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Static (grounded) camera stability problem...

CemAygun

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Jun 27, 2018
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I posted this in the DJI MA forum couple of days ago but could not get any replies. I just wanted to try my luck here, in case there is a solution:

Couple of days back I was out for some sunset videos with my camera when I realized that I forgot all my batteries home. I already had the MA in the bag, so I said why not give it a try. I placed it on solid ground (concrete) and started filming.

When I came back home, I noticed that even though MA was fully static on the ground, the camera was moving around. Basically if you watch the video at regular speed, you don't notice any problems; the movement is incredibly subtle and smooth. But if you scrub through the video you can see that the lens was moving (albeit ever so slightly) all the time. The movement is especially noticeable on stationary objects (like trees) between cuts that are couple of minutes apart.

To rule out any possible external factors (wind, ground vibration etc), I repeated the same test home, with the very same outcome.

It seems like the the gimbal is destabilizing a perfectly solid shot, just because there is nothing to stabilize. I remember owning cameras like that in the past; where you had to turn off image stabilization when mounted on a tripod or the stabilization would cause a shaky video itself. But I thought MA, having an advanced gimbal and everything would not have that issue. I was wrong.

Minor Update: Checking the Osmo Pocket samples around (mine has not arrived yet) I can tell that it's camera can stay perfectly solid over time when the body is not moving (set on a table etc.). I see no reason why Mavic Air cannot accomplish this. I assume it is just a software issue...

Any ideas/recommendations/solutions?
 
I posted this in the DJI MA forum couple of days ago but could not get any replies. I just wanted to try my luck here, in case there is a solution:

Couple of days back I was out for some sunset videos with my camera when I realized that I forgot all my batteries home. I already had the MA in the bag, so I said why not give it a try. I placed it on solid ground (concrete) and started filming.

When I came back home, I noticed that even though MA was fully static on the ground, the camera was moving around. Basically if you watch the video at regular speed, you don't notice any problems; the movement is incredibly subtle and smooth. But if you scrub through the video you can see that the lens was moving (albeit ever so slightly) all the time. The movement is especially noticeable on stationary objects (like trees) between cuts that are couple of minutes apart.

To rule out any possible external factors (wind, ground vibration etc), I repeated the same test home, with the very same outcome.

It seems like the the gimbal is destabilizing a perfectly solid shot, just because there is nothing to stabilize. I remember owning cameras like that in the past; where you had to turn off image stabilization when mounted on a tripod or the stabilization would cause a shaky video itself. But I thought MA, having an advanced gimbal and everything would not have that issue. I was wrong.

Minor Update: Checking the Osmo Pocket samples around (mine has not arrived yet) I can tell that it's camera can stay perfectly solid over time when the body is not moving (set on a table etc.). I see no reason why Mavic Air cannot accomplish this. I assume it is just a software issue...

Any ideas/recommendations/solutions?
I just gave mine a test and it dosent seem to have that problem .
 
Thanks a lot for the input. I will test again in a different place.

Now I am curious whether one of the sensors in mine is tricking the camera to think that the drone is moving/shaking...
 

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