Wavy "Jello" Vertical Lines

[Southern Phantom]

I realize that there are a couple of threads about this already. But I'd like to reintroduce the topic to see if anyone has newer answers, and to keep the discussion current.

My Mavic is a couple of months old. I also have a Phantom 3 Pro that's been fine for well-over a year.

On the Mavic, I've calibrated the IMU and gimbal, and checked the gimbal mounts, several times.

If you Google the problem, you'll find quite a few related entries from various sources.

Please look at the attached photo that shows the wavy vertical lines. It's a cropped detail of a larger picture, so you can see the issue clearly. It happens intermittently and unpredictably.

Have some of you talented, intuitive folks found a quick fix for this?

Or bottom line -- Is this a severe problem that is endemic to the product? Will a firmware update be able to fix it? Or should we be returning our Mavics for repairs or refunds?

Thanks!!

 

[ElGuapo]

What firmware are you running on the aircraft?.

 

[Southern Phantom]

What firmware are you running on the aircraft?.

I'm running the latest firmware.

And, I just found this post by AAPhoto. I have already done these things intuitively. But I will do them again in this order, and will report back.

-----

AAPhoto wrote this in another thread:

It's FIXED!! It appears my issue has been resolved without having to send the drone in for repairs.
I had contacted DJI on Sunday and heard back yesterday. They recommended the following and I've now flown two 15 minute flights in similar temps, winds, and bright sun with no wavy lines / jello. Here's what they had me do.
1. Upgrade to latest firmware (mine was already up to date).
2. IMU calibration
3. Gimbal calibration
4. Camera reset (within the camera settings, click on cog wheel, or wrench depending on version, and tap "camera reset").
That's it! That last one erases all your camera configs so, i flew once with the default settings and again after i changed to my preferred resolution, color profile, etc. I ran into a small issue where it wouldn't let me select 4k video... it was no longer an option, but a reboot brought it back.
Hopefully this works for others as well. I'll keep flying and will update everyone if anything changes.

 

[Zappel]

I have the same issue on my Mavic. Out of the box I had the jello effect, I tried every fix that you can google or watch on you tube, but it persisted. I contacted support via online chat, I was 144 in line,as you can imagine it was around 90 min wait. The only suggestion I got was to reset MP to default values. This did not work and now 2 days later I am waiting for a label to ship it back.
Not the greatest service so far. The Mavic flies great, I love it, I wish their QC was better, clearly they are sending out a lot of defective units in their rush to fill orders.

 

[ElGuapo]

I am not having that problem with mine. Out of the box my MP came with fw ver v01.02.0900.

Zappel not sure about this, I guess you have nothing to lose by trying to downgrade to fw ver v01.02.0900 to see if it solves the issue. Since you are still waiting for a label to ship it back I think it is worth a shot. If this works you do not have to send it in, who knows what DJI is going to ship back, a refurbished unit or a brand new.

Every time I fly I get the FW upgrade message, I keep ignoring this message. She flies like a charm, knock on wood I do not have any issues.

 

[Southern Phantom]

OK. So, a brand-new Mavik firmware version appeared today (haven't used the unit in about a week).

One of its notes is that it improves gimbal performance in cold weather. So, being a fearless early adopter, I upgraded it. Then, I recalibrated and reset EVERYTHING.

We'll see what happens. I'll report back here.

One more thing -- while resetting the camera settings, I noted a curious toggle: "Lock Gimbal When Capture". Its default is "yes". For now, I'll leave it as is. But I'll turn it off after I've tested everything else, to see if that affects the quality of the pictures.

Stay tuned to this station! Happy New Year!

 

[ElGuapo]

OK. So, a brand-new Mavik firmware version appeared today (haven't used the unit in about a week).

One of its notes is that it improves gimbal performance in cold weather. So, being a fearless early adopter, I upgraded it. Then, I recalibrated and reset EVERYTHING.

We'll see what happens. I'll report back here.
Stay tuned to this station! Happy New Year!

Kudos - you are a brave man.
Let us know how it goes, check the auto take off feature for us please, while you're at it.

 

[dmio]

Hey all, just wanted to post an update from my experience in this thread. I had some pretty bad jello my second flight (didn't see it the first test flight) which was today. I brought it in, did the firmware upgrade, IMU, gimbal and then reset the camera settings. Took it back out this afternoon and was fully gone. Now it is colder today than it was the first flight (~30F) which is why I was interested in the "cold weather gimbal" fixes. Not sure exactly what it was but I would highly suggest running through those steps when you get your Mavic new. Definitely can't hurt! I'll probably fly a bit more this week in varying temps to make sure the jello is really gone before I take it on a trip this spring.

Edit:
And just for reference this was what I had seen from the controller aspect (the video on the SD card was the same, but this was just easier to edit and upload quick from my phone).

 

[Southern Phantom]

To update -- as I mentioned above, I updated the firmware, and calibrated the IMU and gimbal.

And today, for giggles, I decided to try leaving the plastic bubble-dome in place over the camera, after removing the gimbal clamp.

It was fairly cold and extremely windy. But there was jello-wavy distortion. And no reflection or distortion caused by the dome.

So, as I continue to experiment, I'll report back here. At least today, I'm feeling a little better.

Everything else about the Mavic continues to be superb!

 

[Andart]

I read on one forum that using the dji assistant app on a PC. He connected mavic to PC and undid firmware back to start the reinstalled latest firmware and it worked . This was after just updating to new firmware which didn't work

Sent from my SM-G935F using MavicPilots mobile app

 

[Filmscum]

There are LOTS of reports of this issue on multiple forums. Some are even getting it when sitting on the ground/bench. Several have had positive results in swapping out the props. The ones who have the problem when not flying are mostly attributing it to gimbal oscillation and sending it back for repair. Some only see it in a certain temperature range, mostly between 30°F and 50°F. I myself have only seen it's ugly head once, on a bright sunny day after a fresh snow and in the single digits (around 8°F). Since then I have gotten a set of Taco ND filters and haven't seen it since. It was -18°F the other morning and I flew 6 batts and never saw it. Yes using ND filters are like putting a band aid on the problem but hey, my video is solid. I'm still on the FW it came with. I have always waited to update until I needed to living by the 'if it ain't broke' rule!

App 3.1.0
Aircraft 01.02.0900
RC 01.02.0900

I would say try a new set of props and see if that helps. And get a set of ND's. I have always flown with filters, from the days of the original Phantom 1 with GoPros, P3P and Inspire 1. It's just always been what I've needed to get jello free footage.

 

[Southern Phantom]

Second flight using the plastic bubble again today. No trace of wavy vertical lines in my photos! So far, so good!

So, I'm wondering, on cold windy days, if the gimbal and camera assemblies are stressed more than expected by the designers and the firmware. And the bubble provides some protection.

 

[shredzoo7]

I just did a test flight in 0 degrees Celsius with mild wind. I have MAJOR jello effect. I'm on the latest app and firmware update. I've had my Mavic since November and didn't have this issue when I first got it. My video was perfect out of the box. I'll do a number of tests to see if I can fix the issue. As a side note, when I first got my Mavic I flew it in even colder weather (-8 Celsius), with zero gimbal issues.

 

[ElGuapo]

I'm on the latest app and firmware update. I've had my Mavic since November and didn't have this issue when I first got it.

* This is the reason I am so hesitant to update mine, every time I fly I get the message to update, but I just keep ignoring it.
* I am running the firmware my Mavic came with, v01.02.0900.

My video was perfect out of the box. I'll do a number of tests to see if I can fix the issue. As a side note, when I first got my Mavic I flew it in even colder weather (-8 Celsius), with zero gimbal issues.

Even though I am 2 firmware behind I am so weary of updating. Out of the box my video and pictures are just perfect.

You may want to downgrade the firmware to the one your Mavic came with. I know the last 2 updates are buggy.

 

[shredzoo7]

I just did a test flight in 0 degrees Celsius with mild wind. I have MAJOR jello effect. I'm on the latest app and firmware update. I've had my Mavic since November and didn't have this issue when I first got it. My video was perfect out of the box. I'll do a number of tests to see if I can fix the issue. As a side note, when I first got my Mavic I flew it in even colder weather (-8 Celsius), with zero gimbal issues.

Ok so the only thing I did was the IMU calibration, gimbal calibration, and the camera setting reset. After the camera reset, I re-inserted all of my custom camera settings exactly how it was before. I then changed the battery to a new one. Flew the exact same path and all Jello effect is completely gone. Video is crystal clear with zero jello now. It's even a tiny bit windier then it was 30 minutes ago.

Hopefully I don't have to do this every single time I fly, that would be annoying.

 

[jerryflah]

I'm running the latest firmware.

And, I just found this post by AAPhoto. I have already done these things intuitively. But I will do them again in this order, and will report back.

-----

AAPhoto wrote this in another thread:

It's FIXED!! It appears my issue has been resolved without having to send the drone in for repairs.
I had contacted DJI on Sunday and heard back yesterday. They recommended the following and I've now flown two 15 minute flights in similar temps, winds, and bright sun with no wavy lines / jello. Here's what they had me do.
1. Upgrade to latest firmware (mine was already up to date).
2. IMU calibration
3. Gimbal calibration
4. Camera reset (within the camera settings, click on cog wheel, or wrench depending on version, and tap "camera reset").
That's it! That last one erases all your camera configs so, i flew once with the default settings and again after i changed to my preferred resolution, color profile, etc. I ran into a small issue where it wouldn't let me select 4k video... it was no longer an option, but a reboot brought it back.
Hopefully this works for others as well. I'll keep flying and will update everyone if anything changes.

Great news and good information. Thanks