Inspire Pro 1 X5 vs Phantom 3 Pro For Landscape Photography

[Brian Weis]

I am new to the group and looking at the Inspire Pro 1 for golf course photography. (I own a few golf travel websites so my need is for web photos and I have been expanding to course overview videos)

I currently own the Phantom 3 Pro (huge jump in quality vs P2 and a gopro). My clients have been largely impressed with photos taken. (keep in mind the average guy running a proshop is not a photo critic..LOL)

So my question is will I see a big difference in making the jump from the P3 Pro to an Inspire Pro 1 X5? (clarity of photo, colors, etc) I do some shooting in the golden hours when shadowing gives some depth, not sure if that qualifies as low lighting.

A secondary question and I feel I might make many of you cringe. I typically shoot in jpg. I can pull photos off to my iphone/ipad fast for the client. I love the ability to show photos instantly plus use them instantly for social media. (fb, instagram, etc) I tried shooting in DNG but after exporting them from lightroom into jpg they actually looked worse than the orginal jpg . (maybe I did it wrong)

Next golf season I plan on expanding to video or use some of shots for print. (like scorecards or magazine covers)

So...based on my needs will I see a big jump in quality going to the Inspire X5.

((I been trying to find some unedited photos/jpg on this forum but they are far and few in between at the moment))

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or scoldings.

Brian.

 

[Brian Weis]

Just a quick example of a shot with Phantom 3 Pro in JPG. (the edges are not great..would it be better with Inspire 1 Pro X5? or what else would be an improvement. Any gear/lens recommendations if I pull the trigger to buy the Inspire 1 Pro?

DJI_0221

 

[Adam Gibbs]

Hey Brian, for your current needs I would stick with the set up that you currently have. Perhaps if you plan on printing images larger at a later date then you might want to consider upgrading to the Inspire. Mt 2 cents worth

 

[creativedogmedia]

I have owned both as well as the Inspire 1 and to me the distortion in the P3 and Inspire 1 were worth it when I moved to the Pro. If everything else was equal I would have still made the move. Now, I am at a point where I own a Pro and a 1 but don't really want the 1 as a backup as the IQ isn't the same.

 

[Brian Weis]

I have owned both as well as the Inspire 1 and to me the distortion in the P3 and Inspire 1 were worth it when I moved to the Pro. If everything else was equal I would have still made the move. Now, I am at a point where I own a Pro and a 1 but don't really want the 1 as a backup as the IQ isn't the same.

ddublu - do you have any examples of jpgs uneditied. Or do you shooting in DNG, edit and convert?

 

[creativedogmedia]

ddublu - do you have any examples of jpgs uneditied. Or do you shooting in DNG, edit and convert?

I only shoot in DNG and edit in post.

 

[gruvpix]

I would for sure get the x5 if I were you. i mean the x3 creates a pretty nice image, especially if you are only viewing digitally, but if printing the x5 would be a big improvement, or so it would appear from the early photo samples...
I printed a 4 ft. wide panorama using shots from a phantom 3 and while it looked pretty **** good from about 5 ft. away if you look closely it's not quite there.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

I should have perhaps mentioned that I have just purchased an Inspire 1 Pro and so far the images from the X5 look very promising. Much of my work goes to print and I also print images up to and above 30 x 40 inches, so the X5 is a good compromise for the work that I do. However like I said if you plan to only post images on the web like you are currently doing then I would save your money. The quality of the Phantom 3 is plenty good enough for your current needs. The example that you posted is a great example of that. Most people except for other photographers are not going to notice image flaws and at the end of the day who cares what other photographers think they are not your clients.

 

[Mike Mas]

With regard to quality of the shot there really will be no difference between the Inspire and Phantom 3P I've seen actual comparisons of the P3P X3 & X5 and there really is no difference shooting subject at that distance. What you're getting with the Inspire is the retractable gear and the ability to move the camera 360 degrees. Good luck with your project!

 

[amorrison]

Well, I will add my two cents... I really like having both the X3 and the X5 as options. Mostly I do still shots and the X5 with its larger sensor is much much better than the X3 in many cases. Downsize the shots to 2000px though and not so much difference maybe. The X5 still has LOTS of dynamic range though. Another benefit of the X5 (with the new firmware) is you can use a zoom lens and actually zoom in the air (Oly 14-42 pancake lens). With this, you can take say 4 shot panels and create hi-res merges without landing to change lenses or zoom back to get single shot wide images. Sometimes though if you need to do a lot flying maybe the weight of the X3 might be a better choice, which is why I think both cameras have their place. Most of my shots are up, shoot, and back down again so I really like the X5's flexibility.

 

[Mike Mas]

I'm happy it's working for you however unless you're doing billboards 16 mp has little value.

Comparing the same exact shot from a P3P, X3 and X5 at our faculty there was virtually no difference in fact the P3 seemed to have improved clarity.

I'm not de-valuing the X5 just saying for most jobs it just represents extra expense.

 

[amorrison]

Agreed, you make very good points. Here is an example of how much data the X5 actually captures: top is straight out of camera, bottom is edited. (from DNG file).

 

[dopeytree]

The p3 stills are pretty good. If you don't already I'd shoot DNG raw & use adobe lightroom you can tweak them a little. I have the x5 & the p3. I mainly I notice the difference in video. So for stills I would NOT advise buying an X5. Unless you shoot a lot of dawn / dusk or even night. Out of curiosity I'm going to do a side by side print test from the P3 & X5.

Also P3 has longer flight times.

 

[Mike Mas]

I'm not understanding - you don't need an X5 to shoot DNG files!

 

[dopeytree]

Yes P3 shoots DNG raw files

 

[Skyvisionmedia]

Agreed, you make very good points. Here is an example of how much data the X5 actually captures: top is straight out of camera, bottom is edited. (from DNG file).

Wow Big difference what did you use to edit?

 

[amorrison]

Wow Big difference what did you use to edit?

Photoshop and a plug-in called Topaz Adjust. Just darkened the sky with levels, added some saturation, and added some color to the water. The Topaz Adjust added the drama for an HDR look.

 

[dopeytree]

You can also get this kind of effect in photoshop cc using the HDR tool. This is P3 shot.

 

[Keith barrow]

Well, I will add my two cents... I really like having both the X3 and the X5 as options. Mostly I do still shots and the X5 with its larger sensor is much much better than the X3 in many cases. Downsize the shots to 2000px though and not so much difference maybe. The X5 still has LOTS of dynamic range though. Another benefit of the X5 (with the new firmware) is you can use a zoom lens and actually zoom in the air (Oly 14-42 pancake lens). With this, you can take say 4 shot panels and create hi-res merges without landing to change lenses or zoom back to get single shot wide images. Sometimes though if you need to do a lot flying maybe the weight of the X3 might be a better choice, which is why I think both cameras have their place. Most of my shots are up, shoot, and back down again so I really like the X5's flexibility.

Can you let me know where you found the information on the 14-42 zoom lens.. I imagine that is the Panasonic lens