In an enormous product launch that’s shocking to nobody (particularly for those who learn my weblog submit with DJI Encourage 3 predictions that ran final week), DJI’s flagship cinematography drone is lastly, formally right here.
DJI right this moment introduced its Encourage 3, a long-awaited follow-up to the unique Encourage and Encourage 2 drones that focused filmmakers. Nevertheless it’s hardly honest to even group the Encourage 3 along with the Encourage 1 and a couple of, given these felt like high-end shopper drones. The Encourage 3 marks DJI’s solely cinema-grade drone.
It earns that moniker as a result of the Encourage 3 is extra highly effective and dependable than these earlier than it — and its digital camera is far-higher high quality too. Amongst its key options:
- A full-frame 8K cinema digital camera
- As much as 28 minutes of flight time
- 161° ultra-wide FOV night-vision FPV
- O3 Professional transmission and management
- Helps omnidirectional sensing
- Helps RTK- powered Waypoint Professional
- Helps inside recording of as much as 8K/25fps CinemaDNG video in addition to 8K/75fps Apple ProRes RAW video
However for those who’re extra of an off-the-cuff photographer then — until you’re additionally a lottery winner — this drone most likely isn’t for you. It’s priced at $16,499, and that’s earlier than you add on all the extra equipment, which you would possibly as properly spring for for those who’re already going this far on what is definitely DJI’s highest-end digital camera drone.
Maybe unsurprisingly (although nonetheless unlucky), you’ll need to buy the license key for Apple ProRes RAW video individually. You’ll additionally want a separate license key for CinemaDNG video.
Right here’s a deep dive into all the pieces this drone is about:
DJI Encourage 3 digital camera: a full-frame Zenmuse X9-8K Air Gimbal Digital camera
The characteristic everybody desires most — a full-frame 8K Zenmuse X9 gimbal digital camera — is the truth is part of the DJI Encourage 3 drone.
Significantly, we requested Drone Lady readers to vote on their most-wanted characteristic of the upcoming Encourage 3 drone final week, and also you overwhelmingly mentioned the full-frame, 8K digital camera. 22.2% of you requested for foldable propellers and 11.1% requested for O3+ video transmission as a high precedence).
Listed below are some key particulars of the digital camera:
- Options DJI’s newest picture processing system, CineCore 3.0
- Helps inside recording of as much as 8K/25fps CinemaDNG video
- Helps 8K/75fps Apple ProRes RAW video
- In S&Q mode, X9-8K Air helps inside recording of as much as full-frame 4K/120fps ProRes RAW video with out cropping.
- Twin native ISO
- At full-frame 30fps and under: Provides EI 800/4000 (this helps the 24fps generally seen in movie productions and the 25fps utilized in business and tv productions).
- At above 30fps: Provides EI 320/1600 (that is good particularly for nonetheless getting particulars in low-light scenes)
- 14+ tops of dynamic vary
- Makes use of DJI’s proprietary DL mount
That proprietary DL mount permits for appropriate with a spread of lenses, which embrace:
- An extra 18 mm F2.8 full-frame ultra-wide lens
- A brand new telephoto lens specifically made for 8K aerial cinematography (although it hasn’t been launched but and there’s no agency date when it’ll arrive)
- Full-frame 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm lenses
The digital camera additionally makes use of DJI’s in-house coloration science tech, referred to as the DJI Cinema Coloration System (DCCS), which is designed to “retain genuine colours that redefine the look of aerial cinematography…and likewise precisely captures pores and skin tones in numerous environments and lighting situations.”
DCCS can be designed to pair with the corporate’s ground-based cinema cameras, just like the DJI Ronin 4D. A filmmaker in concept would movie the majority of the footage on the bottom with this digital camera, however these aerial pictures would seamlessly mix given the identical DCCS.
One other good characteristic is the included DJI PROSSD 1TB, provides as much as 1100MBps write velocity and as much as 900MBps learn velocity. The footage might be learn on a pc immediately by means of the offered USB-C to USB-C cable with out the necessity for a card reader, handy for DITs.
The Encourage 3 drone itself
Regardless of being a lot bigger than drones just like the Mavic 3 Cine, it’s nonetheless a light-weight, transportable drone. The FPV digital camera, visible sensors, positioning antennas, and storage card slot are built-in into the airframe, which cuts down on free-dangling components and streamlines the airframe.
Flight time is as much as 28 minutes utilizing hot-swappable TB51 clever twin batteries. Sizzling swapping signifies that — when changing the battery — the plane doesn’t have to energy off.
If you must fly quick, use the propulsion system which brings a flight velocity of as much as 94km/h, 8m/s ascent and descent velocity and even dive velocity as much as 10m/s.
New options that aren’t in DJI’s different drones embrace Tilt Increase and 360° Pan buildings. With that, the gimbal helps obstruction-free 80° upward-angle taking pictures when the touchdown gear is lowered.
An FPV lens
Whereas this isn’t what you’d movie with, there’s additionally a 161° FOV extremely wide-angle FPV lens with a 1/1.8-inch night-vision sensor. It’s received 3μm pixel dimension and provides as much as 1080p/60fps dwell feed.
Pilots can use that for a stabilized, extremely low latency view that provides them situational consciousness even in low-light.
The controller
The Encourage 3 comes with the DJI RC Plus controller, which entails a 7-inch 1,200-nit high-brightness display screen to function even in sturdy daylight.
The controller’s inside battery offers as much as 3.3 hours operation time, and extends to six hours with an exterior hot-swappable WB37 battery.
Different options embrace an HDMI out port, customizable buttons and dials and an-installed DJI Pilot 2 app.
DJI’s smartest omnidirectional sensing system up to now
If the drone is zipping round filming all kinds of sophisticated pictures, then it higher not hit any objects in its route. That’s attainable due to DJI’s most-advanced omnidirectional sensing system up to now, which places 9 visible sensors on the drone.
DJI guarantees that the Encourage can detect obstacles in all instructions.
However you don’t have to make use of all 9 sensors for those who don’t need to. There’s a brand new customizable operate the place you possibly can select to independently enabled or disable the horizontal, upward, and downward impediment sensors. You can even preset an impediment alert vary manually. That’s useful if you wish to fly near an object and nonetheless have impediment avoidance on — however you must fly nearer than what the outdated presets allowed.
You can even select to show off lively avoidance. Even for those who do, there are security options together with the flexibility to view the space from an impediment on the navigation show in real-time, and/or obtain an audio alert when an impediment is inside a set vary — even with out the plane performing an automated avoidance motion.
O3 Professional Transmission
One other characteristic that pilots desperately needed was an improved transmission system.
DJI’s latest drone up till this new Encourage 3, the DJI Avata, provides DJI’s O3+ video transmission, permitting for a max transmission vary of 15 km and a extra secure sign.
The Encourage 3 provides a fair higher model referred to as O3 Professional Transmission. Like O3+, the O3 Professional Transmission allows a transmission vary of as much as 15 km. However that’s assuming only one controller.
Now, you’ve gotten the choice for dual-control mode, which provides transmission vary as much as 12 km. With the improved dual-control mode, two distant controllers can now obtain transmission and management hyperlinks from the drone independently, so the pilot and gimbal operator might be at totally different positions on set.
There’s the choice to show a dwell feed of as much as 1080p/60fps, with an ultra-low latency of 90 ms. However with this new Professional model, the 4K/30fps dwell feeds are additionally supported with a diminished 5km transmission vary, which unlocks the flexibility for ultra-HD output and livestreaming on set.
RTK- powered Waypoint Professional
An enormous leg-up on the Encourage 3 is the high-precision RTK positioning know-how, which permits the drone to fly routes with centimeter-level accuracy. This can be a must-have spec in additional industrial functions corresponding to inspections, precision mapping and surveying, the place a drone can’t afford to be off by a centimeter if a mannequin or map must be made.
Whereas this hasn’t usually been a must have spec within the cinematography world, it very properly might be because the Encourage 3 units this sturdy precedent. RTK not solely makes flying extra secure, but additionally flight-route planning extra correct, thus permitting filmmakers to get repeatable routes which can be really correct, even in difficult environments.
Waypoint Professional
This operate allows personalized flight-route and shot planning, permitting for the drone to seize video in highly-complex scenes — whether or not solo taking pictures or in an expert crew.
Right here’s what Waypoint Professional can do:
- Fly repeatable routes: Pilots can enter preset parameters corresponding to altitude, velocity, gimbal angle, and digital camera settings — and repeat that very same flight mission over and over. That’s essential in enhancing the flexibility to movie in any other case troublesome one-takes. It’s additionally a helpful operate for those who’re flying at totally different instances in the identical place, like for those who’re taking long-duration timelapses (e.g. day to nighttime or season to season).
- Simulate a crane, cable cam or dolly: The Waypoint Professional has a operate referred to as 3D Dolly, which principally permits the drone to simulate a crane, cable cam, or a dolly — with out truly needing to purchase and setup one.
- Highlight Professional: This makes use of machine-learning algorithms to supply pilots single-object recognition and monitoring. In flip, that enables the pilot to thoroughly deal with the flight whereas the gimbal digital camera stays routinely targeted on the topic — even when it’s a sophisticated flight and so they’re a single pilot.
How does RTK work on the Encourage 3?
The built-in 3 GNSS System (GPS + Galileo + BeiDou) is powered by built-in dual-layered ceramic RTK antennas. Activate the RTK community or arrange a D-RTK 2 Cellular Station (which requires a separate buy) to attain extremely correct positioning — all with out the necessity to mount any further modules.
As a result of this tech offers the Encourage 3 with inside orientation, compass calibration isn’t wanted in most eventualities.
When RTK is disabled, DJI Encourage 3 makes use of GNSS positioning by default.
Different DJI Encourage 3 equipment, add-ons and ecosystem integrations
DJI doesn’t simply need you to purchase its Encourage 3. It desires you to purchase into its full ecosystem of merchandise designed for skilled filmmaking — a area DJI is more and more leaning into. Simply final month, DJI introduced the Ronin 4D Flex, a product designed for cinematographers that added the primary cinema zoom lens add-on to DJI’s digital camera platform in addition to launched a manner for operators to separate the Zenmuse X9 gimbal digital camera from the primary physique. Final month, DJI additionally lastly enabled clients to have the ability to purchase an activation license key for the Apple ProRes RAW codec on Ronin 4D on the DJI Retailer.
And that spirit of continuous to be a superpower on movie units lives on with the Encourage 3. One instance of that’s that the Encourage 3 options Timesync Assist by means of a 3.5mm jack. That’s helpful for groups coping with tons of footage from a number of cameras, as timecode sync makes the modifying course of considerably extra simplified and environment friendly.
The drone may pair with one RC Plus and one Excessive-Vibrant Distant Monitor. The monitor is in flip in a position to hyperlink your entire system to the DJI Professional Ecosystem, which brings in compatibility with different DJI merchandise such because the DJI 4D Hand Grips and DJI Grasp Wheels.
DJI additionally right this moment launched a number of equipment together with:
- New foldable quick-release propellers: With the brand new mannequin 1671 propellers, you now probably received’t need to reinstall propellers earlier than every flight and — do you have to take them off — are far simpler to retailer. There’s additionally a model designed for high-altitudes of three,000 meters or extra that’s barely costlier (that’s mannequin DJI 1676). Spare fast launch propellers run for $69 per pair, whereas the high-altitude model runs for $89.
- Foldable battery charging hub: Make your charging extra environment friendly with out demanding an excessive amount of storage dimension. This hub can accommodate eight batteries and may cost two batteries to 90% concurrently in simply 35 minutes in quick cost mode, and to 100% in solely 160 minutes . The included 65W USB-C port can be used to cost an RC Plus. Although, it’ll price you massive: the hub is available in at $899.
- A brand new trolley case: This model has an extendable deal with, two facet handles, and 4 360-degree-movement wheels.
- Strap and waist help for the RC Plus distant controller: This could merely make shoots extra comfy. The DJI RC Plus Strap and Waist Assist Equipment prices an extra $99.
Additionally anticipate to pay an extra worth to get the license keys for CinemaDNG video and/or Apple ProRes RAW video.
Right here’s a full breakdown of all of the add-on equipment and their prices:
Who’s the DJI Encourage 3 finest for?
Who’s the DJI Encourage 3 finest for? This can be a drone for filmmakers and different content material creators who don’t thoughts a critical, cumbersome rig within the title of the highest-quality digital camera.
However earlier than we dive into why this drone is so splendid for filmmakers, let’s talk about the Encourage 3’s two closest opponents — and why (on some key ranges) they aren’t actually opponents in any respect.
What concerning the DJI Mavic 3?
Vacationers, bloggers and folks preferring a lighter-weight system and nonetheless need top quality video (say for YouTube) however don’t essentially want cinema-quality footage would nonetheless be higher served by the DJI Mavic 3. That drone is foldable and compact, and data in 5.1K and DCI 4K/120fps with Apple ProRes 422 HQ encoding — for those who go for the DJI Mavic 3 Cine. There are a number of fashions of the DJI Mavic 3, beginning at simply $1,599 for the Mavic 3 Traditional and previous $5,000 for all of the bells and whistles with the DJI Mavic 3 Cine Premium Combo.
It’s so much cheaper than the Encourage 3, but additionally lacks so much the really top-of-the-line options.
What about non-DJI opponents?
Given its excessive emphasis on cinematography, the DJI Encourage 3’s closest competitor is one other extremely critical digital camera drone: the Sony Airpeak. The Airpeak is the easiest way to fly the Sony Alpha full body cameras, as that line of mirrorless cameras coupled with a GBL-T3 from Gremsy combine seamlessly into the drone.
This drone has one especially-major downfalls versus the Encourage 3, although: battery life. The battery life on this drone is abysmal. Whereas it’s technically 22 minutes, that assumes no payload (and thus no gimbal or digital camera). When you add on weight, just like the digital camera, it drops too nearer to 12 minutes, which may hardly be ample time to get the shot you want earlier than you must land the drone once more.
With the hot-swappable TB51 clever twin batteries, the Encourage 3 offers flight time of as much as 28 minutes — measured when the drone is flying a continuing velocity of 36 km/h in a windless atmosphere at sea stage with the gimbal digital camera and lens hooked up to the plane (although with out different equipment).
On the associated fee entrance, the Airpeak and the Encourage 3 are a bit extra aligned. The Airpeak drone itself prices $9,000, however that’s earlier than the digital camera and gimbal. Anticipate to pay an extra $2,000+ for the gimbal, between $1,800 and $6,500 for the digital camera physique, and we’ll say not less than $1,000 for the lens. A $17,000 funds for the Airpeak rig is way extra cheap, which is roughly the identical because the Encourage price.
A giant cause why the Airpeak is perhaps higher is that you should use your Alpha digital camera for extra than simply drone flying. You can’t use the Zenmuse X9-8K Air independently from the DJI Encourage 3. To get the same-level picture high quality on a ground-based platform, you’d need to purchase a separate DJI Ronin 4D – which is an extra price.
A historical past of the DJI Encourage line
The DJI Encourage 3 is a very long time coming. The final time the Encourage received a major improve was in November 2016, when DJI launched the Encourage 2 drone. The Encourage 2 was notable for options together with 5.2K video and restricted sense and keep away from. At its launch, it price $2,999 for the standalone drone, or simply over $6,000 for a equipment that features the plane, Zenmuse X5S digital camera, CinemaDNG and Apple ProRes License Key.
When the Zenmuse X7 got here out, the Encourage 2 additionally supported that digital camera — however the brand new Zenmuse X9-8K Air has much more options, serving up a full-frame picture sensor that may file video at as much as 8K RAW. By way of lens mounting, the X9 provides a lens locking lever.
The Encourage 2 adopted the DJI Encourage 1, which launched in November 2014 with a built-in Encourage 1 digital camera that might shoot as much as 4K video and seize 12 megapixel photographs.
Tips on how to get your fingers on an Encourage 3
In the event you’re able to spring $16,499 for the Encourage 3 (and certain extra, contemplating you’ll need the add-on equipment) maintain tight. It’s not accessible for buy till the finish of June.
At the moment, you’ll have the ability to purchase the drone, most equipment and likewise DJI Care Professional, an additional insurance coverage plan for unintentional injury that gives an infinite variety of free repairs for lined causes, which incorporates water injury, drop injury, improper use, and different accidents. Protection additionally will get you two free replacements for brand spanking new batteries annually and Flyaway protection. Protection is $2,099 for one 12 months or $3,899 for 2 years of protection.
Pre-orders are open now, so you possibly can reserve your drone and be the primary to get it.
