Does the latest 200 version of the firmware give EVERYONE problems or just some people problems? I'm talking both with the landing gear/stability/range issues and the camera issues I've read about. I have the X7 and would like to try out the ProRes but if every single person has issues then I'll wait.

Apparently not every Inspire 2 is affected by buggy .0200 FW. All we can do for now is staying on .0100 (or any older) version and patiently wait for a fix ...

I am using the latest firmware with no problems. X5S camera, no licence.

For about the first 4-5 flights with the .200 firmware, I had no problems, everything was great.  Then like a virus, I slowly started getting the same problems as everyone else bit by bit.  I ended up having to revert back to .100.  One thing I noticed that I had not seen anyone else report was that whenever the screen gave me a landing gear warning, even though the landing gear did not lower, something was happening.  As I was flying forward and I'd get the notice, the aircraft would suddenly tilt hard to one side for a couple of seconds.  Did it every time I got the warning.  So it's not just a random pop up, something is happening.

Blackwood Posted at 2018-10-11 07:01
For about the first 4-5 flights with the .200 firmware, I had no problems, everything was great.  Then like a virus, I slowly started getting the same problems as everyone else bit by bit.  I ended up having to revert back to .100.  One thing I noticed that I had not seen anyone else report was that whenever the screen gave me a landing gear warning, even though the landing gear did not lower, something was happening.  As I was flying forward and I'd get the notice, the aircraft would suddenly tilt hard to one side for a couple of seconds.  Did it every time I got the warning.  So it's not just a random pop up, something is happening.

All good to know. I guess I stay on .100 for now. You'd think that after over a month they would have a patch or fix by now. I guess Inspire is just not a priority for DJI.

figure1a Posted at 2018-10-11 07:22
All good to know. I guess I stay on .100 for now. You'd think that after over a month they would have a patch or fix by now. I guess Inspire is just not a priority for DJI.

It's been nearly at the day 6 months now. .100 is buggy, too. .200 came in July.

Rob W Posted at 2018-10-11 08:20
It's been nearly at the day 6 months now. .100 is buggy, too. .200 came in July.

I've been flying the .100 on two Inspire 2s for several months with X7 cameras with no problems—at least I don't think I have any.

I'm just trying to gauge if this is like the people who post that their motor/leg ripped off the arm in mid flight and crashed their I2. Of course, you're going to get anyone who that happened to post on this forum so then everyone thinks "Ooh, motors rip off the I2 all the time" when in reality it's just a handful of people because no one ever posts "Had a great flight today. No motors ripped the legs off my I2."

So, still not sure if the .200 problems are like that and if the majority of people with the I2 and an X7 and ProRes are flying with .200 just fine.

figure1a Posted at 2018-10-11 08:32
I've been flying the .100 on two Inspire 2s for several months with X7 cameras with no problems—at least I don't think I have any.

I'm just trying to gauge if this is like the people who post that their motor/leg ripped off the arm in mid flight and crashed their I2. Of course, you're going to get anyone who that happened to post on this forum so then everyone thinks "Ooh, motors rip off the I2 all the time" when in reality it's just a handful of people because no one ever posts "Had a great flight today. No motors ripped the legs off my I2."

Like I said above, for awhile I was one of the lucky ones that did not have any problems with .200.  Then slowly the symptoms started to pop up the more times I flew with .200.

Blackwood Posted at 2018-10-11 10:42
Like I said above, for awhile I was one of the lucky ones that did not have any problems with .200.  Then slowly the symptoms started to pop up the more times I flew with .200.

I get it. But I want to know are you 1 of 50 or 1 of 5,000 people that are having .200 problems.

figure1a Posted at 2018-10-11 10:50
I get it. But I want to know are you 1 of 50 or 1 of 5,000 people that are having .200 problems.

Only DJI customer service dept may know that. We don't.

figure1a Posted at 2018-10-11 08:32
I've been flying the .100 on two Inspire 2s for several months with X7 cameras with no problems—at least I don't think I have any.

I'm just trying to gauge if this is like the people who post that their motor/leg ripped off the arm in mid flight and crashed their I2. Of course, you're going to get anyone who that happened to post on this forum so then everyone thinks "Ooh, motors rip off the I2 all the time" when in reality it's just a handful of people because no one ever posts "Had a great flight today. No motors ripped the legs off my I2."

Please check the posts from other users regarding the known issues with both firmware .100 and .200. Examples:
.100 - Camera yaws suddenly. Happens for instance at times when landing, or Atti mode filming,, or... Aircraft is not as stable as it have the potential to be.
.200 - Gear warnings and so many more bugs, just check the posts here about the bugs. However, it can for some fly more stable than the .100 firmware.

I work at a software developer company, so I know that we will never see a bug free software/firmware. However, there are lines to be drawn where you call a software experimental or ready for release (and various lines between). Quality control is important, and obviously DJI don't have a good working quality control.

DJI support have written here at the forum that the engineers says the .200 firmware is flawed and owners should downgrade to .100.

So in short. If you have the buggy .200 firmware - downgrade to the buggy firmware .100.

Enjoy the day - the Inspire 2 is DJI's flagship Professional film drone. Every public experimental update gives the users unknown problems at release, for users to find out for themselves on film jobs so they can report back to DJI engineering and tell them what they have done wrong. All the while - DJI support calls in an inconvenience.

Rob W Posted at 2018-10-11 21:19
Please check the posts from other users regarding the known issues with both firmware .100 and .200. Examples:
.100 - Camera yaws suddenly. Happens for instance at times when landing, or Atti mode filming,, or... Aircraft is not as stable as it have the potential to be.
.200 - Gear warnings and so many more bugs, just check the posts here about the bugs. However, it can for some fly more stable than the .100 firmware.

" ... the Inspire 2 is DJI's flagship Professional film drone ... "

No, she isn't. She may pretend to be, but she isn't. Professionally reliable film drone with sufficient camera, monitoring system, all peripherals and - most importantly - efficient manufacturer support will cost roughly 10-20 times more. Inspire 2 is ridiculously affordable. US-made equivalent will have to cost twice that much, perhaps more. She's a godsend for freelancers, indie producers, budget projects, landscape photographers, hobbyists and enthusiasts. Unfortunately affordability comes at the expense of lousy after-sale service.

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-10-12 01:32
" ... the Inspire 2 is DJI's flagship Professional film drone ... "

No, she isn't. She may pretend to be, but she isn't. Professionally reliable film drone with sufficient camera, monitoring system, all peripherals and - most importantly - efficient manufacturer support will cost roughly 10-20 times more. Inspire 2 is ridiculously affordable. US-made equivalent will have to cost twice that much, perhaps more. She's a godsend for freelancers, indie producers, budget projects, landscape photographers, hobbyists and enthusiasts. Unfortunately affordability comes at the expense of lousy after-sale service.

I know there are better drones - more professional drones than DJI's professional drones, but I refer to DJI's products here since it is a DJI forum. DJI consider the Inspire 2 their professional drone for filming. See https://www.dji.com/products/pro ... brandsite&from=nav.

Examples:
Mavic is under DJI's main menu item Consumer
Inspire is under DJI's main menu item Professional
The MG series is under DJI's main menu item Enterprise

When it comes to DJI and support, they often turn this around - giving the least terrible support to their Consumer line, horrible and worse support to their Professional line and Enterprise line. A normal company would probably do the way around - prioritizing the Enterprise line, Professional line and lastly the Consumer line. But the costumers have never been of any interest to DJI, so they concentrate on the product line that sells best.

The Mavic 2 got a new firmware update within a month (featurewise not ready, but not severely buggy) - The Inspire 2 have had two revisions of severely buggy firmwares - still not fixed after half a year. Still no ProRes RAW for licensed X5S cameras.

I am about to load up .200 this weekend and give it a try. I been having the typical issues with .100 and will see if .200 has the same issues everyone is talking about.

Rob W Posted at 2018-10-12 02:14
I know there are better drones - more professional drones than DJI's professional drones, but I refer to DJI's products here since it is a DJI forum. DJI consider the Inspire 2 their professional drone for filming. See https://www.dji.com/products/pro ... brandsite&from=nav.

Examples:

" ... DJI is considering the Inspire 2 as their professional drone for filming ..."

No, I beg to differ again. Instead, DJI is advertising Inspire 2 as their professional filming drone. It's you who - eventually - may consider particular product as professional or not. Judging by all involved factors, Inspire 2 is not. Inspire 2 is capable to deliver professional results if you're lucky. If not, all "professional" aspects goes down the drain. We must be prepared for occasional inconvinient failures because we decided to invest in a cheap, exotic product.

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-10-12 11:41
" ... DJI is considering the Inspire 2 as their professional drone for filming ..."

No, I beg to differ again. Instead, DJI is advertising Inspire 2 as their professional filming drone. It's you who - eventually - may consider particular product as professional or not. Judging by all involved factors, Inspire 2 is not. Inspire 2 is capable to deliver professional results if you're lucky. If not, all "professional" aspects goes down the drain. We must be prepared for occasional inconvinient failures because we decided to invest in a cheap, exotic product.

I did not put my judgement on what is professional or not in my post - I tried to make that very, very clear.

I merely put links to DJI's own words (not mine!) on their homepage, and show you how DJI differentiate their products on their homepage, and how different the support is between those segments are. Period.

Sure, an XM2 Sierra carrying an Alexa 65 is more professional than an Inspire 2 with X7 - I totally get it, I've been working with drones since the first Nazas, doing photography and 2D/3D animation and effects for much longer. So there is no need to tell me what is professional or not.

In the end it is the film that comes out of the drone, how it is treated in the cutting room, the coloring, effects, audio, the creativity and story, and so much more that matters if the result will be professional or not. You could put a XM2 Sierra with an Alexa in the hands of a person with no experience at all about filming and you will probably not get a quality film - despite the professional drone and camera. On the other hand, put the Inspire 2 with an X5S in the hands of an experienced pilot and filmmaker - and you can get amazing results.

Unfortunately - DJI is the ones who hinder us use their own products as it is, with their severe bugs and lack of support.

Apparently, the new Inspire 2 firmware is being "finalized" and we should see it "shortly".

Rob W Posted at 2018-10-12 22:08
Apparently, the new Inspire 2 firmware is being "finalized" and we should see it "shortly".

Rob W
Best news possible....  Exciting too!

Rob W Posted at 2018-10-12 21:51
I did not put my judgement on what is professional or not in my post - I tried to make that very, very clear.

I merely put links to DJI's own words (not mine!) on their homepage, and show you how DJI differentiate their products on their homepage, and how different the support is between those segments are. Period.

Rob, it's not my intention to lecture you or anybody else. My apologies if you get such impression. In the spirit of civilized discussion I'm barely stating my personal opinion that Inspire 2 is not really a professional tool. Take just white balance setting issue for example. As a professional, would you consider to use any digital camera without option to manually measure and lock WB? I wouldn't, but I'm accepting X5S limitations because I bought a cheap camera.

Expecting top notch, flawless performance of affordable, mass-manufactured Chinese product is a common mistake of all and every complainer on this and any other related forum known to me. I'm aware of all Inspire's flaws, all annoyances involved. I'm accepting this because I can't afford Alta drone with Red camera.   

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-10-12 23:31
Rob, it's not my intention to lecture you or anybody else. My apologies if you get such impression. In the spirit of civilized discussion I'm barely stating my personal opinion that Inspire 2 is not really a professional tool. Take just white balance setting issue for example. As a professional, would you consider to use any digital camera without option to manually measure and lock WB? I wouldn't, but I'm accepting X5S limitations because I bought a cheap camera.

Expecting top notch, flawless performance of affordable, mass-manufactured Chinese product is a common mistake of all and every complainer on this and any other related forum known to me. I'm aware of all Inspire's flaws, all annoyances involved. I'm accepting this because I can't afford Alta drone with Red camera.

It's ok, Matthew, no hard feelings.

I understand chinese companies behave differently, I have bought from several companies, and there are common issues. DJI on the other hand is playing more on the world market, they are involved for instance in EU and look closely (and probably talks closely) to EU representatives regarding upcoming drone rules etc. So, when it comes to support etc. DJI should by this time have learned a lot more about support and what customers around the world expect. It's a chinese company, but they have offices around the world.

And, when it comes to cost vs. functions vs. support, I think there are degrees of what a user expects. If I buy a palm-sized micro drone on the gas station that cost 10 dollars, I don't expect support. If, on the other hand, I buy a drone and camera for around 14 000 dollars (let's say Inspire 1 and XT), I do expect very good support. I should not expect bad support and be happy with it just because there are drones/cameras that cost 17 000 dollars ;)

As it is now, DJI have it turned around, they give better support for their cheap products, less support for their more so-called "professional" products.

Let's hope the upcoming firmware is really good

Rob W Posted at 2018-10-12 22:08
Apparently, the new Inspire 2 firmware is being "finalized" and we should see it "shortly".

Hi Rob,

is this sarcasm or do you have any insight knowledge ?

Rob W Posted at 2018-10-13 00:14
It's ok, Matthew, no hard feelings.

I understand chinese companies behave differently, I have bought from several companies, and there are common issues. DJI on the other hand is playing more on the world market, they are involved for instance in EU and look closely (and probably talks closely) to EU representatives regarding upcoming drone rules etc. So, when it comes to support etc. DJI should by this time have learned a lot more about support and what customers around the world expect. It's a chinese company, but they have offices around the world.

Oh, this aroma of freshly brewed morning coffee ... It's good to know that we're closer and closer to understand each other ...

"If I buy a drone and camera for around 14 000 dollars, I do expect very good support."

Nothing but true, assuming that you bought it from an western manufacturer who respects our centuries old rules of good customer service.

"I should not expect bad support and be happy with it ..."

Another truth, but here's where things are getting complicated, Rob. Of course I'm not suggesting that you should be happy with bad support, but you should expect that. Why? Because we're victimized by rapidly shifting global economy. Western industrial civilization is not anymore. Caravans via Silk Road are replaced by montrous container ships. These ol' good traditions of decent customer service and product quality deteriorated within last 2-3 decades of frantic import from Asia by greedy ... westerners!. Meantime West lost the ability to compete, provide educated work force and supply themself with domestic products. This is self-inflicted harm. Now we're not in power to be even a middleman anymore, because Asian industry is establishing themselves on western market. With their own marketing strategies, philosophy and mentality. Not particularly better or worst, just different. It's going to take decades until these somehow allien standards of customer service will mutate into something up to our expectations.

That's why - for now - we must be prepared for occasional inconveniences of dealing with exotic merchants. And keep demanding better service as loudly as possible. And believe that this trend is reversible.

BTW, where else you can buy an equally efficient drone + camera for $17.000? Any links? Just curious ...  

Please excuse my philosophising - a few glasses of wine.........

I don't think that DJI are biased towards giving better after sales service  for their consumer market.   They seem to be equally poor with both consumers and professionals.
There are just too many permutations of model, software, firmware, tablets, operating systems etc. to hope for perfect roll-outs., and we are the testers!  

There have been monumental mistakes by DJI, with firmware and software, at the comsumer level in the past which certainly affected thousands and thousands of users.  I posted a thread on the Phantom Pilots forum last year about a problem firmware update which received about 10,000 hits over a couple of months, and it was painfully slow to resolve.

The reason that most "professional" systems work reliably is that they are robust, well tested, do just what they need to do, and they don't keep changing them.  

Traditioanally, it's been the input from the user that gives the result the polish. I contrast, DJI's approach is to develop super-sophisticated systems which allow users at all levels to achieve stunning results, with very little skill input, which is great when it works, but not so good when it stops you from working.

Somewhat ironically, when I flew model helicopters (quite) a few years ago, Futaba gave me about 20 different model set-ups to program, with adjustment and mixing of just about every flight parameter possible.  I never had a firmware update, and I NEVER had a single problem with the entire system.  I did have plenty of problems fly the helis though!!

Perhaps you can't have the best of both worlds

Flo the Pirate Posted at 2018-10-13 06:44
Hi Rob,

is this sarcasm or do you have any insight knowledge ?

Hi,

No, it is not sarcasm. It was the words from a person on another forum with insight in DJI.

Matthew Dobrski Posted at 2018-10-13 12:32
Oh, this aroma of freshly brewed morning coffee ... It's good to know that we're closer and closer to understand each other ...

"If I buy a drone and camera for around 14 000 dollars, I do expect very good support."

Morning here now And a cup of coffee here, too. Yes, I think we understand each other. We do see the eastern market (and marketing) pushing to the west. Maybe westerners will learn something from the easterners, and vice versa.

Either way, I'm a consumer that have rights and personally I want the things I buy to work. If they don't work, I tell the seller or manufacturer that and ask them to either give me a unit of whatever that works, or if it is a software issue, I tell them to fix it. Maybe it is because I live i north of Europe where we have fairly strong rights for the consumers.

I will keep telling DJI when they do wrong. Will I always expect a positive and quick answer and fix? No, but I will keep telling them. If another drone maker appears with equal or better products, I would compare them for their products, services and support. If the new company was better - I would jump over to them. That is my choice as a customer. DJI can neglect or listen to their customers and learn - it is up to them. Now, DJI is too large, they don't really need to listen to the customers and take action - they will sell anyway due to their mass market. But, markets change over time, it is inevitable. Either they are prepared or not.

A few weeks ago I bought a camera slider from Amazon. It was delivered from the Chinese manufacturer. Unfortunately the rubber belt was not so good, because a motor had weighted down on it for too long, so when the camera travelled over it, you could notice it got hickups in the grooves. The manufacturer had an office in US, so I e-mailed them and got no answer. I then e-mailed the Chinese manufacturer and go an immediate response. They quickly asked for my adress and shipped a new belt for me via express, no charge at all for anything.

So, I do think some Chinese companies are good, and I think DJI should learn from them - and us westerners, if they want their western customers to be happy with their services.

GeoffG Posted at 2018-10-13 15:11
Please excuse my philosophising - a few glasses of wine.........

I don't think that DJI are biased towards giving better after sales service  for their consumer market.   They seem to be equally poor with both consumers and professionals.

I do think they prioritize the consumer market as it is to the consumer market most units are sold to. I do think their majority of developers program for the consumer market. Their Professional line and Industrial line probably have less developers/testers etc. They would rather put out a fix for those 2000 that yells, than to those 2 others who mutters.

My own experience is that even their A2/A3 flight controllers have been plagued with issues over their life time, some minor some larger issues. Even the minor issues have taken a long, long time to fix. Often a fix also includes a new bug (as the latest A3 release did).

What's up ?

I had to roll back to .100 because the update failed all the time when I had the X5S camera on. It worked when the I2 was without cam. So I rolled back but now I get strange messages telling me that there are inconvenient firmwares on the bird...