DrDrone's Verdict
The DJI Inspire 3 has been a long time coming. After almost 7 years since the Inspire 2 release, the Inspire 3 steps it up massively. Everything about the system is improved and redesigned. The Inspire 3 comes in a compact, 4 wheeled rolling case that holds the drone, two remote controllers, the camera body, 4 lenses, 10 batteries, extra propellers, etc. The standard remote controller for this system is now the DJI RC Plus. With a large 7-inch easy to read screen with a whopping 1200 nits of peak brightness. This makes it easy to view the camera feed and the UI elements even in bright sunlight. When we unboxed the drone, we noticed that the obstacle avoidance sensors are now similar to the Mavic 3 series, wherein they use fish-eye wide angle lenses to effectively see more. These are placed on the 4 landing gear right below the motor, and on the underbelly of the drone, along with regular obstacle avoidance sensors on the top. The X9-8K-Air gimbal camera unit is a work of art. The full frame sensor enabled gimbal camera unit is the lightest ever by DJI and is specifically designed for the Inspire 3. With support for past DL lenses by DJI and a brand new 18mm lens, the X9-Air gives you a lot of options in terms of focal length.
In our testing, the Inspire 3 flew smooth and stable. We did not notice any twitching or drifting when hovering which was very common with the previous generations of the DJI Inspire. The aircraft now allows for a significant more upward tilt, up to 80° obstruction free with tilt-boost giving you more flexibility in shots. Our test pilot was quick to remark how much better and more usable the FPV camera is on the Inspire 3, with great low light performance, wide field of view and better overall image quality. The pilots were able to fly the Inspire 3 for about 24-25 minutes per set of batteries on a relatively calm day, which is not an improvement over the Inspire 2. Two features, Spotlight Pro and Waypoint Pro on the Inspire 3 let solo pilots capture footage that would otherwise need a separate gimbal operator. The imagery captured by the X9-Air is the best we have ever seen from a DJI drone. Incredible low light performance and high dynamic range along with dual native ISO, 8K resolution make it the best aerial imaging system available as of now.
To conclude, the DJI Inspire 3 lives up to DJI Inspire name with pro grade features, stunning imaging with ease of use like never before. Other than the overall flight time, the Inspire 3 improves upon every aspect of its predecessor.
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The new DJI Inspire 3 is a professional drone by design. The latest release in DJI’s Inspire series, the Inspire 3 delivers the best in aerial cinematography. Its fluid new design is built around aerodynamic principles that reduce air resistance even more than the Inspire 2. The Inspire 3 offers a new level of workflow efficiency, camera language, and creative freedom with its upgraded suite of features and sensors. This powerful 8K camera drone gives professional-level filmmakers everything they need to capture the perfect shot every time.
One major improvement between the two DJI Drones is that the max dive speed has increased from 9 m/s to 10 m/s, while the vertical ascend/descend speed has increased from 6 and 4 m/s to 8 m/s. The Inspire 3 enables powerful maneuverability, delivering responsive, accurate control throughout an extended flight time of up to 28 minutes.
The new DJI Inspire comes with an FPV camera, visual sensors, positioning antennas, and a storage card slot that are all seamlessly integrated into the airframe. This design gives the drone a minimalist look and modern industrial aesthetics, enhancing its professionalism and allowing you to shoot in style.
The Inspire 3 maintains the transformable configuration of the Inspire series with an all-new design that supports several different structures. 360° Pan allows you to shoot from every angle, while Tilt Boost supports obstruction-free 80° upward-angle shooting when the landing gear is lowered. With each dynamic feature, you’ll be able to capture striking and cinematic shots like never before.
The DJI Inspire 3, integrates the high-precision RTK positioning technology famously used in industries such as architecture and surveying, giving you centimeter-level accuracy during your flight. The dual-frequency, centimeter-level positioning ensures a more stable flight, while making flight-route planning more accurate than ever.
The new, stacked ceramic design features RTK antennas built into the airframe. These antennas enable three types of GNSS: GPS, BeiDou, and Galileo. Users have the option between a Custom Network RTK or an RTK Base Station, depending on whether or not you’re in an RTK-covered area. When you activate an RTK network or set up a D-RTK 2 Mobile Station, you can achieve highly accurate positioning without the need to mount any additional modules.
Both the front and the rear of the Inspire 3 are equipped with a built-in stacked ceramic antenna. These antennas provide powerful anti-magnetic interference capabilities that further improve both the accuracy and safety of your flight.
This feature is specifically designed for aerial cinematography. Waypoint Pro uses a wide range of customizable settings to enable you to plan flight routes and shots ahead of time. You can achieve an innovative, automated shooting experience thanks to features like the new Repeatable Routes and 3D Dolly modes.
With Repeatable Routes, the DJI Inspire 3 will automatically fly on the same route while maintaining all preset parameters such as speed, altitude, gimbal angle, and more. This allows cinematographers to perform one-take shots with ease, as well as fly the same mission at different times in order to create long-duration timelapses.
The 3D Dolly feature simulates a crane, cablecam, or dolly on film sets, but without the limitations of those devices. Once the flight route has been planned, the cinematographer can manually control the aircraft to move along the route while adjusting the various parameters according to the needs of the shot. This improves visual effects while making complicated camera movements easier than ever.
With Repeatable Routes, the DJI Inspire 3 will automatically fly on the same route while maintaining all preset parameters such as speed, altitude, gimbal angle, and more. This allows cinematographers to perform one-take shots with ease, as well as fly the same mission at different times in order to create long-duration timelapses.
The 3D Dolly feature simulates a crane, cablecam, or dolly on film sets, but without the limitations of those devices. Once the flight route has been planned, the cinematographer can manually control the aircraft to move along the route while adjusting the various parameters according to the needs of the shot. This improves visual effects while making complicated camera movements easier than ever.
This version of the Spotlight Pro is upgraded from the Inspire 2, giving solo creators even more shot possibilites at their disposal. Using machine learning algorithms, the Inspire 3 uses automated subject recognition and locking for people, vehicles, boats and other subjects.
There are two modes within Spotlight Pro: Follow mode and Free mode. Follow mode will orient the aircraft and gimbal camera in the same direction and remain locked on the subject, allowing the pilot to capture circling shots without the need for manual framing adjustments. Free mode uses the 360° gimbal pan to keep the gimbal camera locked on a subject while the pilot uses the FPV camera to check their surroundings. This allows them to better control the flight route and achieve complicated camera movements.
Safety is of the utmost importance with the DJI Inspire 3. This cinematic drone is equipped with nine sensors, utilizing an omnidirectional sensing system to detect and avoid obstacles in all directions. One major upgrade is the first-ever inclusion of a fisheye camera on each of the four landing arms. This updated design helps avoid obstruction from the airframe when the landing gear is raised, while allowing for horizontal obstacle sensing when lowered.
The Inspire 3 further enhances safety with its new customizable function that allows the user to independently enable or disable horizontal, upward, and downward obstacle sensing. Users can also manually set an obstacle alert range to fit different scenarios. When active avoidance is turned off, the navigation display will continue to show the distance from an obstacle and give an audio alert when an obstacle is within a set range, although it won’t perform the automatic avoidance movement. This gives cinematographers greater creative freedom with their shots while maintaining safety in the air.
The Inspire 3’s camera features another major upgrade with the inclusion of a new 1/1.8-inch sensor FPV camera. This camera has a 3μm pixel size, an ultra-wide DFOV of 161°, and the ability to transmit live feeds at up to 1080p/60fps. This roughly doubles the DFOV compared to the Inspire 2, while delivering more light-sensing capability to allow pilots to observe their surroundings better at night.
With the Inspire 3, DJI uses its lightest-ever full-frame three-axis gimbal camera, the Zenmuse X9-8K Air. This camera was custom-built for the Inspire 3 and features DJI’s latest image processing system, CineCore 3.0. It not only supports internal recording of up to 8K/25fps CinemaDNG video, but also 8K/75fps Apple ProRes RAW video, meeting the needs of top-class film and television productions.
By using an 8K sensor, users get ultra-high-resolution aerial footage that retains true-to-life texture at a similar level to what the human eye sees. RAW makes full use of the X9-8K Air sensor, giving cinematographers ample room for visual effects and color grading. The sensor also provides more creative editing options with S&Q mode, which supports internal recording of up to full-frame 4K/120fps ProRes RAW video without cropping.
The DJI Zenmuse X9-8K Air supports dual native ISO, which offers EI 800/4000 at full-frame 30fps and below. This supports the 24fps which is common to film productions as well as the 25fps used in commercial and television. At above 30 fps, it offers EI 320/1600, which allows the Zenmuse X9 to record images with incredible details and minimal noise.
The Zenmuse X9 covers over 14 stops of dynamic range, which captures both rich highlight and shadow details in the most complex lighting scenarios like surises or sunsets. This brings more possibilities for post-editing and retains genuine colors even after significant exposure adjustments.
The DJI Zenmuse X9 maintains DJI’s proprietary DL mount, which makes it compatible not only the previous full-frame lens selections of DL 24/35/50 mm F2.8, but also an additional 18 mm F2.8 full-frame ultra-wide lens and an upcoming telephoto lens that will be released shortly. All five lenses are made especially for aerial cinematography, using lightweight and monocoque carbon fiber that weighs as little as 178g.
DJI drones rely on DJI’s mature color science and technology, but the Zenmuse X9-8K Air builds on it even further with the DJI Cinema Color System. DCCS allows the camera to retain the authentic colors of natural settings, urban settings, and even skin tones in different environments and lighting conditions. It ensures effortless color matching between the Zenmuse X9 and ground-based cinema cameras such as DJI Ronin 4D, making post-editing a breeze.
Using the 3.5mm port on the Inspire 3, users can sync timecodes between equipment in the air and on the ground. This makes the editing process much simpler as you sift through hours of footage from multiple cameras.
The DJI Inspire 3 comes with the DJI RC Plus, a professional-level remote controller with a built-in 7-inch 1,200-nit high-bright screen. This remote controller simplifies outdoor monitoring by using an HDMI out port and several buttons and dials on multiple sides of the remote for fast and intuitive operation. Users can even customize button functions to better match their individual habits.
The built-in battery provides an operating time of 3.3 hours, which extends to 6 hours with an external WB37. It even supports battery hot-swapping to improve creative efficiency. The DJI Pilot 2 app adds a cinema-grade monitoring interface, which makes it easier to check information like camera exposure or focal length. Lastly, the remote controller comes with accessories such as a strap and waist support to ensure comfortable long-duration use.
O3 Pro is DJI’s latest cinema-grade transmission system, giving the Inpire 3 a max transmission distance of 15 km in single control mode and 12 km in dual-control mode. Both the gimbal and FPV cameras support 1080p/60fps live feeds with an ultra-low latency of 90 ms. This is a major leap compared to the Lightbridge video transmission system of the Inspire 2. And, for the first time ever, 4K/30fps live feeds are supported with a max 5km transmission distance to meet the needs of UHD monitoring and livestreaming on set.
The Inspire 3 features a heavily upgraded dual-control experience compared with its predecessor. Two remote controllers can receive live feeds and independently control the drone, allowing the pilot and gimbal operators to work from different positions on set. In the event that the pilot loses aircraft signal, the gimbal operator can take control of the aircraft to ensure a safe return.
The Inspire 3 is compatible with the DJI Pro Ecosystem in many ways, the first of which is by supporting the DJI High-Bright Remote Monitor as a second remote controller. It also supports Three-Channel Follow Focus, which can transmit control signals to the drone via the O3 Pro transmission system by using the Remote Monitor as an intermediary. This feature allows the focus puller to achieve accurate remote focus control and stepless aperture adjustments, delivering an integrated wireless monitoring and control experience.
When using the Remote Monitor, users can control the Inspire 3’s gimbal using DJI Master Wheels. This improves gimbal control experience in a way that’s on par with Ronin 2. Lastly, DJI Transmission allows the Inspire 3 to expand monitoring on set. This allows users to transmit live feeds to an unlimited number of remote monitors on set.
The Inspire 3 was truly built for all-day shooting. The drone is equipped with a new TB51 dual-battery system that uses smaller and more streamlined batteries than the TB50. These give a 28-minute max flight time, while the redesigned battery supports hot swapping to enable continuous operation. If the temperature falls too low, the battery will automatically heat to maintain adequate flight performance.
An all-new foldable battery charging hub features the perfect balance between charging efficiency and storage size. It can fit up to eight batteries, while its Fast mode can charge two batteries to 90% in 35 and eight batteries to 100% in 160 minutes. It even comes with a 65W USB-C port that can be used to charge the RC Plus.
The drone comes with PROSSD 1TB that supports a max read speed of 900Mbps. Footage can be read on a computer without the need for a card reader using the provided USB-C to USB-C cable.
The newly designed trolley case is designed with an extendable handle, two side handles, and four 360-degree-movement wheels to make transportation easier than ever. It also comes with two numbered locks for added safety. The trolley case can store the aircraft, the Zenmuse X9, and multiple remote controllers and accessories.
If you’re a professional cinematographer, the Inspire 3 is the best that drone technology can deliver. It boasts a significant upgrade on all levels from the Inspire 2, which makes it well worth the investment for those who have loved the Inspire 2’s ease of use. With powerful manueverability and the Zenmuse X9-8K Air sensor, this drone has the potential to revolutionize filmmaking from the sky.
Dr Drone
Author
DrDrone is Canada's leading provider of drone technical services, with over a decade of experience and the distinction of being the first company in the country to offer drone servicing and repairs. As the largest drone vendor in Canada, we are also the primary supplier of Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS) to the Canadian government. Our team members possess extensive knowledge of each drone's technical specifications and have a wealth of hands-on experience. For more than ten years, we have been dismantling and reconstructing drones, ensuring a deep understanding of these systems.