Another Mini 3 pro focus post

[bryandtaylor]

I realize this topic has been brought up before, but I have read through all of the threads I can find and none of them have an answer that works for me. I want to cue this up one more time with as much detail as I can remember and see if it sparks any new ideas.

I have the Mini 3 Pro and RC controller, Aircraft and remote are on latest firmware and DJI Fly is latest version. I have a highly-rated, fast SD card installed in the drone.

Auto focus never works, Whether you half-press the shutter button or tap the screen, the the camera attempts to focus, and sometimes you can see that it passes the focus point, but it never stops in the focused position. I have tried this multiple times while in flight and on the bench.

Manual focus "occasionally" works. By that I mean that on occasion, I have been able to find a position with manual focus that is truly in focus. Peaking will light up properly, etc. But even when it works, the "slider" has almost always been near the near-focus position, which results in the distant objects being in focus (to be clear, exactly backwards from what it should be). When I have been able to get this to work, It seems that the sequence that does it is to have the drone camera pointing at an object about 20-30 feet from the craft when it is powered up. Then let it attempt to auto-focus on that object. Then set it to manual focus and adjust until objects that distance and beyond are in focus.

This afternoon I spent about thirty minutes trying to get this method to work, along with anything else I could think of, but I never did get it to focus on anything that wasn't within three feet of the craft, manually or automatically.

I'm not sure what to try next. I hope someone here has an idea. Thanks for reading this long post.

 

[bryandtaylor]

Wow. I had really hoped that someone had some insight into this. I really don't want to have to replace my drone, but I have to have a decent camera.

 

[esmp2018]

Same. As a matter of fact I am here (new member) for this very same thing-to find possible solution to this not in focus issue.
Manual focus works randomly as well. Such a hassle trying to contact DJI since it has been more than a year bought it from BestBuy, but probably I will have to do that.

 

[georgi UK]

Hi, is this issue related to a particular flight mode? ie, cine, normal, sport.

 

[bryandtaylor]

Hi, is this issue related to a particular flight mode? ie, cine, normal, sport.

I don't see any correlation between flight modes and focus. As I mentioned in my original post, it does it whether it is flying or not. It appears to be confined strictly to the camera itself. I have run out of ideas at this point.

 

[georgi UK]

I was wondering if there was something corrupting the files, internally?…

Also have you swapped the SD cards over to eliminate that side of things?!,,

 

[georgi UK]

Added,,, have a look here too. =.

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[bryandtaylor]

I was wondering if there was something corrupting the files, internally?…

Also have you swapped the SD cards over to eliminate that side of things?!,,

I have the DJI RC controller, and you can see the out-of-focus condition in the live view. Just to confirm, it also is in the recorded video.

I have a recommended SD card in the drone, but I've tried it with a lower-rated card and saw no difference between the two.

 

[bryandtaylor]

Added,,, have a look here too. =.

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Yeah, I've already seen this video, along with any others I could find. So far, none have provided an answer for me that works.

 

[georgi UK]

Can you say how you extract this footage?,,, this world is getting too tecky for its own good!,,,

 

[bryandtaylor]

Can you say how you extract this footage?,,, this world is getting too tecky for its own good!,,,

I'm not sure I know what you are asking, but I'll try to explain. When you are looking at the screen of the controller while it and the drone are powered on and connected, whether you are actually flying or not, you see the camera view on the screen. This is the live view. If you hit the record button the drone will save the video feed to the SD card. I'm not sure what you mean by "extract this footage".

 

[georgi UK]

This recording is then saved to the SD card, which is a file that we can view later,,, my question was, how are you extracting this file?,,,,

 

[bryandtaylor]

This recording is then saved to the SD card, which is a file that we can view later,,, my question was, how are you extracting this file?,,,,

I remove the sd card from the drone, insert it into a reader and copy it to my PC.

 

[georgi UK]

Ok so, can you try a rapid transfer using Bluetooth while USB C cable connected to eliminate the other moving parts?,,,.

 

[bryandtaylor]

Ok so, can you try a rapid transfer using Bluetooth while USB C cable connected to eliminate the other moving parts?,,,.

No, sorry, I cannot. I am not using my phone for any of this. And I can assure you that this is not a file corruption issue, it is the camera. I don't know how to better explain it other than you can actively try to focus while looking at the screen and see the results. I'm not referring to a recording of the DJI Fly screen when I refer to the recording, I am referring to the actual drone footage. When I refer to the live view, I mean the view you see on the DJI RC screen while operating the drone, not a recording of that screen. I hope I am being clear. Unless I am missing something in what you are saying, I know of no other "moving parts" to eliminate.

 

[georgi UK]

Sorry if not clear!,,, I was suggesting a method with the SD card in situ, to eliminate anything upstream affecting things,,,, hang in there!,,,,

 

[bryandtaylor]

Sorry if not clear!,,, I was suggesting a method with the SD card in situ, to eliminate anything upstream affecting things,,,, hang in there!,,,,

I appreciate the effort, sincerely. I hope I haven't come across as arrogant. Perhaps it would help me if you could explain what you think might be happening. Since I can see the focus issues I mentioned in my original post while looking at the live feed of the RC, and I can confirm that the recorded footage matches what I saw live, I'm not following how the recording transfer method matters. I did read about the SD card speed being a possible issue, and even though I'm not sure how that would affect the live view I upgraded the SD card to be sure.
Although I have not directly transferred files from the drone via bluetooth I am aware that this is an option. I'm not opposed to installing DJI Fly on my phone and doing this If it will help, but I don't as yet see the connection between live focus issues and file transfer problems. Than you for your patience and help.

 

[georgi UK]

These issues are highly frustrating to say the least! So no worries,,,

What you see on the RC screen and what the camera quality records are 2 different things,,, if you simultaneously record the screen view in the settings menu, and the camera view, the SD will create 2 files for this, one for each,,,

But only the camera file will be 4K, just trying to be clear,,,

 

[bryandtaylor]

Thanks again for your input. I am familiar with the two recordings and the resolution difference, but it is good to clarify.

Let me try another way to explain this. When in manual focus mode, one of the camera options you have is to turn on "peaking", with choice of intensity. this is to let you know what parts of the image are in focus by highlighting the sharp edges. I have experienced times when I could not find ANY point in manual mode where ANY of the image would show peaking/be in focus. I have also had times where Items at a distance would show peaking/be in focus even thought I had set manual focus to near, and would go out of focus when I would move the focus setting to further away. In other words, exactly opposite what it should be. (This is all observed while watching the live screen as it happens, but can be recorded in the screen view and observed in that recording, and the focus condition will match in the recorded 4k footage from the aircraft.)

If I switch to autofocus mode, even if the image was in focus manually prior to switching, it can be observed to go out of focus. Tapping the screen on an object, whether near or far, will result in the image visually changing in focus, sometimes evening "passing by" the focused position, but will "settle" in an unfocused condition. This is observed watching the screen live, and also in the recording if you record the controller screen, and in the 4k footage from the aircraft SD.

The only way I have been able to get a focused image has been to use manual focus, and even that has stopped working most of the time.

I hope that helps clarify what I'm saying. I have become convinced that there is a mechanical/electrical problem with the camera itself. I'm still open to any suggestions.

 

[georgi UK]

I’m sure you tried literally everything, can you send the drone in for DJI service / diagnostics? And keep us posted, please.