Is Gimbal Cover Neccessary?

Revelationau · Feb 25, 2018

Got my Air today, however in the excitement of opening it at work I think I've misplaced the gimbal cover already (doh!). If it sits in it's protective pouch all the time and I'm generally careful, is the gimbal cover really required?

NickB · Feb 25, 2018

You can buy them as spares, gimbals are very delicate and it helps to keep the dust out and keep lens clean.

Jayfdee · Feb 25, 2018

I do not have the Air, but I think the cover is also the gimbal clamp, which is very useful when travelling as it stops the camera bouncing around, so yes I think you need it.

SpyderSkeets · Feb 25, 2018

Is it required? No. I am not sure, but perhaps the only purpose of the cover is to keep the lense from getting scratched or dirty. When i first got my Air, i kept forgetting to take it off, and kept on getting the overload error so I decided to just keep the cover off. However, I chose to start using it again simply because you never know if you're ever going to bump it so having that little extra protection may be there when you might need it. I also think (but I am not an engineer so this is simply my personal guess) that maybe the cover keeps the gimbal motors from rattling around when it's not being used, which may protect the motors..but again, that's just a guess.

msinger · Feb 25, 2018

The gimbal is the most fragile part of the Mavic Air. While one might be able to get away with not using the lock, it would be safest to use it to protect the camera and keep the gimbal from bouncing around when it's powered down.

Replacement Mavic Air gimbal locks are available here on Amazon or directly from DJI here.

M.K.Frenky · Feb 25, 2018

Without gimbal cover you going back or devices like to Mavic Pro or Spark

tiparoch · Feb 25, 2018

SpyderSkeets said:
Is it required? No. I am not sure, but perhaps the only purpose of the cover is to keep the lense from getting scratched or dirty. When i first got my Air, i kept forgetting to take it off, and kept on getting the overload error so I decided to just keep the cover off. However, I chose to start using it again simply because you never know if you're ever going to bump it so having that little extra protection may be there when you might need it. I also think (but I am not an engineer so this is simply my personal guess) that maybe the cover keeps the gimbal motors from rattling around when it's not being used, which may protect the motors..but again, that's just a guess.

Same for me, l kept forgetting to take off the cover for my Mavic Pro. I finally taped a 5 cm. long red ribbon on the cover (left over from Christmas), sort of a remove before flight thing. It works. Also , good to keep the guard on when not flying.

tiparoch · Feb 25, 2018

Revelationau said:
Got my Air today, however in the excitement of opening it at work I think I've misplaced the gimbal cover already (doh!). If it sits in it's protective pouch all the time and I'm generally careful, is the gimbal cover really required?

You really should get another. As others have said, it is a very delicate and important part of the machine.