DJI Reveals Zenmuse X7

DJI has introduced the Zenmuse X7, the world’s first Super 35 digital film camera optimised for professional aerial cinematography.

Designed to work seamlessly with the DJI Inspire 2 drone, the Zenmuse X7 delivers superior image quality, interchangeable lenses, and a new DJI Cinema Colour System for post-production to give film and video professionals more creative freedom. To allow for advanced setting adjustment and fine-tuning,the 16mm lens is equipped with a built-in ND 4 filter, and the 24 mm, 35 mm, and 50 mm lenses feature a mechanical shutter.

“The Zenmuse X7 offers everything professional content creators need to make their aerial footage as stunning and vivid as they demand,“ said Paul Pan, Senior Product Manager at DJI. “From the large Super 35 sensor to a new mount, lenses, and colour system, the Zenmuse X7 gives cinematographers and professional photographers an unmatched set of tools that work seamlessly with the DJI Inspire 2 drone to capture high-quality footage that is easily integrated into projects shot with industry-leading handheld cameras.“

The Zenmuse X7 is equipped with a Super 35 video sensor featuring 14 stops of dynamic range for more detail in low-light conditions. Its low-noise image capture enhances grading flexibility by preserving details in both highlight and dark areas while enabling a shallow cinematic depth of field.

To meet the rigorous requirements of filmmakers and television production professionals, the Zenmuse X7 captures the highest image resolutions ever for an integrated drone camera. It is capable of shooting 6K CinemaDNG RAW or 5.2K Apple ProRes at up to 30 FPS, as well as 3.9K CinemaDNG RAW or 2.7K ProRes at up to 59.94 FPS to integrate seamlessly into industry-standard post-production workflows.

The Zenmuse X7 uses a dedicated aerial mount system, the DL-Mount, featuring an ultra-short flange focal distance to carry prime lenses optimally. Available with focal lengths of 16 mm, 24 mm, 35 mm, and 50 mm, each lens has a maximum aperture of F/2.8 and is crafted out of carbon fiber, making them durable and lightweight for high-performance aerial cinematography with the Inspire 2. DJI has also introduced a new DJI Cinema Colour System (DCCS) making the Zenmuse X7 an asset on every film set for movies, TV series, commercials, documentaries, and more.

“For the Zenmuse X7, we took our colour science to the next level,“ continued Pan. “We consulted the world leading authorities in colour science, Technicolor. With their guidance, our engineers developed an optimised curve for the X7 allowing more latitude without sacrificing image quality.“

DCCS features a new D-Log Curve and D-Gamut RGB colour space to give more flexibility and colour options during the post-production process. The D-Log further extends the dynamic range, while the D-Gamut RGB colour space preserves more colour information to support the most demanding filmmaking scenarios, providing accurate colour for quick and easy post-processing.

The new EI Mode mimics the way a film camera works to help cinematographers capture as much information as possible in every scene while balancing the dynamic range and noise with different log curves for more flexibility during the post-production process.