Ex-DJI Engineers Launch AI Farseer Camera With Massive 1,750mm Zoom

The team behind DJI’s most iconic products has defected to build something entirely new. Farseer, a startup founded by former DJI engineers, just unveiled the RocX system, an AI-powered camera designed specifically for long-distance wildlife and bird photography. The December Kickstarter launch comes as DJI faces its most significant regulatory crisis in the United States.

Built By The Engineers Behind Mavic Pro and Osmo Pocket

This is not a random startup claiming vague industry connections.

According to Farseer’s website, the team includes senior engineers who completed “the research and development and mass production of imaging products such as Mavic Pro, Inspire, Osmo Pocket, Osmo Action, Ronin 4D, Ronin SC, and Focus Pro lidar.”

That is an extraordinary resume. The Mavic Pro revolutionized consumer drones. The Osmo Pocket created an entirely new camera category. The Ronin line became the industry standard for professional cinematography stabilization.

Now that expertise is targeting bird photographers.

What The RocX System Actually Does

The RocX is billed as the “World’s First AI-powered Distant View Camera,” according to Digital Camera World.

At its core sits a compact camera with a 1/2.8-inch sensor capable of 50x zoom. That translates to a focal range from 35mm all the way to 1,750mm equivalent, with an aperture ranging from f/2.0 to f/3.2.

The rear features a large 5-inch touchscreen for framing and menu navigation.

Video capabilities include 4K at 30fps and 1080p at 120fps for slow-motion capture. The sensor handles ISO 100-12,800, with both optical and electronic image stabilization built in.

AI Tracking Is The Real Story

Hardware specs aside, the AI functionality differentiates this from traditional super-zoom cameras.

Farseer claims the system delivers 200 FPS detection with a 0.01-second response time, capable of tracking targets moving at 10-20 meters per second (22-45 mph).

The Auto Tracking feature physically pans the camera to follow subjects, with recognition specifically tuned for people, animals, and birds.

When mounted on the optional RocX Gimbal, the system can even control a traditional DSLR or mirrorless camera attached above it, essentially turning any camera into an AI-guided tracking platform.

Three Configurations At Kickstarter Pricing

The December Kickstarter campaign offers significant early-bird discounts, reportedly up to 65% off eventual retail pricing.

The RocX Camera alone starts at $199. Adding the RocX Handle, a joystick-controlled mount with two-axis stabilization weighing 500g (1.1 lbs), brings the price to $299.

The full package with the RocX Gimbal, featuring two-axis stabilization at 1kg (2.2 lbs), runs $699.

Battery life spans six hours across the entire system.

Farseer teases a CES 2026 appearance in January, suggesting the company expects to have production units ready for demonstration by then.

DroneXL’s Take

The timing here is impossible to ignore.

DJI has been hemorrhaging talent from its U.S. operations for years. We first documented this exodus in our 2020 investigation into DJI’s “Game of Drones” internal culture, which revealed clashes between international staff and Chinese leadership that drove experienced employees away.

By 2021, the situation had escalated dramatically. When DJI shuttered its Palo Alto R&D offices, former Head of US R&D Arnaud Thiercelin publicly named the departing talent: engineers behind some of the best imaging technology in the consumer electronics industry.

Reuters later confirmed that roughly 70 out of 200 DJI employees across Palo Alto, Burbank, and New York were let go during this period.

Now those engineers are building competing products.

Farseer represents something we have warned about repeatedly: the unintended consequences of pushing DJI out of markets. The talent does not simply disappear. It disperses, taking institutional knowledge to new ventures that would not otherwise exist.

The RocX system itself occupies an interesting niche. Wildlife photographers have long struggled with the physical demands of long telephoto lenses combined with the split-second timing required for bird photography. An AI system that handles tracking while the photographer focuses on composition could genuinely solve a real problem.

Whether Farseer can deliver on these promises remains uncertain. Kickstarter campaigns carry inherent risks, and manufacturing consumer electronics at scale is notoriously difficult, even for teams with production experience.

But if the engineers who mastered gimbal stabilization at DJI can apply that expertise to a dedicated bird photography system, the results could be impressive.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.