OBSBOT Tail Air: A Wireless PTZ Camera with HDMI, NDI
With the Live Streaming Market expecting to reach $4.26 billion, and 9.1 million active creators on platforms like YouTube and Twitch, having a good camera for creating content is important. OBSBOT recognized this in 2018 when I first saw the OBSBOT Tail, then OBSBOT Tiny cameras.
Now, the company is coming out with a new camera that will help creators get content in many situations. Geekazine has been testing and is fairly impressed with the features of this small PTZ camera.
Get it early for 40% off! (affiliate link)
* OBSBOT sent product to unbox/review. All opinions are of Geekazine. Check out the review page for more information *
What is the OBSBOT Tail Air
This is a PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) camera with a 4K sensor inside that can record, or live stream anywhere. OBSBOT also features AI tracking in all their cameras, so with a hand gesture, you can get to making new content.
Specs of OBSBOT Tiny Air
- 344 grams, 2.74 x 2.88 x 5.2 inches
- 1/1.8″ CMOS Sensor
- 8.4 million pixels with 3856×2176 max resolution
- ISO range 100-6400
- Shutter to 1/8000 s
- f/1.8 apeture
- 2,000 – 10,000 Kelvin White balance
- 6-axis Gyroscope
- 4x digital zoom
- 8 optical lenses
Video Shooting, Photos
The camera can do up to 4K 30fps video in a bit rate of 80 mbps – MJPEG, H.264, or H.265. Further, the camera can take still images from video while you are streaming/recording
NDI Support
The OBSBOT Tiny Air comes with the ability to connect via NDI HX|3 through your network (additional cost for NDI license). NDI can connect via NDI Tools, hardware capture (with NDI support), or software switchers such as OBS, vMix, and Wirecast.
Other Connection Methods
The Tail Air hosts Bluetooth, WiFi 2.4 and 5.8 GHz, HDMI, USB (2.0), and RTSP protocols to pass through to other devices.
As a stand-alone device, you can connect a microphone (or use the onboard stereo microphones)
AI Auto Tracking
A sophisticated AI algorithm is inside all OBSBOT cameras, including the Tail Air. The tracker can identify movements of people and animals, following movements while in visual distance of the camera.
Any object that moves at 120 degrees/second can be utilized with OBSBOT AI Auto Tracking.
Battery Life
The 1500 mAh battery allows for 154 minutes of recording 1080p/30 fps. Geekazine’s test on NDI was solid for over an hour.
The camera charges at 5V/2A for 90 minutes when turned off (There is no fast charge option). Connecting USB to PC will keep the camera sufficiently charged.
Pros and Cons
At the time of this article, the product became available on Kickstarter. Therefore, some features were not available yet (such as Vertical mode – something the OBSBOT Tiny 4K does). An iOS was not available at this time.
OBSBOT Apps
However, the Android app works perfectly. We tested on an ASUS zenphone and Kindle Fire tablet. Both performed without issue.
Also at this time, the Tail Air did not connect up to the OBSBOT Webcam app for PC or Mac.
Privacy Mode
The Device doesn’t have a privacy mode like the Tiny 4K does.
Multi-Functions
Doing more than one function at the same time can cause skipping in the video. Recording and NDI at the same time for example.
NDI in 4K works better in H.265 mode, but there is noticeable frame loss. NDI works best in 1080p H.264
If you Record in 4K, HDMI will display in 1080P – and vise-versa.
OBSBOT Tail Air Price
*At the time of this publication, the Tail Air is on Kickstarter for 40% off.
Once fully released, MSRP is $499.
Subscribe to Geekazine:
RSS Feed - Via YouTube
Twitter - Facebook
- Tip Me via Paypal.me
- Send a Tip via Venmo
- RSS Bandwidth by Cachefly Get a 14 Day Trial
- Be a Patreon: Part of the Sconnie Geek Nation!
Reviews: Geekazine gets products in to review. Opinions are of Geekazine.com. Sponsored content will be labeled as such. Read all policies on the Geekazine review page.