--- description: A new breed of octocopter drones can fly more than a half-mile into the sky at speeds of up to 42 mph and be piloted via remote control, allowing for the recording of image stills that a photographer couldn't capture. title: Brave New (Photography) World: Octocopters as Cameras image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23854667e775c08d/69879b0806f2c163e733569b/2011-10-30t171231z_11540224.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Brave New (Photography) World: Octocopters as Cameras by [Keith Wagstaff](/author/keith-wagstaff/) ## Keith Wagstaff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 13, 2011 7:00 PM CUT  A remote camera mounted on an Octocopter flies over the red carpet during Rome Film Festival on October 30, 2011. A remote camera mounted on an Octocopter flies over the red carpet during Rome Film Festival on October 30, 2011.Max Rossi—Reuters by [Keith Wagstaff](/author/keith-wagstaff/) ## Keith Wagstaff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 13, 2011 7:00 PM CUT A new breed of octocopter drones is helping photographers, filmmakers and soldiers alike. For the cinema auteur, it can take sky-high video without the hassle or restrictions that come with renting a crane. For the military commander, it can gather reconnaissance on a moment’s notice before being stuffed back into a backpack. The octocopter developed by Ermes Technologies can fly more than a half-mile into the sky at speeds of up to 42 mph, scanning a battlefield with a camera or infrared sensor for 25 minutes at a time. It can be piloted via remote control or even fly itself automatically, allowing for the recording of image stills that a photographer couldn’t capture. Of course, fixed-wing drones have been helping soldiers in the field for a long time. The hand-launched RQ-11B Raven has more than six year’s experience capturing color and infrared video in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 4.2 lb drone costs more than $170,000, out of reach for most people without military funding. Elsewhere, the CineStar 8 kit, sold by the Montana-based company Quadrocopter, retails for a much more reasonable $3,649\. Filmmakers love drones like the CineStar 8 because their eight rotors give the machines excellent stability to ensure blur-free shots. A budding Steven Spielberg just needs to hook up whatever camera he or she wants, from a typical DSLR to a high-end video camera, and let the octocopter fly. In October, Berlin-based media production company OMStudios released a video of its own DIY octocopter carrying a RED Epic camera—the same $58,000 device recently utilized by directors such as Peter Jackson and James Cameron—in a move that demonstrates that drones originally meant for the battlefield may benefit photographers and image makers, too. _Keith Wagstaff is a contributor to TIME’s Techland blog. Follow him on Twitter at_ [_@Kwagstaff_](www.twitter.com/Kwagstaff "undefined")_._  A remote camera mounted on an Octocopter flies over the red carpet during Rome Film Festival on October 30, 2011. Max Rossi—Reuters ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3783626/brave-new-photography-world-octocopters-as-cameras/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3783626/brave-new-photography-world-octocopters-as-cameras/"},"headline":"Brave New (Photography) World: Octocopters as Cameras","datePublished":"2011-12-13T19:00:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:41:16.676Z","description":"A new breed of octocopter drones can fly more than a half-mile into the sky at speeds of up to 42 mph and be piloted via remote control, allowing for the recording of image stills that a photographer couldn't capture.","url":"https://time.com/3783626/brave-new-photography-world-octocopters-as-cameras/","keywords":["LightBox","Drones","Toolbox"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23854667e775c08d/69879b0806f2c163e733569b/2011-10-30t171231z_11540224.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Keith Wagstaff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/keith-wagstaff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23854667e775c08d/69879b0806f2c163e733569b/2011-10-30t171231z_11540224.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Octocopter","caption":"A remote camera mounted on an Octocopter flies over the red carpet during Rome Film Festival on October 30, 2011.","creditText":"Max Rossi—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3783626/brave-new-photography-world-octocopters-as-cameras/","name":"Brave New (Photography) World: Octocopters as Cameras"}}]}] ```