X5R versus Speading Wings with a GH4

[dronesforhire]

With the Inspire X5R coming in at about $9,000 USD + taxes, versus the Spreading Wings S800 Evo (RTF) with a GH4 and 12-35mm lens coming in at about $12,000 + taxes, which would you choose?

Personally, I think if I was willing to spend $9,000, I would be inclined to kick in the extra $3,000 and get my shots on a GH4. With the XR5 you are limited to 3 choices for lenses, but if you go with the SW, you can have as many different lens combinations as you wish, including Metabones speedbooster.

XR5 has 12 stops of dynamic range which initially beats the GH4, yet Panasonic just announced a firmware upgrade which boosts the dynamic range on the GH4 from 10 to 12.

Plus a GH4 has countless extremely happy clients (myself included), while this new camera from DJI is unproven.

Thoughts?

 

[Kilrah]

No way to know until we see real footage from the X5...

BUT an aspect nobody seems to have thought about... The X3 gimbal has incredibly good stabilization, significantly better in my opinion to the Z15-GH4... so much that we pretty much consider having to run the GH4 footage through post-stab to get to the same level.
So any bitrate advantage pretty much goes boom when you have to run a stab algorithm and subsequent export as that significantly degrades quality.

If the X5 is as good as the X3 in that department... it's gonna be nice.

But then all depends on your taste and purpose. I'll jump around with disappointment 10 times more if I see jello or shake in the video than if DR is a bit low.

 

[dronesforhire]

No way to know until we see real footage from the X5...

BUT an aspect nobody seems to have thought about... The X3 gimbal has incredibly good stabilization, significantly better in my opinion to the Z15-GH4... so much that we pretty much consider having to run the GH4 footage through post-stab to get to the same level.
So any bitrate advantage pretty much goes boom when you have to run a stab algorithm and subsequent export as that significantly degrades quality.

If the X5 is as good as the X3 in that department... it's gonna be nice.

But then all depends on your taste and purpose. I'll jump around with disappointment 10 times more if I see jello or shake in the video than if DR is a bit low.

That is a valid point.

I suppose another plus for the XR5 versus the GH4 route would be that the XR(5) allows for adjustment to things such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO etc remotely versus the GH4 would require you to land the bird to adjust the camera manually. (I think this is correct, but feel free to correct me if I am mistaken.)

 

[Kilrah]

Definitely. It's hard to go back to "setting and praying" when you're used to remote adjustments.

I won't even mention the frequent issues with the GH4 gimbal, that's another subject altogether any might not be representative of the product in general.

 

[dronesforhire]

Definitely. It's hard to go back to "setting and praying" when you're used to remote adjustments.

I won't even mention the frequent issues with the GH4 gimbal, that's another subject altogether any might not be representative of the product in general.

What were you flying it on? s800evo, s900, s1000?

 

[Kilrah]

Got 2 S900s with GH4s (which are mainly collecting dust at the moment), in the S800/S800evo times we used NEX-7s.
Both GH4 Z15s have the intermittent HDMI processing board issue that's quite well documented.

 

[apsussex]

The only plus with the spreading wings is its redundancy if a motor fails and ability to carry the a7 series camera, otherwise (and this is only my experience and opinion) its no way as good as the inspire was as an all round package. I captured some great clean footage with the s900 and GH4, but in the end flight times were rubbish when keeping it under 7kg, batteries were a pain to maintain, it wasnt that mobile, and never found the z15 particularly stable in moderate winds. The Inspire felt like a better machine in all ways to fly, and just did everything in a smaller package. When I bought the Inspire I sold the s900 immediately, was 100% the correct choice as it just does everything I want so well, and now with the x5 out, its a perfect package for me.

Also with the s900 and gh4 you cant switch from filming to taking photos whilst in the air which is very frustrating also there is minimal control over the camera settings as well. The X5 is a game changer in this department. I am so excited to get one. The Inspire has finally got the upgrade it deserved and if the hand held gimbal works with the x5 (perhaps this is the reason for the delay)... then more smiles

 

[damoncooper]

I'd venture that X5/R, Lightbridge 2, the DJI RC and the DJI GO app are all destined for the spreading wings lineup (S800/S900/S1000) shortly, to add another variable to consider.

It makes good sense for DJI to unify around these successful components as competitive differentiators.

 

[Ezookiel]

I'm talking without experience here (not unusual on forums ) but I'd warrant, as an educated guess, that the Inspire is infinitely more nimble and manoeuvrable than most, if not all of the S range.
Add in portability, simple battery system, probable flight times, and on-the-fly adjustments, and the only remaining advantage in the S series is a degree of redundancy if a motor, ESC, or prop decide to stop playing the game.
I see the X5R as a major game changer if it lives up to the hype.


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[lucadeceres]

I have both, an I1 and a S1000 + Lightbridge, Zenmuse and GH4.
My thought is that with the new X5 we'll have something more and something less than the S1000 and GH4.

I1 + X5 will have more flexibility concerning lenses, better time to set-up and fly, less size and weight to carry.
On its side S1000 has a lot of power to face some critic situations like strong winds or high speed for specific tasks.

I film sailing boats and motor boats and i will never sell my S1000.

 

[Figbar]

With the Inspire X5R coming in at about $9,000 USD + taxes, versus the Spreading Wings S800 Evo (RTF) with a GH4 and 12-35mm lens coming in at about $12,000 + taxes, which would you choose?

Personally, I think if I was willing to spend $9,000, I would be inclined to kick in the extra $3,000 and get my shots on a GH4. With the XR5 you are limited to 3 choices for lenses, but if you go with the SW, you can have as many different lens combinations as you wish, including Metabones speedbooster.

XR5 has 12 stops of dynamic range which initially beats the GH4, yet Panasonic just announced a firmware upgrade which boosts the dynamic range on the GH4 from 10 to 12.

Plus a GH4 has countless extremely happy clients (myself included), while this new camera from DJI is unproven.

Thoughts?

Where is the $9k coming from? Thanks.

 

[dronesforhire]

Sorry. I should have said $8,000 plus taxes.

 

[Figbar]

Sorry. I should have said $8,000 plus taxes.

I'm having trouble determining costs for this...I'm looking to upgrade my Inspire 1 with the X5R...evidently, no pricing for this? I was told the X5R should come in around $3k? Am I missing something or do I have bad info?

Thanks.

 

[dronesforhire]

I got my prices from here:

DJI's New Camera Promises Professional-Quality Aerial Filmmaking At A Low Cost | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

 

[Figbar]

I got my prices from here:

DJI's New Camera Promises Professional-Quality Aerial Filmmaking At A Low Cost | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

Thanks...would love to know what the X5R camera set up will cost so I can upgrade my INspire...why put this stuff out if we can't even get prices?

 

[johnmont250]

B H has the x5r at $5,000

No lens

 

[jb.]

Thanks...would love to know what the X5R camera set up will cost so I can upgrade my INspire...why put this stuff out if we can't even get prices?

X5R is $5k without lens, $5500 with the DJI lens.

 

[Figbar]

X5R is $5k without lens, $5500 with the DJI lens.

That's a lot better than 8K! I've been told there are other lenses out there that are better. I would really like to get my hands on raw files...a few samples of 10 to 15 seconds...shot with the X5R and the X5...that we can download and evaluate. I am very excited about all of this, but I need to evaluate this footage in my edit suite. I made the mistake of accepting that the Inspire 1 camera was great quality...it is not. The entire turnkey Inspire package is great....except for the camera, which is the whole point of all this craziness....where are the clips? I know they exist...where are the raw clips? Let us evaluate first hand instead of having Philip Bloom or slick voice-overs tell us how great all this is. Believe me, I want this camera system to be fabulous...I'm ready to invest, but I won't be fooled again.

 

[jb.]

$8k is the price of the Inspire 1 + X5R

I think if you're disappointed by your X3, you're probably going to be disappointed by the X5... they have the same codec which is too low for 4K/UHD video.

The X5R has a much better recording backend, but then you have to deal with RAW.

 

[Ezookiel]

In Aus dollars just the X5R on its own is over $8K, and that makes it totally unrealistic for most of us. Heck, it's not much of a stretch from there to an SW.


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