GoPro Karma

[Bill D]

Has anyone here purchased a GoPro Karma 2.0? I just ordered one, it's expected to arrive tomorrow. Curious if anyone else has purchased one and what your thoughts are.

There were a few things I really liked about the Karma.

• I like that the camera is a GoPro and I can use it without the drone. As a beginner, I believe the use of the drone will be less than the use of the GoPro. I understand that may change, but I also don't expect this to be my last drone as tech increases.
• I also liked that the Grip is detachable and can be used as a handheld stabilizer. Again, I see this being something I use more than just the drone.
• I really like that I don't have to use my phone with the drone controller. I'm SICK of everything needing my phone. This may be a topic for another thread, but I'm so tired of having to switch my phone from this wifi to this bluetooth, to a different wifi, oh yeah, while connected to the wifi controller I have to disconnect from cellular data that I'm using to stream music... I find myself carrying old phones to get around all this mumbo-jumbo, which completely defeats the purpose.
• I also like that if I crash the Karma in the lake, the drone itself is only $300 to replace. Lol. Providing that I can keep it from sinking to the bottom. Then I would lose the GoPro too...

I fully understand that as a drone, the Mavic is a superior product. But I think for my first drone, the Karma drone will work well enough and give me a few other accessories that I've thought about spending money on already.

 

[AndyD]

I personally am a fan of the Mavic and DJI as a whole (I have a Mavic and a P4). I think the original Karma was rushed to market IMO and because of it they had enough technical issues to warrant the original recall. From what I've read on other sites I think they may have damaged their drone reputation with the first debacle and it would concern me with how long they'll put time and effort into the Karma brand longer term if the market or their fan base doesn't respond well to them. Their obvious bread and butter is their cameras. If you already owned a camera and were only purchasing the cost of the drone itself it may be worth a try but to spend the money on the drone plus the camera to get started from the ground up I would rather invest in the Mavic.

I'm no drone expert by any means whatsoever, just my $.02 from the consumer hobbyist side.

 

[Bill D]

That's exactly what I liked about the Karma. I'm not a drone enthusiast (yet) and I like having the GoPro to take some video of our journeys. I completely agree that they rushed the Karma to the market to try to beat the Mavic. And then it crashed and burned. Literally. Well, maybe not the burned part, but definitely the crashed.

 

[Bill D]

Got the Karma last night. Overall, I am really pleased with the purchase. I already had the GoPro 5 and plenty of people know about the image quality, so I won't mention it. Again, since I already had the GoPro, the cost was offset, making the Karma about $400 cheaper than the Mavic. I plan to take it out a good bit more today, but here are my initial opinions.

• I flew it around the neighborhood a bit last night, but without being able to fully charge the battery beforehand, I didn't want to push it.
  • I got about 12 minutes of flight time on what displayed as 3/4 battery. If that holds true, I expect around 15 minutes depending on the activity and conditions, which seems to be about average, if not a bit below.
  • I have only flown it in "easy mode" so far. I don't really know what that means, but I assume it slows everything down and makes the drone more stable as people get used to flying.
• The complete set up in the backpack is well thought out. Everything has a spot where it fits snugly. It's a bit bigger than I would really like, but I get it. Also, with everything packed in there, there is not really room for anything extra, so I'm not sure where the second battery I purchased is going to go...
• The Karma came with a pair of extra propellors (just one for each direction, not a complete set), the drone, the grip, and charger.
  • Side note, the charger is pretty cool. If you have a charged Karma battery, you can use it via the charger to charge the camera, the grip, or the controller. Good way to sell an extra $99 battery GoPro.
• I really like the controller. It was easy to set up, has a nice interface, and is a good size. It will take me a bit to get used to the tilt wheel, but eventually I think the buttons will be well set up.
• The "Flight Simulator" was pretty cool. It's an option on the controller that walks you through the basics of flying and then gives you free range on a simulator. Having never flown a drone, I found it useful to practice a little bit before flight.
• The grip is really cool. I like having the handheld stabilizer. Again, I plan to use it more today, but it makes videos taken by hand look really pro.

On another note, my dog absolutely hates the drone. He thinks it is here to destroy us and thinks that he has to bark at it and chase it around while it's in the air. So, it seems I have found a new way to get him some exercise. Lol

Here is a still of the incoming storm last night.

And one of Dewey protecting us from the UFO.

 

[haknslash]

Sweet! Between you and @blacksapphirez drone we should get some cool vids this summer on meet-ups

 

[Ronnie]

I wasn't planning on buying anything big when I left the house today but read this thread at lunch and ended up with this. A new addition to the fleet it seems. I will buy another battery if this "checks out".

 

[Bill D]

I'll be very excited to see your review @Ronnie! It'll be a good measure of how naive I am. Lol.

 

[buckbuck]

@Ronnie It is my humble professional opinion that you have some issues that should be looked into.

 

[Volffas]

@Bill D how do you like the screen on the remote? How big is it?

 

[Bill D]

@Volffas I really like the built in screen. No problem seeing it outside. Great picture quality. And the passenger app is cool. My wife can watch from my phone and not try to cram in close and see the screen on the controller.

Here is the screen compared to my iPhone 7 Plus.

 

[Bill D]

Here is a couple of quick videos I put together from yesterday. One is footage from the Karma, the other is from the Grip. All were shot on a GoPro 5 Black.

 

[buckbuck]

@Bill D is it possible that drone may travel to a certain Central IL lake this summer?

 

[Bill D]

It is very possible, but there is some kind of rule about flying drones over that lake. But you know what they say about rules...

 

[Ronnie]

I returned my Karma. It is a good starter kit but has the too many quirks for me.

Pros:
Great controller (fit/screen/simplicity)
A few nice auto pilot / camera programs
Dual use gimbal (on or off the quad copter)
Karma handle (hand held gimbal)
Sturdy backpack case
Dual charger


Cons:
Unreliable connection (lost video connection at 500 feet out)
Short battery life (advertised as 20 minutes but actual for me was 15 minutes)
Lack of automated tracking functions like active track or follow-me/the controller
Cannot maintain a tight hover (drifts 5 feet on all axis)

Summary:
I like the Karma concept but think GoPro could have and should have put more time into working out all of the problems with this system before re-releasing it. I could live with most of the issues but unreliable connection at short distances is not one of them.

I may buy a handheld gimbal for my go pro 4 but it would not be the karma grip as there are better products out there for the same amount of money.

Again, this is a good beginner system with or without the camera especially if you don't already have a quad copter but if you want a something more autonomous this isn't it.

 

[Julian]

So I'm curious if any of the owners of Karmas on here have ones that work. I just went to use mine and it failed to connect to the controller. After spending hours online and with GoPro, their conclusion is "sorry, your Karma is out of warranty and we have no parts to fix it". So I now have a $1000 brick!

Astonishing! They have sent me a 25% off coupon towards a GoPro Hero 8 - anyone have a use for that? I'm not spending another dime with this company!!!

 

[Julian]

@Bill D does yours still work?