Draganflyer X8: The Dreamboat UAV
 

This is pretty cool!

Draganflyer X8 Eight Rotor UAV Helicopter Aerial Video Platform

It is pretty cool. It also costs more than my car. Sigh...

Do they have one to carry an iPhone too? If not, they should hop on that bandwagon.

While cool, I think the whole craze behind DSLRs that shoot video is the shallow DOF. Yet most of these cameras don't have good auto-focus, which makes for a lot of fuzzy photos when un-manned. (I don't see anything about follow focus.)

These V-DSLRs can also be pretty bad when it comes to the CMOS skew / jello. Though I still have a bitter taste in my mouth after owning a HD10U, JVC's GY-HM100U is probably one of the ideal cameras to put onto a little craft like this.

CCD, 35Mbps, record-until the card is full record time & easy focusing would be the selling points that I think would make for a better choice to put the HM100 on a UAV than a DSLR.

(Now if you're shooting stills, it is an entirely different story.)

Pretty cool? It is fantastic! How much fun would that be? It's like a crane on steroids - that is some big huge dollar looking shots..... I'm sure it is still better to hire a helicopter and take up your Arri Alexa, but wow! What a great thing!

If you are not the military or a law enforcement agency so your budget is more modest then the Mikrokopter is worth a look. It uses the same principle of multiple rotors & clever software (Open Source in this case) to keep the machine flying level & stable. It comes in various configurations & can lift over 1kg (2.2lbs) so can carry a decent size camera. MikroKopter - Wiki: MikroKopter.de

You can get everything from a kit of parts where you solder the 'brain' yourself right up to a fully assembled system for the equivalent of about $2300 to which you just need to add a R/C transmitter & batteries