ok so i know the Inspire series is primarily a cinema platform and i get that but ive been approached by a production company about doing some specialized aerial work where they want to mount a third party sensor package alongside or instead of the Zenmuse gimbal. basically a thermal + visible light combo unit for some infrastructure inspection work they have coming up.

ive looked at the Inspire 3s payload capacity on paper and it seems like it should handle it but im a bit unsure about the whole SkyPort integration and whether third party payloads using the SDK are actually reliable in a real world paid job context. like ive seen demos of custom gimbals on Inspires but never actually talked to someone who ran a non-DJI sensor package on one professionally.

the other option they mentioned was just using a Matrice but honestly id rather work with the Inspire if it can do the job, the flight characteristics are just so much nicer and i know the platform. anyone gone down this road

we did something similar about 18 months ago, mounted a Workswell WIRIS Pro on an Inspire 2 using a custom adapter bracket, not through SkyPort since that camera doesnt support it natively. it worked but id be lying if i said it was plug and play. the weight was fine, well within limits, but you lose all the intelligent flight modes and the gimbal stabilization obviously doesnt apply to a bolted-on payload. we basically flew it manual the whole time with a separate ground recording unit for the thermal feed. for inspections it was fine but i wouldnt want to do it on a shoot where timing was critical.

if youre going Inspire 3 with actual SkyPort v2 compatible payload the story is probably better but i havent done that personally. the Matrice 30T honestly makes more sense for pure inspection work, its just not as fun to fly.

whats the actual payload weight youre looking at? that changes things a lot. the Inspire 3 is rated for the X9 which is around 900g with lens so theres some headroom but not a ton especially if your combo unit has its own mounting hardware adding to the total. id be cautious about pushing it on a paid job without doing some serious test flights first, takeoff performance and wind resistance both take a hit faster than you'd think once you start adding weight in weird places on the airframe