okay so this might be a dumb question but ive been going back and forth on this for months. i have a pretty capable heavy lift octocopter that i built for mapping work, it can carry around 4-5kg no problem, and ive been wondering if it makes sense to rig up a proper cinema payload ? talking like a bmpcc 6k or even an s35 sensor camera on a decent 3-axis like the gremsy h16 or movi pro ? versus just buying something like an inspire 3 or one of the alta setups that's purpose built for it.

the math on paper looks like building my own payload rig would be cheaper and i'd have more flexibility to swap cameras but every time i talk to people who've actually done production work they seem to lean toward the integrated systems. i get that the zenmuse x9 on the inspire is incredible but the whole ecosystem lock-in thing bothers me. and i already have the airframe so there's something to be said for not spending another 15-16k on a platform

has anyone actually run a bmpcc or similar on a gremsy under a heavy lift for real production stuff? curious how the image quality and stabilization held up compared to something like the x7 or x9

ran a bmpcc 4k on a gremsy t3 under a freefly alta 6 for about a year doing commercial work and honestly the footage was stunning when everything was dialed in. the color science on the blackmagic is genuinely better than what youre getting out of the zenmuse sensors imo, not even close when you put them in resolve side by side. the stabilization was solid too, gremsy makes good hardware.

BUT ? and this is a big but ? the integration headaches are real. every firmware update on anything could introduce some weird interaction, you dont get the nice telemetry overlay in the ground station showing you gimbal angles and focus info, and if something goes wrong on a paid job youre troubleshooting a bespoke rig instead of calling DJI support. that stuff matters when someones paying you day rates. so i eventually went inspire 2 with x7 just for the reliability and client confidence factor even though i miss the blackmagic colors

the inspire 3 x9 combo is pretty hard to beat for the all-in-one thing but man that price point. if youre doing stuff where the client doesnt care what camera is in the air as long as the footage looks good then building your own rig on an existing airframe seems totally reasonable to me. id probably spend the money on a better gimbal than you were thinking though, the gremsy h16 is solid but for cinema work a lot of people seem to end up on the movi or a freefly wave eventually anyway