. I hadn't read the new FAA rules in the US, but I expected something similar.
DJI had been moving into other sectors with action cameras, and I felt the moment had come for a low-budget drone that fits in your pocket and fits the new rules. I wasn't promising it would be at the next event, I'd been burned twice. I'd only been following this market for about a year. But fingers crossed.