My delve in to the world of the DJI Inspire

Looking good by the way. Aren’t Inspires fun to work on , fiddly little f$$$ers

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This is brilliant.

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Good to know :+1:t2:

Right then, my quest for a bargain basement priced Zenmuse X5 has now begun :bowing_man:

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You only had to ask :wink:
Awesome as always Rich.

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I use that to protect the hydrodipped outer shell from any scratches. And thankfully the wife doesn’t frequent this forum so she won’t be aware of any tea towel situations :blush:

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Just joined the Inspire “retro” drone gange today! Some crazy mods there Rich! I’m def going to investigate a few of them! Cheers!

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My delve in to the world of the Inspire continues!

Latest addition to the case is a Battery Heater :+1:t2:

I think these were originally quite common, but I didn’t get one with my Inspire and have been on the lookout for a bargain-buy ever since.

Picked up four of these, boxed, new, for £25 quid :grimacing: Naturally the other three will be going on eBay :wink:

It’s officially known as ‘Spare Part No. 15 Battery Heater’.

Not much inside the box, just a little instruction sheet and the heater itself.

Instructions.

Inside the heater compartment, it’s full of holes :+1:t2:

Battery in situ.

Roll on winter :rofl:

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Picked up a Gimbal Lock to go with the newly acquired X5 - details to follow :wink:

I got it from the same place I picked up the Zenmuse Z3 gimbal lock from, Aero 3D:

http://www.aero3d.co.uk/

I’m not sure what these guys use to print their stuff but it’s a kinda rubberised plastic?

Which is ideal as it’s soft on the cameras but solid enough to hold things in place.

They’re not the cheapest but I’m a big fan of their gear :+1:t2:

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I can’t think where they’d get that from. :thinking:

Just got to hope it’s not recycled. :rofl:

Ewwwww don’t eve go there :rofl:

I was hoping some of our 3D printing-equipped members would be able to enlighten me on what they’d used to print this.

It’s glossy / shiny on one side, a bit rough on the other side? :thinking:

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pmsl - glossy … shiny … a bit rough … too much wine … :stuck_out_tongue:

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I use this ocassionaly at work, but I’m guessing you wont want to chop bits off your new purchase to set on fire lol.

https://www.boedeker.com/Technical-Resources/Technical-Library/Plastic-Identification

If it doesn’t feel like usual 3d printed stuff it’s probably ABS.

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And now my quest is complete :blush:

I’ve been on the lookout for a cheap X5 camera since, well, forever really - hence the X5 gimbal mounting plate mod not too long ago.

As suspected, the words “cheap” and “X5” don’t really go together. I was however able to get one for a half decent price instead, but it took some legwork and some time and effort. I’ll do a separate post on the details which led me to get the X5 for a decent price another time.

So, first things first, what’s the Zenmuse X5 camera all about then?

The Zenmuse X5 is horrendously expensive when new. It currently retails for over £1,700 and it also holds its price well in the second hand market to (on the rare occasion they turn up on eBay).

The X5 camera ships with the “Inspire 1 Pro” as standard and spec wise it outperforms the X3 by a country mile.

It’s a mirrorless Micro Four Thirds (MFT) camera which does the usual 4K/30FPS but it also captures stills at 16MP. Unlike the X3, it has an interchangeable lens which gives you options to swap in a whole host of other lenses. You also have full wireless control (via the GO app) over the aperture, zoom and focus (it supports the wireless DJI Focus wheel as standard too).

The sensor in the X5 is eight times the size of the sensor in the X3 camera :scream:

You’ve got 12.8 stops of dynamic range, an ISO range of 100-25600 and the shutter speed has increased to 1/8000 of a second too.

Anyway, enough of that stuff, full details: Zenmuse X5 - DJI

On with the photos!

First up, a physical size comparison.

This camera is HUGE.

It’s literally double the physical size of the original X3 and it even makes the Z3 look small.

Cameras in this order: X5, Z3, X3

Incidentally, I might be selling the Z3 soon in order to fund a zoom lens for the X5. I’m yet to decide, more homework is needed.

My X5 has the DJI MFT 15mm F/1.7 ASPH, 70° FOV lens.

There’s a single physical switch on the side of the lens. This switches between Manual Focus and Automatic Focus (ie. controlled via the app (or wheel)).

You can also see the lens-release button on the underside here too:

Mounted on the Inspire:

This is powered off currently, the balance is absolutely spot on, it doesn’t lean in any angle!

To highlight how well balanced it is, take a look at this next photo.

This is what happens when you fit the little plastic dust cap :slight_smile:

Mad eh :slight_smile:

Next photo below is showing the gimbal lock in place.

This is only needed because I use a flight-mode case, which means I can leave the camera attached and the landing gear fully down. Normally you’d have to put the landing gear in to travel-mode and remove the camera in order to fit the drone in the standard DJI case, this saves helluva lot of time.

Soooooo… just to put the size of the X5 in to perspective.

Here it is, alongside a Mavic Pro…

:scream:

So there we have it, the Zenmuse X5 in a nutshell!

Hoping to take it on its maiden outing tomorrow, will report back if I do.

As ever, any questions, just shout :smiley:

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Well done mate, look forward to seeing the results :+1:

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We should try fitting my Lumix 300mm and counterbalancing it somehow. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I think I have everything here to make a counterweight for it Dave!

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:+1:

Not sure where the flowers fit in … :thinking:

Anyway …

CoG 7.5cm from the mount.

The brick may be excessive. :wink:

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I might need to do a battery mod first in order to accommodate that lens :rofl:

I’d doubt it. Would be fun to try.