so ive been running an Inspire 1 with the X5 for a few years now doing mostly real estate and some lower budget commercial stuff, and im at the point where clients are starting to ask for higher end deliverables. a few have mentioned RAW workflows specifically and one production company i want to work with basically requires CinemaDNG or ProRes 4K minimum on anything going to broadcast.

the Inspire 2 with the X7 was always kind of the obvious next step but now with the 3 out im trying to figure out if it makes sense to just go straight there. the price jump is brutal though. like genuinely hard to justify without a few solid bookings already lined up. anyone made the switch from older Inspire hardware and felt like it immediately opened doors, or is most of that just marketing talk and clients dont actually care as long as the footage looks good?

went from Inspire 2 to 3 last year and honestly the X9-8K sensor alone changed conversations with clients. not just the resolution, the dynamic range is just different in a way that editors notice immediately. we were doing a feature doc and the colorist specifically commented on how much more latitude he had in the grade compared to what we sent him from the i2 stuff we shot earlier in the project.

that said if you're coming from the Inspire 1 you're going to feel the difference even more. the obstacle avoidance alone on the 3 means you can put it in situations you'd never risk with older hardware. for broadcast work i'd say yes the jump is worth it but you need to be shooting stuff that actually justifies it, real estate alone probably wont pencil out unless you're in a very high end market.

i2 with X7 is still totally viable for broadcast fwiw, dont let anyone tell you otherwise. plenty of guys still shooting on it and getting work. the Inspire 3 is sick but if budget is a concern the used i2 market is actually pretty reasonable right now because everyone is chasing the new thing. just something to consider before dropping full price on a 3.