DroneDeploy autofocus problem Mavic Pro

[RudiNieuwenhuis]

Hi everyone. I've been trying Dronedeploy to automate the capture of images of areas so i can use them with agisofts Photoscan to create high res images of the terrain for use in 3d apps.
Although the app does a great job of capturing the images, it has one major flaw: focus. The images are all blurred.
To fix this, i found that i should first launch the drone to the exact altitude i planned my capturing process in, set focus, land the drone, exit all apps, start dronedeplay and then start the capture process. I do not like this, nor the fact that I can't judge the sharpness of the images on the little Samsung Galaxy S8 plus screen.
So what happenes is once i'm back behind the computer i notice everything is blurred and it's too late to go back for another try.
I tried the forum on dronedeploy but all i get is: "install the latest version" (which i already have).

Is there anyone who has a good alternative to this app? I do not care at all about the uploading and processing images part of the package, i wish to do that all by my self, but i just want the automated capturing of the images to be as smooth and reliable as possible.
Hope someone has a good suggestion.
Cheers,
Rudi

 

[Logger]

Hi everyone. I've been trying Dronedeploy to automate the capture of images of areas so i can use them with agisofts Photoscan to create high res images of the terrain for use in 3d apps.
Although the app does a great job of capturing the images, it has one major flaw: focus. The images are all blurred.
...<snip>

That's Odd as I have done some stuff with DroneDeploy and did not have issues with focus. I found it to be excellent software, but beyond my budget apart from the 1 month free trial. Here is a 150 acre paddock I did with it.

....Is there anyone who has a good alternative to this app?

If you have an iPad DJI GS Pro is worth a look. Free and will capture mapping areas. If you are on android Drone Harmony works well although I have only used it on small areas myself.

 

[swoermck]

My approach: start with dji go, fly at the altitude where you want to capture images with DroneDeploy, set focus and exposure, then switch to DroneDeploy and start my mission. Worked flawless so far!

 

[swoermck]

.. forgot to mention: in the DroneDeploy Dashboard (website) make sure to check "set focus in DJI Go"

 

[RudiNieuwenhuis]

My approach: start with dji go, fly at the altitude where you want to capture images with DroneDeploy, set focus and exposure, then switch to DroneDeploy and start my mission. Worked flawless so far!

That's exactly the workaround i found but it's a drag. Would be much easier is if it would work straight in the app.

 

[DroneMapper]

If you have an iOS device, I would highly recommend Map Pilot

https://dronemapper.com

 

[aislanmds]

My approach: start with dji go, fly at the altitude where you want to capture images with DroneDeploy, set focus and exposure, then switch to DroneDeploy and start my mission. Worked flawless so far!

swoermck, do I need to land the Drone before moving to dronedeploy or can I do it during the flight? After setting up focus and exposure on the DJI GO, can I keep it in automatic or manual?

 

[swoermck]

swoermck, do I need to land the Drone before moving to dronedeploy or can I do it during the flight? After setting up focus and exposure on the DJI GO, can I keep it in automatic or manual?

First I start the Mavic Pro using DJI Go, fly to the height I will use for the dronedeploy mission, point the camera down around 60 degrees (as dronedeploy will capture most pictures this way) and set focus and exposure. Then I simply switch to dronedeploy (on the iphone press home button and start dronedeploy), and start my mission.

Most of the time I did this in automatic mode in DJI Go, just recently I start to set ISO and shutter speed manually for my flights. To be honest, I only did one dronedeploy mission with DJI Go set to manual (ISO/Shutter), but I think it didn't make a huge difference.

 

[gbraghirolli]

Hello guys, I just bought my Mavic Pro.
Today I tested the DroneDeploy automated flight and the focus problem happened to me.
The other software I use (Pix4D Capture) also has the same problem.
Is there a specific software or device that works? I`m aware there is a workaround to set the focus and aperture on DJIGO, but still its a little risky for me considering I work exclusively with mapping, it's not acceptable to loose a flight because of bad focus.