Mavic 2 Pro Altitude recorded on photos

[axident]

Re: Battery Charge Count: I’ve noticed this as well early in my ownership of the M2. I now believe the battery charge counter only increments up a number when the battery has accumulated 100% worth of charge. As this is the meaningful number when it comes to Lithium ion batteries life span. Thus, if you were to fly and burn 30% of the battery, recharge, then fly again burning 20% of your battery, recharge, then fly a 3rd time consuming 65% of your battery. When you’re done recharging after this 3rd flight, your charge count will read as “1” as the 3 recharges you’ve conducted sum up to 115% of your battery.

Hi, Thanks for the above information. You were correct in saying that the battery first has to be charged more than once. After an initial full charge & using & then recharging the battery then flying again the controller battery/details now shows as 1 Charge. Thats one issue solved for me! Wel done

 

[axident]

There are four different altitude fields in the photo EXIF data, two of which are mislabeled:

Absolute Altitude : +2849.93 (Barometric absolute altitude based on a standard atmosphere)
Relative Altitude : +73.00 (Barometric altitude relative to the take off point based on a standard atmosphere)
GPS Altitude Ref : Above Sea Level (A pointless field that actually just notes whether the absolute barometric altitude is above or below mean sea level)
GPS Altitude : 2849.9 m Above Sea Level (Also barometric absolute altitude - not GPS altitude)

The relative altitude field will be the same as the altitude shown on the controller and GO 4 app. The altitude displayed by your computer program could be any of the above - you need to examine the full EXIF data to see what it is actually quoting.

 

[axident]

Mavic 2 Pro Altitude/Height issue for still photos on editing software.
comment from sar104 and others got me digging deeper into this.

Today I took a series of photos with my replacement drone and all the photos show the GPS Altitude and they were generally negative if the drone was about 3 metres above take off point (which was 20m from the ocean and about 5.5m above MSL).
OK here is some observations.
In Lightroom CC in the box marked Altitude value was 35m.
In the properties pane of w10 details in the box marked Altitude value was 35m
Using the software Geosetter which uses the ExifTool (latest version) it displays the following;
GPS Altitude Ref: Below sea level
GPS Altitude: 35m
Absolute Altitude: -35.01
Relative Altitude: +2.6
For another photo taken about 100m above the same take off point the values were;
In Lightroom CC in the box marked Altitude value was 33.7m.
In the properties pane of w10 details in the box marked Altitude value was 33.7m
GPS Altitude Ref: Above sea level
GPS Altitude: 33.7m
Absolute Altitude: +33.74
Relative Altitude: +77.40
Previously the image “altitude” recorded with Lightroom and File Explorer used the Height above take off point which was OK, now the Mavic 2 Pro Controller shows the Height above Take Off point which is the GPS Altitude if the GPS Altitude Ref is below sea level AND GPS Altitude+ Relative Altitude if the GPS Altitude is above sea level.
Well I am open to comments on this.

From what I have seen on WWW there a many comments on DJI changing the Height where most software calls it Altitude to this new system last year on some drones.

DJI support did not seem to know how it was measured now when contacted twice.

The GPS Latitude and Longitude was spot-on for all images taken.

 

[Meta4]

From what I have seen on WWW there a many comments on DJI changing the Height where most software calls it Altitude to this new system last year on some drones.

When the P3 series was released in April 2015, the simple altitude number recorded in exif info was the relative height shown on your phone or tablet.
Midway through the life of the P3 series (before the P4 was introduced), DJI changed this to the current system that shows the "GPS" altitude.

DJI support did not seem to know how it was measured now when contacted twice.

Most DJI support people are only good for basic information and very few (if any) would have any idea about exif info.
Here's an example of the "GPS" altitude not quite matching actual height:

Incidentally, this Japanese reserach vessel was photographed returning from a voyage investigating the ocean's deepest site.

If you were concerned about using the drone for photogrammetry, you can generate very good relative height contour lines.
But you'll need to use GCPs to tie the heights into your local datum.

 

[sar104]

Previously the image “altitude” recorded with Lightroom and File Explorer used the Height above take off point which was OK, now the Mavic 2 Pro Controller shows the Height above Take Off point which is the GPS Altitude if the GPS Altitude Ref is below sea level AND GPS Altitude+ Relative Altitude if the GPS Altitude is above sea level.
Well I am open to comments on this.

That's a rather confusing statement because you seem to be mixing comments about the EXIF data with the controller display, but it appears to be incorrect. The controller always shows the height relative to the takeoff point, determined barometrically. The EXIF data contain the fields that I listed above.

From what I have seen on WWW there a many comments on DJI changing the Height where most software calls it Altitude to this new system last year on some drones.

The interwebs are full of "comments", most of which are a complete waste of electrons. The source of each data field is easy to determine simply by comparison with the DAT file data.

DJI support did not seem to know how it was measured now when contacted twice.

DJI support personnel are not trained to answer these kinds of questions. You would need to talk to their engineers.