Night Flying Problems?

Ron_Dog · Aug 4, 2017

I've flown my other drones at night. Is there any problems with the MP while flying after dark? I can almost guess that none of the sensors work well in the dark. Any other problems?

wayy510 · Aug 5, 2017

Ron_Dog said:
I've flown my other drones at night. Is there any problems with the MP while flying after dark? I can almost guess that none of the sensors work well in the dark. Any other problems?

Once you're up at height no real issues. But becareful if you're taking off from a confined area as the Mavic sways drastically in the dark when you first take off.

It's really easy to over correct trying to stay away from walls and other objects in the dark.

Ron_Dog · Aug 5, 2017

So I guess it's the same when comming in for a landing?

Radie · Nov 12, 2017

My MP is drifting when i tried to fly it at night.ive done compass calibration before taking off.had strong signal.im in GPS mode.but after i take off it start to drift left and right.but in the day the MP is doing just fine.i used to have a phantom 3SE it have a a vps also but at night the phantom 3SE is as stable as it was during the day.but the MP is not doing as i should in the night.im not doing the imu calibration as it fly just fine in the day. If i turn the vps off will the mavic become stable at night?

Bunny Too · Nov 12, 2017

Radie said:
My MP is drifting when i tried to fly it at night.ive done compass calibration before taking off.had strong signal.im in GPS mode.but after i take off it start to drift left and right.but in the day the MP is doing just fine.i used to have a phantom 3SE it have a a vps also but at night the phantom 3SE is as stable as it was during the day.but the MP is not doing as i should in the night.im not doing the imu calibration as it fly just fine in the day. If i turn the vps off will the mavic become stable at night?

During the night time the bottom visual sensors usually are not working, that is what gives you your rock solid hover.

Radie · Nov 12, 2017

Bunny Too said:
During the night time the bottom visual sensors usually are not working, that is what gives you your rock solid hover.

I flew the mavic and the phantom 3SE at same exact location.it wonders me why the phantom 3SE can still hover perfectly well at night when the mavic cant do that.given the conditions and time are the same.
Can i just turn the vps off to make the mavic stable at night?

Bunny Too · Nov 12, 2017

Radie said:
I flew the mavic and the phantom 3SE at same exact location.it wonders me why the phantom 3SE can still hover perfectly well at night when the mavic cant do that.given the conditions and time are the same.
Can i just turn the vps off to make the mavic stable at night?

turning off the vps would probably make it less stable but who knows? Give it a shot (just do it in a open area.)

Radie · Nov 12, 2017

Bunny Too said:
turning off the vps would probably make it less stable but who knows? Give it a shot (just do it in a open area.)

It is not stable with the vps on.i had encountered s few post says by turning the vps off making the mavic behave as it should have.im really hoping for the solution as i see theres alot of people posting shoots taken with MP at night.are they not affected by the same issue.

Mossiback · Nov 12, 2017

Ron_Dog said:
I've flown my other drones at night. Is there any problems with the MP while flying after dark? I can almost guess that none of the sensors work well in the dark. Any other problems?

If your takeoff spot is well lit, the Mavic should have no problem with take-off and landing. The problems with night flying are that it does tend to drift a little, the collision avoidance sensors will not work, you may have a hard time setting and maintaining the camera focus, and you may not see fine obstacles like wires or bare branches before hitting them. So I would recommend a daylight flight of the area to familiarize yourself with any potential hazards then go have fun.

Bunny Too · Nov 12, 2017

Radie said:
It is not stable with the vps on.i had encountered s few post says by turning the vps off making the mavic behave as it should have.im really hoping for the solution as i see theres alot of people posting shoots taken with MP at night.are they not affected by the same issue.

Even if it is moving a little, the gimbal will still stabilize the footage, that is how people are getting the long exposure night shots.

Ron_Dog · Nov 13, 2017

Mossiback said:
If your takeoff spot is well lit, the Mavic should have no problem with take-off and landing. The problems with night flying are that it does tend to drift a little, the collision avoidance sensors will not work, you may have a hard time setting and maintaining the camera focus, and you may not see fine obstacles like wires or bare branches before hitting them. So I would recommend a daylight flight of the area to familiarize yourself with any potential hazards then go have fun.

Thanks,I think the Christmas lights in town would look great at night.

Mossiback · Nov 14, 2017

Mossiback said:
...you may have a hard time setting and maintaining the camera focus,...

I recently updated the firmware in the Mavic, RC, Go 4, and Android tablet and I now see a setting for manual focus. I don't know how long this has been available, but it should fix the night focus problem by just setting the focus on infinity. I will give this a try when/if it stops raining.