A review of the Inspire 2 and Zenmuse X7 from DJI

Emmy winner, Graham Sheldon, got his hands on a DJI Inspire 2, a set of Zenmuse X7  gimbal and lenses. Here is what he thinks about the combination that offers you a 24 MP CMOS sensor and 14 stops of dynamic range.

In his review, he notes how much easier the Inspire 2 is to operate and how much faster you are up and running. He notes:

“The big sell for me on this is that it takes five minutes from box open to takeoff. Unbuckle the drone and lens case and in minutes grabbing shots with your favorite two or single person team.”

The Inspire 2 and Zenmuse X7 is a pricey combination

However to get the most out of your Inspire 2 and Zenmuse X7 combination, you need to either pay an additional $550 for Pro Res of $1,300 for the CinemaDNG/Pro Res combo. Without either one of these licenses you will be stuck with H.264 and H.265, both of which you can get from a Phantom 4 as well. Apart from the license fee, you will have to fork out $2,999 for the Inspire 2, $2,699 for the Zenmuse X7 gimbal and then another $1,300 for one of the new lenses or $4,299 for the entire set of four lenses. As Sheldon points out: “things start to get well north of $10,000 for a really useful kit.”

Flying the new Inspire 2 – Zenmuse X7 combo is much easier and faster than before. If you are familiar with the Inspire 1 or Phantom 4 series you will will be up and running quickly after watching a 5-minute YouTube instructional video. This is what Sheldon had to say about it:

“I found the Inspire 2 a dream to fly and the X7 image to be significantly better when compared to the Inspire 1/X5 combo. Where I found the highlights to be blown out on an X5 camera.”

Obstacle avoidance gives peace of mind

Later on in the review he points out that obstacle avoidance wasn’t part of the original Inspire drone and that both GPS mode and obstacle avoidance give him peace of mind when flying such an expensive drone setup. Sheldon concludes his review with the following statement:

“At this point it’s hard to find true competitors to DJI. They’ve led the field for a while now with their Phantom series, and now the Inspire continues to deliver professional results on realistic production budgets. The Inspire 2/X7 combo doesn’t require an electrical engineering degree to master, and if you’ve spent any time playing video games you’ll be right at home with the controller in your hands.”

So it seems that if you are a commercial drone pilot or filmmaker who uses a drone very often and needs the highest quality of photos and video footage, the recently announced Inspire 2 – Zenmuse X7 combination is the way to go. If you cannot financially justify shelling out $10,000 then the DJI Phantom 4 Pro is the way to go.

We at DroneDJ haven’t had a chance to fly the DJI Inspire 2 and Zenmuse X7 combination yet but when we do you can expect a full review here on our website.

Check out Sheldon’s full review here. You can also find more of Graham Sheldon’s work here or on his website.