Welcome Inspire Pilots!
Join our free DJI Inspire community today!
Sign up

Inspire 1 vs 2: A case for having both?

Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
14
Reaction score
5
Aside from a few, minor I2 design advantages, the camera differences are the only meaningful topic. X5R vs X7 in particular.

The ‘flying features’ are worthless on both. It’d be great to get a kit without all the stupid sensors. Eventually, there’ll be no option to de-select them. Initially I thought it was great that the I2’s sensor options were dedicated to the FPV camera. In theory, I could leave them on and not be distracted. But the only remedy I could find for its unstable hovering issues was to turn them all off. Now it’s reasonably locked in. Still not 100% certain that was the cause. I’m still amazed how much better the P4pro performs in a hover. Neither Inspire machine comes close.

Anyway, the only differences that matter are camera & workflow. My biggest gripe of the inspire 1 was having to use Cinelight for dng. Second was lowlight. Although the X7 doesn’t dazzle in lowlight either. I’ll give DJI major points for the X7’s lens package, sensor size and workflow. The I2 landing gear doesn’t allow proper clearance of the X7 with lens attached. Leg extensions are a must.

The X7 rivals the GH5? It does. Not dramatically but enough to notice. The X5R sent what I consider proxy to the micro sd card. Useless for the most part. The X7 creates usable footage at the low end., more image options and 3x2 photos = big steps.

The X5R gimbal is essentially useless with lenses longer than 25mm. In fact, I could rarely get routinely smooth results from the 25.(unless dead calm) The X7 gimbal shoots a smooth (50mm)80mm equiv. So footage options at the focal lengths.. X7 is a big winner.

Shooting panos? MUCH easier on the X5R at least so far. The X7 and DJI software = no pano mode, which for anyone that understands the benefit in tricky, time sensitive locations, is disappointing. For now, manual pano will have to do until I get it dialed in to AutoFlight or Litchi.

I don’t know that I can truly make a case for having both beyond the point of backup use.
(The P4pro serves that purpose well) But I can report years of solid, dependable work from the Inspire 1. It took me a long time to fine tune flight & camera operations and it’s still an easier, faster setup on location than the I2. And I know we can all relate to this… the X5R pro raw firmware is solid. No more updates. The I2 has a long way to go. I know guys who stopped updating many versions ago, who refuse to risk the next firmware *** pain.
 
There are more than a few "minor design differences" between the I2 and the I1. Most importantly are the various redundancies built into the I2. Carrying the expensive camera gear in flight makes this a very important benefit and, in my opinion, justifies the cost of the I2.
 
What various redundancies? If an ESC blows it’ll drop like a brick. It’s still a quad. What justifies cost IS the camera.
The true revolution in RCAP is cost and size. The I2, imo, is a great solution for NOT carrying expensive camera gear and still getting a decent product result.
Regardless, I am happy to ride its back for the next year or so. Also happy to praise and defend DJI when others might not.
 
Aside from a few, minor I2 design advantages, the camera differences are the only meaningful topic. X5R vs X7 in particular.

The ‘flying features’ are worthless on both. It’d be great to get a kit without all the stupid sensors. Eventually, there’ll be no option to de-select them. Initially I thought it was great that the I2’s sensor options were dedicated to the FPV camera. In theory, I could leave them on and not be distracted. But the only remedy I could find for its unstable hovering issues was to turn them all off. Now it’s reasonably locked in. Still not 100% certain that was the cause. I’m still amazed how much better the P4pro performs in a hover. Neither Inspire machine comes close.

Anyway, the only differences that matter are camera & workflow. My biggest gripe of the inspire 1 was having to use Cinelight for dng. Second was lowlight. Although the X7 doesn’t dazzle in lowlight either. I’ll give DJI major points for the X7’s lens package, sensor size and workflow. The I2 landing gear doesn’t allow proper clearance of the X7 with lens attached. Leg extensions are a must.

The X7 rivals the GH5? It does. Not dramatically but enough to notice. The X5R sent what I consider proxy to the micro sd card. Useless for the most part. The X7 creates usable footage at the low end., more image options and 3x2 photos = big steps.

The X5R gimbal is essentially useless with lenses longer than 25mm. In fact, I could rarely get routinely smooth results from the 25.(unless dead calm) The X7 gimbal shoots a smooth (50mm)80mm equiv. So footage options at the focal lengths.. X7 is a big winner.

Shooting panos? MUCH easier on the X5R at least so far. The X7 and DJI software = no pano mode, which for anyone that understands the benefit in tricky, time sensitive locations, is disappointing. For now, manual pano will have to do until I get it dialed in to AutoFlight or Litchi.

I don’t know that I can truly make a case for having both beyond the point of backup use.
(The P4pro serves that purpose well) But I can report years of solid, dependable work from the Inspire 1. It took me a long time to fine tune flight & camera operations and it’s still an easier, faster setup on location than the I2. And I know we can all relate to this… the X5R pro raw firmware is solid. No more updates. The I2 has a long way to go. I know guys who stopped updating many versions ago, who refuse to risk the next firmware *** pain.
Are your Inspire 1's at current firmware?
 
What various redundancies? If an ESC blows it’ll drop like a brick. It’s still a quad. What justifies cost IS the camera.
The true revolution in RCAP is cost and size. The I2, imo, is a great solution for NOT carrying expensive camera gear and still getting a decent product result.
Regardless, I am happy to ride its back for the next year or so. Also happy to praise and defend DJI when others might not.


Of course there is always something that could bring it down. But there is less of a chance because of redundant batteries, IMU, Compass, Barometer. All of these are important. I am not sure what the stats are on what fails with the Inspires, but I do recall many issues with failing batteries in flight.
 
What various redundancies? If an ESC blows it’ll drop like a brick. It’s still a quad. What justifies cost IS the camera.
The true revolution in RCAP is cost and size. The I2, imo, is a great solution for NOT carrying expensive camera gear and still getting a decent product result.
Regardless, I am happy to ride its back for the next year or so. Also happy to praise and defend DJI when others might not.
No - the I2 has dual signal path esc’s which give redundancy should a FET fail. There is still a signal path to the motor to allow speed control. An error will be logged (and reported) but the aircraft will not ‘drop like a brick’
 
Wasn’t trying to rouse argument with my comments/opinions. I2 ESC’s divert to a direct path if the primary fails, is also my understanding. If you’re willing to accept that as a meaningful redundancy, great. But there’s a big distinction between an ESC error or signal break and an ESC going up in smoke. Because in the latter scenario, you’d be lucky if it didn’t catch fire. So yes.. it’ll drop like a brick with a chemtrail.
The good news is that I’ve never experienced an ESC failure of any kind with any of my DJI machines. Battery failure yes. Which is the only meaningful I2 redundancy in my opinion.
My larger point was camera/gimbal update. X7 & lens set.. and its performance to relative low cost factor. We don’t have to hoist 20 thousand dollar cameras like we did 10 years ago.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
22,277
Messages
210,655
Members
34,330
Latest member
GRQLarae44