I've been using the Inspire 3 on a number of projects and I believe I have run into to the main issues with this drone that could be imporoved with future firmware updates.
Please keep in mind that as an owner of the I3, I speak for countless other owners that would like to see their investment improve in the next few months... I shoot 8.1k 60 fps most of the time and 4k 30fps S&Q 120 fps for slow motion action footage

First let me mention the positive aspects of this drone

1. The I3 Case is was well planned, convenient, perfect for traveling with
2.  The engineering of the I3 body is very good, a very stable reliable drone this time around
3.  The Low light footage you get out of this drone is superior
4.  Sunrise and sunset footage is beautiful when an ND filter 3-6 stop is used (4 & 5) I find that a ND 32 - 64 works best for sunset
5.  The I3 drone is more quiet than the inspire 1 & 2
6.  The I3 4K 120 FPS is a lot cleaner and superior to the mavic 3's 4k 120 fps, as long as the subject has been focused in on
7.  This drone is superior when taking scenic images of the surrounding envornment

Ok, and now the things that desperately need to be improved

1. The beautiful 4k fps 30 fps RC plus monitor screen gives the operator a false idea of what the footage will actually look like regardless of dlog, HLG, or rec709 screen ouput

The user has no idea what the prores raw footage will look like until they upload it from the ssd stick into their video editor, The images could look beautiful on the controller screen and the histogram won't show any signs that the footage is overexposed until you throw that prores raw footage into final cut pro and only then you will realize that your 4 stop or 16 ND filter blew out all your footage turning blue ocean water an awful green color while the human all appear orange.  The footage is not usable.

Solution: DJI please make a tutorial on using the best settings and ND filters for the various times of day and sun brightness to inform I3 owners on how not to blow out their footage or make their footage too dim.  Billy Kyle is very helpful but his tutorials are on the I2, we need an update for the I3.

2. Lack of autofocus options for a solo operator is a major cause for concern.  The I3's focus system can be and needs to be improved asap!  If you are just flying around getting nice scenery than this isn't going to be a big issue.  however, if you use this drone for sports footage to chase cars and people as a solo operator this is huge!

Solution: DJI we need a firmware upgrade that gives operators the option to autofocus in the closest moving object in the screen or on the cursor without tapping on the screen for a focus pull.  We should have a tracking system simliar to spotlight pro where the auto focus remains on the subject without the drone being in spotlight pro mode

3. We need an ND filter guide for the I3,  the camera is way too sesitive when it comes to sunlight
The 4 stop 16 ND filter is not enough to keep your footage from over exposing and the 5 and 6 stop causes the footage to look too dark or dim so what's the middle ground here?

4.  4K 120 fps should be a customizable button option.  It's easily accessable on the mavic 3 but a royal pain to switch on that mode for the I3

5.  1tb ssd sticks for the I3 are too small and terribly slow to upload footage from the drone to your computer, we need a 2tb stick with double the write speed

6.  The I3 is in desperate need of a 85mm 2.8 lens, the mavic 3 pro 70mm has further reach than the I3 currently so DJI please make this lens with as little distortion as possible, it would be a game changer

7.  Rolling shutter, I understand that this is more than likely a hardware issue and that the I3 was pushed out before the x9 camera was ready to be put on the market
With that being said, when the x10 camera comes out for the I3, please give us 10k with a camera that doesn't blow out the sun as easily where thre rolling shutter issue has been resolved

Did I miss anything?  

Please inform us all if you know how to resolve some of these issues as I have presented them.  I just want for this drone to be the best and for that to happen, these issues need to be addressed and hopefully resolved with future firmware updates.

Additionally, I hope that the pilot of the two-person system will reflect in the next update will be free zoom and movement of the fpv monitor window (like Inspire 2).

vuelo_K Posted at 10-30 18:51
Additionally, I hope that the pilot of the two-person system will reflect in the next update will be free zoom and movement of the fpv monitor window (like Inspire 2).

Both pilots should be able to tap on the screen and focus and pilot one flying the drone should not be locked out of controlling the camera gimbal.

DJI, if anything, allow controller 1 to at least be able to focus the camera a long with controller B

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. I will forward this concern of yours to our relevant team for attention. After the evaluation of the engineers, significant suggestions or requests will be implemented via the firmware update, app update, etc.  Thank you for your understanding and support.

Give us gyro control of the camera with the high brite monitor and the ability to map iris to the 4D hand grips focus wheel.  ProRes 4444 would be a nice addition even if we have to pay for a license.

- hdmi out has to be fixed in first priority (Ses https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=300126)

- Activating Spotlight Pro on the ground (See https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=300273)

-  A 6K option would be cool as often 8k is not needed but with a delivery of 4k a bit of extra room would be cool

- Faster sensor readout when bellow 30fps. 32ms is just not good for many shots. Above 30fps its somewhere around 16ms. Right now its probably downgrading to 12 bit. above 30 fps. Give us an option to choose what we prefer.

- Fix of the ssd offload speeds to various computers. Right now it can take hours to offload, probably depending on controller bug / firmware. This is critical on set for the DIT

- Upvote for ProRes 4444

- braw as a option would also be cool and probably preferd to many Davinci useres

- A remote that has a side slide wheel, like on the cendence, which allows to change gimbal settings on the fly, while shooting

- A better, professional harness for the rc.

- Real sensor reference in the waveform that does not change depening on a lut and gives false readout

- A parachute system with FTS, initiated by a redundants system, would be nice and would help in getting a SORA. There are some aftermarket system avalable, which are not yet EASA certified and they also add FTS by adding a module between the battery port and battery. This just screams for potential problems. It would be much better to initiate FTS through a dji internal solution.

- SORA support. After all it could be almost copy paste by using a approved SORA as a base.

- Quick discharge option on the TB51 batteries

- TB51 should come out of the discharge mode (defined days to discharge) when they are charged again

- More power on the motors when fast diving, in gps mode, down and stopping/raising the I3 again. (I almost lost it to a lake/ground twice, as I was used to much more power on the I2)

- A Flarm module, as ADS-B almost plays no role in the lower airspace

- A manual option for CE or FCC transmission mode

- Support of a third device to connect to the video transmission. So director, videovillage or a tv broadcast van can get their signal without using a external fiber or a second video transmission setup to make it happen. This while the drone is in a two rc Pilot / Operator setup.

- Allow to start the drone on a moving vehicle without the disabling everything hack

@Josephsmith

Why do you use such strong ND's?
I use none, ND4 or ND8 mostly. N16/N32 only when going on something like a white glacier in bright sunlight.

I prefer 1 TB ssd's as 2TB will double the risk of loosing footage. Either by a ssd fault or a broken bird.
Its also easier to handle by the DIT.

Coyut Posted at 11-2 09:07
@Josephsmith

Why do you use such strong ND's?

Please keep in mind that I'm referring to mid-day flights, even bright mornings during and after sunrise or during the golden hour has the potential of blowing out shots.  I also live in Hawaii and fly over beaches in tropical environments.  

I'm normally shooting 8k 60 fps prores raw with the 50mm lens and the 18mm using automatic settings.

Blowing out your footage tends to occur more when the camera is facing towards or to the side of the sun rather than having the camera's back to the sun.

Using the NDs with overcast weather looks horrible.  Most of the I3 footage that exist on youtube occurs in low light scenarios or at night time, not in mid day tropical environments with the exception of devinsupertramp's I3 trailer or his latest swimming pool diving video.

Another youtuber reviewer has documented the same overexposure issues as I have.  The 4 stop ND filter is not enough from keeping the I3 camera from blowing out your footage turning blue water an ugly greenish yellow color and turning the human yellow.

What settings are you using to only require a 4 or 8 ND filter?  What brand are you using?





I'm assuming that you are shooting with 30 fps or less

vuelo_K Posted at 10-30 18:51
Additionally, I hope that the pilot of the two-person system will reflect in the next update will be free zoom and movement of the fpv monitor window (like Inspire 2).

i mean the small window can be moving and reloacation, changing window size.

Josephsmith Posted at 11-2 12:24
Please keep in mind that I'm referring to mid-day flights, even bright mornings during and after sunrise or during the golden hour has the potential of blowing out shots.  I also live in Hawaii and fly over beaches in tropical environments.  

I'm normally shooting 8k 60 fps prores raw with the 50mm lens and the 18mm using automatic settings.

I never use auto exposure. I always use the waveform to judge my manual settings.
Even the Waveform does not 100% represent the correct values.
Frame rate is mostly 50fps as the rolling shutter is a whoping 31.3ms if you shoot bellow 30fps or slower. As soon as you shoot faster than 30fsp the rolling shutter goes down to 16.3ms.

My ND's are from the German company Schneider KREUZNACH. Type is B+W MRC F-Pro.
On the 18mm I XS-PRO MRC nano. The are thin enough to fit undr the 18mm sun hood.

Coyut Posted at 11-8 00:50
I never use auto exposure. I always use the waveform to judge my manual settings.
Even the Waveform does not 100% represent the correct values.
Frame rate is mostly 50fps as the rolling shutter is a whoping 31.3ms if you shoot bellow 30fps or slower. As soon as you shoot faster than 30fsp the rolling shutter goes down to 16.3ms.

Thank you for your response, I’m curious why you choose 50 fps rather than 60 fps.  If you slow 50 fps down x2 you will notice the jitters where 60 fps is super smooth.  Does  the image quality make that much of a difference between 50 and 60 fps?

Josephsmith Posted at 11-8 08:00
Thank you for your response, I’m curious why you choose 50 fps rather than 60 fps.  If you slow 50 fps down x2 you will notice the jitters where 60 fps is super smooth.  Does  the image quality make that much of a difference between 50 and 60 fps?

The european power network runs at 50Hz. (Asia, Australia, Great Britain, parts of Afrtica and South America as well). So 30 or 60 fps would flicker.
This is why we shot any rate that works with it (25,50,75,100.. etc fps)

North America, Saudi-Arabia and parts from Japan run their power network at 60Hz. There it makes sense to use frame rates that multiply with 30.

A) I would like to see the left wheel of the camera op controller be programmable for roll. So that roll can be on its own wheel when needed.

B) An updated controller with SDI out would be huge

C) The ability to pair DJI fpv goggles to the inspire would be neat

fansff3d1f40 Posted at 4-18 18:54
A) I would like to see the left wheel of the camera op controller be programmable for roll. So that roll can be on its own wheel when needed.

B) An updated controller with SDI out would be huge

I am not buying Inspire 3 until it has got AEB(Auto Exposure Bracketing) for photo mode.

djiuser_8WuKUCNbRdS2 Posted at 4-19 04:11
I am not buying Inspire 3 until it has got AEB(Auto Exposure Bracketing) for photo mode.

Its ridiculous, I have been waiting for months.. my main work is panoramic photography and need AEB.. having to use the mavic 3 over the inspire at the moment.