this is probably a niche question but figured someone here might have messed with this. we've got a project coming up where the director wants to use a specific anamorphic lens setup that doesn't really exist in the DJI ecosystem. thinking about whether there's any way to run a third party gimbal on the Inspire 3 or even just adapt the X9 to take a different lens mount ? i know the X9 is a fixed DL mount system so that's probably a dead end but wanted to ask.

the other option we've been talking about is running something like a Gremsy or Freefly gimbal with a proper cinema camera but then you're looking at a completely different aircraft situation. the Inspire 3 has that accessory mounting on the top which ive seen people use for like lidar and stuff but i dont know how much weight it can handle up there or if anyone has done anything creative with the bottom mount beyond the standard X9

the top expansion port on the I3 is mostly for stuff like the RTK module or smaller sensors, it's not really designed to take heavy payloads up there and mounting a full cinema rig on top would completely wreck your CG anyway. the aircraft is balanced around the X9 sitting underneath so you'd be fighting the whole system if you tried to deviate from that too much.

for proper anamorphic work most productions ive seen just end up going the Freefly Wave or a heavy lift hex route with a proper M?VI or Gremsy H16 under it. more complex, more crew, but you actually have full control over your lens choices. the DJI ecosystem is great until you need something it wasnt designed for and then it becomes a walled garden real fast

not sure about the I3 specifically but i did see a BTS video a while back where someone had rigged an Inspire 2 airframe with a totally custom underbelly mount for a RED Komodo ? it was a pretty gnarly fabrication job and they had to recalculate the whole weight distribution. flew apparently but i wouldnt call it a clean solution. link is somewhere in my bookmarks but cant find it right now.

honestly for anamorphic i wonder if the client would consider the Laowa probe or one of the compact anamorphics that might actually fit the X9 form factor with an adapter. depends on the look they're going for i guess