Hi,

I have a DJI Inspire 1 V2.0.

I need to upgrade my camera. The X3 doesn't cut it anymore!
I mainly take photos. I also take videos, but when I do record video it's for something where video quality is REALLY IMPORTANT. I am an amateur photographer, so I would use the features of the X5R, but do I need it??

noaches232

it's totally up to you, I would say you would be 100% fine with the X5.
Since you put video quality is really important  all in CAPS then maybe get the X5R

I have a X5 and I am super happy with the video quality.
I do not take a lot of pictures, but know the photo quality is equal between X5 and X5R.
In very good lightening conditioning there is no big difference in video quality between X5 and X5R.
Where is the videos going to be shown - ? Is it mainly on Vimeo and Youtube you should not need a X5R ?
You also have to consider the workflow with the very big X5R files - storage and HW demands.
This is just what i think - as I have also considered the X5 R

nilsblix@gmail. Posted at 2016-5-12 09:03
I have a X5 and I am super happy with the video quality.
I do not take a lot of pictures, but know t ...

I agree with nilsblix, if your video content is mainly going to be presented on the web then the additional quality of the X5R will be lost.

Essentially it comes down to the level of detail and complexity in your shot.  The main time you will see the difference between the X5 and X5R are on water and grass.  This is because compression goes nuts when it sees large areas of similar coloring that also have detail.    In these cases the RAW format and high bitrate will be your best friend.

If you are mostly happy with the X3 and only wish it looked a bit better, definitely get the X5.  

jimhare Posted at 2016-5-11 19:22
I agree with nilsblix, if your video content is mainly going to be presented on the web then the a ...

I live on Cape Cod. I take photos of the water and the sunset and lighthouses and stuff like that.

noaches232 Posted at 2016-5-13 01:33
I live on Cape Cod. I take photos of the water and the sunset and lighthouses and stuff like that.

You should get a X5

noaches232 Posted at 2016-5-13 03:33
I live on Cape Cod. I take photos of the water and the sunset and lighthouses and stuff like that.

Video and photos are two very different things.  For still photos then get the X5, but if you are doing serious video shots of water then the X5R is a much better choice.

Having said that if your videos will only ever be shown on YouTube/Vimeo then probably not going to make a big difference in the end.

Its not just about getting one camera or the other. Purchasing the X5R commits you to a lengthier and more complex workflow, a very fast computer with good GPU performance and drive arrays. You can do this on the cheap of course but unless time costs you nothing, you won't appreciate it.

There are some very antagonistic posts about the X5 bit rate on this forum. Unless you have a 55in monitor or something of that ilk, you will be hard pressed justify the added cost and work.

Just to clarify - the X5 has a 60 megabyte per second bitrate and the X5R has a 2.4 gigabyte per second bitrate

noaches232 Posted at 2016-5-18 00:33
Just to clarify - the X5 has a 60 megabyte per second bitrate and the X5R has a 2.4 gigabyte per sec ...

No disrespect meant but this is like comparing Megapixels on cameras and Ghz on CPU's. A talented artist adapts to the technical parameters available to play with. Comparing bitrates is what stupid bureaucrats do when they assess people. Don't follow them.

i had a thread the very same as this a few weeks ago. i ended up with the X5.

what i will say about it is that most of the compression youve seen in videos from it come from the IP provider (youtube itself for example) and do not do a good job of repersenting what the camera actually puts out. it looks very crisp in most cases and im quite happy with it. sure i wish it was a bit better, but id need to see far more of a difference between the x5 and the x5r to justify stepping up. (not a knock against the x5r, just the x5 is quite good too)

that or you need the video to be absolutely crisp. there area a lot of user-skill related reasons that you may not get video of the best quality even if you get the x5r and it might end up looking worse than what an x5 or x3 puts out simply because itll capture every mistake you made in perfect detail, where those user-skill mistakes might get somewhat covered up in the less detailed output of the lower end models.

my honest advice? stick with the X5, its a good little camera, which could stand to gain a few MP so you can print bigger sized photos, but one that you wont be left disappointed with 99% of the time. spend the extra cash on lenses, because it ships with a somewhat useless 30mm full frame equivalent lens. youll probably want to pick up the 12mm and 45mm lens for utility. at least thats what i plan on doing when someone explains to me how to balance them on the gimbal properly!

hope that helped!

Mike9129 Posted at 2016-5-18 01:33
i had a thread the very same as this a few weeks ago. i ended up with the X5.

what i will say abou ...

Yes, that did help! I will now get the X5.

I like the reasons; plus, my computer is no high - end laptop built for photo editing, which is what you need when dealing with the high file sizes of the RAW camera.

glad i could help!

Mike9129 Posted at 2016-5-17 09:33
i had a thread the very same as this a few weeks ago. i ended up with the X5.

what i will say about it is that most of the compression youve seen in videos from it come from the IP provider (youtube itself for example) and do not do a good job of repersenting what the camera actually puts out. it looks very crisp in most cases and im quite happy with it. sure i wish it was a bit better, but id need to see far more of a difference between the x5 and the x5r to justify stepping up. (not a knock against the x5r, just the x5 is quite good too)

Brilliant reply, this was very helpful.

I've had both, jumped from X5 to X5R which I got for a song it was a no brainer, until I realized how heavy the workflow is and how much more computing power I needed as my Mac Pro had power supply issues (not due to the X5R workflow mind you)and well being ten years old interface issues etc etc. So the "minimal" expense required me to get a new computer, upgraded optical drive and case for my "external" (internal on the Pro) drive. Then that minimal expense, hasn't stopped. Not to mention how much more time is consumed on little videos that I'm still learning how to make.
Now on the positive side, being able to have truly lossless color grading and being able to edit the image like I'm used to on Lightroom as my work is still rather than video. I can get my video now to look as I get my stills to look, I find luts to be a bit cumbersome and introduce artifacts I have to fight with, but that's just me.
Now to throw a real curve to tis whole deal, if the video you are producing is mainly YouTube bound, why not ditch the Inspire altogether and get a Mavic, Autel or even the new Parrot once they pass the teething period, which provide portability and very good cameras plus the simplicity of a straight forward workflow, not to mention new tech that the Inspire just doesn't have. I've seen some exceptional magic footage, that really doesn't impress for theatre screens but in YouTube shines.