DJI Inspire 1 vs. Inspire 1 PRO vs. Inspire 1 RAW – See the Difference

by Sebastian WöberJune 28^th, 2016

We’ve been testing the new DJI Zenmuse X5 and X5R RAW cameras recently and we were really curious to see how they compare to the standard Zenmuse X3. If you’re interested to see the quality difference between the DJI inspire 1 vs. DJI Inspire 1 Pro vs. Inspire 1 RAW check out this video we shot.

When we looked at the difference between the Zenmuse X5 and X5R cameras we found that the X5 can’t really compete with the fine RAW quality of the X5R. However it was unclear wether the upgrade to an X5 was worth it in terms of image quality. The X3 is the camera that sits on the normal DJI inspire 1 drone as well as the DJI Osmo. Both devices can be upgraded with a Zenmuse X5 or Zenmuse X5R camera (The Osmo X5 adapter is needed for the Osmo upgrade)

DJI inspire 1 vs. DJI inspire 1 PRO vs. Inspire 1 RAW – Verdict

So how good is the Zenmuse X5? Looking at the footage we shot it is clear that the Zenmuse X5R resolve much more color gradations than both other cameras. Also, as previously analyzed in our lab test, we can see how the codec and processing of the Zenmuse X5 looses a lot of information with heavy compression.

What surprised us was that clearly the Zenmuse X5 resolves more detail than the Zenmuse X3. This is mainly true in full 4K though. When watched on an HD screen the difference is neglectable. In terms of color both cameras seem to have very low color resolution and dynamic range, resulting in a very washed out image that is not easy to grade in post-production. Processing on the Zenmuse X5 seems to be much cleaner though. While we don’t like the magenta tint all over the image, the end result seems more like a flat “LOG” image than the one we get from the Zenmuse X3, even though both cameras were set to “D-LOG”.

Testing Environment

This test setup was not perfect and not scientific. The X3 and the X5 have very different focal lengths so it is hard to truly compare them side by side. We wanted to take the chance to get a rough feeling of how the 3 cameras perform and especially what the difference between the X3 and X5 truly is. We hope the video gives you some insights on this topic.

All cameras were used on the same DJI Osmo, with similar (X3) or identical (x5 and X5R) exposure settings and under full sunlight within a 15 minute timeframe. The filming position was changed for the X3 due to the different focal length.

What do you think?

Now you’ve seen the 3 cameras side by side. What do you think about their quality, especially in terms of a  DJI inspire 1 vs. DJI Inspire 1 Pro vs. Inspire 1 RAW comparison. Is it worth the upgrade to the X5, or would you go all the way to the X5R?