Current status of autofocus on the Mavic Pro?

[easyheimer]

Ok, so before I get bashed for not using the search just let me say I tried searching for the exact answer I was looking for but got a bunch of different ones so I figured I’d ask for the most current answer in here.

I know a lot of firmware updates have come out since the release and also a new versions of the DJI app have been released as well and some things have changed. I want to know the best and most current way to autofocus while shooting video and / or pictures while in the air.

Thank you in advance!

 

[WithTheBirds]

I thought the Mavic Pro has a fixed focus lens? That being the case no adjustment is possible or necessary.... Given the focal length and sensor size anything from around a metre to infinity should be acceptably sharp at the factory setting.

 

[Edward Knight]

I thought the Mavic Pro has a fixed focus lens? That being the case no adjustment is possible or necessary.... Given the focal length and sensor size anything from around a metre to infinity should be acceptably sharp at the factory setting.

I think you might want to read then think again. Mavic Pro has manual and auto focus. touch the screen to focus; you can set to infinity and in auto focus you can touch the screen or activate auto focus continuous. Mavic Pro has fixed aperture.

 

[WithTheBirds]

I think you might want to read then think again. Mavic Pro has manual and auto focus. touch the screen to focus; you can set to infinity and in auto focus you can touch the screen or activate auto focus continuous. Mavic Pro has fixed aperture.

I don’t need to read. Happy to take your word for it. I never owned a Mavic Pro.

 

[Moose1967]

I have the bottom left button on the controller set to auto focus - try it, real easy - i always try to stop flying then auto focus as i think it gets a better reading - if you are higher up auto focus on the fly with bottom left button on the fly well.

 

[easyheimer]

I think you might want to read then think again. Mavic Pro has manual and auto focus. touch the screen to focus; you can set to infinity and in auto focus you can touch the screen or activate auto focus continuous. Mavic Pro has fixed aperture.

How would I go about setting to infinity? And what would this accomplish?
Thank you!

 

[Edward Knight]

How would I go about setting to infinity? And what would this accomplish?
Thank you!

Read this post from the Mavic Pilots Forum:

Manual Focus - How to actually select Infinity -

So I had my first venture out at night to shoot "city lights" . lots of cars and street lights. Like others have found auto-focus doesn't work at night on the Mavic even when there are many precise bright objects in a dark background. So just like my old SLR, Infinity would be perfect for a...

mavicpilots.com

 

[Edward Knight]

Read this post from the Mavic Pilots Forum:

Manual Focus - How to actually select Infinity -

So I had my first venture out at night to shoot "city lights" . lots of cars and street lights. Like others have found auto-focus doesn't work at night on the Mavic even when there are many precise bright objects in a dark background. So just like my old SLR, Infinity would be perfect for a...

mavicpilots.com

You could also start using the Litchi App which is far better that DJI Go 4. It has a focus slider on the screen when in manual focus and the bottom of the slider is infinity. Litchi provides you with the ability to do autonomous flights.

 

[easyheimer]

You could also start using the Litchi App which is far better that DJI Go 4. It has a focus slider on the screen when in manual focus and the bottom of the slider is infinity. Litchi provides you with the ability to do autonomous flights.

I was reading about Litchi and might give it a try. Is it that much better? Is infinity basically autofocus?

 

[Cymruflyer]

To set the focus to infinity, just climb a little then focus on something off in the distance a bit, not to the horizon but maybe a few hundred feet in front of you on the ground. The rest will all be in focus, through infinity and as close as a few meters in front of you. On the Mavic Pro, it is always suggested to lift off then hover, adjust the gimbal for something further away and tap the screen to focus, then adjust the camera angle and go film.

 

[Thomas B]

To set the focus to infinity, just climb a little then focus on something off in the distance a bit, not to the horizon but maybe a few hundred feet in front of you on the ground. The rest will all be in focus, through infinity and as close as a few meters in front of you. On the Mavic Pro, it is always suggested to lift off then hover, adjust the gimbal for something further away and tap the screen to focus, then adjust the camera angle and go film.

I usually use distant clouds. It loses a degree of depth in the images, but everything is clear.

 

[Cymruflyer]

Yea but you don't need to focus off that far with that camera, since anything 500ft or more away is going to give you infinity to very close. The problem with focusing off at clouds or the horizon is that some cameras will give a false lock on and you think it is at infinity but it actually focused at a point that renders the scene blurry, but you can't see that until you check your footage later on the computer and its too late then. Clouds may give the camera a false reading and it won't be able to lock on, though you may think it did. Something like the ground with more contrast is always better. A still camera like a DSLR for example is never going to give you true infinity if you try and focus on something like the horizon for example and sometimes clouds too, due to lack of contrast for the autofocus device o lock onto. Just bear that in mind.

 

[fuzzball]

Great thread. I've had a couple videos that were out of focus the entire time even when set to auto on my M2P. Touching the screen before filming seems to work reliably. Frustrating to get home with a card full of great video and the best clips are out of focus. Grrrr! Thanks for all the ideas here!

 

[WithTheBirds]

You could also start using the Litchi App which is far better that DJI Go 4. It has a focus slider on the screen when in manual focus and the bottom of the slider is infinity. Litchi provides you with the ability to do autonomous flights.

The best you might say about litchi is you like it better. Opinions will vary. There is no universal better. We know litchi is less than perfect in appropriately advising NFZ (no internal database) and that DJI won’t accept litchi logs for analysis in a warranty dispute.