It was 2019 when Obsbot introduced the original Tail, a camera meant to pull double duty as an AI director with its ability to pan, tilt, zoom, and roll (PTZR) all on its own. This year, they’re introducing the Obsbot Tail 2, which the outfit is positioning as an AI-powered camera for live productions.
That’s right, they’re leveraging the camera’s advanced tracking capabilities to help with live productions, allowing content creators to do livestreams with dynamic camerawork even without an actual director at the helm. More than a glorified 4K webcam, it’s meant to integrate with a wide variety of live production tools and equipment, too, with a rich set of ports and support for a variety of different protocols, making it suitable for use even in professional productions.
The Obsbot Tail 2 is equipped with a 50MP 1/1.5-inch CMOS sensor that can capture 4K video at 60 fps and 1080p video at 120 fps, with 5x optical zoom and 12x hybrid zoom providing it with plenty of framing flexibility. A PTZR system, it comes with a three axis gimbal that doesn’t just stabilize video, it also allows the device to maneuver the camera autonomously to keep the subject in frame. It uses the outfit’s next-gen AI Tracking 2.0 to do that, by the way, which boasts enhanced tracking precision, improved subject recognition, and impressively consistent framing based on your settings, with the device automatically zooming in and out to maintain desired framing ratios.
It also has a group tracking mode that can make the same adjustments for multi-person tracking, allowing you to keep the entire group in frame the whole time. According to the outfit, it can also be used to track over 30 types of animals and 200 types of objects, so you can use it to keep wildlife, pets, vehicles, and all sorts of stuff in the frame. Users can also set tracking speeds and axis control, allowing you to customize it to every shooting scenario.
The Obsbot Tail 2 comes with gesture controls, allowing you to start/stop recording, activate/deactivate tracking, and adjust zoom using simple hand gestures. This should enable even more seamless-looking livestreams, eliminating the need to pull out your phone or fiddle with a remote. Phase-detection auto focus allows it to quickly and precisely focus on subjects across most lighting conditions, with the outfit claiming it’s able to use every pixel in the frame as a focus detection point (100 percent sensor coverage).
Designed to integrate into various types of broadcast systems, the camera comes with a healthy selection of ports, including a 3G-SDI interface, an HDMI 2.0 slot, an Ethernet port, a USB 3.0 port, an RS-232 port, a mic input slot, and a line interface. Other features include HDR recording (requires frame rate of 30 fps, though), NDI support, a 5,000 mAh battery rated at up to five hours of continuous recording, light indicators that let you know when it’s recording, a Wi-Fi transfer rate of up to 1200Mbps, and an optional remote that can manage up to three devices at the same time.
The Obsbot Tail 2 is available now, priced at $1,199.
