Rumor: DJI and Black Magic are working on a camera for the Inspire

[damoncooper]

It ain't news per se, but a good rumor probably belongs here:

 

[Mopar Bob]

Did they offer any specs?

 

[damoncooper]

Did they offer any specs?

The above is all there is. I'm guessing it's either engineers talking out of school or making stuff up to make conference goers happy.

 

[Gregg G]

Whats wrong with the camera we have now?

 

[Gregg G]

Intelligent answer....

 

[damoncooper]

Whats wrong with the camera we have now?

Subtle jitter from H.264 b-frame encoding problems, low bitrate, high compression-related attracts, lens distortion, limited dynamic range, gimbal horizon tilt problems, lack of global shutter, small sensor, etc

 

[Shazbot4]

i'll take the side of whats wrong with the camera it comes with? there are more features on the camera that 90% of all I1 owners will never use, 5% will tinker with and another 5% that actually know what their doing. maybe compared to a 5000 dollar DSLR camera slung underneath a octo-copter most people watching your youtube channel wont notice a difference.

maybe if it's a cheaper substitute then the 600 dollar DJI gimbal or has a zoom capability then you might have something there but other then that whats the need?

 

[Scotflieger]

A larger sensor for stills (16MB) and optical zoom for detailed inspection work would not go amiss. Near IR and thermal camera alternative would be a great bonus.

 

[IrishSights]

A large sensor for stills (16MB) and optical zoom for detailed inspection work would not go amiss. Near IR and thermal camera alternative would be a great bonus.

Several companies are already selling IR Inspire cameras. http://www.uavdirect.com/Harvest-IR-mapping-System-p/hi1.htm and http://aerialmediapros.com/store/agriculture-ndvi-ndvi-cameras

 

[Scotflieger]

Several companies are already selling IR Inspire cameras. http://www.uavdirect.com/Harvest-IR-mapping-System-p/hi1.htm and http://aerialmediapros.com/store/agriculture-ndvi-ndvi-cameras

Thank you for the information. I have already emailed both companies.

 

[Spectra71]

I own a couple of Blackmagic Pocket cameras and would love to see Blackmagic work with DJI. The current Inspire camera is OK (lots of playing in settings though), but is highly compressed. If we could get CinemaDNG Raw, that would be dandy in my opinion.

 

[damoncooper]

i'll take the side of whats wrong with the camera it comes with? there are more features on the camera that 90% of all I1 owners will never use, 5% will tinker with and another 5% that actually know what their doing. maybe compared to a 5000 dollar DSLR camera slung underneath a octo-copter most people watching your youtube channel wont notice a difference.

maybe if it's a cheaper substitute then the 600 dollar DJI gimbal or has a zoom capability then you might have something there but other then that whats the need?

Agreed. It's not more features I think that folks are interested in, it's the general stuff I listed above that affects every user doing the most basic video or photo shoot.

 

[Shazbot4]

Several companies are already selling IR Inspire cameras. http://www.uavdirect.com/Harvest-IR-mapping-System-p/hi1.htm and http://aerialmediapros.com/store/agriculture-ndvi-ndvi-cameras

the first link looks like a company that just has some mapping software that uses the original camera.

the second.. 1200 dollar gimbal camera and they don't really describe what you get for that extra 600 dollars. does it spin 1080 horizontally and 720 vertically and have a 50x zoom on it?

in my eyes i see it like crashing 2 inspires at the same time. 1200 aircraft 1200 dollar camera yeehawww, NOT.

 

[damoncooper]

the first link looks like a company that just has some mapping software that uses the original camera.

the second.. 1200 dollar gimbal camera and they don't really describe what you get for that extra 600 dollars. does it spin 1080 horizontally and 720 vertically and have a 50x zoom on it?

in my eyes i see it like crashing 2 inspires at the same time. 1200 aircraft 1200 dollar camera yeehawww, NOT.

The 2nd link is just a picture of an Inspire X3 camera gimbal and no description at all.

Not a real confidence booster to drop that in my "cart" for $1200 and head for the checkout

 

[IrishSights]

the first link looks like a company that just has some mapping software that uses the original camera.

the second.. 1200 dollar gimbal camera and they don't really describe what you get for that extra 600 dollars. does it spin 1080 horizontally and 720 vertically and have a 50x zoom on it?

in my eyes i see it like crashing 2 inspires at the same time. 1200 aircraft 1200 dollar camera yeehawww, NOT.

As far as I know they are both modified Inspire cameras to do NDVI. UAV Direct I know will modify your own camera as well.

Edit. It does have description "The NDVI X3 Camera Unit is a custom NDVI camera for the Inspire 1 and Matrice 100 platforms. Upgrade your current platform into an NDVI scouting device instantly, using DJI's exchangable gimbal design. This NDVI conversion camera is included at a discount with each Ag Scout Pro NDVI drone bundle, and listed separately for sale if you already own an Inspire 1 or Matrice 100."

 

[Gregg G]

Asking an awful lot of a little ball cam on a 2900 drone. If I need higher quality I will stap on a Red Epic On my Octo. Then everybody happy!

 

[skylabimaging]

Asking an awful lot of a little ball cam on a 2900 drone. If I need higher quality I will stap on a Red Epic On my Octo. Then everybody happy!

I agree...The inspire is perfect for what it is, what it does, and it's price point. if you need a better quality camera get a better quality platform to go with it.

 

[Aaron Nelson]

I find it surprising that so many people here are opposed to a new camera offering for the inspire. Frankly I don't think the camera it currently has is all that great. A significantly improved camera option on a bird as advanced at the inspire would really push it into a whole new realm for professional aerial photographers and videographers who don't want to fly a 20k red camera. Having a high end camera option available will only increase the value of the inspire 1 and couldn't hurt it in any way. If you don't want it then don't buy it. Why discourage options and innovation?

 

[Black Sky]

I own several Blackmagic cameras and would love to see DJI work with Blackmagic. The new camera line up they have is are quite awesome.
I am very impressed with the Inspire cam but am always looking for better. This bird deserves the best.

 

[Mopar Bob]

I find it surprising that so many people here are opposed to a new camera offering for the inspire. Frankly I don't think the camera it currently has is all that great. A significantly improved camera option on a bird as advanced at the inspire would really push it into a whole new realm for professional aerial photographers and videographers who don't want to fly a 20k red camera. Having a high end camera option available will only increase the value of the inspire 1 and couldn't hurt it in any way. If you don't want it then don't buy it. Why discourage options and innovation?

I agree with this completely. Inspire is a great flying platform, but the camera doesn't match up to the performance of the chopper. If all you want to do is YouTube videos, then its passable. Anything on the higher end and the quality a limiting factor. And moving into the S900 or S1000 platforms is really not the way to go for the amateur in my opinion. Besides the cost, the plug and play features of the Inspire and Phantom platforms isn't there. My wish list would be a camera with a larger sensor, the ability to change Fstops, and the ability to stack filters. And like Aaron says, if you don't want it don't buy it.