GoPro hopes for good Karma with new drone

Compact drone allows adventurers to capture themselves in action from new angles

Picture the scene: you’re hiking up a mountain, taking in some breathtaking scenery and filming it all on your GoPro action camera strapped to your body or your head as you climb.

But you want more.

Maybe you want to see the entire landscape from above.

Or perhaps there’s a hard-to-reach ledge, from which you’d like to explore your surroundings.

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GoPro has made a lightweight, foldable drone that will fit in your backpack for such situations – the GoPro Karma.

The device uses the GoPro Hero 4, Hero 5 Black, or Hero 5 Session as its camera, using a new stabilisation mount under the drone to secure the camera.

It can fly at speeds of up to 56km/h, and a full charge will get you about 20 minutes of flying time.

It also has its own controller with a colour screen, so you don’t have to press your overworked smartphone or tablet into service.

According to the specs, it will travel up to 1km away from you, and up to 4.5km in height – but, bear in mind, the current drone regulations in Ireland say you can’t operate a drone more than 300m away from you, or higher than 120m above ground level.