Circular Artifact

[Mavic_Pro]

Problem? Circular artifact appearing on photos and videos.

Was unit in a crash? no

What have you tried so far?: Cleaned lens w/ microfiber cloth, inspected for debris or dust and found nothing.

What device are you using? iPhone 8 Plus + Mavic Pro 1 White

What firmware are you running ( aircraft, remote controller)? Newest

What Go app version are you using? Newest version and Litchi

Any modification? No. All stock.

Did you change anything or install any apps? I No. I noticed this years ago but it was very faint. I haven't used the drone much and flew it recently only to find this artifact obscuring view. Always kept safely in storage, cleaned properly, and handled safely.

Do you have a video or pictures of the problem? Yes. Please see attached photos.

 

[Thomas B]

Does it ever change position in the images, move with the sun, etc?

 

[Meta4]

Problem? Circular artifact appearing on photos and videos.

How does it show in your images, rather than app screenshots.

 

[Mavic_Pro]

I just looked back and it was not on my photos and videos from 2018. It began appearing within the last year. It doesn’t change position. Here’s a couple stills from some video I took this year.

 

[Mavic_Pro]

Could it possibly be condensation within the camera assembly? Something on the sensor? I’ve looked up videos and it appears nearly impossible to access the sensor or internal assembly.

 

[Thomas B]

That was my initial thought.

 

[Mavic_Pro]

From your knowledge would this be the correct component to replace? I have micro tools and believe I could competently repair it. I just wanted another pair of eyes to see if it may be a simpler and more cost effective fix.

Here is the part I found:

Original DJI MAVIC PRO Drone Gimbal 4K Camera Lens Repair Part Nice Condition | eBay

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[Meta4]

Could it possibly be condensation within the camera assembly? Something on the sensor? I’ve looked up videos and it appears nearly impossible to access the sensor or internal assembly.

It's a precise circle, that's located just off the centre of the image.
It's not a random dust speck or condensation.

 

[Thomas B]

It's a precise circle, that's located just off the centre of the image.
It's not a random dust speck or condensation.

But possible on the inner surface of the cover lens w/o being centered.
Any other ideas?... especially with OP showing earlier photos don’t have it.

 

[Mavic_Pro]

Thanks for the responses. Prior to the photos I attached on the mountain, I had taken the drone out 4/2019 and did not have the mark. On 4/2020 I took it out again and it did have the artifact in the same position. Within that time, I cannot remember ever taking it out for use. It was in storage within its case in my apartment. I do live in Washington and it does get wet and sometimes a little humid, but I can't remember it being exposed to elements like that.

 

[Meta4]

Thanks for the responses. Prior to the photos I attached on the mountain, I had taken the drone out 4/2019 and did not have the mark. On 4/2020 I took it out again and it did have the artifact in the same position. Within that time, I cannot remember ever taking it out for use. It was in storage within its case in my apartment. I do live in Washington and it does get wet and sometimes a little humid, but I can't remember it being exposed to elements like that.

I can't tell what it is, but dust, condensation etc isn't going to have such a well defined edge.
I'm outside my comfort zone guessing what it might be, but I wonder if it's more sensor related since it's not looking unfocused.

 

[Cobra193]

I’m pretty sure that’s a spec of dust on the inside of the lens. I’ve seen that before in a dslr.

 

[Mavic_Pro]

Any chance that the camera assembly can be deconstructed to access the inside of the lens for cleaning? I've searched for hours today for a video or resource with a walkthrough on doing this and have had no luck.

 

[Otisangb]

Any chance that the camera assembly can be deconstructed to access the inside of the lens for cleaning? I've searched for hours today for a video or resource with a walkthrough on doing this and have had no luck.

Link
Your not alone. If you read down in the linked post you will see you are not alone. There is one video showing removing the front cover lense. However, unfortunately the problem was not resolved at least in the above linked thread.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Based on how well defined it is , how it stays in the same spot you can rule out dust / moisture , which leads me to thinking that this is software related and
could be the Exposure . Try messing with the Exposure setting and see if you get any change at all.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain

 

[Mavic_Pro]

I was not able to resolve the artifact by adjusting any of the settings from within the DJI app. My last thought is to reset the drone to its factory settings via cable to my PC... otherwise I'll have to replace the camera assembly.

 

[Meta4]

Try messing with the Exposure setting and see if you get any change at all.

The only change that exposure settings will make is to make the image overexposed or underexposed, uniformly across the whole image.

 

[Vegas Joel]

I shoot with a Nikon D850 and that appears to be a tiny drop of oil on the sensor not the lens. With that being said I have no idea how to clean the sensor on the drones.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

It could also be a burn-in on the sensor. I'm not sure how much it would take to do that to these sensors but if it has just degraded over time I would think at some point it was slightly burned in and has since deteriorated over time. Just a guess but the well defined edges are unusual for something on the lens. It wasn't hit with a laser at some point in the past was it?

 

[NDWildBill]

It could possibly be mold on the inside of the lens or on the sensor. I've had this happen with a dslr lens. I've also had dirt on the sensor of a dslr that looked similar to that.