P4 Lens Calibration

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Hey P4Pro Guys, I need you help.

I can't find any good info on lens calibration for the P4. Nothing in my manual, not much online.

Can you walk me through a step by step process?

Here are some questions

Is calibration only necessary for AF mode? No need to calibrate in MF mode right?

Once you calibrate, how do you save the settings?

I assume calibration should be done at a wide open f 2.8 aperture.

If you use an ND, recalibrate with filter on?

How often do you calibrate?

Is the lens calibration good for both AF still and video modes?

Here is wishing you extraordinary detail in your shots and videos.

Paul
 
One last question. If I can get my auto focus to work reliably, I don't think I would ever need MF. Do you ever use MR and what for?

Finally, if I set AF and then shoot several different scenes and views, will my focus remain where I set it or will it refocus every time?

If so, what area of the viewfinder does the AF focus on?

Is this the same for video?
 
One last question. If I can get my auto focus to work reliably, I don't think I would ever need MF. Do you ever use MR and what for?

Finally, if I set AF and then shoot several different scenes and views, will my focus remain where I set it or will it refocus every time?

If so, what area of the viewfinder does the AF focus on?

Is this the same for video?
Don't know about any P4P Lens calibrations. The viewfinder focuses on the area of the screen that you tap on. Turn on focus assist at 90% and your good. Just remember to tap the screen before each pass and auto focus should take over from there. Night time is a little harder to keep in focus. You have to keep tapping on something bright enough. Several clips I shot at night were out of focus as it seemed to focus all the way to up close. So it was out a bunch. But the first clips I had tapped on a bright building and they were fine.
 
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Underatand how to focus but i had heard from a few people on this forum about actually calibrating focus. I never found a setting like this
 
If there are no software in your camera, or in this case DJI Go app for micro adjustments, then you cannot calibrate the lens, if you experience blurry pics no matter how much you pull the focus wheel, especially at f/11, then your lens is misaligned and replacing the unit is the only solution, i already did this with one unit myself.

Pro tip: ALWAYS use manual focus at "infinity" for aerial imaging, cause "macro" is useless once you get a couple of feet up in the air, and always use f/5.6 as much as you can, cause from f/8 and up sharpness quality starts to get really poor, and thats another story "This camera can be stopped down all the way to f/11, yes, but its useless, so i would say smallest useful aperture on this one is f/8

Lens calibrations are for dslr only, cause in a dslr, the sensor is a separate sensor, not part of the image sensor. The lens is calibrated to match image sensor focus, but it’s not always perfect.
In a mirrorless, all focus sensors are on-sensor, so you’re always focusing exactly at the sensor plane.
 
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Don't know about any P4P Lens calibrations. The viewfinder focuses on the area of the screen that you tap on. Turn on focus assist at 90% and your good. Just remember to tap the screen before each pass and auto focus should take over from there. Night time is a little harder to keep in focus. You have to keep tapping on something bright enough. Several clips I shot at night were out of focus as it seemed to focus all the way to up close. So it was out a bunch. But the first clips I had tapped on a bright building and they were fine.[/QUO
One last question. If I can get my auto focus to work reliably, I don't think I would ever need MF. Do you ever use MR and what for?

Finally, if I set AF and then shoot several different scenes and views, will my focus remain where I set it or will it refocus every time?

If so, what area of the viewfinder does the AF focus on?

Is this the same for video?
Your shot is focused on the area that you tap on screen Paul. And it will stay on that area until you tap again. But anything over 96ft away or so should be in focus because your at infinity at that point. So unless something comes into your frame up closer than say 100ft your shot should be in focus. But as you get quite close to a subject I would prob tap again to make sure it's getting set again.
 
If you dont know how to answer the questions, dont waste bandwidth with BS. Where are the Pros?
Now is this type of reply really needed? We are all friendly hobbyists and very few really are pros.

If you don't like an answer just skip over it and go on about your day.
 
If there are no software in your camera, or in this case DJI Go app for micro adjustments, then you cannot calibrate the lens, if you experience blurry pics no matter how much you pull the focus wheel, especially at f/11, then your lens is misaligned and replacing the unit is the only solution, i already did this with one unit myself.

Pro tip: ALWAYS use manual focus at "infinity" for aerial imaging, cause "macro" is useless once you get a couple of feet up in the air, and always use f/5.6 as much as you can, cause from f/8 and up sharpness quality starts to get really poor, and thats another story "This camera can be stopped down all the way to f/11, yes, but its useless, so i would say smallest useful aperture on this one is f/8

Lens calibrations are for dslr only, cause in a dslr, the sensor is a separate sensor, not part of the image sensor. The lens is calibrated to match image sensor focus, but it’s not always perfect.
In a mirrorless, all focus sensors are on-sensor, so you’re always focusing exactly at the sensor plane.

I have the P4 Pro +
This lens and software does have lens calibration. I have calibrated and run tests, but I think the lens does not focus adequately at infinity. Its slightly off - hopefully it will clearup using a 5.6 aperture. It would be nice if the lens calibration and manual focus went beyond infinity so that you could tell without question that it is focused at the exact spot.
I ran some tests using your aperture suggestions - you are right on! I will use 5.6 as the target aperture.
Thanks for the suggestion.

I am impressed with the dynamic range of the 20mp sensor, and the lack of noise.

Wishing you Fabulous Flights.

Paul
 
Update: I went out to the DJI Store here in Chengdu, China and tested my drone's camera against another P4 Pro drone. Sharpness was exactly the same. Sharp across the frame except with a very slight falling off around the corners in the 3x2 format. Acutance was the same. My impression is that the sensor can capture more detail than the lens can deliver. A dose of Topaz Labs Detail 3 can overcome most of this. One thing I did see that I have no explanation for - with tests done at exactly the same settings, one drone had more dynamic range than the other. One also looked 1/3 to 1/2 stop brighter at the same aperture. I used the aperture priority setting.
I have concluded that there is a wide variance between one drone and another. If your a pro and you demand highest quality, I suggest you buy from a retailer who will allow you to test the optics before you buy.
 
You cannot calibrate the lens on the P4 Pro you can only focus it, these are two completely separate things.
Yeah I wasn't sure what Paul is actually talking about as far as calibrating the lens on his P4P plus. I have the reg P4P but there is no where to actually calibrate lens at all. I calibrate my own Canon DSLR's micro focus to each lens I own, but have never heard of these tiny lens and sensors on these drones being able to be micro calibrated at all! And I'm a pro photog for over 30 years. LOL.
 
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Well Guys, DjI calls it a calibration. Go to settings, settings wheel, scroll down to the bottom to calibrate again. You are setting the focus on infinity. I guess it's a focus calibration that is needed in AF mood.
 
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I have the P4 Pro +
This lens and software does have lens calibration. I have calibrated and run tests, but I think the lens does not focus adequately at infinity. Its slightly off - hopefully it will clearup using a 5.6 aperture. It would be nice if the lens calibration and manual focus went beyond infinity so that you could tell without question that it is focused at the exact spot.
I ran some tests using your aperture suggestions - you are right on! I will use 5.6 as the target aperture.
Thanks for the suggestion.

I am impressed with the dynamic range of the 20mp sensor, and the lack of noise.

Wishing you Fabulous Flights.

Paul
908e907412fa48571cd0f3bed45867d28b93210bd56c6e782b415b0b3f50bc66.jpg
 
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Yeah I wasn't sure what Paul is actually talking about as far as calibrating the lens on his P4P plus. I have the reg P4P but there is no where to actually calibrate lens at all. I calibrate my own Canon DSLR's micro focus to each lens I own, but have never heard of these tiny lens and sensors on these drones being able to be micro calibrated at all! And I'm a pro photog for over 30 years. LOL.
How do you calibrate your DSLR lens? I have the Nikon D7000 with 4 assorted lens.
 

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