so ive been debating this for a while now and cant really find a straight answer anywhere. running a small production company, we do mostly corporate stuff, some real estate but also a few short film projects a year where image quality actually matters. currently using an M3 Pro which honestly does a great job for the corporate stuff but clients are starting to ask about RAW and proper cinema glass and the M3 just isnt going to cut it for that.

been looking at the Inspire 2 with the Zenmuse X7 and the DL mount lenses and on paper it looks incredible - 6K CinemaDNG, proper Super 35 sensor, the dual operator setup which would actually work well for us since my partner usually handles camera while i fly. but the Inspire 2 is old at this point, like it came out in 2016 and even the X7 is from 2017. parts availability is getting sketchy and i had one rental house tell me they dont even service them anymore.

has anyone actually been running an Inspire 2 commercially and recently? is it still holding up or is it becoming more of a liability than an asset. also wondering if the Inspire 3 is worth waiting for pricing to drop, seen some used ones starting to appear but still pretty expensive

still shooting with the I2/X7 combo on commercial jobs and honestly the footage still holds up really well. colorists love the CinemaDNG files, no complaints there. the issues are more on the operational side - battery life is still annoying, you basically need a pile of TB50s to get through a full shoot day, and yeah finding repair support is getting harder. had a gimbal ribbon issue last year and it took forever to sort out.

that said the image out of the X7 with a DL 35mm is genuinely beautiful and there's nothing in the Mavic line that touches it for narrative work. if you're doing short films and the client wants that look it's hard to argue against it. i'd say buy used and budget for spare parts, dont buy it expecting DJI to support it long term because they basically dont

went through this exact same debate last year and ended up with an Inspire 3 - the Zenmuse X9-8K is just on another level, full frame, mechanical shutter, the whole thing. yes it's expensive but if you're doing actual cinema work i think it's hard to justify the I2 at this point unless the price is really low. the I3 also has the new transmission system and the ActiveTrack Pro stuff works way better for single operator if your partner isn't always available.

used I2 prices havent dropped as much as they should given the age so the gap between a good used I2/X7 kit and a used I3 isnt always as massive as you'd think. worth doing the math before you commit