DJI Zenmuse X7 Cinematic Camera

The Highlights

DJI has announced their newest addition to the Zenmuse series of cinematic cameras. It’s the most powerful camera produced by DJI yet. The Zenmuse camera series has consistently been at the pinnacle for DJI camera technology, and the X7 does not disappoint. The Zenmuse X7 is a compact Super 35 camera with a 23.5x15.7mm sensor.

DJI have also worked on their mount solution to minimise weight further increasing your expected flight time with the new DJI DL-Mount system. This gives the X7 a weight of about 630g with a lens included. DJI offers four prime lenses for the DL-Mount system with focal lengths ranging from 16 to 50mm and resolutions of up to 6K. The lenses weigh 180g.The new Zenmuse X7 will also support raw output at 6K/30FPS and 3.9K/59.94FPS. It offers both 6K CinemaDNG and Apple ProRes.

The new Zenmuse X7 will also support raw output at 6K/30FPS and 3.9K/59.94FPS. It offers both 6K CinemaDNG and Apple ProRes.

Camera/Lenses

Super 35 Sensor

I’ll go into a little more detail about the new camera and its components in this section. The Super 35 camera has a sensor 23.5mmx15.7 this is significantly larger than the X5’s sensor. The X7 24MP (Megapixel) CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensor offers a higher light sensitivity and 14 stops of dynamic range. This dynamic range will help push your photography capabilities allowing for better capture of unique scenes (I think I know why DJI called their promo video reflections now). This will also provide exceptional images when shooting in low-light situations.

Wide Dynamic Range (D-log compared to LUT)

DJI DL-Mount System

The new DJI DL-Mount has taken a focus on reducing weight. The X7’s sensor features a thinner interconnection which allows more compact lenses to be mount while still maintaining image quality. As mentioned earlier the whole mount with a camera lens will weight 640h which is comparatively a very lightweight. A comparable drone rig with a more heavy-duty setup could be around 40kg.

Lenses

DJI is also offering four new prime lenses for the theDL-mount system; they come with focal length from 16-60mm and available resolutions up to 8K. The lenses are made from carbon fibre and weigh approximately 180g.

The 16mm lens will come with a built-in ND (Neutral Density). This can be switched off in DJI Go 4. DJI have also introduced ND dimmer package this will include dimmer filters ranging from ND4 to ND128 and a flat mirror to protect the lens.

Video

The Zenmuse X7 supports RAW output of video at 6K/30FPS and 3.9K/59.54 FPS. It offers both 6K CinemaDNG and 5.2K for Apple ProRes. DJI has also introduced the brand new EI Mode which records high-quality footage at various levels of sensitivity. This mode will reduce image artifacts and noise, preserving more details while adoption an improved dark level correction system for pro-level cinematic images. This mode makes it a lot easier to match with other cameras when moving between different shots. In EI mode, D-log or Cine Rec.709 is directly applied to the image cache and the SD card. When recording ProRes video, you can also use D-log.

Cinema Colour system

DJI has also brought out the new DJI Cinema Colour System which consists of a brand new D-Log curve and a D-Gamut RGB colour space. The D-log can encode 15 stops of dynamic range, which is two stops higher than the X5S. Even in low light environments, the X7 can still preserve image details in the shadow and lights without gaining image noise. D-Gamut also offers optimised skin tone adjustment by moving these tones to their most suitable chromaticity ensuring vivid colours are reflected from skin tones.

Other Features

As per the standard for DJI Zenmuse cameras at this point, the X7 has kept 3-Axis stabilisation. The controllable range tilt: +40°to -125°, Pan: ±300°, Roll:±20°. The Zenmuse will also a new version of the Zenmuse image processing via the DJI Go 4. The new feature has a colour oscilloscope function to assist the colour recognition and management for aerial photography. The expected flight time of DJI Inspire 2 with the Zenmus X7 is 23 minutes.

Summary

The Zenmuse is scheduled to arrive early November in Australia though that’s only a rough guide provided by DJI themselves. Regarding price:

Zenmuse X7 (Without Lens)

Zenmuse X7 without a lens has an RRP of $4,299

Prime Lenses

Zenmuse X7 DL-S 16mm F2.8 ND ASPH Lens - $2,199

Zenmuse X7 DL 24mm F2.8 LS ASPH Lens - $2,199

Zenmuse X7 DL 35mm F2.8 LS ASPH Lens - $2,199

Zenmuse X7 DL 50mm F2.8 LS ASPH Lens - $2,099

Zenmuse Lens Set

Zenmuse X7 DL/DL-S Lens Set - $7,399

DJI Care Refresh

DJI Care Refresh Zenmuse X7 - $789 *Activate within 48 hours