Gimbal panning

[AlanL]

I was idly thumbing through the User Manual for the Mavic 3 Pro last night and noticed that the gimbal now has the ability to pan from side to side. Not a lot - 5º from center in either direction but this is still a new control axis I have not seen in my previous DJI drones. Not quite sure how I will use this once I have the 3 Pro in my hands but possibly for still shot situations where I want to shoot a pano that is 10º wider then the default field of view without using yaw to turn the camera.

 

[MS Coast]

Panning the gimbal has been available on previous models, as far back as the Mini 2. Possibly earlier?

 

[AlanL]

The gimbal on my Mavic 3 does not have side to side panning control - only up and down.

 

[MS Coast]

From the Mavic 3 manual:

 

[AlanL]

Interesting they don't mention the pan controls in the Mavic 3 manual. Something to go play with while I wait for the new one

 

[MS Coast]

Interesting they don't mention the pan controls in the Mavic 3 manual. Something to go play with while I wait for the new one

Yes, there are many gaps in DJI's documentation.

I haven't found the gimbal panning feature to be very useful. Controlling it with your finger on the screen makes it difficult to do smoothly. I've used it a few times by setting the gimbal to one side and leaving it in that position while flying past an object of interest. Maybe someone has some suggestions to take better advantage of it.

 

[AlanL]

Yes, there are many gaps in DJI's documentation.

I haven't found the gimbal panning feature to be very useful. Controlling it with your finger on the screen makes it difficult to do smoothly. I've used it a few times by setting the gimbal to one side and leaving it in that position while flying past an object of interest. Maybe someone has some suggestions to take better advantage of it.

I shoot a lot of panoramas with DSLR's and one of the problems is distortion stemming from differences in the plane of the sensor in each of the panorama frames. For pano sequences that aren't out in the "look Ma I can shoot 180º range" I frequently use a Tilt-Shift lens using the shift feature to be able to shoot 3 frames wide with a single sensor plane. The result is a panorama that has no distortion. While the gimbal panning certainly isn't a tilt-shift lens it might allow for less distortion for a 10º wider field of view than a single frame shot.

This is an example of a 3 panel shifted panorama taken with a Canon 24 TS-E lens taken at Reflection Lakes in Mt. Rainier NP.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

If panning is available with the mini 2 I have yet to find it or an option to switch it on.
I have just tried the way I can do it with the m2p/z, which is, touch the screen and drag the finger tip horizontally across the screen, an appropriate arrow head does appear but the gimbal does not move.
Up and down movements on the screen do tilt the camera.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

differences in the plane of the sensor in each of the panorama frames.

Have you tried a levelling head under the pan head? E.g. a Manfrotto 338 or the 438 and or its older version.
There are smaller Chinese versions that aren't bad?

 

[MS Coast]

I shoot a lot of panoramas with DSLR's and one of the problems is distortion stemming from differences in the plane of the sensor in each of the panorama frames. For pano sequences that aren't out in the "look Ma I can shoot 180º range" I frequently use a Tilt-Shift lens using the shift feature to be able to shoot 3 frames wide with a single sensor plane. The result is a panorama that has no distortion. While the gimbal panning certainly isn't a tilt-shift lens it might allow for less distortion for a 10º wider field of view than a single frame shot.

This is an example of a 3 panel shifted panorama taken with a Canon 24 TS-E lens taken at Reflection Lakes in Mt. Rainier NP.

View attachment 163745

Wow. That's very nice.

I suppose that gimbal panning could be used to accomplish something like that, but I can't imagine being able to do it manually. Without thinking about it a lot, it seems like programming such a thing would be straightforward. Future feature of the Fly app or Litchi?

 

[AlanL]

Wow. That's very nice.

I suppose that gimbal panning could be used to accomplish something like that, but I can't imagine being able to do it manually. Without thinking about it a lot, it seems like programming such a thing would be straightforward. Future feature of the Fly app or Litchi?

Sigh - all we need is a SDK for the 3 Pro...... Not sure I am going to hold my breath.

 

[AlanL]

Have you tried a levelling head under the pan head? E.g. a Manfrotto 338 or the 438 and or its older version.
There are smaller Chinese versions that aren't bad?

I have tried lots of panning techniques over the past 50+ years I have been shooting landscapes but using a tilt-shift lens means your sensor never moves while you take the three frames. No way we can do something like that with a drone in the air but anything that minimizes the movement of the sensor in a pano gives more accurate results.

 

[Dave Maine]

The Phantom 3 and 4 all had yaw gimbal movements as well. This capability is not directly used for panning, but for smoothing movement as the drone flies. It is directly connected to IMS flight control system.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yes, there are many gaps in DJI's documentation.

I haven't found the gimbal panning feature to be very useful. Controlling it with your finger on the screen makes it difficult to do smoothly. I've used it a few times by setting the gimbal to one side and leaving it in that position while flying past an object of interest. Maybe someone has some suggestions to take better advantage of it.

When using the 7x telephoto at 28x, it is often difficult to keep a small static subject centered, especially in the wind, and using the yaw controls often overshoots, so using your finger on the screen to gently pull the subject back to center might be a real benefit. I'm currently monitoring a chick in an osprey nest so I'll be giving a try!