I just love drones. I like flying and shooting with them so much that I even started a film festival exclusively dedicated to their cinematic creations. I’ve flown many different types of drones and I have to say that theDJI Inspire 1 is outstanding. I would recommend this drone to every demographic from beginners to experts. It’s easy to fly but has the options for more advanced flight modes. The footage is excellent. Theres an easy option fordual controllers for separate drone and camera operation. The setup is easy and learning curve is short. Simply it was just designed with all the right concerns for drone cinematographers in mind.
What stood out to me at first was the sexiness of the machine. Let’s be real… It’s amazing looking. Not only is the industrial design amazing but it also has some design elements that make it look like an old school sun-bleached cattle skull you’d find in an old western…and in my book that makes it even cooler.
The build quality of the Inspire 1 is impressive. There are no parts that feel junky or seem like they were an afterthought. Every little piece is intricately machined and feels solid. Did I mention that it comes with its own case? I LOVE that it comes with it’s own case. Go Professional produces a number of waterproof, travel friendly cases for the various DJI models, each with custom custom cut foam interiors and rugged design that’s resistant to impact damage. I will definitely be getting aGo Professional case to protect this beast when traveling BUT while just taking it around the neighborhood the carrying case is convenient and portable.
When you first open the Inspire 1 and begin assembling it you realize that the process is REALLY EASY. Anyone who’s had any experience with DJI products can get this drone up and running quickly and with little hassle. It’s easy to get the props on, it’s easy to get the camera and gimbal on, its easy to get the battery in, and it’s easy to get it out of travel mode. The charging system couldn’t be simpler which is very similar to the Phantom. Plug it in and wait for the lights to turn off. Just easy, easy, easy.
The remote control is awesome. It feels great in the hands. It’s small, dense and similar to the Inspire 1 is thoughtfully designed with a solid build quality. It comes with a shoulder harness, an easy holder for the iphone, iPad, tablet and very simple integration with the DJI Pilot app. Just plug your device into the controller and, BAM, it works.
The DJI Pilot app is a dream dashboard with everything you could ever want right at your fingertips. From camera controls to GPS map it just has everything right there. In the past you had to decipher a series of cryptic blinking lights on DJI’s products… on the Inspire 1 it’s all right there at your fingertips and in plain english. It even speaks to you during some functions. Amazing!
Let’s talk about theInspire 1 in the air. This thing couldn’t fly any better. It handles like a luxury SUV. It has enough mass to give you smooth motion in the air but still has tons of speed and stop on a dime handling. The transformation from landing to filming mode is both awesome and functional (it actually gets the legs out of the way as to not obstruct view from the camera). The flight modes are easy to flip between using the controller, and the GPS mode is ROCK SOLID in high wind gusts and even indoors using its optical and sonic sensors. Meanwhile the gimbal smooths all the footage out perfectly. Although the HD downlink looks great and works fluidly, there is a noticeable lag in the live-video feed, and makes it unsuitable for FPV (first person view) flight where your are in close proximity to anything. I would not fly using the monitor unless you are in wide open skies, though it is a great tool for getting a solid image to frame your shots.
Although the camera produces similar image quality and 4k output as the GoPro, it improves on this system with a rectilinear lens. Unlike many wide angle lenses that do not correct for barrel distortion, the Inspire 1’s camera is designed to keep straight lines straight, even in far corners of the frame. The camera controls via the DJI Pilot App also give you great options for automatic or manual exposure settings.
I’ve often described a drone sounding like a swarm of angry bees. When I did my first flight with the Inspire 1 there was a huge Great Dane walking nearby with his owner. Before I spun theInspire 1 up I made sure to tell the owner to hold his dog back as the noise will likely drive him batty. To my surprise the Inspire 1 is near SILENT. This thing is as close to silent as I’ve ever heard from a drone. I was dumbfounded. I’m not sure what kind of magical elf engineers they have over at DJI but they are doing something right. Swarms of angry bees are a thing of the past.
Overall:
From someone who’s spent lots of time building my own kits, drones can be insanely difficult to build and debug. They have many complex systems and it can be tricky to get it all to work and work well. The Inspire 1, in spite of all of its complex systems, just works. It’s the most amazing RTF (ready-to-fly) system I’ve ever seen for aerial cinematography and it’s also super fun to fly.
I’m looking forward to really putting this thing through its paces in the work environment but I have a feeling that I will be continually impressed. I’m also looking forward to seeing all the films that are created with it at next years New York City Drone Film Festival.
The DJI Inspire 1 is available now from Adorama for $2899.00 with one remote, or two remotes for $3399.00. https://www.adorama.com/djiinspire1.html
https://www.adorama.com/djiinspire1A.html
Randy Scott slavin is a director and Aerial cinematographer based in NYC. Slavin first gained attention for his aerials with the viral video Ariel NYC which was featured by Time, Fox News, Gizmodo, Mashable and many other premier press outlets around the world. He is also well known for his photography series Alternate Perspectives and NYC Unplugged as well as directing commercials, branded content and music videos for American Express, AT&T Atlantic Records, Bank of America and other international brands. In early 2014 Slavin founded the NYC Drone Film Festival, the world’s first film festival exclusively dedicated to aerial cinema, with the hopes of bringing more positive attention to drone cinema.
