DJI Inspire 1 With Zenmuse X5

Since I started looking at getting into aerial (drone) photograph and videography back in early 2014, the industry has comes on leaps and bounds. DJI lead the way from the beginning with their affordable aerial drones, especially the popular DJI Phantom pictured here.

In 2015 DJI have released the Phantom 3 in 2 models: standard + professional and advanced. Both models offer vast improvements on the original Phantom.

Whilst the Phantom is a cool piece of aerial video kit, DJI took it to another level with the launch of the Inspire 1 – for me it’s the most exciting of all the products DJI have made to date with 4k video.

DJI have now just released the Zenmuse X5 3-Axis Gimbal with 4K Video (30fps) and 16MP Camera to be used with the Inspire 1 drone which has raised the bar once again.

The Zenmuse X5 is the first aerial camera to feature Micro Four Thirds sensors, normally used in compact interchangeable-lens cameras. It can capture 16 megapixel still images or 4K video at either 24 or 30 frames per second, and is also the world’s smallest lossless 4K camera. Cool!

This is why I’ve hesitated to buy any aerial kit to date – I knew something like this would come around eventually and it’s what I’ve been waiting for. It means you can have a professional aerial kit for both video and still photography for under £5,000 whereas back in 2013 Id have paid around the £20,000 mark for similar spec kit!

Professional filmmakers finally have a camera they can use with the Inspire 1 that offers interchangeable lenses, as well as wireless aperture and focus control via either the DJI Go app or DJI’s Follow Focus system.

At launch, the camera supports four lenses from Panasonic and Olympus. An additional new camera, the Zenmuse X5R, has all the same sensors and lens compatibility as the X5, and also records video to either an on-board microSD card or a removable solid-state drive.