Hi,

I havnt flown my Spark for quite a while. So I took it out of the box, run all the updates and went out for a hike to film the nearest mountain peak.
Seeing the footage at home I am quite shocked to see that strong jittering. I havnt experienced something like that before, whats going on? Firmware update bug?
As I said, everything was fine the time before last time. So it must be cause by the update. Any ideas?

I noticed this too in two of my recent flights. I read somewhere that it is due to flying in low light. I was flying at the time of dusk and the lighting conditions were very similar to what I can see in your video. But unless I fly in proper lighting and check again, I cannot tell for sure if that is actually the case. And just for your information, I have not done any firmware updates lately.

Hey Nilanjan118, thanks for replying. That is really odd, I went through my footage and I have a footage from that day where I recorded the radio tower from low distance when there was more light and there is no jittering. I'll keep an eye out for that next time! Thanks

Hi Koppo,

Unrelated answer: Do not fly near antenna towers. A short impulse of radiation from that tower (they can be very powerful!) is enough to let your bird crash.

Cheers,
Wolferl

Is that the video from the Spark SD card or from the DJI Go 4 app?  Looks low resolution from the DJI Go 4 app - thus maybe the problem with transmission?

Koppo Posted at 4-3 23:35
Hey Nilanjan118, thanks for replying. That is really odd, I went through my footage and I have a footage from that day where I recorded the radio tower from low distance when there was more light and there is no jittering. I'll keep an eye out for that next time! Thanks

Well to be honest, I didn't notice any jittering before my last couple of flights too, even when I was flying at the time of sunrise or sunset. And in fact this is the second thread of this nature I have seen in the last couple of days. But as I said, I have not done any app or firmware updates and so it is really surprising how it suddenly came up. I need to check my old videos and do a few more flights in proper lighting to make sure if that is indeed the reason.

Hello Koppo, I tried another flight just now at the same location and just as I guessed, there was no problem with the video in good lighting conditions. I have made a small clip comparing both days to show you. The jitter in my case is not very prominent as I was flying in a straight line as compared to you doing an orbit around that tower. So my guess is that it has something to do with the electronic image stabilization (EIS) of the Spark, which is there to compensate for the absence of the 3rd axis in the gimbal. It seems that the EIS doesn't work very well in low light causing the jitter in the video.

Hello and good day Koppo. I am sorry for the trouble. May I know what's your setting? You may try to fly your DJI Spark to an open field without wind to check whether the issue remains. Alternatively, please choose M mode, reduce the exposure time and use higher ISO to check. Please give us an update on the said issue for us to help you further. Thank you.

Wolferl Posted at 4-3 23:48
Hi Koppo,

Unrelated answer: Do not fly near antenna towers. A short impulse of radiation from that tower (they can be very powerful!) is enough to let your bird crash.

This is urban legend, not the true!
See this: https://forum.dji.com/thread-160545-1-1.html

These jitters are due to the weakness of the gimball. The Spark gimball is only 2 axes, so the YAW movement is resolved by digital stabilization. You see the effect of this.
She tried to shake the Spark in your hand and see the effect.
Then it seems better to throw the wind, or you turn around with it.

DJI Stephen Posted at 4-4 08:53
Hello and good day Koppo. I am sorry for the trouble. May I know what's your setting? You may try to fly your DJI Spark to an open field without wind to check whether the issue remains. Alternatively, please choose M mode, reduce the exposure time and use higher ISO to check. Please give us an update on the said issue for us to help you further. Thank you.

I will do more testing when the weather gets better. My setting? Several shots with quickshot / orbit, although lately it seems the Spark struggles to keep the target centered in the shot when circling around it, it always makes those unpleasant big corrections. The other shots were shot manually, with sticks. Camera mode AUTO.
As you guys say, it seems the imagestabilization is the cause... Because this only happens in horizontal side movement ...

Koppo Posted at 4-4 23:26
I will do more testing when the weather gets better. My setting? Several shots with quickshot / orbit, although lately it seems the Spark struggles to keep the target centered in the shot when circling around it, it always makes those unpleasant big corrections. The other shots were shot manually, with sticks. Camera mode AUTO.
As you guys say, it seems the imagestabilization is the cause... Because this only happens in horizontal side movement ...

Thank you for the additional inputs and information Koppo. Please keep us posted on the said situation for us to be able to help you further. Thank you.

mountain wave turbulence if not it's capturing strange paranormal activity

Wolferl Posted at 4-3 23:48
Hi Koppo,

Unrelated answer: Do not fly near antenna towers. A short impulse of radiation from that tower (they can be very powerful!) is enough to let your bird crash.

This is not true. I have the same problem and I never fly near towers.

B10K PlaysGames Posted at 4-5 18:15
This is not true. I have the same problem and I never fly near towers.

Hi,

Read carefully, I wrote "unrelated answer". It was meant as a general hint to avoid antenna or dish towers.

Cheers,
Wolferl

Wolferl Posted at 4-8 23:32
Hi,

Read carefully, I wrote "unrelated answer". It was meant as a general hint to avoid antenna or dish towers.

Oh ok, I understand.