GoPro has taken action to ensure that it doesn’t lose out on Christmas 2016 sales, by unexpectedly releasing the GoPro Karma Grip as a separate purchase. A daring move by GoPro, The Karma Grip stabilisation unit was originally being sold only as part of the complete Karma drone kit.
The modular design of Karma allowed the gimbal for the drone’s GoPro camera mount to be removed and then attached to a Grip controller handle.
Highly adjustable and mountable with several GoPro items (e. g Chest harness, Seeker backpack), it includes a lock-and-release feature for cinematic camera tilts. With the Grip’s handle controls, users switch on and off the camera’s power, start and stop recording, and use the HiLight feature to tag key moments.
/GoPro
"Karma Grip makes it easy for anyone to capture shake-free, Hollywood-caliber video that is nothing short of stunning," said Nicholas Woodman, founder and CEO of GoPro. "Whether it's holding it in your hand as you chase your kids around the house or wearing it on your chest as you ski, hike or bike, Karma Grip makes ordinary shots look extraordinary. "
An admittedly handy piece of kit for any GoPro enthusiast, it was assumed by many that this unit would indeed eventually be made available on its own. However the Sunday 4 December release (which closely follows that of GoPro’s Remo camera control) took many by surprise and it is easy to suspect that GoPro’s timetable has been jolted ahead.
The massive Karma drone recall (due to it’s propensity to fall out of the sky without warning) and the PR save of giving out an equal number of HERO5 cameras as consolation for them, is going to have hit GoPro’s potential holiday sales hard. Pushing forward the release would be a logical attempt at damage control. A change in timing also matches up with the fact that though Karma Grip is currently compatible with GoPro’s HERO5 Black and HERO4 Black and Silver cameras, support for any HERO5 Session cameras won’t start until sometime in Q2 2017.
The GoPro Karma Grip is available for for US$299 and comes with the handle, stabiliser, a HERO5 Black harness, a mounting ring, plus cables and straps.
You can find out more about the Karma Grip on the GoPro website
. digitalrev.com2016-12-6 03:00
