Hello everybody!Balancing is done properly ( I'm ex-Zhiyun Crane user ), autotune at medium level. Calibration gives me "Excellent" on all axes. If I tilt or pan and return it to the center, the camera never really returns to the same position. I have to double click the trigger to recenter it again. Tried with both heavy and light setups and different response modes. It returnes to the center position only in Sports mode... Any adwise would be highly appreciated. I have a paid shoot in 4 days and thinking of returning Ronin S and getting Crane 2 back as I know this gimbal inside out and know how to cope it's issues.

I am in the exact same boat. After any movement, the gimbal needs to be recentered every time

I have the same problem, coming from a Zhiyun Crane V2, I have a paying shoot this weekend and have been practicing with the Ronin S. It will not return to center after a pan. I have tried everything including setting the Deadband to 0 and Sensitivity to 100 in the Smooth Track Pan settings but only double tapping the trigger gets it to center.

With the Crane, all I had to do was complete a pan and it would return to center if it was in the proper mode. I have a big real estate gig this weekend and this will not work for me. Even the slightest adjustment after a pan is very obvious in the footage due to all of the straight lines in a typical property when shooting the interior.

Is there any way to fix this? I will need to return it and get a Crane 2 if this is not fixed. There should be a setting somewhere to turn on this feature.

I did some more testing and the tilt axis is the same way. If  you turn on smooth track for the tilt axis, after tilting up or down it does not return to center. It seems to pick a random place to stop tilting and only double tapping the trigger returns it to center. I think this could be a useful mode in some situations but I definitely thing there should be a "return to center" option within the SmoothTrack settings. This is critical for real estate gigs. I absolutely love all of the other features and truly hope DJI listens and adds this setting.

Same problem here... |= (

Hi all, sorry for my late response and the troubles with the Ronin-S. Please try the following steps to see if it works.
1. Push and pull the joystick several times to change the axis’s position if it is not centered, stop operating the joystick after the axis arm is in the centered position.
2. Press and hold the joint angle in the app for about 6 seconds to start the joint angle calibration. Then click “OK”.

djiuser_UX26gGKrEFvs Posted at 11-9 14:06
Same problem here... |= (

Hi there sorry for the troubles with Ronin-S, please check my post in 6# and have a try, thank you.

Hi DJI...I have called the customer service center multiple times with this same issue, that after a pan or tilt, the Ronin-S does not return to center.  I tried Mindy's tip and it does not work.  I have also tried many Smoothtrack variations and cannot get it to work anywhere near how my Osmo works.  I think something is wrong with my Ronin-S as it has never worked properly since day 1.  Please help me as I've not been able to use this unit.  Thanks!

Hi,
I have this exact same issue. I sent it back to be repaired and waited for 2 weeks. It came back just the same!
I am very disapointed as my much cheaper gimbal did the job properly.
DJI you need to fixe this problem. It ruines many shoots.
(FYI, I had done 6# setting)

DJI Mindy Posted at 11-9 22:55
Hi all, sorry for my late response and the troubles with the Ronin-S. Please try the following steps to see if it works.
1. Push and pull the joystick several times to change the axis’s position if it is not centered, stop operating the joystick after the axis arm is in the centered position.
2. Press and hold the joint angle in the app for about 6 seconds to start the joint angle calibration. Then click “OK”.

Mindy, this procedure is to fix the double trigger when it didn't go to center. The problem related here for everybody (me included) is that if I turn my fist, the gimbal goes do this direction, when I turn back the gimbal doesn't go back to the initial position that supposed to be In the center.

That's why we have to press the trigger twice or twist even more the fist to point the camera to the center and keep the shot smooth.

Let me explain the logic of how SmoothTrack works.

We allow the user to set a deadband which is a window in which the gimbal doesn't react to your movements. For simplicity's sake, we'll use values and make them equal to degrees. We'll set a deadband of 30. This means if you perform a panning motion, and rotate 30 degrees left and 30 degrees right, the camera won't follow your movement. Once you get past 30 degrees one way, the camera will start to SmoothTrack or follow your movement.

With a setting of 30, SmoothTrack is only activated when you go past this deadband window of 30 degrees. Once the movement/camera has caught up, SmoothTrack stops following. This isn't a random position. It's when the gimbal has caught up and it enters back into the beginning of this deadband window. The larger your deadband, the more apparent this will be. Now if you set a smaller deadband of say 0, it will follow and look like it appears much closer to center when you stop your movement. However, with such a small deadband, movements beyond 0 degree may result in an unprovoked follow motion.

DJI-Paul Posted at 11-20 02:51
Let me explain the logic of how SmoothTrack works.

We allow the user to set a deadband which is a window in which the gimbal doesn't react to your movements. For simplicity's sake, we'll use values and make them equal to degrees. We'll set a deadband of 30. This means if you perform a panning motion, and rotate 30 degrees left and 30 degrees right, the camera won't follow your movement. Once you get past 30 degrees one way, the camera will start to SmoothTrack or follow your movement.

Perfect explanation. Thank you!

The explanation is perfect  and logical BUT it still does not assist Ronin S in returning to center point like OTHER GIMBALS do!  This logic works only to certain extent. For example I have a perfect framing/blocking for my shot. I do the move and it stops before, ruining the shot and taking me extra time to figure out what Deadband I need in current situation in order to achieve desired results. I get the DJI loigic but I compare it with my experience of using Tilta and Zhiyun. See the shot that is attached. In circumstances that we had when each additional moment wasted on figuring out the Deadband behavior costs twice  the price of Ronin S, we decided to swith to Zhiyun Crane 2 cos Ronin S just wouldn't be smooth enough with small Deadband angle and with big Deadband angle it wouldn't get the ending of the shot properly. What I feel is that other gimbals IGNORE Deadband on return to center. If DJI thinks that this is the proper logic then at least add option to the menu "Ignore Deadband on Return" so that people who prefer different behavior can use it as well. I wonder what will happen first. Will DJI recognize this as an issue and adjust without trying to explain their logic or I'll manage to sell my Ronin S.  I'm writing it because I know that quite few people complained about it on this forum, local filmmaking forums, Facebook and in personal communication with DJI support ( like I did ). After all that in the period of 3 months, all we get is explanation of the logic instead of addressing the issue.  

Here is the video that I was talking about in previous post

Hi,
Exactly same situation here. Very very annoying...  

Now that we are done with understanding that DJI logic is not working for everybody, it would be good to hear from company reps if they are planning to address it in nearest future or should people ( including myself ) sell it and advise against purchasing Ronin S anybody who is ever gonna ask???

Totally agree with "vladidj"
I am really unsatisfied with this situation, DJ team you need to fixe this!
I am about to sell it as I struggle at every shooting!

I am on board with VladiDJ:
DJI you absolutely need to give users the choice on how the gimbal makes the decision on this matter,
As VladiDJ put it :  "at least add option to the menu "Ignore Deadband on Return" so that people who prefer different behavior can use it as well"
let's go thx!

I just received my Ronin-S back from DJI who diagnosed the issue and said my pan and tilt motors needed to be replaced to fix the issue of not returning to center.  However, it came back THE SAME as when I sent it in, still not functioning as expected.  Also, they, for some reason not explained replaced my battery grip with a new one.  DJI I will be calling you to address this...as in, is the unit malfunctioning, or actually is not performing as expected, which others are stating as "ignoring deadband on return", which is what the cheaper Osmo does, and what we all want the Ronin-S to do and why we bought it.

This is a video I shot today 12/4/2018 showing an extreme example and then a less extreme example (after a double trigger tap) back to back in 2 tests of how the Ronin-S loses center and joint angle.  Plus video shows before and after screens of joint angle.  vimeo.com/304485780/48828da5b7

@Kaymyster I've watched your video and have to say that this is much much worse situation than my unit... It looks like there is a mechanical failure with the motors and not "DJI Logic" in action.
I my opinion, RONIN S users are falling into a very niche category from DJI point of view. The failure in performance  of RONIN S does not require immediate attention because it does not threaten their main business which is Drones. If there was a failure with controls of Mavic, Phantom or Inspire they would definitely take care of it immediately as it can cause damage to third party and Aviation Authorities can simply ban usage of drones. Also issues with Osmo Pocket that was just announced would be fixed immediately. It is cheap, mass consumer product and if it fails to operate properly, DJI would loose much more money in sales the it would loose in sales of failing RONIN S. In my situation DJI has achieved the goal. They succeeded in selling me their product. The rest is history.  I'm writing all that so that people understand that waiting for adequate support on RONIN S is same like waiting for Second Coming. If you bought it, try to sell it. If you are thinking of buying it then get yourself MOZA AIR 2. It is basically a copy of RONIN S with few minor advantages, first being - IT WORKS, second - no need in splashing extra cash on batteries and on gimbal control units.

Kaymyster Posted at 12-4 10:14
I just received my Ronin-S back from DJI who diagnosed the issue and said my pan and tilt motors needed to be replaced to fix the issue of not returning to center.  However, it came back THE SAME as when I sent it in, still not functioning as expected.  Also, they, for some reason not explained replaced my battery grip with a new one.  DJI I will be calling you to address this...as in, is the unit malfunctioning, or actually is not performing as expected, which others are stating as "ignoring deadband on return", which is what the cheaper Osmo does, and what we all want the Ronin-S to do and why we bought it.

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Here's my steps taken so far:
1) Contacted DJI via phone 3 times
2) Sent unit in for warranty service
3) Unit returned to me with pan/tilt motors replaced
4) Unit still malfunctioning
5) Emailed DJI who requested videos and screenshots of joint angle malfunction
6) Sent all info to DJI
7) DJI now requesting screenshots of my firmware (which is completely up to date)
8) TBD

Here's an additional video of a less extreme version of the malfunction: vimeo.com/304923873

Here's are the 2 links to videos of the malfunction I've sent to DJI:

Video 01


Video 02

DJI, we really need a fix for this reentering issue. This is one of the most basic features of a gimbal.. Please address ASAP..

Guys, we have to keep posting here to keep the topic on top of the forum threads. Another happy camper: https://forum.dji.com/thread-174261-1-1.html

This is how mine behaves and as far as I know always has, surly all it need is a button "return to centre", as said by others, when you turn the gimbal towards the subject you expect the camera to end up back in the centre (where it started) regardless of the deadband setting no? I don't mind how it is for what I shoot right now but its annoying to say the least! Rather than turning your hand back to a normal forward facing posture you always have to take great care watching the monitor/back of camera to be sure you have ended up facing forwards or the Ronin will just stop short of facing forwards... :S Quite strange when you think about it.

DJI, please add an option so the Ronin centeres it self after its moved?

I think I just found an actual solution! In the smooth track pan menu put the sensitivity to 100 in the custom mode,  put deadband to 0 and  speed to 100.  Repeat for tilt. Seems to do the trick.Let me know if this works for anyone else

markt99 Posted at 12-10 12:38
I think I just found an actual solution! In the smooth track pan menu put the sensitivity to 100 in the custom mode,  put deadband to 0 and  speed to 100.  Repeat for tilt. Seems to do the trick.Let me know if this works for anyone else

Hi markt99, do you work for DJI?  Below is the email today they sent me after analyzing my videos I posted above, saying I should set pan/tilt/roll smoothtrack to ON, headband at 0 and sensitivity at 100.  But do you know what happens when you create that setting?  The gimbal on pan/tilt becomes very stiff with little movement, and then on the roll, any left/right roll is picked up by the gimbal and translated into the shot causing an issue.  With all that said...my gimbal is still NOT returning to center even with their recommended settings.  Note how the email says the performance of the Ronin-S is based on the user, despite my video examples clearly demonstrating a malfunction.

Email from DJI 12/11/2018

"Thank you for getting back to us.

Our Senior engineers run some test and observe your video carefully, the performance of Ronin-S is actually base on filming ability of the user.  May we know if you have tried to follow the setting we have provided? If yes could you please send us a quick video showing the same performance even the setting of smooth track was already adjusted so we could show it to our engineers.

Under Smooth Track option turn on all the Smooth Track of all Axis Pan, Tilt and Roll. Set the the Speed and Sensitivity to 100 and 0 for the Deadband.

After doing everything and still no changes at all you can request to send it back again to our repair facility for further checking just include the old case number for reference.

Looking forward hearing from you soon."

Kaymyster Posted at 12-11 19:45
Hi markt99, do you work for DJI?  Below is the email today they sent me after analyzing my videos I posted above, saying I should set pan/tilt/roll smoothtrack to ON, headband at 0 and sensitivity at 100.  But do you know what happens when you create that setting?  The gimbal on pan/tilt becomes very stiff with little movement, and then on the roll, any left/right roll is picked up by the gimbal and translated into the shot causing an issue.  With all that said...my gimbal is still NOT returning to center even with their recommended settings.  Note how the email says the performance of the Ronin-S is based on the user, despite my video examples clearly demonstrating a malfunction.

Email from DJI 12/11/2018

Hey, I don’t work for DJI, I’m a working cameraman and I’m not sure I like your tone. I came on this forum with same bloody problem as everybody else, the S not returning to center. My Ronin worked perfectly for the first few weeks and only started this behavior in the last few days. I also did the firmware upgrade so maybe there’s a connection. Love or hate it this solution is working for me and now it’s centering perfectly. I suspect there are a few different issues going on here, but knock off the talk of me being some kind of company shill or we will have a problem.

After lots of testing, I can see that the recommended DJI settings cause a lot of issues (mainly the movement is too stiff, especially the roll with all smoothtrack set to 0 deadband and 100 sensitivity).  The settings from their email above.  So I started with their settings, then made parameter adjustments.  Here's my steps and some screenshots.  My goal has been to get the Ronin-S to perform as close to the Osmo as possible.  It's not perfect.  But it's better.  Here's the info:

Step 1: Balance
Perform balance calibration and achieve excellent results on all 3.

Step 2: Joint Angle
-Set the Ronin-S on a level surface.  Double tap the trigger, or use the joystick to perfectly center the gimbal.
-Perform the joint angle calibration by going to motor parameters, advanced options, hold down on joint angle for 6 seconds to calibrate and hit ok.

Step 3: Smoothtrack (I have PUSH turned off for all 3 motors) And I started by customizing the User 1 setting.  Meaning the green light on the Ronin-S is on "1"
-Pan (Speed=Medium, Deadband=-, Sensitivity=100) Note that changing speed to low makes return to center slow, and high makes it fast.  Lowering sensitivity will reduce the chances it will return to center.
-Tilt (Speed=High, Deadband=0, Sensitivity=100)
-Roll (Smoothtrack is off)  DJI recommends this to be on at 0 headband and 100 sensitivity.  But this will create a visual roll in your shots and feel like you're on a rocking ship.  That is no good.  This must stay off.  However, make sure to not roll to hard or the roll arm can hit the pan arm.

What I've noticed with these settings is that the Ronin-S is performing pretty smoothly and coming close to returning to center.  It's not perfect but it's better than it was.  And it's not as smooth as advertised, but that's also better than it was too with these settings.  But FOR SURE, the DJI presets (1,2,3) are bad that they ship the Ronin-S with...bad as in do not perform normally.  

Now...I believe somehow you can set the roll motor parameters somehow to not roll so far as to hit the pan arm, but I'm not sure how at the moment.  I hope this helps as I've been having serious issues with this piece of equipment and I own a production company with a huge gear inventory.  This is by far the most finicky piece of gear that, unlike other DJI products did not work out of the box.

@Kaymyster Thank you for such a thorough testing and trying. For you as the owner of the production company it should be especially obvious that that is not a run and gun tool which gimbals are supposed to be. If one wants to play with settings and adjustments there is RONIN MX or MOVI. In comparison with RONIN S, ZHYIUN CRANE 2 or MOZA AIR 2 just work right out of the box. The ONLY advantage that RONIN S has on other gimbals is slightly more premium look. My advise stays the same. If you need gimbal that works DO NOT BUY RONIN S.

My ronin s gets off center too. It’s annoying me. I have to double trigger to reset it.

Expensive piece to have this issue. It’s very noticeable.

Any fixes planned?

Hi, got my Ronin-S two weeks ago. Same thing here, this issue is absolutely impracticle and far away from any Kind of condition on a set!!
!!! PLEASE DJI, IT'S ONLY A FIRMWARE-FIX, PLEASE MAKE OUR DAY !!!  

Is there a TL;DR for this? I got around my roll axis getting off balance by increasing its deadband to high. Now when I pan and tilt it doesn't somehow roll to one side for some reason.

Hello all, I have the same issue, I opened a ticket with DJI, got the same runaround, returned the first Ronin S then bought another one (stupid me) since it would be faster than trying to get the first one repaired; now I am stuck with the second one since it is past the return window.

I honestly dread using the Ronin S for anything, there is always something wrong with it;

1- Bluetooth is a struggle to get it to connect, I have to start the app then turn on and off Bluetooth a few times before it will even see the Ronin S

2- Ronin S loses settings occasionally so right in the middle of a wedding I go to use it and it is flopping all over the place like a dead fish because the deadband settings have reverted back to default

3- The not returning to center problem that everyone else has is the absolute worst. I truly think every single YouTuber pushing this product is a paid sponsor because not one of them discuss this issue AT ALL. When I shoot real estate (many straight lines, precise movements needed) I have to shoot every scene twice now; once with the monopod and once with the Ronin because I never know what mood it will be in that day. I have my Deadband set to 0, Sensitivity High, and Speed High, but as everyone else has mentioned, this translates into too stiff movement and a lot of unusable footage. I have to shoot everything at 60FPS and slow it down in post to hide how bad this gimbal is.

I had a Crane V2 and it was fantastic, but my GH5 setup was pushing its weight limits so I had to take it out of the cage each time to fit on the Crane, that is the only reason I upgraded to the Ronin S. I am seriously thinking about cutting my loses and getting the Crane 2 or 3.

All DJI has to do is add a setting (always return to center) and let us assign that setting on a per profile basis and this nice gimbal will become truly great. I have a music video shoot coming up and truly have no idea if I should risk it with this gimbal or take the plunge and get a Crane.

This is a serious issue. One should not need to guess where the pan motor will stop.

+1 for Deadband=0 not being Responsive enough.
I've mentioned this in other and earlier posts, this certainly isn't a user error and needs a fix.
Suggesting to use 'Sensitivity=100' as a workaround is plainly trying to cover up the obvious, that smoothtrack transition from standstill to movement and return to original position is just not smooth and accurate.   /edit: just experimenting with higher Stiffness and Strenght values for smoother operation. whilst early results are promising for better 'more immediate' response (orbit), borderline operation can result in quite some violent gimbal reaction (including face-forward reset)