so ive been running an Inspire 1 with the Zenmuse X5S for probably 4 years now and honestly it still does the job for most of my real estate and corporate stuff but im starting to lose contracts to guys showing up with newer gear and i think clients are just impressed by the newer look even if the footage isnt dramatically different

anyway been seriously looking at the Inspire 3 and the X9-8 combo and the 8K raw is obviously insane on paper but i dont do a ton of work where that actually matters. most of my deliverables are 4K ProRes at most and the post pipeline my main client uses cant even ingest 8K raw without a whole new investment on their end

what i do care about is the dual operator setup because ive been burned a few times doing solo ops on moving subjects ? tracking a boat last summer was a nightmare trying to pan and maintain altitude at the same time. the Inspire 3 keeping the dual control setup is a big deal for me. also the obstacle avoidance is apparently actually usable now unlike the Inspire 2 which i always felt was kind of half baked

anyone made this switch and can tell me if the handling is noticeably different? the weight is obviously more but does it feel more stable in moderate wind?

made the jump from I2 to I3 about 8 months ago and yeah the handling in wind is genuinely better, like not marginally better ? noticeably better. had it out in some pretty gusty coastal conditions filming a yacht race and it held its position way more confidently than the I2 ever did. the motors are just beefier and you can feel it

the dual op workflow is where it really shines though. my camera op says the gimbal response on the X9 feels tighter than the X7 ever did, smoother ramp on the pan axis especially. we did a whole feature doc project last year and the DP on the ground basically forgot he was looking at drone footage after a while which is kind of the whole point

your point about the 8K pipeline is valid ? we actually mostly shoot in the 4K or 6K crop modes for exactly that reason. the sensor is still doing its thing in terms of dynamic range even when you're not pulling the full res. i wouldnt stress too much about needing to go full 8K raw on every job

not gonna lie the price jump is brutal. like i get it the I3 is a genuinely pro tool but you could buy two very capable setups for what that thing costs. just something to factor in if youre mostly doing bread and butter real estate and corporate ? clients dont always care or notice enough to justify it

that said if you're losing work over perceived gear quality then sometimes you have to play that game i guess