the dreaded angular camera

Craig Carter · Jul 22, 2017

Team,

just sent my drone away for repair for a gimbal overload issue - and I just want to say the repair process was pretty good. (in Australia - fixed in Melbourne)

However , on the drone return the camera does not point straight ahead - a bit off to the right and quite noticeable.

any easy fixes for this annoyance..

I will point out that the drone needs a firmware update , apparently , which according to the invoice was part of the repair process (which I will be discussing). Might be a new one in the last 3 weeks though ?

anyway - the camera angle - fixes for this?

thanks in advance

Pharm · Jul 23, 2017

Did you do a gimbal calibration yet?

Craig Carter · Jul 23, 2017

Calibrated it ....position did not change
Id be interestef to know from others ....when the drone is powered down does the gimbal arm stay xentral or does the weight of yhe camera move it to yhe left or right.
It is like the mechanism within the drone is slightly off direction.

iflyp3s · Jul 23, 2017

When powered down they all obviously move towards one side because it's not resisting the gravity of the mechanism.

In terms of when it's powered on, have you tried a manual roll adjustment? I can post directions to the setting if you like.

iflyp3s · Jul 23, 2017

Also, could you share a pic/video of the gimbal?

Richard Walker · Jul 23, 2017

If you do a google search for "phantom 4 pro camera pointing left". You find instructions for correcting this for both left and right pointing cameras. Involves manually turning camera to right or left and running a gimbal calibration with the camera pointing up (aircraft standing on tail end). You will find instructions from a DJI moderator that worked for me as a result of the google search.

Neon Euc · Jul 23, 2017

Also I heard that doing the IMU calibration helps a lot too so might be worth doing that. Helped me a lot on my gimble problem

Craig Carter · Jul 23, 2017

Richard Walker said:
If you do a google search for "phantom 4 pro camera pointing left". You find instructions for correcting this for both left and right pointing cameras. Involves manually turning camera to right or left and running a gimbal calibration with the camera pointing up (aircraft standing on tail end). You will find instructions from a DJI moderator that worked for me as a result of the google search.

found it and this seems to have worked. certainly a way of getting past it. The camera did make an additional movement during this which it doesn't seem to do normally.

if I had to do it before each flight that might get pesky - see how we go.

a lot of people have been asking for an adjust feature - like the camera roll. I think it wise and would certainly help DJI out

iflyp3s · Jul 24, 2017

Craig Carter said:
found it and this seems to have worked. certainly a way of getting past it. The camera did make an additional movement during this which it doesn't seem to do normally.

if I had to do it before each flight that might get pesky - see how we go.

a lot of people have been asking for an adjust feature - like the camera roll. I think it wise and would certainly help DJI out

You can control camera roll. They're in the gimbal settings.

Works well for fine tuning as well. [emoji3]

Kman · Jul 25, 2017

If the camera is pointing left or right when powered up, turn off the drone, and manually push the gimbal arm in the opposite direction until it stops, then slightly push more. Power up the drone and see if the camera is pointing straight ahead. You may need to do this a few times to get it right.

The black rubber grommet shifts in shipping sometimes, thus the camera isn't pointing forward.

Goof · Jul 25, 2017

Kman said:
If the camera is pointing left or right when powered up, turn off the drone, and manually push the gimbal arm in the opposite direction until it stops, then slightly push more. Power up the drone and see if the camera is pointing straight ahead. You may need to do this a few times to get it right.

The black rubber grommet shifts in shipping sometimes, thus the camera isn't pointing forward.

Do this with very little pressure.... There are only two small screws holding the mechanical stop to the top of the yaw motor, which are easy to damage doing this...

Best to gently run a screwdriver around the inside of the black dust cover first, if you suspect it's binding up...

Kman · Jul 25, 2017

Goof said:
Do this with very little pressure.... There are only two small screws holding the mechanical stop to the top of the yaw motor, which are easy to damage doing this...

Best to gently run a screwdriver around the inside of the black dust cover first, if you suspect it's binding up...

Definitely do not take a screwdriver to the rubber grommet. The method I mentioned was first described by DJI support on the DJI forums.

Goof · Jul 25, 2017

Kman said:
Definitely do not take a screwdriver to the rubber grommet. The method I mentioned was first described by DJI support on the DJI forums.

It takes a literal touch with a small screwdriver to poke that cover out flat again. Unless you go stabbing deep inside the casing, you're not going to hit anything delicate...

If you push against the mechanical stop and the stainless steel beam falls off, the ribbon cable is no longer held in place at the top. If it then pulls the cable out of the sensor on top of the yaw motor, you're going to have gimbal errors...