Sometimes when I start flying I notice that the camera is out of focus. I have to touch the screen to get in focus again. Did not change any of the settings. Always fly at daylight. Why is this happening and how to avoid this out of focus problem.
Focus problem
- Thread starter Ninabeertje
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Stop the drone when you get to the height you want to fly at - tilt the camera down about 30 degrees then focus it - you should be good then - you want to focus the camera on the most common angle and height that you will be flying then it should adjust itself to focus on infinity.
David243121
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If you have “AFC” on (auto focus continuous), in theory it should be adjusting constantly to find the best focus.
However, sometimes I feel like mine is slightly out of focus too. Drives me crazy not having it be solid and trust with with finding focus.
You should always check focus, (by using AF) before any flight. After you get focus confirmation, switch back to MF and stay there. In theory the focus should not change again.
Since it's not possible to zoom any DJI drone to a 100% view, something that is common to almost all DSLR cameras, you are always at the mercy of the AF system on the camera. Attempting to use MF and check focus even with peaking IMO leads to more out of focus than correctly focused images. But others report good success with MF and use of peaking.
As mainly a stills photographer, I tend to check AF before any series of images I take. Then switch back to MF.
Also, I believe it's always best to hit part of the image in the center of the frame as as using the edge of the frame can often give you focus that is not even across the entire image.
Paul C
Since it's not possible to zoom any DJI drone to a 100% view, something that is common to almost all DSLR cameras, you are always at the mercy of the AF system on the camera. Attempting to use MF and check focus even with peaking IMO leads to more out of focus than correctly focused images. But others report good success with MF and use of peaking.
As mainly a stills photographer, I tend to check AF before any series of images I take. Then switch back to MF.
Also, I believe it's always best to hit part of the image in the center of the frame as as using the edge of the frame can often give you focus that is not even across the entire image.
Paul C
i have the same issue with all my drones php42.0 mpp m2p when i launch from the bed cap of my pickup because of a wind louver on the end of the bed cap the drones focus on that and nothing else so once in the air i have to tap the screen to focus,my point is that there could be something in your drones camera view that its picking up on before you take off.
Also, if you have AF set to AFC, it will focus on grass, on take off, as that is odds are what you will see, or something else close to the drone camera. AFC, IMO should never be used as it can cause you to miss focus more often, especially in a low contrast scene. You are not ever shooting anything that needs that type of continuous focus like a DSLR, and in Video is even more worthless and odds are will attempt to focus during the middle of shoot. I would leave AF on AF, not AFC
Paul C
Paul C
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Also best to do the initial focus setting while in a hover, rather than moving, on a subject over 30 feet away, with lots of detail, not facing the sun. Set it and forget it in AF, and keep your mitts off the screen during the rest of the flight. If you are slightly out of focus during the landing while hand catching, you know the focus was good during the video for all your landscape shots at infinity! You can also check focus during the flight on any billboards or signs.
When I select afc I expect it works like om my phone or dslr. There I do not check it but take pictures without out of focus problem. Is this maybe a software problem?
I think this may be the problem. Real stupid because afc should correct this. Now it seems afc is entered when starting recording and keeps that initial focus point. Very strange behavior. You rely on on the fact that it is in AFC so not to worry.
You don't want to be using continuous AF for the majority of scenarios. The reason being is if it ever "hunts" or does a quick refocus, your footage is instantly ruined - and you may not notice this until you get home and watch it on a bigger screen if it's subtle. Professional videography in general is almost always done using manual focus for this reason. On top of this, the M2P does not have phase detect AF, only contrast detect AF, which means by design it has to hunt to focus (CDAF is a glorified guess and check algorithm, compared to PDAF which knows both the direction and how far to move the lens elements to focus).
The M2P has a small enough sensor still that with a 28mm (equivalent) lens, virtually everything is in focus from 2-3 feet in front of the lens at typical flight distances. Even at F2.8, it has the equivalent depth of field as F8 on a traditional full frame/35mm camera. By F4, where the lens is sharpest, it is equivalent to F11 on a full frame. So, unless you're flying extremely close to something, you will be much better off using focus peaking to set manual focus and leave it there. Focus peaking will also alert you if you ever do run into a scenario where your focus setting is not ideal. I haven't changed the focus on my M2P since I bought it almost a year ago and everything is always in perfect focus without ever having to worry about it.
One thing you do not want to do is manually set focus at infinity, you will find that true infinity focus is 2-3 clicks back from there (where focus peaking reports the entire scene in focus).
The M2P has a small enough sensor still that with a 28mm (equivalent) lens, virtually everything is in focus from 2-3 feet in front of the lens at typical flight distances. Even at F2.8, it has the equivalent depth of field as F8 on a traditional full frame/35mm camera. By F4, where the lens is sharpest, it is equivalent to F11 on a full frame. So, unless you're flying extremely close to something, you will be much better off using focus peaking to set manual focus and leave it there. Focus peaking will also alert you if you ever do run into a scenario where your focus setting is not ideal. I haven't changed the focus on my M2P since I bought it almost a year ago and everything is always in perfect focus without ever having to worry about it.
One thing you do not want to do is manually set focus at infinity, you will find that true infinity focus is 2-3 clicks back from there (where focus peaking reports the entire scene in focus).
Yes sir. If you click the infinity icon, that's exactly where it places the indicator.
Once again, I agree with you. I was merely pointing out you can do this by tapping the infinity icon rather than scrolling to the 2-3 mark.
The MP does not have focus peaking but the M2P and M2Z do.
It is an option that you have to turn on in the menu. You can also determine it's threshold. In the simplest terms, it highlights the portions of the frame that are in focus, with a colored line around the edge of what is in focus. This is especially easy to do with drones because once you're a little ways up in the air, it's possible to have virtually everything in focus at all times. The reason this is so helpful is it allows you to quickly and easily determine precise focus when manually focusing. What it's really doing is identifying the areas in the image with the highest contrast, which also means the sharpest focus. It is far more useful on a traditional camera (with MF lenses), but still a really nice tool to have on a drone, if for no other reason than to have a constant confirmation that everything is in focus.
In practice, you would send your drone up, adjust the manual focus until everything is lit up in red (or whatever the peaking color is), leave it there and off you go. Unless you are flying extremely close to something you likely won't have to change it under any normal scenario.
Thanks for your detail. Still a while till I can reach my mp2 zoom, but does it work just for photos, or for video too.?
I suppose it just sets focus and I can choose pic or video. Thanks again for the explanation
Yes absolutely, the exact same principle applies for both photo and video. As long as you don't fly really close to anything (in that scenario you would need to adjust), you will never have to adjust your focus again for photo or video once set properly manually. You can leave focus peaking on indefinitely as a confirmation of that as well.
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