Some regular readers may know that I didn't think all that much of drones until I tried one and that was that. Not only are drones tremendously fun to fly, but the perspective they can give your work — whether photography or videography — adds a brilliant new dimension. Every time I get my DJI out of its case and take off, I like to pretend I'm an adult, professional photographer, but I'm really just a little boy who likes robots.
However, the robots have come a long way, even in the few years I've owned one. In this video, Peter Lindgren is trying the DJI Inspire 3 which is mind-warpingly impressive. It has 8K CinemaDNG or Apple ProRES, full frame sensor on a 3-axis gimbal, interchangeable lenses, nearly 60mph max speeds, subject tracking, an FPV camera, and a controller that has a damn-near full monitor drilled into it... truly absurd.
The catch — and there's always a catch — is that such cutting-edge features come at a premium, and that premium is $16,499. So, it's not really a consumer device (unless that consumer has very deep pockets,) but it isn't trying to be. This is a professional tool and a damned good one.
