New DJI Inspire X5 Cameras

DJI has announced not one but two professional quality cameras for the Inspire 1 quadcopter which will take things to a higher level.  The Zenmuse X5 and X5R can replace the standard X3 camera and gimbal supplied with the Inspire.

Place deposit here

0% finance available. Call us on 0191 296 1024 to discuss.

As we predicted, the cameras have micro four thirds sensors of 16 megapixels. They also have a lens mount which, at present, can take three prime lenses giving fields of view of 84 to 72 degrees. 11988592_10154033814971509_4949982960497525153_n.jpg The X5 R The X5R (R for RAW) has the bonus of shooting in lossless 4K RAW which it records to a built in 512GB solid state drive. The X5 is limited to a 64GB card. The video bitrate for the X5 is 60 mbps but the X5R manages a much higher 2.4Gbps (Average: 1.7 Gbps). The stills performance is the same for the two models with bursts of up to 7 frames per second. The 16 megapixel sensor is a big improvement on the 12 of the current X3 camera for the Inspire 1. The MFT sensor is eight times larger than the sensor in the present ZENMUSE X3, enabling it to capture incredibly detailed images and videos and gives it improved low-light performance. The MFT lens mount allows the use of three lenses but that range is likely to increase. They are the Panasonic Lumix 15mm, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 12mm and DJI MFT 15mm. The Panasonic and the DJI lenses offer a tighter field of view of 72 degrees compared to the Olympus's 84 degrees because they have a 35mm equjivalent of 30mm as opposed to the Olympus's 24mm. The Olympus is the lens specified for the Panasonic GH4 when used with a Zenmuse gimbal on the DJI S900 or S1000+. If you already have an Inspire 1 and want to upgrade to the new camera, you'll also need to buy a vibration absorbing board. Camera-sensor-comparison.png Added bonuses are that focus and aperture can be controlled from the DJI GO app. There's even a touchscreen focus facility. DJI have also released software for getting the best out of the footage. DJI CineLight can be used for exporting & editing, exposure settings, white balance and hue, tone curve, denoise & sharpening, colour LUT, D-LOG. There are four videos from DJI explaining what's possible with these impressive cameras.

Follow focus remote control

DJI have also launched the DJI Focus follow focus control which can either operate remotely up to 100 metres from the camera or by connecting to the DJI Inspire's remote controller. Cinema lenses feature built-in hard stops but photography lenses don't. On the DJI Focus you can tune the lens to match the end-points of any lens you want to use. Because it uses a brushless motor, the onboard computer knows exactly which position the motor is in, letting you set up in seconds simply by turning the lens to infinity and marking it, then repeating at the other end. DJI-Focus-remote.png An OLED display menu on the remote lets you fine tune how the DJI Follow works for you. You can even set multiple focus points, and the speed the camera racks between them, making complex moves simple and repeatable. It's versatile too because it can also be used as a remote with DJI's handheld camera stabilisers - the Ronin and Ronin-M.

Lightbridge 2

There's a new and improved version of DJI's Lightbridge designed to work with existing DJI systems. Lightbridge 2 is aimed at the professional market. With a new, powerful hardware encoder and advanced algorithms, total latency has been significantly reduced to as low as 50ms. As with the original Lightbridge, aircraft and camera control signals are also transmitted over Lightbridge 2 giving you smooth, responsive navigation as you fly or direct your camera. The Lightbridge 2 has been designed from the ground up to meet the requirements of professional broadcasting, featuring high frame rates and HD clarity. USB, mini-HDMI and HD-SDI ports support video output at up to 1080p/60fps or the broadcast standard output of 720p/59.94fps and 1080i/50fps. Lightbridge 2 automatically adapts in real time to keep latency low while maintaining a strong signal. For uninterrupted transmission, a high-speed processor chooses the best channel and bandwidth based on current distance and electromagnetic environment. When using the DJI GO app, you can choose to between maximum video quality or lower latency, and manually change to your desired transmission channel. Pricing as follows: Inspire 1 Pro single controller and lens: £3,249 Inspire 1 RAW with two controllers, lens and SSD: £4,769 DJI Zenmuse X5 Gimbal and camera with lens, DJI MFT Lens: £1,829 DJI MFT 15mm, F/1.7 Prime Lens: £499 Part 1 Zenmuse X5 gimbal & camera (No lens): £499 Part 2 Vibration absorbing board (for X5 and X5R): £72 Excited? You can buy yours by clicking here. 0% finance available. Call us on 0191 296 1024 to discuss.   12003890_10154033814886509_1807979548903877850_n.jpg The Micro Four Thirds sensor   11041567_10154033814846509_250581776100079986_n.jpg A choice of three lenses to start with.   11990689_10154033814766509_8053974622382830608_n.jpg The X5 R camera with 512GB SSD   11150965_10154033814741509_6537853252495152131_n.jpg The Micro Four Thirds lens mount on the X5  

Inspire X5 Camera Specs

Here are the specs for both models:

Comparison of all Inspire 1 Cameras comparison.png