Hi Guys,

I would love to hear from people who have upgraded their Inspire V1 from the X3 to the X5 camera. What have you noticed when you made the upgrade, the good and the bad. Since making the upgrade, do you regret it? What advice would you give those who might be thinking about upgrading to the X5 camera?

Thank you for any comments.

The X5 has a micro four third sensor over the X3 1/2.3" sensor so performance in low light is much better. The ISO range and dynamic range is also greatly improved as are the optics. On the flip side, the excessive weight of the X5 will lower flight times by minutes per battery, the lens needs to be calibrated every time you change it and the camera generally needs more TLC. The final cut results are better with the X5 but given the RRP is £1700 I would not say the footage is £1700 better if that makes sense. Further more, if you record in 1080p you'll find the X3 produces a slightly better image... Having tested the X5 I declined buying it. If I were to upgrade my X3 I think I would get the X5R or upgrade my whole rig to an Inspire 2.

A CW Posted at 3-17 23:10
The X5 has a micro four third sensor over the X3 1/2.3" sensor so performance in low light is much better. The ISO range and dynamic range is also greatly improved as are the optics. On the flip side, the excessive weight of the X5 will lower flight times by minutes per battery, the lens needs to be calibrated every time you change it and the camera generally needs more TLC. The final cut results are better with the X5 but given the RRP is £1700 I would not say the footage is £1700 better if that makes sense. Further more, if you record in 1080p you'll find the X3 produces a slightly better image... Having tested the X5 I declined buying it. If I were to upgrade my X3 I think I would get the X5R or upgrade my whole rig to an Inspire 2.

I concur

I haven't worked much with the X5 other than briefly about a year ago. It produces nice shots, but compared to a full frame DSLR the $2k to upgrade really isn't worth it

Thank you. I was concerned about the performance of the drone but you explained it a lot better than most I have viewed on Youtube. I was debating on the X5R, so I will just invest in either the Inspire Pro with the X5R or the Inspire 2 with the X5S for the time being. Thanks guys for answering.

3zeroflyguy Posted at 3-18 04:16
Thank you. I was concerned about the performance of the drone but you explained it a lot better than most I have viewed on Youtube. I was debating on the X5R, so I will just invest in either the Inspire Pro with the X5R or the Inspire 2 with the X5S for the time being. Thanks guys for answering.

Depending on the level you're collecting data at, I would start out with a non-dji platform. The camera options you want are full frame DSLR's. The I2 has been a mess for some time now and DJI doesn't seem to be changing from a toy drone manufacturer to a professional manufacturer like expected.

The last thing you want is to drop $20k on an I2 just to have problems with it and replacing it in 2-3 years. That same $20k can get you a whole lot of high level non-dji equipment

I've operated everything from the F250 to the M600 pro, there isn't a single DJI system that holds up professionally imo (other than a highly modified M600 or S1000)

HyperSpectral Posted at 3-18 04:09
I concur

I haven't worked much with the X5 other than briefly about a year ago. It produces nice shots, but compared to a full frame DSLR the $2k to upgrade really isn't worth it

.

3zeroflyguy Posted at 3-18 04:16
Thank you. I was concerned about the performance of the drone but you explained it a lot better than most I have viewed on Youtube. I was debating on the X5R, so I will just invest in either the Inspire Pro with the X5R or the Inspire 2 with the X5S for the time being. Thanks guys for answering.

you're welcome - just my opinion but that's all I can tell you!

HyperSpectral Posted at 3-18 05:03
Depending on the level you're collecting data at, I would start out with a non-dji platform. The camera options you want are full frame DSLR's. The I2 has been a mess for some time now and DJI doesn't seem to be changing from a toy drone manufacturer to a professional manufacturer like expected.

The last thing you want is to drop $20k on an I2 just to have problems with it and replacing it in 2-3 years. That same $20k can get you a whole lot of high level non-dji equipment

When you say a mess, can you give a couple examples? With your experience with the various ones you have flown, what would you recommend I start looking at outside of DJI?

3zeroflyguy Posted at 3-18 10:57
When you say a mess, can you give a couple examples? With your experience with the various ones you have flown, what would you recommend I start looking at outside of DJI?

I'll sum this up a little bit later but reliability is #1. There's not a single DJI platform that I can say you should take halfway across the country and expect it to work. I don't mean perfection, I mean there's a level where a system is going to perform as expected and if it doesn't it should fail in a safe manner.

Sure, DJI tried.  Is trying worth ~75% of the market? F*** no. People keep buying subpar products because of the "ease" of interoperability is attractive (when they're actually quite limited in actual integrations). The standards for interoperability already exist. No one seems to want to put the time into setting a quality standard (manufacturers, and especially, the user). Essentially the whole pointing fingers at eachother deal, except the manufacturer wants to sell a product, and the #1 manufacturer doesnt listen to its users.

DJI holds the market, they're not some competitor in the top 10. The user base excusing this non-sense the same way apple fans tend to ignore apples failures will lead to nothing but more unpolished and unreliable products.
If I had to pick, I'd probably purchase the Alta 6 for filmography. There may be a more intermediate option at a slightly lower price point, but an investment like that should be something that returns your investment and way more over 5-10 years. If i wanted to stay cheap, I'd get the airframe, and a somewhat cheap DSLR for <$5k until I had the contracts lined up for a better camera.