Alta Price goes UP - A LOT.... $11,995.00 WHAT?!?!?!

[violetwolf]

100% agree on the CAN Bus. This is the reason our Phobotic Gimbal Controllers use CAN Bus. No issues with interference from motors etc. as with the AlexMos which is I2c.

I'm pretty confident that Free Fly uses ported ALexMos software on their systems. I've been watching development of gimbal software VERY closely and its just a little too coincidental that FF and AM keep introducing the same features within weeks or days of each other

Same observations with FF and Arducopter regarding Flight Controllers..

 

[Old Man]

I see a slight difference when comparing 2k vs 4k at 4k projection. However, once into the subject it's a non issue except for the pixel peepers. My reality is, proper filmed and exposed 2k or 4k subject acquisition, that we see everyday in real life in regards to sharpness and resolution is so far beyond what we see in real life. IE, in the woods, the Christmas tree, my wife from 5 or 10 feet. We do not anywhere that much detail in real life unless it's properly lit and we are right on it or have a magnifying glass.

Nature films are great in 4k, but it's like looking at nature from 12 inches or with a magnifying glass.

Not sure if I'm explaining right, but if I grabbed 100 people in best buy and showed them 2k and 4k content on a 4k 65" screen, not many if any of them would gush over the 4k vs 2k. They'd be looking at the story and even if you asked them to pick the higher resolution, many wouldn't be able to.

Not sure if I'm explaining this properly. I am not advocating people in Hollywood don't need 4k. I'm just saying like 3d tv, it's over hyped for the majority of people. Both consumers and producers are falling for the marketing and hype... We are beyond what our eyes see naturally.....

Cut down your post a bit but I understand what you were saying. I have some back ground in this area as well and understand what we really see.

 

[SchrodingersCar]

As far as 4k goes, TV sets are a red herring. Compression will be the limiting factor there for a while (but not forever). And I could make the same argument against dynamic range - HDTVs can't display anywhere near 13 stops, so what's the point?! I mostly produce 1080p TV commercials. I shoot 4k the same reason I shoot RAW. Post-production versatility. IMO It's fast becoming the de-facto standard of professional production. Your clients will demand it. Trust me.

 

[Lanzar]

Kopterworx has few altas on old stock so price stays until the units are sold. So if someone is interested ........

 

[SamaraMedia]

100% agree on the CAN Bus. This is the reason our Phobotic Gimbal Controllers use CAN Bus. No issues with interference from motors etc. as with the AlexMos which is I2c.

I have a CP control for an old Quadframe DSLR gimbal, how do you connect to the CANBUS? And what is it used for? I don't recall reading anywhere on Phobotic's site or video tutorials about connecting using the CANBUS.

Sorry to go off topic.

Thanks

 

[SleepyC]

I have a CP control for an old Quadframe DSLR gimbal, how do you connect to the CANBUS? And what is it used for? I don't recall reading anywhere on Phobotic's site or video tutorials about connecting using the CANBUS.

Sorry to go off topic.

Thanks

I think he mens on the board it self, it communicates with itself by canbus not IC2

 

[SamaraMedia]

Thanks SleepyC, I did find a little more info on this on the AerialPixels website. Just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something like the ability to connect to a FC like NAZA etc, to get GPS assisted stabilization.

 

[maxwelltub]

This is really odd to me. First they changed the price on the Movi which is great for the customers who bought at the lower price but must be fairly upsetting to the early adopters. I mean this also happened pretty soon after its original release and before the full cage and other upgrades were made. Now they are doing this and seems like this would shake the confidence in their loyal customer base. Not the best timing either with the drone expo coming up and having Gryphon Dynamics and Shotover making significant moves into the US markets.

 

[Motopreserve]

I saw the drop in M5 price in a B&H sales email. I figured they may be moving toward a more competitive price now that other companies are getting good feedback in a similar segment of the market (Gremsy, Ronin Lite etc).

Perhaps they feel the Alta is still in a class of its own - and warrants the price hike? Nah, still doesn't make sense

 

[violetwolf]

Re FreeFly: I'm in the camp / theory that the additional $ is for support costs. Their recall earlier must have cost a bundle!

Re Phobotic: Yes at this point CAN Bus is only for the IMU connection to make it robust. But the developer Roee has let us know there are some major breakthroughs coming in the next Firmware release. I have seen some test footage that is outstanding regarding horizon holding. There MAY be some FC connectivity in the future, but it may be unnecessary due to the new algorithms. It will be a free update and will run on all existing boards.

Sorry to derail!

 

[Str8 Up]

You really need to fly the Alta to appreciate what it brings to the game. There is nothing else that has the frame build quality in a foldable. The synapse FC is the first I have flown that allows the perfect blend of stabilization and fluid user inputs. It is now being specifically requested for jobs which has never happened to us before. We have two and are considering a third. BTW, we paid full price for our M10 and was surprised when FF dropped the price. It had already paid for itself so it didn't really matter honestly. I like that not everyone can afford an Alta. It alleviates the P3 problem of people doing jobs for a tank of gas or a round of golf.

 

[Jason S]

Im gonna wait until freefly builds it's alta heavylift its been working on to lift the movi XL
Once that gets released maybe next year? I bet the alta price will drop

 

[DucktileMedia]

Maybe the Alta is featured in Star Wars and they know everyone will want one after the movie releases. I just found out that the cost of a Star Wars DVD is now $55-80! Look yourself on Amazon. I think Freefly is copying the Disney rip-off success model.

 

[Bartman]

This is really odd to me. First they changed the price on the Movi which is great for the customers who bought at the lower price but must be fairly upsetting to the early adopters. I mean this also happened pretty soon after its original release and before the full cage and other upgrades were made. Now they are doing this and seems like this would shake the confidence in their loyal customer base. Not the best timing either with the drone expo coming up and having Gryphon Dynamics and Shotover making significant moves into the US markets.

if they're running their accounting books with as much precision as they're designing products then they might not have enough expenses with the Movi to offset the profits being generated. the ALTA on the other hand is still probably costing them a lot of money so maybe they increase the price of the ALTA to balance against the costs and decrease the price of the Movi so that particular item isn't such a strong profit center.

just my WAG for the day, hope you enjoyed it! lol

 

[Str8 Up]

Plus Freefly has a very comprehensive quality assurance protocol for each Alta which adds to costs. It's very impressive to see it in person. My personal experiences with DJI in comparison, shows that they must spend almost nothing on QA and instead mass produce and just say "send it back and wait 6-8 weeks" when something goes bad.

 

[PilotMan]

ALTA for sale - Perfect condition with no bumps. Call me at: 808-635-8799

 

[R_Lefebvre]

To me it looks like the electronics have failed badly. I'm surprised a bit that Freefly is still using I2C bus for communication between components - I was under the impression that the industry has agreed that I2C is bad for long distance communication (e.g. bad for communicating between, for example, FC and ESCs). I2C is fine to send data between components on a single PCB, but really prone to interference over long distances. The longer the distance - the easier it is to disrupt the data flow. Especially since the ESCs are placed at the very end of arms in ALTA. They should have used CAN bus - much more resilient when it comes to interference.

What?! Seriously?

Yeah, that is SOOOOOOooooooooo bad. Epic Fail.

I've also heard the rumors that Freefly is using Arducopter. They would be doing so illegally if they are. What do we know?

 

[PilotMan]

What?! Seriously?

Yeah, that is SOOOOOOooooooooo bad. Epic Fail.

I've also heard the rumors that Freefly is using Arducopter. They would be doing so illegally if they are. What do we know?

Thats just a rumor. Its an amazing machine. I have seen the insides and its all custom built.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Custom build does not mean it is or isn't using Ardupilot. I have worked with a company that built a totally custom board and loaded AP onto it.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

IIRC, there was some very good indication that they were using AP on their older system? There are a lot of companies actually using AP without telling people. (I am in no way implying Freefly is on the Alta, just asking the question since others brought it up).