so ive been going back and forth on this for a couple months now. been doing corporate video and some documentary work with a rental Inspire 2 and honestly the footage out of the X7 with the DL lenses is still really hard to argue with, like the 6K CinemaDNG raw files hold up even against stuff shot on way more expensive platforms when you grade it properly.

but the platform itself is showing its age right. the batteries are getting harder to source without paying stupid prices, the obsidian shell thing never really went anywhere, and every time i talk to a DJI rep they basically dance around whether theres an Inspire 3 coming or if that ship has already sailed. the whole ecosystem feels like its in this weird limbo.

anyone here still running an Inspire 2 as their primary cinema platform or have you moved on. curious what people switched to if they did, i keep hearing Freefly stuff but that feels like a completely different budget conversation

still running mine for paid work and honestly the X7 with the 16mm DL is still one of the sharpest drone optics setups out there, i dont care what year it is. the thing that gets me is the CineCore 2.1 processor can still hang with a lot of newer stuff. yeah batteries are annoying but i bought a bunch of TB50s when a production house was liquidating gear so im sitting pretty for a while.

the real issue for me has been the dual operator setup - finding a good camera op who actually knows how to use the gimbal controls properly and isnt just riding the tilt the whole time is genuinely harder than finding a pilot. that said if youre doing single op just flying it, you lose a lot of what makes the platform special anyway.

i wouldnt buy a brand new one at current prices though. used market is the move if you want in.

the Inspire 3 is actually out, has been for a bit - full frame sensor, LiDAR focus, the whole thing. its not cheap obviously but it exists. might change your calculus on whether to invest in the I2 ecosystem right now