Need Forum help please...

[Bussty]

Hello there if you refer to this post https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... 1&extra=#pid3677423 over on the DJI Forum, DJI or their AI BOT are suggesting that there is something wrong with the autofocus on my Mavic 4 Pro and I should maybe send it back. It's 100% fine it's focusing in FreePano Mode that is the problem.
I just need to check if this is a universal issue or just me. Could I ask a couple of you to please test the following...

• Select the 6x Camera in Photo Mode
• Using AF mode place the middle target on something in the foreground so it focuses on that and the background goes out of focus (a roof is a great example)
• Now tap the roof to make sure AF is locked on it (Background should still be out of focus)
• Now tap MF (Manual Focus) this should change nothing effectively taking the camera out of AF mode and locking the focus on the roof
• Now without moving the gimbal or drone select FreePano mode...
• In doing that does the the focus jump to the background even though the centre target isn't on it?

Would be great if a couple of you could confirm this. If it is the case it's an issue as what if you wanted a FreePano of something in the Foreground/Middle Ground? It looks like DJI have set the 6x up to jump to Infinity.

Also I assume nobody is able to control focus at all in FreePano mode? Especially 6x camera mode.

Thanks in advance for your help would be great if we can get the FreePano mode to be more user friendly.

Cheers

 

[GadgetGuy]

Sounds like it is functioning as intended. No need to waste time sending it in. There is no user control over the focus point in any of the automated modes. It is likely set to infinity because that will work for 99% of most users, providing the greatest depth of field. If you want a different functionality that gives you control over the focus, you'll need to shoot your Free Pano manually, and stitch it yourself. Not that difficult. Just use a 1/3 overlap on each adjoining image. The rule of thirds image overlay option works well for this purpose.

 

[Bussty]

Sounds like it is functioning as intended. No need to waste time sending it in. There is no user control over the focus point in any of the automated modes. It is likely set to infinity because that will work for 99% of most users, providing the greatest depth of field. If you want a different functionality that gives you control over the focus, you'll need to shoot your Free Pano manually, and stitch it yourself. Not that difficult. Just use a 1/3 overlap on each adjoining image. The rule of thirds image overlay option works well for this purpose.

This is what I'm thinking but why is it like that? Especially with the 6x camera you could so much more easily capture a high quality mosaic of a middle or foreground subject if you could focus then let it take it's 20 or so images automatically. I bet the infinity thing came about as this was only initially being used on wide angle cameras with huge depth of field but the 6x is a different beast. I have pestered DJI before about improvements and happy to try again but if it were available would you use the ability to set a manual focus point on a FreePano or regular panorama? We just need to start posting unsharp middle distance and foreground out of focus panos taken with the 6x and DJI should see how unusable it is.

Is it also your understanding that we can set exposure (auto or manual) on the FreePanos and Normal Panos? If we can do that why not focus too? I am really up for this fight as that 6x camera straight out of the box can potentially take a really bad looking pano and DJI shouldn't like to see that I'm guessing.

They are really dumbing down a pro drone by doing this.

 

[GadgetGuy]

This is what I'm thinking but why is it like that? Especially with the 6x camera you could so much more easily capture a high quality mosaic of a middle or foreground subject if you could focus then let it take it's 20 or so images automatically. I bet the infinity thing came about as this was only initially being used on wide angle cameras with huge depth of field but the 6x is a different beast. I have pestered DJI before about improvements and happy to try again but if it were available would you use the ability to set a manual focus point on a FreePano or regular panorama? We just need to start posting unsharp middle distance and foreground out of focus panos taken with the 6x and DJI should see how unusable it is.

Is it also your understanding that we can set exposure (auto or manual) on the FreePanos and Normal Panos? If we can do that why not focus too? I am really up for this fight as that 6x camera straight out of the box can potentially take a really bad looking pano and DJI shouldn't like to see that I'm guessing.

It is a compromise.

The Free Pano options and the spherical pano options are intended for those who don't want to, or can't stitch the images manually, and don't want to shoot them manually, and are more interested in the result than in controlling the process. DJI's in camera stitching on Spherical Panos has vastly improved over time, where the result is now a Hi Res image (45MP-75MP) with a cloned in ceiling, instead of the low resolution 12 MP stitch from the Mavic 2. However, all the panos are still fully automated, with no user control over the exposure or focus point of the images being taken, nor even the order.

So, while I haven’t tested it, my understanding is we have no control over the exposure nor the focal point. Even if your exposure is set to -1/3 EV for photos, I don't believe Free Panos will be shot at anything other than 0 EV. Would love to discover otherwise, though! On the Mavic 2, it appeared that the exposure was set by the first image, rather than each individual image. Now, I believe it is set to auto-exposure for each of the images, which is a vast improvement, with exposure adjustments made during the in camera stitch for the best result.

I believe each of the images in a Free Pano and Normal Panos is set to auto-exposure.

I don't believe there is a Spherical Pano option for the 6x camera. Even the 2.5x Spherical Pano option cannot be stitched in camera.

I would love to see a Spherical Pano option on the 6x camera, even without an in camera stitch, but I believe DJI has decided that 10 minutes of hover required just for JPG's is too risky, and it is probably 15 minutes if DNG is chosen. The number of images alone for a 6x stitch is close to 500, based off the roughly 140 images for the 2.5x spherical pano.

The Creator Combo drone has the larger faster SSD that could support such a capability, but there is not enough demand for DJI to allocate scarce development resources into such a feature.

Litchi gives much more control over panos of all sorts, but without an SDK for the Mavic 4 Pro, we are limited to DJI's offerings.

 

[Bussty]

I think I might have just made you night/day check out this...

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Screen recording from yesterday when I was playing around trying to work out what makes the drone not be able to take a FreePano (now know that is due to having in-drone stitching on). But the video clearly shows changing the exposure in manual mode while in Freepano mode and it holding on that setting during the FreePano execution. If DJI can allow that why can't they do it for focus too? Pretty sure I took a 360 with the 28mm camera the other day and it let me change the exposure on that one too while in 360 Mode but not 100% on that. It definitely let me set the exposure in photo mode and when I changed to Pano Mode it stuck. I'll double check tomorrow.

To my way of thinking this is a $6000 NZD Pro drone it should do pro things.

You are right 6x can't do 360 and pitch is limited to 60 degrees to negative 60 on Freepano.

My next move is to go find some interesting middle and foreground subjects using 6x Camera and Freepano and show how the focus is only focusing on the background and then present to DJI. My gut feeling is the image is sharp from about 100m to infinity so that infers there could be a lot of subjects that this could look really bad on if trying to do creative separation on and have big files. Gemini thinks the closest point in focus is even further like 315m! That's crazy far, why wouldn't you allow focusing if taking a subject closer than 315m is not going to be sharp?

 

[GadgetGuy]

I think I might have just made you night/day check out this...

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Screen recording from yesterday when I was playing around trying to work out what makes the drone not be able to take a FreePano (now know that is due to having in-drone stitching on). But the video clearly shows changing the exposure in manual mode while in Freepano mode and it holding on that setting during the FreePano execution. If DJI can allow that why can't they do it for focus too? Pretty sure I took a 360 with the 28mm camera the other day and it let me change the exposure on that one too while in 360 Mode but not 100% on that. It definitely let me set the exposure in photo mode and when I changed to Pano Mode it stuck. I'll double check tomorrow.

To my way of thinking this is a $6000 NZD Pro drone it should do pro things.

You are right 6x can't do 360 and pitch is limited to 60 degrees to negative 60 on Freepano.

My next move is to go find some interesting middle and foreground subjects using 6x Camera and Freepano and show how the focus is only focusing on the background and then present to DJI. My gut feeling is the image is sharp from about 100m to infinity so that infers there could be a lot of subjects that this could look really bad on if trying to do creative separation on and have big files. Gemini thinks the closest point in focus is even further like 315m! That's crazy far, why wouldn't you allow focusing if taking a subject closer than 315m is not going to be sharp?

View attachment 183919

So you can use Pro mode and set a fixed exposure on a Free Pano. Good!
Kind of makes sense, because unlike a 360° pano, the Free Pano is likely all in the same direction, and you wouldn't want the exposure to vary on individual components of the stitch.

For Free Pano focus, It is also unlikely that the 6x Free Pano is using the hyperfocal distance or infinity, or even the background given the shallow depth of field, and your calculations of the hyperfocal distance. It probably is the closest object. Your best guess of Free Pano being sharp from 100m to infinity is actually pretty good for creative separation because you usually have to back off from the large foreground subject by at least 330 feet to get it fully in the full frame at 168mm, to then show the separation from middle ground and background subjects behind it.

Still, I understand you wanting to pick the point of focus for the Free Pano. Have you contacted DJI by phone to escalate the question to the relevant team?

Keep at it!

Have you discovered what the limits of the Free Pano are using 6x in terms of how many degrees horizontally you can cover , if you turn off saving the images? Will it cover 45°? 90°? 180°? It could have some utility to stitch together overlapping 90° Free Panos to obtain an even wider field of view than enabled.

What is the maximum field of view on the 6x supported by keeping the original JPED images and generating an n camera stitch?

What are you using to stitch your images, or are you only interested in the in camera stitch?

 

[Bussty]

So you can use Pro mode and set a fixed exposure on a Free Pano. Good!
Kind of makes sense, because unlike a 360° pano, the Free Pano is likely all in the same direction, and you wouldn't want the exposure to vary on individual components of the stitch.

For Free Pano focus, It is also unlikely that the 6x Free Pano is using the hyperfocal distance or infinity, or even the background given the shallow depth of field, and your calculations of the hyperfocal distance. It probably is the closest object. Your best guess of Free Pano being sharp from 100m to infinity is actually pretty good for creative separation because you usually have to back off from the large foreground subject by at least 330 feet to get it fully in the full frame at 168mm, to then show the separation from middle ground and background subjects behind it.

Still, I understand you wanting to pick the point of focus for the Free Pano. Have you contacted DJI by phone to escalate the question to the relevant team?

Keep at it!

Have you discovered what the limits of the Free Pano are using 6x in terms of how many degrees horizontally you can cover , if you turn off saving the images? Will it cover 45°? 90°? 180°? It could have some utility to stitch together overlapping 90° Free Panos to obtain an even wider field of view than enabled.

What is the maximum field of view on the 6x supported by keeping the original JPED images and generating an n camera stitch?

What are you using to stitch your images, or are you only interested in the in camera stitch?

Hi there. So I was going to take some FreePanos with the 6x Camera to basically show it failing on capturing things that aren't 100m away. There has to be many subjects that fall into this category when you want to use the benefit of the 6x mosaic giving a super high quality image. I'll get those done then post on DJI's forum I guess then phone. Do you have the number?

So when stitching is off, the horizontal view seems almost endless. I went well past 180 degrees and it just kept on saying "Fine" Interestingly it seems if you have stitching on and it says "can't do" the warning will vanish infront of your eyes and you can proceed by turning off stitching. I thought it would hold the warning but it doesn't. Which suggests if stitching is off "any" horizontal distance is OK and the warning will never show which suits me fine (DJI please do not change!). Makes such a difference knowing about that impact as you have to turn it off every flight and only when drone is in the air so I was getting so many mixed results as sometimes I had it on sometimes I had it off and wasn't aware of the connection until today.

So keeping the jpeg stitch on is really a mixed bag and I could find no rhyme nor reason what the parameters were that made it not work, there are videos showing this here (6th post in thread) https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod...ra=page=1&filter=typeid&typeid=948&typeid=948

I used to use PTGUI exclusively but it gets upset with blue sky and no features. Panorama Studio Pro though has a neat feature that lets you stitch based on meta data when it can't find details. Works a treat. The later ones here were stitched with Panorama Studio Pro 360 Panoramas of New Zealand Landscapes by Andrew Busst these all taken on Mini and Mini 3 Pro. I never use in drone stitch just can't 100% rely on it and hard to edit for those tough cases when you can in Panorama Studio Pro and PTGUI.

Thanks for the support the way I see it when you pay $6K for a drone and you stick a Tele camera on it it shouldn't just focus on distant subjects.

Cheers

 

[Meta4]

the way I see it when you pay $6K for a drone and you stick a Tele camera on it it shouldn't just focus on distant subjects.

What makes you think it just focuses on distant subjects?

Or that you can't have prominent foreground elements as well as a distant background well focused?

Get out and use the drone more.
It's more capable than you realise.

 

[Bussty]

Go and get your Depth of field calculator you'll work it out you can't beat physics. Like for like these are not FreePanos. You are probably at least 100 metres from the second image the first one probably closer but I bet the buildings in the background (if they were in shot) would not be sharp. In FreePano mode it would focus at the fixed hyperfocal distance and if your boat was not far enough away it would not be sharp. Of course using photo mode it is going to be sharp because the 6x in that mode can be focused. Just what do you think made the camera focus on the background in this clip?

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There are no focusing reticles on it and just before switching to FreePano mode it was happily focused on the closer roof.

 

[Meta4]

Go and get your Depth of field calculator you'll work it out you can't beat physics.

Who is going to leave a big roof so close to their camera?
My images above show what can be achieved and it's not too bad.
It is what it is ... there are limitations, you just have to live with them.

 

[Ralph thompson]

I haven't read all the responses but you're doing FreePano with 6x zoom? Why? Surely you’d just use the wide lens (which also has the bigger sensor) and take one photograph (or fewer photographs). I can’t think of a reason to do a panorama with a telephoto lens unless your planning to make a very large print. But agree with you that being able to just focus manually would be better, I generally prefer manual settings.

 

[Bussty]

I haven't read all the responses but you're doing FreePano with 6x zoom? Why? Surely you’d just use the wide lens (which has the bigger sensor) and take one photograph (or fewer photographs). I can’t think of a reason to do a panorama with a telephoto lens unless your planning to make a very large print. But agree with you that being able to just focus manually would be better, I generally prefer manual settings.

Hi Ralph

It's that simple big highly detailed prints. With the 6x every image is 12MB so if a scene is made up even 6 images that in itself is 72MP more than even a Sony AR7V file. It also means you can get a higher quality telephoto effect (between 1x and say 5x) than just cropping in on a 25MP 28mm Camera image.

Say you find a cool old abandoned house across a river and you think it would look amazing as a 2m x 2m print on the wall a really easy way to do that would be freepano but if you had to be closer than half the 6x hyperfocal distance it looks like it won't be sharp hence the desire for manual focus in freepano mode. I can think of many other examples. If you don't use freepano or don't have a weird fascination with super high detail then it probably isn't an issue.

I have been taking Panos for years thinking by focusing in photo mode before hand I was getting super sharp results but I don't think the drone has been using that focus point I haven't known until now as the 6x makes focus points a lot more noticeable. It's basically dumbed down to cover most users requirements I think.

Cheers

 

[GadgetGuy]

Hi there. So I was going to take some FreePanos with the 6x Camera to basically show it failing on capturing things that aren't 100m away. There has to be many subjects that fall into this category when you want to use the benefit of the 6x mosaic giving a super high quality image. I'll get those done then post on DJI's forum I guess then phone. Do you have the number?

So when stitching is off, the horizontal view seems almost endless. I went well past 180 degrees and it just kept on saying "Fine" Interestingly it seems if you have stitching on and it says "can't do" the warning will vanish infront of your eyes and you can proceed by turning off stitching. I thought it would hold the warning but it doesn't. Which suggests if stitching is off "any" horizontal distance is OK and the warning will never show which suits me fine (DJI please do not change!). Makes such a difference knowing about that impact as you have to turn it off every flight and only when drone is in the air so I was getting so many mixed results as sometimes I had it on sometimes I had it off and wasn't aware of the connection until today.

So keeping the jpeg stitch on is really a mixed bag and I could find no rhyme nor reason what the parameters were that made it not work, there are videos showing this here (6th post in thread) https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=343305&extra=page=1&filter=typeid&typeid=948&typeid=948

I used to use PTGUI exclusively but it gets upset with blue sky and no features. Panorama Studio Pro though has a neat feature that lets you stitch based on meta data when it can't find details. Works a treat. The later ones here were stitched with Panorama Studio Pro 360 Panoramas of New Zealand Landscapes by Andrew Busst these all taken on Mini and Mini 3 Pro. I never use in drone stitch just can't 100% rely on it and hard to edit for those tough cases when you can in Panorama Studio Pro and PTGUI.

Thanks for the support the way I see it when you pay $6K for a drone and you stick a Tele camera on it it shouldn't just focus on distant subjects.

Cheers

So the Free Pano "No Stitch" selection does not survive a reboot, and is always reset back to JPEG? I know for panos on the Mavic 3 Pro that changing the default settings does survive a reboot, and I have it set the save the JPEG images and output a JPEG stitch.

Now that we have discovered that exposure compensation and manual control over exposure works on Free Panos, losing the original images for 180° panos on the 6x telephoto isn't as significant. You can just reshoot the same Free Pano multiple times with different exposure compensation and then blend the in camera stitches together in post for an ideal HDR pano, just like adjusting individual images in the pan stitch. From the DJIForum post response, it appears that AEB also is available on all Free Panoramas without limitation. Can you confirm that?

The in camera stitches have become really good on the Mini 4 Pro and the Mavic 3 series, now that HiRes stitches are being created that are 4 to 7 times larger than the old low resolution 12MP stitch designed solely for social media, and DJI clones in the ceiling for you, as needed.

On the 3x camera on the Mavic 3 Pro, there are some 30 images of the sky that are best thrown away from the 127 that are shot, as they just confuse the stitch with no detail. Using metadata with PSP really helps. I'm surprised PTGui hasn't added a use metadata option, too.

At the very least, an in camera stitch is like a Polaroid test print of what your final stitch will look like after using PSP, for an even higher resolution version. Some panos just don't work out well, and it also can give you immediate feedback if reshooting with different exposure settings or from a higher or lower elevation will be better while still in the same location. Do you use the PSP interactive web output to host your own panos on your own website? Have you updated to pro Version 4? I use the PTGui Viewer on all the in camera stitches. Haven't figured out how to share the viewer without installing the full program, though.

There are a couple of phone numbers you can use to contact DJI in New Zealand:

• DJI Support Hotline (English): +64 800003319. This line operates Monday - Sunday, 10:00 - 22:00 (NZST/NZDT).
• DJI Authorised Retail Store (Ferntech) in Auckland: 09 216 5386.

Cheers!

 

[Bussty]

So the Free Pano "No Stitch" selection does not survive a reboot, and is always reset back to JPEG? I know for panos on the Mavic 3 Pro that changing the default settings does survive a reboot, and I have it set the save the JPEG images and output a JPEG stitch.

Now that we have discovered that exposure compensation and manual control over exposure works on Free Panos, losing the original images for 180° panos on the 6x telephoto isn't as significant. You can just reshoot the same Free Pano multiple times with different exposure compensation and then blend the in camera stitches together in post for an ideal HDR pano, just like adjusting individual images in the pan stitch.

The in camera stitches have become really good on the Mini 4 Pro and the Mavic 3 series, now that HiRes stitches are being created that are 4 to 7 times larger than the old low resolution 12MP stitch designed solely for social media, and DJI clones in the ceiling for you, as needed.

On the 3x camera on the Mavic 3 Pro, there are some 30 images of the sky that are best thrown away from the 127 that are shot, as they just confuse the stitch with no detail. Using metadata with PSP really helps. I'm surprised PTGui hasn't added a use metadata option, too.

At the very least, an in camera stitch is like a Polaroid test print of what your final stitch will look like after using PSP, for an even higher resolution version. Some panos just don't work out well, and it also can give you immediate feedback if reshooting with different exposure settings or from a higher or lower elevation will be better while still in the same location. Do you use the PSP interactive web output to host your own panos on your own website? Have you updated to pro Version 4? I use the PTGui Viewer on all the in camera stitches. Haven't figured out how to share the viewer without installing the full program, though.

There are a couple of phone numbers you can use to contact DJI in New Zealand:

• DJI Support Hotline (English): +64 800003319. This line operates Monday - Sunday, 10:00 - 22:00 (NZST/NZDT).
• DJI Authorised Retail Store (Ferntech) in Auckland: 09 216 5386.

Cheers!

Yes that is a pain turning off no stitch then it comes on next time you turn the drone on. I guess DJI have their reasons but why? At least we can turn it off. I should add it to the list

You know the Mavic 4 Pro will also let you take AEB in the FreePanos? Might save some steps?

I use 360 cities linked to this page, they do take a while to load but they will load eventually 360 Panoramas of New Zealand Landscapes by Andrew Busst

Yes using pro Version 4 and while PTGUI has a tick box in settings for metadata alignment it doesn't seem to work very well. I use the free FSPViewer standalone to check local Panos but a pain for others I guess as have to install first. It does full screen and is pretty awesome.

Thanks for those numbers will come in handy. Where are you based?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Hi Ralph

It's that simple big highly detailed prints. With the 6x every image is 12MB so if a scene is made up even 6 images that in itself is 72MP more than even a Sony AR7V file. It also means you can get a higher quality telephoto effect (between 1x and say 5x) than just cropping in on a 25MP 28mm Camera image.

Say you find a cool old abandoned house across a river and you think it would look amazing as a 2m x 2m print on the wall a really easy way to do that would be freepano but if you had to be closer than half the 6x hyperfocal distance it looks like it won't be sharp hence the desire for manual focus in freepano mode. I can think of many other examples. If you don't use freepano or don't have a weird fascination with super high detail then it probably isn't an issue.

I have been taking Panos for years thinking by focusing in photo mode before hand I was getting super sharp results but I don't think the drone has been using that focus point I haven't known until now as the 6x makes focus points a lot more noticeable. It's basically dumbed down to cover most users requirements I think.

Cheers

Using the 6x telephoto with only 12MP images from its smaller sensor at f/2.8 is a compromise over flying closer with the 28mm 25MP 4/3 sensor at f/2.0 when maximum resolution is the goal in low light, and should be used primarily when flying closer is not an option. The 6x camera will allow more detail than the same cropped image from the same distance with the main camera, but not if you fly closer to obtain the same composition with the main camera. For 360° panos, I have found that the main camera is most efficient, and using the telephoto cameras only yields marginally better resolution at a vastly increased amount of effort and time, including massive additional flight time and lots of manual stitching time afterwards. From one battery, I'd still rather have 10 different 360° panos shot from the main camera with an in camera HiRes stitch, than one 360° pano from one location with the 6x camera, even if the 6x 360° shooting were fully automated, which currently isn't even an option.

 

[Bussty]

Most of the time my main use for the FreePano will be in that scenario where you would otherwise have to crop in to a 28mm view and in doing so be able to create a much higher resolution image with (thanks to FreePano not much fuss) typical use case shown here https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=342576 and the Freepano significantly out performs the 28mm as a single vs stitch comparison. However it's also nice to know if you had a use to photograph something closer and you wanted more like Sony A7RV quality you can do that too, it's niggling that in it's current state you could struggle to do that due to the Hyperfocal limitation. But just a nice tool to have in the tool box if it's super practical to use.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yes that is a pain turning off no stitch then it comes on next time you turn the drone on. I guess DJI have their reasons but why? At least we can turn it off. I should add it to the list

You know the Mavic 4 Pro will also let you take AEB in the FreePanos? Might save some steps?

I use 360 cities linked to this page, they do take a while to load but they will load eventually 360 Panoramas of New Zealand Landscapes by Andrew Busst

Yes using pro Version 4 and while PTGUI has a tick box in settings for metadata alignment it doesn't seem to work very well. I use the free FSPViewer standalone to check local Panos but a pain for others I guess as have to install first. It does full screen and is pretty awesome.

Thanks for those numbers will come in handy. Where are you based?

I suspect that most pano shooters, especially Free Pano shooters, will want the in camera stitch, and will work within the Free Pano available framing to keep the in camera stitch. If they change it to "None" for a particular flight, and then don't change it back to JPEG before their next flight, they will lose all future Free Pano in-camera stitches, and be upset. The nag warning you have been getting for large Free Panorama framing prompts everyone to turn JPEG to None for unlimited Free Pano images. Good compromise.

This post by DJI Gamora was the only helpful one you received and says AEB is available in Free Panorama Mode. Worth exploring. However, he seems to be unaware that Free Panorama is supported on the 6x camera, and you were unaware that 360° panos are completely unsupported by the 6x camera. So he might be wrong about the 6x camera supporting AEB in Free Panorama mode. Give it a try.
====
"Hello. Thank you for your inquiry about the Free Panorama mode on the DJI Mavic 4 Pro.

—Free Panorama Mode Overview:
Free Panorama mode offers users enhanced flexibility in capturing panoramic materials and producing finished panoramas. Both the wide-angle and medium tele cameras support this mode. Users can customize the starting and ending positions for panoramic shooting based on their subject, allowing for flexible selection of panoramic photo sizes.

—HDR Effects and AEB Functionality:
Please note that in Free Panorama mode, individual photos captured do not include HDR effects, and consequently, the panorama synthesized in-camera will also lack HDR.

If you desire HDR effects, we recommend enabling the AEB (Auto Exposure Bracketing) function within Panorama mode and using third-party software for post-processing.

—Important Notes on AEB:

After enabling AEB, the actual number of photos taken will increase significantly (e.g., choosing AEB 5 will result in 5 times the number of photos).

Third-party software for stitching panoramas can include Photoshop, Lightroom, PTGui, among others.

The AEB function is exclusively available in Free Panorama mode; it cannot be enabled in other panorama modes.

—Additional Note:
In Free Panorama mode, the aircraft cannot be moved horizontally or vertically during the capture process."
======
======

Have you found a 360° viewer app that works on an iPad? All the ones I have used in the past are no longer supported. Makes sharing new spherical pano images difficult in person, unless they are already on the web.

I tried the Metadata alignment in PSP, too, and it doesn't yet work quite as well as DJI's in camera stitch on empty blue skies. Just knowing the order and placement still won't necessarily help with a stitch with very little detail in the adjoining images. Removing those empty blue sky images entirely is often a better option, if doing a manual stitch.

360 Cities works ok, but they essentially own your images if they host them, and there is no private setting to prevent them from being completely public and searchable, without paying for a $210/yr Pro account. I often shoot 360 panos over my house that I may want to share with family, but not the world! 360 Cities also places a 25MP size limit on your uploaded panos, so your gigapano stitches are dumbed down to smaller than an old in-camera stitch, which defeats the purpose. Also not a fan of their interface, but it's free and easily shareable.

If you host your own website, PSP's free output to an interactive web panorama works best. It can include Google Maps locations, direction of view, and linking to your other panos on a 2D map or from within a pano with hyperlinks only shown in the direction which they exist.

I'm in the land of no official Mavic 4 Pro sales by DJI: USA.
Got my gray market Creator Combo from Adorama in mid June, after unsuccessfully trying to import one from Amazon Canada. The RC Pro 2 alone was worth the upgrade, along with major camera enhancements to the Mavic 3 Pro, much better signal range than OS3, and an increase in speed and flight time. What's not to like? Oh, no focus setting on Free Panorama. LOL!

As you can see from the DJI rep responses on the DJI Forum, most are completely non-responsive boilerplate, and usually wrong, often just AI hallucinations. DJI Gamora, however, usually offers complete accurate info, but even he doesn't realize Free Panorama is available on the 6x telephoto. The AEB capability in Free Panorama mode, if true on the 6x, is an Easter Egg! AEB on the Mavic 4 Pro is now also finally available in up to 7 brackets of 2/3 of a stop for JPEG shooters on regular stills!

Cheers!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Most of the time my main use for the FreePano will be in that scenario where you would otherwise have to crop in to a 28mm view and in doing so be able to create a much higher resolution image with (thanks to FreePano not much fuss) typical use case shown here https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=342576 and the Freepano significantly out performs the 28mm as a single vs stitch comparison. However it's also nice to know if you had a use to photograph something closer and you wanted more like Sony A7RV quality you can do that too, it's niggling that in it's current state you could struggle to do that due to the Hyperfocal limitation. But just a nice tool to have in the tool box if it's super practical to use.

Yes, for this use case, where flying closer to capture the same resolution image with the main camera is either impractical or impossible, it's the best solution, while never even having to leave the house! However, driving closer and using the main camera to capture the same field of view, will ultimately produce an even higher resolution image. Just depends upon how far away your primary subject is. Distant mountain ranges are impractical. However, If the main subject is within roundtrip flying distance of the Mavic 4 Pro, flying closer will ultimately yield the very best results, especially if there is any haze in the air which the 6x will just compress and turn to mush. Clear skies by you, though!