DJI Inspire 1 RAW Edition release date and price announced

DJI has announced the release date and price details of the Inspire 1 RAW Edition drone with a Zenmuse X5R Micro Four Thirds camera. The bundle starts shipping by the end of March 2016 for a price a little under the $6,000 mark.

One of the most advanced quadcopters for aerial photographers will finally be released in the near future. DJI has unveiled the product back in September 2015, but now the development is complete and the drone is ready to become available on the market.

After months of building up expectations, the DJI Inspire 1 RAW Edition release date and price have been confirmed. The drone will be in stock as of Monday, March 28 and will be priced at $5,999.

DJI Inspire 1 RAW Edition release date and price details finally revealed

The first shipment of the sought-after DJI Inspire 1 RAW Edition drone begins on March 28 and will include the Zenmuse X5R Micro Four Thirds camera that is capable of recording lossless videos at up to 4K resolution.

This is the DJI Inspire 1 RAW Edition drone with the Zenmuse X5R camera and 15mm f/1.7 lens.

Shots are kept steady and blur-free by a 3-axis gimbal. It can maintain the camera pointed in the same direction at all times, even though the drone might be turning or avoiding obstacles, in order to make sure that the subject is being tracked at all times.

A special GPS technology has been added into the drone. It uses spatial awareness in order to maintain a clear position even in strong winds or when the pilot tries to send too many commands that could affect flight stability or even cause stalling.

WiFi connectivity is there, too, and it can be used for livestreaming videos to a smartphone or tablet via the DJI GO application. As for the controllers, DJI has included a couple of transmitters into the whole bundle, so that one of can be used for controlling the camera, while the other one can be used for panning and tilting the camera.

Zenmuse X5R is a 4K video recording Micro Four Thirds camera

The manufacturer has confirmed that the average bitrate of the camera stands at 1.7 Gbps, albeit it can reach 2.4 Gbps when shooting in CinemaDNG format to an SSD. It has been confirmed that the device supports D-LOG mode, allowing users to grade / correct colors in post-processing with ease and in a flexible manner.

According to the official announcement, the Zenmuse X5R is the smallest camera in the world specifically designed for aerial photography that shoots lossless 4K videos. This device also comes with a 512GB SSD, while its Micro Four Thirds sensor is clocked in at 16 megapixels and offers a maximum ISO sensitivity of 25600.

All Micro Four Thirds lenses can be mounted on the device, but this does not mean that people should do it. DJI says that only is 15mm f/1.7 lens is supported along with the Panasonic 15mm f/1.7 and Olympus 12mm f/2 and 17mm f/1.8 lenses.

The price of the whole bundle was originally said to stand at $7,999. However, it seems like most stores have it listed at $5,999. As for the standalone camera, it seems like it will become available on March 31, although the price remains unknown for now.