DJI SkyPixel Contest Returns With $200,000 in Prizes and Oscar-Winning Judge Wally Pfister

DJI and SkyPixel are launching their 11th annual Photo & Video Contest today, bringing Oscar-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister to the judging panel for the first time.

The man who shot The Dark Knight and won an Academy Award for Inception will now evaluate drone footage alongside other industry heavyweights. That’s a remarkable validation of how far aerial cinematography has come.

Over $200,000 in Prizes

This year’s contest offers the largest prize pool in SkyPixel history, with more than $200,000 USD spread across 53 awards.

The photography grand prize winner takes home a Hasselblad X2D II 100C Combo worth over $15,000. This flagship medium format camera just launched in September with a 100-megapixel sensor and true end-to-end HDR capture.

Aerial video’s top prize combines a DJI Inspire 3 with the new Mavic 4 Pro, a package valued at more than $22,000. The handheld video winner receives a DJI Ronin 4D-8K cinema camera combo worth over $18,000.

Additional prizes include the DJI Mavic 4 Pro, DJI Avata 2, DJI RS 4 Pro, DJI Air 3S, and the Osmo Pocket 3, plus cash prizes and DJI credits for all entrants.

Hollywood Comes to Drone Cinematography

Wally Pfister’s addition to the judging panel marks a significant moment for the drone industry.

Pfister earned four Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, winning for Inception in 2011. His work on Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy helped define modern blockbuster cinematography, and he pioneered the use of IMAX cameras for narrative filmmaking.

“The battle that we have to fight as cinematographers is to not let anybody treat us like we are consumers,” Pfister has said about maintaining high standards in visual storytelling.

Other video judges include Ryan Hosking, Director of Photography on Yellowstone, and Zeng Jian, whose work on Blind Massage earned the Silver Bear for Best Cinematography at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Photography submissions will be evaluated by Daniel Kordan, a renowned landscape photographer, and Jiang Ping, formerly chief photographer for National Geographic China.

Contest Categories and Requirements

The competition recognizes talent in two main tracks: Photography and Videography.

Aerial Photography entries must be captured with eligible DJI drones including the Inspire, Mavic, Air, Mini, Phantom series, DJI Neo, or DJI Flip. Each image requires a minimum of 3MB file size at 300dpi resolution.

Aerial Videography accepts footage from DJI drones including FPV models like the Avata series. Videos cannot exceed five minutes, must include at least 30 seconds of drone footage, and aerial content must comprise over 50% of the submission.

Handheld Videography expands the competition beyond aerial work. Eligible equipment includes Ronin gimbals, Ronin cinema cameras, Osmo Action cameras, Osmo Pocket devices, and Osmo Mobile series. Handheld footage must account for at least 50% of submissions.

For the first time, the handheld category now includes panoramic perspectives using 360-degree cameras, catering to creators working with the Osmo 360 and similar devices.

Weekly Awards Are New This Year

SkyPixel introduces weekly awards for the first time in the contest’s 11-year history.

Participants can now win recognition throughout the submission period rather than waiting for final judging. This change encourages ongoing engagement and gives more creators a chance at recognition.

Submissions open November 27, 2025 at 12:00 noon China time and close March 10, 2026 at 23:59 (UTC+8). Winners will be announced April 27, 2026.

How to Enter

Participants can submit through the official SkyPixel contest website or via DJI’s social media channels on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and X.

All grand prize winners receive a SkyPixel trophy and a SkyPixel Creator Contract in addition to their equipment prizes. Participants must reside in a country or region where the official DJI online store operates.

All entrants receive DJI credits redeemable at store.dji.com, making participation worthwhile even without a top placement.

DroneXL’s Take

The SkyPixel contest has become an annual benchmark for aerial creativity, and this 11th edition arrives at a fascinating inflection point for the industry.

When we covered the 10th annual contest winners in March, nearly 140,000 submissions competed for $170,000 in prizes. The winning entry, Bashir Abu Shakra’s “The War – My Transformation Journey,” demonstrated how drone cinematography has evolved from novelty to legitimate artistic medium.

This year’s prize pool jumping to $200,000 continues a steady climb from $143,000 at the 8th annual contest in 2022 to $170,000 at the 10th anniversary edition. The investment signals DJI’s continued commitment to the creative community even as regulatory pressures mount.

And those pressures are significant. As we’ve been reporting extensively, DJI faces an automatic FCC ban on December 23, 2025 if no federal agency completes a mandated security review. No audit has begun despite DJI requesting the review nine months ago.

The timing creates a strange juxtaposition. DJI is offering Mavic 4 Pro units as prizes while that same drone faces potential import restrictions in the U.S. within weeks. American winners might receive equipment that becomes harder to purchase domestically.

Yet the contest itself represents exactly why drone technology matters beyond regulatory battles. SkyPixel’s 55 million registered users and 500,000+ historical submissions from 140+ countries demonstrate a global creative community that transcends any single market’s political dynamics.

Having Wally Pfister evaluate drone footage alongside his Hollywood peers legitimizes aerial cinematography in ways that matter for the industry’s long-term acceptance. When an Oscar winner treats drone work as worthy of serious artistic evaluation, it becomes harder to dismiss the technology as mere toys or security threats.

For American drone pilots watching the December deadline approach, entering this contest might be one of the most constructive responses available. Create compelling work, demonstrate the technology’s value, and let the results speak for themselves.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.