Buying Guide : Pro Drones

Introduction

A professional production demands a professional piece of kit. Thankfully, RC Geeks have you covered. The DJI Inspire 1 is an incredible machine. Ready-to-fly out of the box and, capable of capturing smooth, high quality shots, it's perfectly suited for professional grade, still image photography and for TV broadcasting. Want to up your game from that? The Inspire's modular gimbal port allows you to upgrade the camera to the Zenmuse X5 or the X5R.

You can even add a second controller to these platforms, meaning one person can focus on flying while another operator frames the perfect shot.

Inspire 1 vs Inspire Pro

The DJI Inspire 1 has become the go-to aircraft for a number of video production companies because of it's fantastic ability to capture stunning aerials through it's Zenmuse X3, Zenmuse X5 or Zenmuse X5R cameras. One of the key features of the DJI Inspire is the fantastic DJI Go App, this allows users to have full control over the camera and video settings in flight and also allows for a live HD view of what the Inspire can see. Its small and leightweight formm factor makes it very portable and convenient for transporting between locations and setup time is minimal.

The Inspire 1 comes with the a small 4K camera with a CMOS sensor giving you a maximum flight time of up to 18 minutes. If you want to step up from that, the Zenmuse X5 which commes as standard with the Inspire Pro, has a micro four thirds sensor and the ability to use a variety of lenses ranging from 12mm through to 45mm (24mm-90mm full frame equivalent). If that still doesn't quite cut it for you, the Zenmuse X5R could be the one for you. The R stands for RAW, meaning you can film lossless 4K RAW video with a frame rate of up to 30fps and and average bit rate of 1.7Gbps.

Matrice 600

The Matrice 600 is DJIs latest medium-heavy lift aircraft, capable of carrying payloads of up to 6kg allowing you to fly everything from the X5R for up to 35 minutes through to the industry standard Red cameras on the Ronin-MX for up to 16 minutes. The A3 Pro flight controller adds extra redundancy by using 3 GNSS units and 3 IMUs to eliminate any false reading to make the aircraft more precise and more reliable, giving you peace of mind for every flight.

On top of this, the M600 was designed with live TV broadcasting in mind. The DJI Lightbridge 2 system allows you to pull a live 1080i image at up to 50fps via the USB, mini-HDMI or 3G-SDI ports on the back of the pilot or camera operators transmitters.

With the combination of the M600 with the Ronin-MX, getting smooth, cinematic shots from the air and the ground with just one gimbal has never been easier thanks to the quick release system between thee gimbal and the aircraft. You can switch between ground shots and aerials in a matter of seconds with no need for rebalancing or tinkering.

DJI understand that portability and setup time is a huge factor which is why they have made the aircraft easy to assemble, and disassemble on set. The collapsible arms and folding propellers significantly reduces the aircrafts footprint when in transport and using the gimbal quick release system, you can remove the camera and gimbal with ease to keep your payload safe when on the go.

Do I need a Licence?

Any use of multi-rotors for commercial gain will require the pilot to be qualified and approved by the Civil Aviation Authority. A PfCO (permission for aerial work) from the CAA will allow the pilot to fly legally for commercial purposes. If you're interested in becoming a licensed operator we recommend checking our training page.