How to get perfect fixed focus with M2P

JoshuaCarlton · Aug 29, 2018

Hello, I have had my M2P for two days now and have flown several times testing different camera settings and comparing it to my Mavic air, I noticed right away that the camera seemed to produce soft video even though I was tapping to focus. I really felt like the Mavic air was producing much sharper video and from a few sampleas floating around youtube I started considering the fact that the camera may not be what I thought it was going to be. Today I was lucky enough to stumble upon this video by Irix Guys adventure channel.He simply shows you that if you set the focus to manual and tap infinity you get perfect fixed focus. I am sure many of you already know this but I suspect a few like myself don't. I had tried the manual focus on my original mavic as well as the phantom 4 pro but only scrolled the touchscreen to infinity which always gave my blurry results. I never realized simply tapping the infinity symbol puts it in the perfect spot. I only have two flights after this but they are extremely sharp at all distances allowing me to focus on flying and lining up my shots. Hope this helps a few of you.-Joshua

JoshuaCarlton · Aug 29, 2018

4wd · Aug 29, 2018

Bear in mind the depth of field from Aperture adjustment too.
At F2.8 only a shallow slice is in focus so if using manual in bright conditions go towards the other end.

KONY · Aug 29, 2018

GREAT TIP THANK YOU guys

gnirtS · Aug 29, 2018

4wd said:
Bear in mind the depth of field from Aperture adjustment too.
At F2.8 only a shallow slice is in focus so if using manual in bright conditions go towards the other end.

Not on a 2.8 with a small (yes even 1") sensor. At f/2.8 anything over about 3.6m is in infinity focus.

I'd be wary of this tip due to manufacturing tolerances. The mavic was the same, some peoples infinity focus marks were spot on, others were miles off so had to be done by eye manualls.
Even multi thousand dollar DSLR lenses have this issue, infinity isnt 100% accurate on 100% of samples.

Paul2660 · Aug 29, 2018

Luckly both my Mavic and Phantom's AF system, tap to focus works very well.

I always start out, and use AF to hit an area I know is out far enough to be at infinity., then move the focus to MF. This should fix the focus there until you power off. But during a flight, I do this a few times, as you really can't check the focus at 100% with a iOS device. The app does not respect retina resolution so you really can't see good sharp focus like Live View on a DSLR. (Different on Crystal sky, which is sharper and easier to MF). Make sure you hear the focus confirmation tone, as there are times, it will hit but not acquire the focus.

Aperture on these devices is anyone's guess. I tend to stay in F 3.5 to F 6.3. Much past that and you will see issues from diffraction.

Paul C

Porkroast · Aug 29, 2018

THANKS FOR THIS!!

I was struggling with focus on my first few flights. Its perfect now. Thanks!

JoshuaCarlton · Aug 29, 2018

gnirtS said:
Not on a 2.8 with a small (yes even 1") sensor. At f/2.8 anything over about 3.6m is in infinity focus.

I'd be wary of this tip due to manufacturing tolerances. The mavic was the same, some peoples infinity focus marks were spot on, others were miles off so had to be done by eye manualls.
Even multi thousand dollar DSLR lenses have this issue, infinity isnt 100% accurate on 100% of samples.

thats great that AF works for you. I have found the above method of tapping infinity to be crystal clear. works perfect!

gnirtS · Aug 29, 2018

Tap to infinity on an individual camera will work yes (in fact at f/2.8 anything over 4m away will do the job). What does vary is the infinity focus on the manual focus setting. Thats where the issues are.

By tapping you're not tapping "infinity". You're focusing on a real object that just happens to be in the infinity focus range. The lens itself may not be on what it thinks is infinity. Thats why this works (and thats been the default behaviour since mavic 1 anyway).