The DJI Inspire 1’s camera seems to do a really good job, I’d say it’s certainly on par with the results from my GoPro Hero 4. One thing that soon becomes apparent though is that much like shooting with the GoPro obtaining correct exposure for video involves a lot of compromise with regards to shutter speed.

Unlike larger lenses these tiny devices don’t offer anything in the way of aperture control so the only way to reduce exposure in camera (once ISO is at 100) is by increasing the shutter speed. The general rule of thumb for video and film is that each frame of the video is exposed for half of the time it’s available. So for instance if shooting at 25p (25 frames a second) the shutter speed would normally to half that at 1/50th of a second.

It gets confusing when talking about shutter speeds because shorter amounts of time have larger numbers, 1/100th of a second for example is twice as long as 1/200th of a second. The easiest way to remember when talking shutter speeds is that the ideal shutter speed number is double the frame rate, so at 24p the ideal shutter speed is 1/48th of a second, and at 30p it’s 1/60th of a second.

Read more

With the Inspire one updated to the latest firmware it was time to take it out for it’s first flight. There are however some really important things to consider before doing so and just to clarify those I’m going to run through them.

Know how to fly

This seems a bit obvious but it would be all too easy to get to this stage and think you can just figure out the flying part as you go, I highly advise against that as any mistakes are likely to be very costly indeed. Having not owned a drone before I spent a lot of time using simulators, theres an app for IOS called Quadcopter FX Simulator which I used a lot in the weeks before getting the Inspire. Although using the app is a long way from handling an actual remote control unit it does give you a really good understanding of how to control a quad. If you enable Smart Control and Pos Hold it’s closer to working with a DJI device in GPS mode as when you let go of the controls the aircraft will stay in place.

Using the app you can practise things like flying the quad around an object whilst maintaining camera position, it also has FPV and stabilised Gimbal views so you really can get a feel for basic operation. Of course using an iPhone screen to make control inputs is far from ideal and is actually a lot harder then using the joysticks on an actual controller but it definitely helps you to form some muscle memory and start making inputs using the correct thumb.

Read more

I took delivery of my DJI inspire 1 this evening and thought I’d share a few pics and initial thoughts with you. Please bare in mind that this is my first Quadcopter, I can’t give comparisons to other models in the same price bracket other than the Phantom that I have looked at in the past. None the less..

The case 
The first thing that greets you after removing the outer packaging is this rather nice looking case. It’s not a particularly tough case though, it’s fairly soft and has zip closures.

Opening up the case reveals the Inspire 1 and and it’s associated accessories. Some of the accessories are supposed to be held in place by straps with velcro closures but even before touching these some of the velcro straps had fallen away from the case and were useless.

The case is really not very reassuring, the quality isn’t great and while it does work well as a basic container for the Inspire I can’t see it lasting very long with real use or at the mercy of baggage handlers. I’ll have to look for a more substantial alternative.

Read more