Mavic out of focus?

Summary of Issue: Photos from plans are out of focus

Date Issue Began: October 2017

Drone Model: DJI Mavic Pro

Mobile Device Model and OS version: Iphone 7 IOS 11.2.2

Hi!,

I have tested several flight plans, and unfortunately all my photos are out of focus…what can I do?

Respectfully,
João Matos

Hi João,

We’ve now enabled a setting on your account which should calibrate the Mavic Pro camera focus on each flight.

Let me know if it works well for you.

James

It worries me Christina that you’re going to tinker again. I’m on Android and somehow I surveyed a good map last week using your fix but I hadn’t appreciated it was intended for iOS only as I can see and use the focus/exposure feature. Maybe it was just fluke then?

Just a little concerned that whatever is released in 2-3 weeks might upset it all again. Honestly, I thought it was sorted.

Cheers, J.

Hi @JamesC,

We’ve never officially resolved the issue - we are simply providing a workaround, and this workaround seems to be a success for our iOS users who were experiencing this issue. We’re hoping it will help resolve the issue for our Android users down the line too. The feature has to be enabled manually on our end, so it should not impact you unless you request it.

Cheers,
Christina

1 Like

I’m going to be flying a mapping mission using a DJI Mavic Pro (latest firmware) on a parcel of land that changes elevation by a couple hundred feet at different points. If I leave the camera settings in DD on auto focus and don’t turn on “set focus manually using DJI Go app”, and set the mavic pro to auto focus using the go app, will the mavic change it’s focus point as it flys over terrain that is a different heights. This is a hilly area.

Thanks,

Peter

Hi @peterspero,

If you have still been running into issues with the focus. I would recommend turning on “set focus manually using DJI GO app” then close out the DroneDeploy app and open DJI GO to set the focus to Auto. Once you have carried that out, close the DJI GO app and open the DroneDeploy app and carry out your mission.

Cheers!
Zach

We flew the same mission twice, one year apart. The conditions of lighting and the subject were identical- forested, leaf-off, snow cover, overcast skies. Last year, the resolution was astounding- you could easily see snowshoe prints in the snow, and trees had a high level of detail. This year, the ground is much more blurry and DD seems to have interpreted the canopy differently- trees are more like blurry blobs, rather than just a straight up image.

Is this a setting that I should’ve been able to control? Did we inadvertently try to process the images as a 3d model instead of a 2d map? I don’t recall doing anything differently, which is why we are wondering if DD is using a different technique or setting on their end.

Hi @VTDD,

Can you share some more info about your setup and issue?

  1. What is the make and model of the drone you are flying?
  2. What is the make and model of your mobile device?
  3. Are all of your software and apps up to date?
  4. Is the issue reproducible?

We’ll start with these.

HI Christina, thanks for responding. We fly a Mavic Pro, generally using an iPad Pro. We recently updated the firmware on the Mavic, as well as DJI Go 4, and Drone Deploy.

I noticed it on the two most recent flights we completed. One thing i could do is upload again the photos from one year ago and see if we get a different result?

I’m assuming you can log in to my account. You can look at the project dated January 12, 2017 to see the good one, and the January 11, 2018 (unnamed) to see the recent one that is blobby.

Hi @VTDD,

I moved your thread to this post as you are experiencing the same issue as these other folks. This is currently a known issue we are working on but I’ve had my teammate enable a feature for you just like James has for other users in this thread.

Let me know if this helps!

Cheers,
Christina

Thanks. Do I need to do anything on my end the next time that I fly? Or do I carry on as though nothing has changed?

Thanks, so just to be sure, I should open up the dji go app, set the focus to auto, then close out and open up dronedeploy and set that to “set focus manually using DJI Go app”?

My account was one that had the new feature enabled, but my photos came out blurry on the SD card. I caught this before uploading to DD and wasting a map for the month. Under this flight I tried the process of flying to altitude in DJI Go, setting focus, and then disconnecting controller and reconnecting while using DD. My flight plan had everything set to use the focus in DJI on the DD map settings.

After reading a few more threads, I’m seeing so many different ‘workflows’ that I’m curious if the DD staff has a suggested workflow for setting the focus and exposure. With this new ‘manual feature’ that has been enabled, is the desire to have DD control all settings and leave DJI out of the workflow?

The other item I’ve seen, but not yet attempted, is to use DJI - fly to altitude - focus - then set your focus in DJI from AF to MF. Then disconnect the controller and reconnect under the DD app. Supposedly this has worked for others.

Ultimately - does DD have a suggested workflow at this point in time? If so - please also advise the minimum software version of DD you wish us to be on and preferably which firmware version of the Mavic we should have installed.

EDIT: It also occurred to me I did not check the shutter speed in DJI GO which could have been a very large part of my blurred images.

Thanks!

@fishin33

Thank you for reaching out. Setting the Mavic Pro settings in the DroneDeploy app should suffice. When you calibrate focus in the DroneDeploy app, this should set the focus automatically. You can also set the focus manually in the DJI GO app if you did not want to go through the DroneDeploy workflow. We recommend all users to be on our latest software version which is 2.64.0.

Shutter speed is very important. depending on your flight speed and shutter speed, a slow shutter speed can cause the blurred images. I would recommend setting a lower flight speed if you have to use a low shutter speed due to available light.

Thanks.

Thanks for the reply Yusuf. It appears you are not advising a specific workflow to be the recommended solution since you mentioned allowing DD to handle everything is perfectly fine; but also that DJI could be utilized as well.

One more question - since DD does not present the user with any type of ISO or Shutter Speed settings on the app, will it handle these items if DJI is NOT utilized and we rely on DD to handle everything? Or should the users always set the shutter speed and ISO in DJI before ever launching the DD app?

@fishin33

I would recommend calibrating focus in the DroneDeploy app and to let our app handle the focus. The DD app will set the iso and shutter speed (setting exposure).

Thanks!

Hi @Jamespipe , I am facing difficulties in realizing the focus. I use the IOS system, could you enable focus on dronedeploy for me?

Hi @paranhosfelipe,

I see that this feature is already enabled for you. Can you share a step-by-step process of your flight planning? Can you also verify your drone model?

Keep me posted,
Christina

Hello, my drone is a Mavic PRo.
The 2 photos show my flight planning.

I can send in kml to.

Hello @paranhosfelipe

I can see the calibrate focus function is set for you. Your Mavic will set its focus automatically. There is nothing you would need to do on your part. If you are still having issues with your focus, I would go into the DroneDeploy app and toggle “Set Manually Focus in DJI GO app” and “Set Exposure Manually In DJI GO app” on. Then from there go into the DJI GO app and set your focus and exposure at the desired height of your mission. Once you quit your DJI GO app and open the DroneDeploy app, you focus should be set.

Thanks