Poll: Gimbal cover: on or off?

[Michael Ainsworth]

andar a lo gringo
I prefer going Commando

 

[Former Member]

I could see using the protection in sport mode, and with the gimbal clamp too, so I could torque the thing in extreme moves. Hopefully the computer is smart enough to not try to move the camera when it detects the clamp is on?

You can try that, but unfortunately, the camera has a built-in gyro that will try to keep the camera lens stable and will fight the gimbal lock to keep level. Could possibly burn out your gimbal motors.

 

[stratos]

Price tag too? ya think?

I do !
Whats wrong with that!!

lol

 

[Former Member]

I do !
Whats wrong with that!!

lol

If I kept the price tag on everything I bought, my wife would think she was entitled to a shopping spree. I just had to get her an S8+ because she found the receipt for the new Sparks I just bought.

But back to the topic at hand.

 

[mpa]

I do !
Whats wrong with that!!

lol

improves resale value im sure.

 

[stratos]

Alrighty, there appears to still be much "controversy" about the use of the gimbal cover during flight.

I personally keep it on, these are some of the observations i have made:

1. First and foremost it provides mechanical protection for the fragile gimble and camera.

2. It proves a physical barrier to bugs, dirt debris. cleaning the bugs off on the body after every flights is bad enough.

3. There is no noticeable affect that i could see on the heat sinks/electronics. most electronics operate from -20degressC to 150degress C, none of the components get anywhere near these extremes. they sit around 70degressC cover on or off

4. The mavic cooling system is trigger by a temperature sensor, it only turns on the fan when the temps reach a predefined level. my observations are that most of the time the fans are off during flight even after 20 minutes, this leads me to believe the passive airflow over the heatsinks as the drone is moving through the air is sufficient to keep the drone cool. only real times i heard the fan running is when its sitting on my desk during a firmware upgrade or when its sitting around stationary for 5 minutes or so. therefore if the fans not on than there no heating issues.
note: these observations 3 and 4 were made throughout winter and summer (10degressC to 30 degress C) for people in an Alaskan winter or the Sahara your results might vary significantly

5. if DJI really wanted people to take the cover off because they believed it would reduce the life of the drone they would have made the cover non-transparent with a label saying remove before flight.

6. there are multiple threads on the official DJI forums where DJI themselves had said its ok to fly with it on : heres one i just googled Gimbal cover for protection in flight?, im sure the guy from DJI who is saying this would have been fired by now if he is spreading misinformation.

7. I've had more than 30 hours 600km of flight with gimble cover on with no issues.

8. If i one day do intend to use the footage professionally i will not hesitate take the cover off, but for just recreational flying ill keep it on.

9. Most of all just have fun flying, do whats best for you don't be convinced by someone else. we come from all over the world, whats best for you is sometimes not necessarily best for others. operating environments are different from all over the world. some people here are too passionate about the the cover being on or off and end up spreading rumors or misinformation, and end up hijacking threads about something completely different.


Everyones welcome to vote in the poll, im curious as to what the percentage is using the gimble cover. i suspect most dont use it because points 1 and 2 (above) arent too important to them (which is completly fine!),
Cheer everyone

There is nothing to worry about cooling. The heatsink at the bottom does most of the cooling.
Gimbal cover is just for protection. It does not reduce the life of the craft at all.

By the way my fastest flying speed of 71.1Kph got it using the cover.

 

[stratos]

improves resale value im sure.

Who says I want to resell !
This is a keeper mate!!

My best gadget ever!

 

[mpa]

I was curious about just how often the fan needs to come on during flight, I wonder if there is such info in the flight data? I could see using the protection in sport mode, and with the gimbal clamp too, so I could torque the thing in extreme moves. Hopefully the computer is smart enough to not try to move the camera when it detects the clamp is on?

Also a friendly forum tip. Whenever someone addresses you as 'bro', it might make sense to stop reading that post. It has been my experience that the term is a passive aggressive fire starter. Honestly if I ran the forum, the use of the word 'bro' would supersede words like **** and ********** and even ******** in regards to instant permban.

there just harmless keyboard worriors. when defeated the go back to there hermit kingdom singing kumbaya and fly there dones (with perfect 4k footage soothing there souls apparently, carnt tolerate anything less than a minor glare, it needs to be purely unaltered virgin footage)
this OP was a harmless friendly post, we dont need trolls, happy to take them on

 

[Mr. Salty]

Drone Valley did a test and showed the Mavic does run significantly hotter with the gimbal cover on:

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That, combined with the horrible glare that makes videos look like they were directed by J.J. Abrams and I would never fly with the cover on. I usually fly with ND filters, which have the added benefit of protecting the lens from bugs, as if that's actually a problem. Which it isn't.

 

[kiteboy]

Page 6 of the Mavic official manual (latest version 1.6) should clear it up!

Dji officially says "Use the gimbal clamp and gimbal cover to protect the gimbal when the mavic pro is not in use"

 

[dirkclod]

DJI officially say's alot of stuff but after 4 years of reading it
I have found what I see for myself and read from other's
I just kind of use it for a reference .
Just me .

 

[JoKhool]

I was curious about just how often the fan needs to come on during flight, I wonder if there is such info in the flight data? I could see using the protection in sport mode, and with the gimbal clamp too, so I could torque the thing in extreme moves. Hopefully the computer is smart enough to not try to move the camera when it detects the clamp is on?

Also a friendly forum tip. Whenever someone addresses you as 'bro', it might make sense to stop reading that post. It has been my experience that the term is a passive aggressive fire starter. Honestly if I ran the forum, the use of the word 'bro' would supersede words like **** and ********** and even ******** in regards to instant permban.

Leaving the gimbal clamp on.... are you ******* kidding me. But somehow I bet it will be DJI's fault when your gimbal motors burn out.

 

[kiteboy]

DJI officially say's alot of stuff but after 4 years of reading it
I have found what I see for myself and read from other's
I just kind of use it for a reference .
Just me .

We have to be careful with what we consider official, some DJI sales rep on a chat it is not official! The manual is!

Edit: posted before ending the comment

I.e That's why they avoid making any kind of diagnosis on the chat or over the phone, they give you step by step basic troubleshooting and if that doesn't work then they ask you to send it to them

Another example could be all the craziness with delivery and shipping dates when the mavic was released and again with the Spark

I'm not saying that the reps at the chat don't do a useful job, they do! But it is what it is.

The official manual instead is by it self a high value document. I.e it could be used in a court to prove a claim

 

[dirkclod]

Agree on talking with them and I don't but from this you posted

I find it necessary to remove it when I fly as do 41 of 45 that voted so go figure .
Like I said in my post my statement was ...Just me..
The way they state stuff can be interpreted how you want to read it .
I think you should fly as you like though as you paid for it .
With or without

 

[kiteboy]

By the way it's funny that when it comes to the perfect cooling system for computer involves big fans or even liquid cooled complicated systems but for a compact and equally powerful computer system (the mavic) some would be ok with blocking the air intake vent (located behind the gimbal) because the heatsink can handle it.

Nobody is saying that with the gimbal cover your mavic will burst into flames but if engineers at DJI designed a forced air cooling system why block it?

 

[stutee]

I bought the drone for the purpose of taking cool aerial photographs and video. So leaving the gimbal cover on is purposefully handicapping it's major purpose for me.

It would be like buying a Bugatti and never taking it out of the neighborhood for fear of rock dings, bird poop, etc. I guess I'm more Ferris Bueller than Cameron Frye! But I do agree, to each his own.

 

[Johnmcl7]

I don't fly with it on, insects haven't been an issue on my Mavic and I'm not convinced the gimbal cover would do much to reduce the damage in an impact as it's a sensitive part and there's still going to be a noticeable shock going through the gimbal in an accident. With the gimbal on it makes the camera pretty much unusable.

 

[Nikon1]

I just remember ThunderDrones thread on his research of temps with and without the gimbal cover and really don't worry about the temperatures IF I fly with the cover on.

Photography or video = no cover.

Just flying for pure pleasure and enjoyment = cover optional.

YMMV

 

[Pathogen]

are you ******* kidding me.

You're a ******* white male! (sorry I just couldn't resist, it's like an addiction)

I might think that on a hot day, with no wind, and trying to do hyper-lapse shots, the gimbal cover on might not be the wisest choice. I read the DJI actually revised the design of the gimbal dome to allow for air flow, where the earlier version didn't. I looked at mine and it doesn't seem like they really tried that hard though. I wish it was glass, then it would never get scratched and might give neat glare effects. The UK tinted domes must be of plastic, such a shame.

 

[Hexagon]

If OEM Gimbal protector dome gave me the opportunity to shoot my videos and photos without sun glares or any types of reflections I would love to fly with it attached. It would provide an extra care to the delicate camera and gimbal if something went wrong (knock wood). Since this is not the case then definitely no cover for me. I use it as a flying camera and any type of distortion just ruins the purpose of owning it..