Hi there
The
Inspire 2 is really DJI's high end filming drone for cinema and high end television work. Some Hollywood type movies still want to use the same camera as they do on the ground (usually the Arri Alexa Mini), but the mechanics of getting one of these in the air, plus the camera control system, follow focus, etc, is a massive operation and really needs an Alta 8 drone. Its also very expensive and the insurance for every flight is huge because you would have in the region of $75,000 in the air. The X5s produces an image of virtually the same quality (check this out of you don't believe me
), but only if you have at least the 240gb SSD drive and Prores Licence. (The Cinema DNG is even better quality but file sizes are gigantic and Prores 4444 looks just as good but is infinitely easier to deal with), so unless you are looking to get into this kind of work you don't need an
Inspire 2. I have just got my
Inspire 2 after years of flying Phantom 4 Pro's, and I got it now because I got such an amazing deal on eBay that I couldn't pass it up, plus I now have in in with a movie producer and tv companies.
If you are using your drone for real estate work, more regular TV (I shoot for documentaries and news with a P4P), mapping and modelling, still photography etc, the M2P or P4P are more than adequate in terms of the still and video images that they produce, and you don't have your sphincter clenched anything like as tightly in case you crash. In fact for real estate work, where you are often flying at close quarters near trees and phone lines, the P4P is a much better solution. In terms of image quality I personally feel that the P4P video is slightly sharper than the M2P, but this is probably because of built in sharpening, and you can go up to 50fps. The M2P has the advantage of 10 bit colour and better smart modes, but both are great machines.
Without the SSD and Prores licence, The
Inspire 2 and X5s shoot 4k video at the same 100mb/s. The quality on the X5s is a little better because of the larger sensor and improved dynamic range, but not $4500 noticeable. Also bear in mind that 100mb/s is not really a high enough bitrate to shoot in log gamma. Heavy colour grading requires a much higher bitrate (Netfix require a minimum of 240mb/s for 24fps 4k). At 100mb/s images can start to look worse because there is not enough info there for heavy colour grading, so you are not really gaining a great deal for the extra outlay, without spending even more.
The biggest advantage of the
Inspire 2 X5s (or X7s, but the lenses are really expensive) combo is the ability to change lenses which can really make your images look so different, and putting a 45mm lens on the X5s also gives you a more capable inspection camera. I believe you can also use the various high end zoom and thermal cameras on the
Inspire 2 which gets you into the high end inspection game without the outlay on a Matrice 200 or 300 series.
The most obvious thing is when you open the back of the car and get your Inspire out in front of your client, it looks like you really mean business, which something that could not really be said for a Mavic 2 Pro, but in terms of the results that they produce, unless you have a client asking for Prores video, or the ability to use different lenses, my advice would be to use your Mavic to build up your showreel and wait until you get an in with a company that needs and
Inspire 2...... or the most amazing deal comes for a second hand one.
Fly safe
Paul