This is my second P4. Brand New. Straight out of the Box. With the EXACT same issue- Horizon TILT (see attached images below). With the first one, I tried all sorts of things; Gimbal, Compass & IMU Calibrations but it simply wouldnt work. Took it back to Best Buy. Then got this one. Still the same problem.
It really leaves me wondering whether DJI QC actually fly these birds to thoroughly test them after production. Do they? Or they simply get mass produced, packaged and then shipped out? I have owned my P3 for about 6 Months now. With the camera rolling, I have logged thousands and thousands of joyful miles. NEVER had a single problem. But with these P4's, thats a different story. I just wish it was a different problem that I could simply tolerate and live with. However, I fly my drones only for the Aerial Photography/ Video purpose.
DJI, is there a real solution to this annoying problem? If there is a permanent fix, could you please provide a well detailed step by step procedure and possibly 'sticky' it. I would even pay $$ to get this corrected once and for all. But I guess it will be going back to Best Buy again.

C2+right wheel restores the roll error but if you turn or bank the gimbal will temporarily loose horizontal.
The gimbal needs its own accelerometer tied to camera to be fully independent. Far as I know is not the case. They kind of managed to downgrade the P2 with the P4. Say, you bought two?!

Aloha PK,

     Aside from WindSoul's comment, which is very useful when you need it, have you tried changing the order of calibrations?  In my case, if I do an IMU calibration followed by a gimbal calibration, my gimbal is not level.  But if I do a gimbal calibration followed by an IMU calibration, my camera is quite level.  

     Since your problem appears to be with two P4s, you might want to give it a try.  Please let me know how it goes.

Aloha and Drone On!

Sorry to hear about the issue.
Please try the methods mentioned above, you need put aircraft in a very level surface, turn it on and do IMU calibration as soon as possible. Then calibrate gimbal and adjust roll.
Please let us know the result, thank you.

Cetacean Posted at 2017-2-7 00:56
Aloha PK,

     Aside from WindSoul's comment, which is very useful when you need it, have you tried changing the order of calibrations?  In my case, if I do an IMU calibration followed by a gimbal calibration, my gimbal is not level.  But if I do a gimbal calibration followed by an IMU calibration, my camera is quite level.  

You need decide on order of calibrations, officer. That it works one way and not the other is an embarrassment to say the least. I see two posts ahead of mine claiming exactly the iopposite order of calibration.

Could someone confirm the CORRECT order process for calibration please? From the responses I am getting, I am reading different procedures.....I have a P4
Thanks
-PK

All phantoms have this problem to some degree. Use the c2 and right roll wheel combo to fix horizon tilt

WindSoul Posted at 2017-2-7 07:10
You need decide on order of calibrations, officer. That it works one way and not the other is an embarrassment to say the least. I see two posts ahead of mine claiming exactly the iopposite order of calibration.

Aloha WindSoul,

     Not everything in life is excessively orderly.  Sometimes you have to shoot from the hip and sometimes from the shoulder.  Whenever I write about calibrations, I deliberately do not stress order, in fact I usually say to change the order if it does not work right the first time.  That is because life does not always turn out as anticipated and we sometimes have to change our approach to a problem.

     Flying DJI products requires flexibility.  That is the lesson to be taken from this conversation.  Then there is also to not believe everything you read, but try it at least.

     Finally, there should never be any sort of embarrassment when conversing on the Forum.  I know this flies in the face of East and West culture, but embarrassment interferes with learning.  If you see two different ways to approach a problem, try them both.  If one works, report it, if both do not work report it.  There are way too many variables to get yourself stuck with a single interpretation and resist an alternative approach to the problem.  Just make sure you do not burn out something.

     Eventually you will figure it out and then you can share what you have learned with the other members of the Forum.

Aloha and Drone On!

PKPhantom Posted at 2017-2-7 10:47
Could someone confirm the CORRECT order process for calibration please? From the responses I am getting, I am reading different procedures.....I have a P4
Thanks
-PK

Aloha PK,

     The correct order is the one that works for you, that is if one way or the other works at all.  You just need to know that the order of calibration can have an effect on the final success of the process.  In my case, calibrating the gimbal first, then calibrating the IMU worked best.  It could easily be the opposite for you.  There is no correct way and you are holding yourself back thinking that there would be a correct way.

     You have to approach the problems you experience with your DJI products flexibly.  If I was not flexible, I would probably have had to return my Phantom to DJI so they could fix it.  Is that how you want your problems solved or do you want to solve them yourself?

     My solution was counter-intuitive.  You would think that the last calibration would be the gimbal - sorry, it does not work that way for me and I have done it more than just once.  You have to think outside the box to solve some problems.  Lucky there are not that many problems to solve.

Aloha and Drone On!

UPDATE: I have tried ALL the suggestions on here. Nothing has helped so far. I even called DJI directly. They really wanted me to send it back to them for analysis and warranty repair. Not a chance. There is no way I am waiting for 2 Months turn around.

Anyway, this one is going back to Best Buy tomorrow in the AM. Will pick up my third and FINAL P4. If it still has the 'Horizon Tilt' problem, I will return it immediately and wash my hands of this product. Will never buy it again. I will continue flying my P3 Pro which has been flawless during my entire ownership period.

-PK

UPDATE# 2: I recently got a replacement P4 from Best Buy. This is the THIRD replacement. What I found extremely intriguing is that BEST BUY is really apologetic about my numerous visits to their store but at the same time, they appear not to have so much remorse towards DJI.

Apparently, they are extremely ok with me or pretty any other DJI product customer who returns their quads. Most notably, if the customer's return reason is associated with a 'defective drone'. I asked one of the store managers and I found out that approximately 70% of all DJI product sales end up as returns. He also said, quote to quote....'Very simple, if the item is defective, we initiate a return directly to the manufacturer. Otherwise, if return is deemed non-defective, we still accept the return, re-package the item as refurbished, eat the loss and move on '

Long story short, my third replacement P4 has the EXACT same HORIZON TILT problem. Yup you guessed it.

I am at a loss for words. SMH

PKPhantom Posted at 2017-2-22 22:58
UPDATE# 2: I recently got a replacement P4 from Best Buy. This is the THIRD replacement. What I found extremely intriguing is that BEST BUY is really apologetic about my numerous visits to their store but at the same time, they appear not to have so much remorse towards DJI.

Apparently, they are extremely ok with me or pretty any other DJI product customer who returns their quads. Most notably, if the customer's return reason is associated with a 'defective drone'. I asked one of the store managers and I found out that approximately 70% of all DJI product sales end up as returns. He also said, quote to quote....'Very simple, if the item is defective, we initiate a return directly to the manufacturer. Otherwise, if return is deemed non-defective, we still accept the return, re-package the item as refurbished, eat the loss and move on '

i am sorry for your loss. maybe another advice on calibration, only really useful if you needed it, to quote from classics. judging from this forum, there's in inflation of captains in the world. Officers, whatever.

i think that the gimbals is actually limited in what it does. on my drone if i take large turns, the gimbals work fine, but if i go straight or i bank, then the horizon gets tilted and a i can take a break waiting to recover.

i also think the implementation of gimbals is essentially wrong on P4. the right implementation would be on Karma, where the entire gimbals handle works independently because it has its own IMU. it means that the gimbals adjust to what error on horizontal is read from camera directly, while on P4 the horizontal error of the drone leads to adjusting the camera. If that is the case, then is wrong.

I also said in a previous thread that on overcast days my camera looses horizontal. I was so disgustingly countered at that time (with lack of arguments and direct personal referrals) that even if was wrong in my belief, the only wrong was to be actually there and make my voice heard.

but now is a brand new day. maybe you would like to consider overcast versus normal days and provide an answer to whether the imaging system has something to do with titled cam. Appreciated!

Cetacean Posted at 2017-2-7 00:56
Aloha PK,

     Aside from WindSoul's comment, which is very useful when you need it, have you tried changing the order of calibrations?  In my case, if I do an IMU calibration followed by a gimbal calibration, my gimbal is not level.  But if I do a gimbal calibration followed by an IMU calibration, my camera is quite level.  

thank you for the lecture on flexibility. on that cultural clash versus trying things to death we are in agreement.

if you do IMU calibration first that zeroes the drone. if you follow with gimbals calibration, that should offset the gimbals to gain camera horizontal according to what horizontal means to the drone. in the end the camera should be horizontal.

if you reverse that order of calibration then first you set the camera horizontal according to what horizontal means to the drone, then reset the drone horizontal to a different value. that should render the camera horizontal off. (unless the camera gimballs quietly resets in the background to new horizontal zeroes?)

exactly the opposite of what you claim.

i'm not saying you're not right, only that what you say is against logic.

Disregard if this has been emphasized before, but the IMU and Gimbal calibration MUST be performed an a PERFECTLY level surface. In an area without breezes.   Many including myself, use a thin piece of glass that is perfectly leveled (using thin shims)  in both x and y axis.    Some recommend cooling the phantom prior to the calibration

This might sound dumb, and most of what I say here is dumb but............Try to re-calibrate again,  ONLY...this time........Tilt the drone opposite of the way it is now  and see if that
might level things out.
Just grasping at straws but it sounds like you are and I have lots of straws...
Hope this might work.....worse things happen at sea.   

My first P4 didn't have this, but my second P4 did have a tilted horizon, I was able to adjust the roll and I find its okay now.

Sorry if this is an obvious thing but... are you in Follow rather than FPV mode?

WindSoul Posted at 2017-2-24 12:33
thank you for the lecture on flexibility. on that cultural clash versus trying things to death we are in agreement.

if you do IMU calibration first that zeroes the drone. if you follow with gimbals calibration, that should offset the gimbals to gain camera horizontal according to what horizontal means to the drone. in the end the camera should be horizontal.

Aloha WindSoul,

     Exactly the opposite of what I claim!  That is why I said it is counter-intuitive.  Logic does not work with camera horizons for my P4.  If logic does not work, work around it.  The goal is to reach the destination.

     You can do what you want with your DJI products.  I am not saying you are right or that you are wrong.  I am not saying that I am right or that I am wrong.  I am only saying what works in my case.  And I am saying that if it works for me and the logical approach does not work for you, then do what I did, reverse the process.  

     It is not rocket science and does not take a lot of time.  It does not damage any equipment.  But in my case it worked and continues to work.  As far as I can remember, it does not work on any of my other Phantoms, but it works on my P4.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!