New zoom lenses en route for DJI’s Zenmuse X7

Man, the leaks just don’t stop. Nor, apparently, does DJI’s ability to create a stream of new products. There’s word – and a photo – today that Zoom lenses are coming for the X7 system.

The Zenmuse X7, if you’re not familiar, is an excellent integrated camera and gimbal system, compatible with the Inspire 2. In fact, since its release, the X7 has been a favorite of cinematographers. As the DJI website explains, this camera contains “24 MP CMOS sensor rated at 14 stops of dynamic range preserves astonishing detail and offers both 6K CinemaDNG and5.2K Apple ProRes with support for continuous RAW burst shooting at 20 fps and 24 MP stills.” In short, it’s an outstanding camera with a great series of available lenses.

Right now, there are four prime lenses available – all pretty bloody excellent, based on what I hear from professional cinematographers. Now, it appears those cinematographers may soon have other options available.

Another leak

What would the drone world do without the timely posts from @OsitaLV on Twitter? There would be a lot less news about DJI, we can tell you that. OsitaLV clearly has a pipeline directly into DJI – if they are not, themselves, a DJI employee. Regardless, they are consistently reliable.

And today? This:

Zoom…

The image, as you’ve just seen, shows an 18-33 zoom. A good zoom offers a huge advantage to a cinematographer/pilot. Just as a prime lens forces a person on the ground with a camera to adjust their distance from the subject for framing, the same rule applies to a drone in the air. You have to physically position it to capture the desired shot.

A zoom, by contrast, allows the operator to keep the drone hovering and simply adjust the focal length from the ground.

App

When this lens, or lenses, are released, look for a change to the DJI GO 4 app. It currently does not have the provision to control a zoom because DJI does not, as yet, have any zoom lenses. But this would clearly be a boon to cinematographers.

It’s also clear, were there any doubt, that when an Inspire 3 is released, that it will be compatible with the existing X7 lenses. It simply makes no sense to start developing new lenses if the current system is at the tail end of its lifecycle.

Thoughts

As mentioned, I know cinematographers who absolutely swear by the current crop of X7 lenses. And DJI has a ton of engineers who are camera geeks. You can anticipate these will be a top-quality lens (or lenses) that will be a welcome addition for any cinematographer with the dough.

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