DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

BUG: Mini 2 Gimbal Tilt Issues in Sport Mode

This is not just in sport mode. If you have windy conditions and are flying into the wind, you have the same problem in normal mode.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bonzo
This was a deal breaker for me. Had the MM2 on my list until I found out this issue. Hopefully RJI can fix it but it sounds like a hardware issue and can't be fixed until MM3 is out.
 
This with the hardware spec mismatch between max AC tilt & gimbal tilt have been a fact at least since Mavic Air 1 ... or at least the Mavic Air 1 was more prone to have these gimbal jumps than other models.

As already pointed out ... this will not be fixed with a SW update. The only thing that can be achieved through software is how the gimbal shall behave once the AC tilt gets less & again give room to the gimbal ... should it stay low as pushed down when the AC tilted or should it nudge up again & return to the original position. So far DJI have chosen to minimize the number of jumps, once the gimbal have room to move again it stays in the lower position & needs to be raised manually ... think that is the best strategy when the HW is like it is.

So no ... this isn't a bug in the sense of a SW-"bug".
 
Has anyone had issues with the gimbal in sport mode?

It regularly tilts downwards itself but also more frustrating is when banking left or right the gimbal doesn't level with the horizon and instead tilts on an angle left or right depending which way I'm banking.

It's not a constant issue but regularly happens in mid flight. I didn't have this issue with my Mini 1. It only appears to occur in sport mode.

Short clip to illustrate it:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

(you can see it also tilts downwards itself, so I stop to manually try move it up/down)

Thank you for sharing the video. I have experienced the same issue in sport mode. I calibrated the gimbal but I have not flown yet. I’ll report back when I get a chance to fly it.
 
Thank you for sharing the video. I have experienced the same issue in sport mode. I calibrated the gimbal but I have not flown yet. I’ll report back when I get a chance to fly it.
Did you read the responses to the thread? Calibrating won't fix the issue. This behaviour of the gimbal is by design and it will always do this given the right conditions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: slup
Did you read the responses to the thread? Calibrating won't fix the issue. This behaviour of the gimbal is by design and it will always do this given the right conditions.
Please don't take offense, I'm being a nit-picky engineer ?

This wasn't by design (i.e. I highly doubt the design spec literally called for this behavior to be deliberately engineered into the MM2 as a feature), but rather it is a performance limitation that exceeds the capabilities of the design.

In fact, no doubt at all this was a known limitation with Sport Mode, having experience with it already in the MA1 and others. Sport Mode is a compromise, and shouldn't be considered for serious video capture situations, but rather for "sport" play, and getting to areas of interest quickly to THEN switch to Normal mode for shooting video.

But then, we're talking the MM2 here, folks! If you're shooting a commercial chasing a dirtbike with the MM2, you get what you pay for, you (Mod Removed Inappropriate Remark)

Get a Pro 2 for that sort of stuff. It doesn't have this problem.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"offense" taken by another nit picky engineer ?

I'd say the gimbal was very much designed to behave this way, particularly the pitching down of the gimbal in forward flight. DJI wouldn't have actively sought to incorporate a spec mismatch to the components of their drones but part of the design process is to achieve an acceptable balance of compromises to best meet the specifications. The cost and weight specs would have had more influence than the performance specs.

Nit-picking aside, I think we're very much in agreement.? For the mini1 and 2 performance was a lower priority than on the more expensive larger Mavics, where cost and weight were lower priorities.
 
Did you read the responses to the thread? Calibrating won't fix the issue. This behaviour of the gimbal is by design and it will always do this given the right conditions.
Well that’s a bummer. Not that it matters in recording videos, but knowing this issue is there is annoying.
 
Billy Kyle just put out a video explaining what he thinks is the issue that makes a lot of sense.
Part of the design constraints was keeping the nose cowl out of the camera's view, and the cowl there to protect the gimbal in crashes. The smaller models have less clearance between cowl and camera, the M1 having the most clearance but also least protection for the gimbal.
 
Today I was taking a series of photos at -90º to take a manual photogrammetry set and send it to DroneDeploy.
The wind was not strong at all and I was flying in Nomal mode at a regular speed around 20km/h taking a photo without stopping until I reversed the direction. I started to notice that the gimbal would go up a few degrees on each stop.
 
Has anyone had issues with the gimbal in sport mode?

It regularly tilts downwards itself but also more frustrating is when banking left or right the gimbal doesn't level with the horizon and instead tilts on an angle left or right depending which way I'm banking.

It's not a constant issue but regularly happens in mid flight. I didn't have this issue with my Mini 1. It only appears to occur in sport mode.

Short clip to illustrate it:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

(you can see it also tilts downwards itself, so I stop to manually try move it up/down)
It’s a design issue ...The gimble is exposed to a ton of air especially in the sport mode. Sport mode imo isn’t for filming as much as for travel from a to b ..The drone films better in the other two modes
 
Has anyone had issues with the gimbal in sport mode?

It regularly tilts downwards itself but also more frustrating is when banking left or right the gimbal doesn't level with the horizon and instead tilts on an angle left or right depending which way I'm banking.

It's not a constant issue but regularly happens in mid flight. I didn't have this issue with my Mini 1. It only appears to occur in sport mode.

Short clip to illustrate it:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

(you can see it also tilts downwards itself, so I stop to manually try move it up/down)
Has anyone had issues with the gimbal in sport mode?

It regularly tilts downwards itself but also more frustrating is when banking left or right the gimbal doesn't level with the horizon and instead tilts on an angle left or right depending which way I'm banking.

It's not a constant issue but regularly happens in mid flight. I didn't have this issue with my Mini 1. It only appears to occur in sport mode.

Short clip to illustrate it:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

(you can see it also tilts downwards itself, so I stop to manually try move it up/down)
Has anyone had issues with the gimbal in sport mode?

It regularly tilts downwards itself but also more frustrating is when banking left or right the gimbal doesn't level with the horizon and instead tilts on an angle left or right depending which way I'm banking.

It's not a constant issue but regularly happens in mid flight. I didn't have this issue with my Mini 1. It only appears to occur in sport mode.

Short clip to illustrate it:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

(you can see it also tilts downwards itself, so I stop to manually try move it up/down)
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
It’s a design issue ...The gimble is exposed to a ton of air especially in the sport mode. Sport mode imo isn’t for filming as much as for travel from a to b ..The drone films better in the other two modes
It's not the force of the air on the gimbal that causes this, rather the body of the drone can tilt so much (+/-40deg), particularly in sports mode, that the gimbal can't fully compensate for since it can only do +/- 35deg in roll and +35deg/-20deg in pitch (depending on how far up/down you have it pointed).
 
By the way. To address gimbal issue in normal mode DJI seems reducing max speed when camera set strict down. It could leads that in strong wind drone starts drift. Without wind warning. Or you unable flight as fast as you expect. So use camera down view with caution. And be aware why drone could slow down
In sport mode speed not limited. Camera just jump up from down position as you increase speed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: scro
It's not the force of the air on the gimbal that causes this, rather the body of the drone can tilt so much (+/-40deg), particularly in sports mode, that the gimbal can't fully compensate for since it can only do +/- 35deg in roll and +35deg/-20deg in pitch (depending on how far up/down you have it pointed).
Actually yes it is the force of the wind I’ve had it happen many times ...But you’re welcome to your own opinion
 
Has anyone had issues with the gimbal in sport mode?

It regularly tilts downwards itself but also more frustrating is when banking left or right the gimbal doesn't level with the horizon and instead tilts on an angle left or right depending which way I'm banking.

It's not a constant issue but regularly happens in mid flight. I didn't have this issue with my Mini 1. It only appears to occur in sport mode.

Short clip to illustrate it:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

(you can see it also tilts downwards itself, so I stop to manually try move it up/down)
I dont think its a bug, read the manual. There is a gimbal setting.
 
Actually yes it is the force of the wind I’ve had it happen many times ...But you’re welcome to your own opinion
I'm curious to know how you come to that conclusion. Really, I am! I've had the camera swing off to the side whilst recording during flight, and from just watching the video one could jump to the conclusion that the wind blew the gimbal off for a bit. However, analysis of the flight log shows that it was actually the entire aircraft that rotated to the side momentarily. I've had this happen several times now.

I've flown in winds that are right at the limit, and just beyond, the capability of the mini and never had the gimbal rotate due to the force of the wind. I have also had many occasions when the tilt of the aircraft has caused the gimbal to be unable to keep steady in both vertical positioning and rotational positioning. I know it was aircraft tilt as the gimbal instability was repeatable predictably with stick input and vertical pan control input. Analysis of the detailed flight logs afterwards only further proved that this is what was happening.
 
Did a few tests today. In Normal and Cinema modes, no wind, the issue (jump up in gimbal when at -90°) happens everytime I go to the maximum speed of each mode and release the right stick in a abrupt way.

If I slow down progressively the issue doesn't happen in either mode.
 

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
134,485
Messages
1,595,529
Members
163,013
Latest member
GLobus55
Want to Remove this Ad? Simply login or create a free account