Today I took delivery of my new drone - the DJI Phantom 4 Pro+. This replaces my trustee Inspire 1 Pro which I've used on dozens of shoots over the past 18 months.
Although the Phantom 4 Pro technically sits below the Inspire1 in DJI's model list, I believe the latest version is far superior in several areas to the Inspire 1 and here's why:
An uprated camera is equipped with a 1-inch 20-megapixel sensor capable of shooting 4K/60fps video and Burst Mode stills at 14 fps. It is the first DJI camera to use a mechanical shutter, eliminating rolling shutter distortion which can occur when taking images of fast moving subjects or when flying at high speed. In effect, it is as powerful as many traditional ground cameras.
More powerful video processing supports H.264 4K videos at 60fps or H.265 4K at 30fps, both with a 100Mbps bitrate-and this is the BIG thing for me... that bit rate is BROADCAST standard quality - something the Inspire1 couldn't boast of being.
Often I have watched aerial shots on TV that really struggle with detail in the shot - sometimes leading to flicker, aliasing and jittering in the footage when broadcast.
Advanced sensors and processors ensure everything is captured with more image detail and the image data needed for advanced post-production.
The adoption of titanium alloy and magnesium alloy construction increases the rigidity of the airframe and reduces weight, making the Phantom 4 Pro similar in weight to the Phantom 4. It's also a lot smaller than the Inspire 1 meaning I'm able to take it with me on every shoot. I've bought a backpack which is specially designed to carry the Phantom and will allow me to be much more mobile and able to get to locations I simply couldn't before.
The FlightAutonomy system adds dual rear vision sensors and infrared sensing systems for a total of 5-direction of obstacle sensing and 4-direction of obstacle avoidance which is obviously very handy to have as a safety back up!
Finally the battery life on the Phantom 4 is a huge improvement now meaning I can in theory get 30 minutes flight time from a single battery as opposed to 12 or so on the Inspire 1.
I'll be posting more updates after I've done some testing.