The Poor Man's Drone: Get Yours for Less Than $60

Drone footage is everywhere nowadays and it probably makes you want to buy one! However, not everyone can justify the price of a good unit. So how about a device that costs less than $60 and can take advantage of your GoPro? Looking at Nicolas Vuignier’s latest creation it seems to be quite fun and it could even replace a drone in some applications even though it’s not as practical.

AER has created a small device in which you place your GoPro. It’s weatherproof and quite portable. While it’s not a drone per say, because the device is meant to fly your GoPro anywhere, you can get very similar results. Have a look at the video above to get an idea of what’s possible.

I would even dare say that in some cases it’s better than a drone because it’s less dangerous. In cases such as in Nicolas Vuignier’s footage, some sequences could have been quite risky if shot with a drone, whereas with AER it’s not an issue. The poor man’s drone being made of water-resistant and durable nylon, even it were to hit you, I doubt it would do much harm.

The AER will start shipping this month and is available in pre-order for €49 on their website. With such a low price, if you have a GoPro it’s almost a no-brainer! It seems to be really fun and it could be the accessory you’ve been missing to add a few breathtaking angles to your videos.

What do you think of this device and Nicolas Vuignier’s video? Is it something you’d like to add to your kit or do you think it’s yet another GoPro accessory with no future? I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments below.

Quentin Decaillet's picture

Quentin Décaillet is a photographer and retoucher based in Switzerland specializing in portrait and wedding photography.

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4 Comments

You should mention that half of the shots were filmed with a modified/customized version (that is not the one they want to advertise), which allowed him to get the shots from a "selfie-perspective"

I was wondering about that

Cool idea, I dig it

Well, the footage is pretty impressive! And of course, the price is a bargain - even if you would try it and it wouldn't work, you're still not losing a valuable amount of money.
However, I wonder about the stability of this drone: it seems to me that this one might be really easy to be maneuvered, but at the same time, very easy to be taken away by the wind. If this is the case, I do not think it's worth it. If it has been proven that it is actually stable, I would myself try it.
I'll have to research a bit about this subject, but the overall impression is a good one!