DJI Inspire 1 - Review

by FliteTest | January 21, 2015 | (31) Posted in Reviews

 DJI Inspire 1 Review

Josh is joined by Eric in this review of the DJI Inspire 1. We purchased ours from GetFPV.com

Eric seeing the Inspire for the first time. He only gets a few moments before his first flight!

Peter helping Eric with the Gimbal.

And we named our Inspire, we kicked around a few inspirational ones before deciding. 

Eric demonstrating the arming sequence.

The first flight for Eric, and a crowd came around to watch.

Eric feeling out the controls, and seeing what the Inspire can do.

Peter, while getting shots for the Guniea, runs through the Inspires props, then crashes into Josh. The inspire took the hit and didn't skip a beat.

Peter also received some damage from the incident.

Footage from the Inspire when it was hit.

Eric testing the camera in low-light situations.

The guys stopped by Alan Bruce's on the trip and got some shots at the lake.

 While this is just a picture, the video is so steady it seems like a still shot.

And for the last location we tested it at, Eric got to shoot at a bridge crossing.

Eric focusing on his shot, trusting the Inspire to keep steady.

And if even went under the bridge with no FPV interference.

Josh and Eric happy with how the Inspire did flew for them, and signing off for this episode.

Check out the Inspire 1 over at http://amzn.to/1xAYXoy

We were happy with the footage that the Inspire produced for us, and very suprised it held up to the hype. It was a blast getting to put it through its paces. Thanks for watching guys!

If you'd like to see this full episode in 60fps (60 frames per second) and see how smooth all of the DJI footage turned out, you can check it out here:

 

 

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COMMENTS

clearsky on January 22, 2015
Good review thank you. I noticed some stuttering on the footage, particularly panning shots, is that YouTube or on the original footage? (I only ask because the Vision+ has a similar issue with panning.)
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Katsu on January 21, 2015
I want to get one of these so bad but College tuition is unfortunately a 'thing'
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tubasteve on January 21, 2015
I've currently have a solution for what they are dping with the inspire. For some reason when I herd keep it....the phrase that comes to mind is "sell outs". But then redeemed yourself on the dying idea. Its a beautiful machine, but not flight test. Fti-1 is what should be done. The biggest issue I've had to over come is the landing gear that didn't draw current such as a servo.

Gain great review and I'm not being negitive. This is a non DjI fan.
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Thinker2 on January 22, 2015
It is great how you were honest about your prejudice and the firmware upgrade LOCKOUT!

Yes, Please! Do a DIY Project and make it affordable. I'm not attracted to Multirotor for Aerobatics, I want to do Videography!

Thank you Flite Test!
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STFDAC20 on January 24, 2015
Great episode and review guys!
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Digital Wolf on January 22, 2015
You guys have a Inspire 1 😱 very nice my question is can you make the transmitter mode 1 instead of mode 2?
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william.moir.52 on January 24, 2015
yes
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andre on January 22, 2015
Nice review guys. I want to load up my tricopter and go shoot some lovely footage.
To bad it is - something degrees and snowy.

Only issue with the video is why shoot the interviews by a water fall?
The hiss/wash sound was killer while viewing with my cans on.
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danallen82 on January 22, 2015
Great objective review, and I'm also one of the skeptics who was unsure of it.

But I must say that an effort to beat the $3k price tag is FUTILE. If you want to have the same features like: HD video transmission, 4k camera with 360 3-axis gimbal, DJI Wookong-like auto-pilot, and tightly integrated Tx. You'll be out of luck because you can easily spend $4-5k without getting something close to the Inspire. I know from experience, having built one very similar with HD video link.
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Hard Drive on January 24, 2015
I have been interested in knowing more about this unit from my first YouTube introduction.
Thanks for a fantastic review.
Was going to say something about ludicrous nitpicking, but decided to stay positive.
oops! It slipped out any way.
I will have to work on being a better person.
You guys rock.
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Hennisdk on January 22, 2015
DIY Inspire http://www.rchobbysuk.co.uk/store/p127/DJI_Inspire_One_%283D_Printable%29.html
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TimmyGT on January 21, 2015
Please more on AP from Eric! I kind of stumbled into this hobby back in August when I found you guys, built an electrohub and threw a mobius on it and I am just as hooked on getting beautiful shots as I am on actually flying, only thing is I have absolutely zero knowledge when it comes to photography and cinematography. I also like what you said at the end of the video about making an ft version, I'm still trying to save enough for my fpv setup, let alone 3k for that rig lol.
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TimmyGT on January 21, 2015
Oh and also an in depth video on how to set up and use gimbals would be nice
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Austinn on January 22, 2015
Im with you on the ap timmy
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tctmonkey on January 22, 2015
Josh along the lines of the DIY Inspire can I put my 2 cents in for a naze32. Also I would like to point out that this was not evaluated correctly. 1. Had a experienced pilot. 2. It was not taken to a local park and flown recklessly over populated areas. 3. No video footage was taken outside a hotel or hi-rise. 4. It was not taken to a unsafe altitude. All kidding aside it looks like a great filming platform, just way to far out of my price range.
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tim_felbinger on January 22, 2015
I found this hobby because of doing video/ photo stuff. I've built a naza v2 F550 with go pro gimbal, etc. I'm still trying to optimize it for video though. Definetly looking forward to more aerial photography content. Would be interesting to see a video on what a professional, like Eric, uses to make money.
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kannnixsg on January 23, 2015
just have a look at his article http://flitetest.com/articles/Multi_rotors_Aerial_Filming or check at his Channel ... Hex https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrDyO8E7aJQ or Heli with DLSR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2BpmLDNXXo ... I think I have seen more footage of his Hex somewhere but can't remember
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mlutze on January 29, 2015
Josh/FliteTest - I am glad to find someone who is as cheap, or cheaper then I am! Certainly for a professional spending 3K+ on the tools you need for your job makes sense, but I am more interested in the hobby side of things, and would get much more enjoyment out of spending 500$ and building/tuning/learning. I have been flying an RCExplorer style tri for about 2 years now. So am ready for a next step, so lead on brother!
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tinman215 on April 5, 2015
Thanks for the video. I'd been wondering about the Inspire 1.
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bryuly on January 21, 2015
I am like Josh $100 dollar solutions are great $3000 is out of my price range. I will be looking forward to the DIY version and seeing how it performs
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sukru on January 21, 2015
with kk2 board :)
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nigel.c.harrison on January 21, 2015
and yes you can calibrate the controller to adjust the sensitivity of the gimbal roll - RTFM!
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nigel.c.harrison on January 21, 2015
is this guy for real???? to turn on the controller press the button once then again and hold until it powers on!!!!! he read the manual too!!
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Ted on January 22, 2015
We've seen it in an experts hands, let's see what Josh Scott can do with it..........
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Matt Mountain on January 22, 2015
Josh: It's inclement mate; not inclemental...... ;-)
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MountainSnowFlyer on January 22, 2015
I noticed some of the Inspire video footage seemed to jump from frame to frame...Is that from using a low frame rate?

I found myself wondering what are the limits of its performance? Also, what are the failsafes and the range. How well do autonomous flight modes and return-to-home work? How well does it work in wind? How fast can it fly and get smooth video? And of course...How well does it survive a crash? :)
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tccrouch on January 22, 2015
From the look of it, that happened when they went to slo-mo. And if they were filming at 4K, which is likely, the frame rate is already at 24/25. So if you slow that down at all you will get some stuttering unless you use some sort of frame blending app like go-pro offers in their software. But even that has problems as it causes smearing and weird effects.
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Ano Pilot on January 22, 2015
I think, a truly great episode, thank you. I will definitely have to get one of these, I feel actually smitten... yes, smitten is the word :-) at one point I actually shed a few tears from the shear beauty of the footage: aerial photography is what lured me back into the hobby.

So... I strongly agree that we need to have a LOT more content about AP. Not least... I like taking aerial stills... how to you get around the problem of Distance Exaggeration caused by small lenses. Aerial shots of the village 1.5miles along the road from my house look like 5 miles. And please let's achieve a balance between stupid GoPros and the 'everyman's' alternative, Mobius. (Oh, and plus, Turnigy do a nice GoPro 'knockoff' now: why not review that.) How FT can claim to be 'frugal' and obsess about overpriced GoPros is a mystery to me.
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TJHogg on February 2, 2015
3k for a multi? This I feel is not flitetest fashion. This is the first article I have seen from the FT crew that truly bothers me. It's not a cheap hobby item, nobody is going to grow the hobby with this item. would you "pass the transmitter" with this item? Maybe I'm bais to the fact that I feel dji and some of it's consumers will single handily kill our hobby.
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kmanteau on February 7, 2015
they need one that has IR leds for night flight
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tccrouch on January 22, 2015
I noticed on the Inspire, when the landing gears are up, the props are at an inward angle (not sure if this is the right term). From the press photos I've seen on the spreading wings multirotors they seem to have this as well. I wonder if this has anything to do with its superior stability vs lack of agility, which is fine for a photography/videography platform. Could be an idea that would be useful for a low-cost FT alternative if it actually helps.
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tccrouch on January 22, 2015
Yep, they just posted a "raw footage" video. Pretty much confirms that things are expectedly smooth for an absurdly expensive quad at native resolution. The stuttering was likely a post-processing result.
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jdgomezb on January 27, 2015
Thanks for the review guys, Eric seems like a really smart dude when it comes to Aerial Video and Photography. I was waiting for Josh to grab the transmitter and do his thing testing the quad.
Hey Josh, I love the way you think brother, spending 3k on that thing is not smart unless you work with Eric doing Aerial filming, but for us, as a hobby, is not very likely to get it. If you can come up with a <500 dollars solution I'll get it right away.
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SpreadMyWings on January 24, 2015
Wish someone would accidentally ship one to my house.......
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roycruse on January 15, 2016
Ive been eagerly awaiting the DIY DJI Inspire kit build promissed in this video - are you guys still planning to do this... ?
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DJI Inspire 1 - Review