While the jury is still out on drones for some people, filmmakers and cinematographers are certainly embracing the technology. Aiming to help them, specifically on big budget projects is DJI, which unveiled their new Matrice 600 drone in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the annual National Association of Broadcasters summit. 

The drone manufacturing company enlisted the help of Claudio Miranda, winner of a best cinematography Oscar for Life of Pi, to make the announcement. He notes that the DJI Matrice 600 is a large drone designed to take high-end cinema cameras into the air. To that end, the M600, which costs an estimated $4 600, has a maximum takeoff weight of 15.1 kg, making it capable of handling a 6 kg camera. 

It is also pretty fast, with a maximum speed of 18 m/s (provided there is no wind), as well as a vertical ascent speed of 5 m/s. Added to this a significant flight altitude of 2500 m above sea level, which means the M600 is great for aerial shots. In terms of image quality, it can stream up to 1080p at 60 fps via a LightBridge 2 downlink system. Furthermore the drone features a combination of three GPS units and three IMUs (Inertial Measurement Unit) to follow and repeat specifically designed flight plans, which would certainly help when doing multiple takes. 

Hit play on the video below and see the M600 do its thing.