This AI-Powered Camera Auto-Tracks Subjects and Has a 1,750mm Zoom Lens

An intriguing conceptual camera made by a group of former DJI engineers will launch on Kickstarter next month. The RocX made by Farseer can be plugged into a DSLR or mirrorless camera, as well as working on its own.

The company calls it the “world’s first AI-powered distant view camera,” and some of the videos and images RocX has put out of it are startling.

As demonstrated in the image above, a DSLR or mirrorless camera can be screwed onto the gimbal and the RocX camera placed on the hot shoe. The RocX system can then control the camera by swivelling it around to track subjects.

“Farseer focuses on smart imaging robots and has launched the world’s first AI bird-watching camera pan-tilt unit,” the company says. “The team members are mostly from DJI and have gathered senior engineers specializing in AI algorithms, structural design, hardware design, software design, and system quality.”

The RocX camera — which has a six-hour battery life — has a 1/2.8″ sensor and an ISO range of 100 to 12,800. It can take 4K photos in 1080P and record 4K video at 30 frames per second (FPS) and 1080P videos at 60 FPS. Its aperture range is just f/2.0 to f/3.2, and the zoom capacity is 50x, with the focal length ranging from 35mm to 1,750mm. It’s not clear how much of that is optical zoom and how much is digital zoom.

As well as the RocX gimbal, the RocX handle mounts the camera in a similar way to the DJI Osmo Pocket — Farseer does mention that some of its staff worked on the Osmo Pocket. The handle also has auto-tracking and auto-framing capabilities. Both the gimbal and the handle have a two-axis stabilization, and weigh in at 2.2 lb. and 1.1 lb. respectively.

Digital Camera World reports that a Kickstarter for the RocX camera system will start in December. The camera by itself will reportedly cost $199, with the handle $299, and the RocX camera with the gimbal $699.

That RocX is said to be made up of former DJI engineers is interesting. The drone company is facing a looming ban in the United States. DroneXL notes that DJI has been “hemorrhaging” talent from its U.S. operations and those same people were bound to start engineering competing products.

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