DJI has expanded its range of Zenmuse drone cameras with the XT – a camera that can see in the dark.
The XT uses the same stabilised gimbal mount as the existing Zenmuse X3, X5 and X5R cameras, which means it can be fitted to either the Inspire 1 or Matrice M100 quadcopters. But it’s very different to those conventional digital cameras; thanks to its use of FLIR’s thermal imaging technology, it’s able to create images in total darkness.
The XT’s images aren’t particularly large (just 640 x 512 in resolution), but they’re unlike anything else available on a consumer drone. DJI sees the camera being primarily used for the likes firefighting, farming and industry, but there’s nothing to stop you using it to take snaps of your cat at midnight. You can see the tech in action in the video below.
DJI hasn’t announced a price for the Zenmuse XT yet, but we should know more closer to its first quarter 2016 release date.