I've tried many experiments to take automatic pictures, during twilight, to process into a mosaic, using pix4D. Specifics: Phantom 4 pro, equipped with high powered rugo lights pointed straight down, at an altitude of 30-50', drone deploy w/ dji manual settings ON.  DJI camera Manual settings: ISO= 1600  Aperture= 2.8  Shutter Speed= 1/50 The pix processing fails with a "camera not calibrated' error message.   Any comments or critiques would be greatly appreciated

That sounds like an exercise that's just not going to work for a number of reasons.
Why attempt mapping at night?
Have you tried in daylight with a more appropriate height?

Hello there trooper1. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. Since this is a 3rd party application ( pix4D ) that you are using on your DJI Phantom 4 Pro. I hope that you will get the best recommendation from our fellow DJI co pilots who had used the said application. Just a reminder that DJI does not recommend you to your 3rd party application when flying your DJI Drones. These 3rd party applications might affect the said DJI drone when in use. There is a possibility that these 3rd party applications will be able work. However, since it's not optimized and tested by DJI we cannot guaranteed the stability of the said 3rd party applications if it will work all the time with no issues. Thank you and have a safe flight always.

Labroides Posted at 6-29 16:18
That sounds like an exercise that's just not going to work for a number of reasons.
Why attempt mapping at night?
Have you tried in daylight with a more appropriate height?

the need to optimize low light camera settings

I have years of experience flying mapping missions in daylight. For all you pilots that lack experience doing drone mapping in real world conditions, you likely don't know how difficult it is to launch the phantom in moderate winds on a surface, other than grass.  In the few seconds before the bird fully arms, the wind can blow the craft over and then you have props digging dirt, which can result in both broken props and poss a burned out motor. If anyone knows how to launch a phantom by holding it in the air I'd like to hear it. Of course, many of you will simply, and ignorantly, suggest launching it off a table or tailgate; this is a stupid move for the same reason as launching on the desert floor is risky. The other thing many of you may not understand is that professional UAV pilots only get paid if they produce data.  No data - no wages. Of course this only applies to honest pilots. So, if conditions are excessively windy during daylight hours the pilot's choice is to go in with no data & recieve no wages OR attempt to fly the mapping missions in the early evening or twilight, when the winds have gone down enough to safetly launch the bird. Hence the need to optimize the settings for low light flight, using rugo lights to light the ground.  I have been able to mosaic some low light collections, so there is hope, if I can optimize the ISO, aperture, and shutter speeds.

trooper1 Posted at 6-30 05:54
I have years of experience flying mapping missions in daylight. For all you pilots that lack experience doing drone mapping in real world conditions, you likely don't know how difficult it is to launch the phantom in moderate winds on a surface, other than grass.  In the few seconds before the bird fully arms, the wind can blow the craft over and then you have props digging dirt, which can result in both broken props and poss a burned out motor. If anyone knows how to launch a phantom by holding it in the air I'd like to hear it. Of course, many of you will simply, and ignorantly, suggest launching it off a table or tailgate; this is a stupid move for the same reason as launching on the desert floor is risky. The other thing many of you may not understand is that professional UAV pilots only get paid if they produce data.  No data - no wages. Of course this only applies to honest pilots. So, if conditions are excessively windy during daylight hours the pilot's choice is to go in with no data & recieve no wages OR attempt to fly the mapping missions in the early evening or twilight, when the winds have gone down enough to safetly launch the bird. Hence the need to optimize the settings for low light flight, using rugo lights to light the ground.  I have been able to mosaic some low light collections, so there is hope, if I can optimize the ISO, aperture, and shutter speeds.

If anyone knows how to launch a phantom by holding it in the air I'd like to hear it.
I'm not sure why you can't work out how to hand launch, it's not that difficult.

Of course, many of you will simply, and ignorantly, suggest launching it off a table or tailgate; this is a stupid move for the same reason as launching on the desert floor is risky.
Who are you addressing and calling ignorant?  .. that seems a stupid move too.
And if you want to launch in windy conditions, perhaps after a fer more years experience, you'll work out that you can launch from a spot that's shielded from the wind.
If there's no handy big rock etc, you could do it with a large piece of cardboard or plywood.


attempt to fly the mapping missions in the early evening or twilight, .... Hence the need to optimize the settings for low light flight, using rugo lights to light the ground.  I have been able to mosaic some low light collections, so there is hope, if I can optimize the ISO, aperture, and shutter speeds.
It sounds like something that just isn't going to work.
And even if you managed to get something, it's not going to be anything suitable for presenting to a client.

Do your lights provide even lighting and good exposure?
What about the grain at ISO 1600?  .. How clean and sharp does that look when you stitch the images?
And image sharpness at 1/50th ?
Do the big differences between adjacent images when the height is only 30-50 ft cause stitching problems?

The other thing many of you may not understand is that professional UAV  pilots only get paid if they produce data.  
No data - no wages.
The other thing you may not understand is that you can discuss flying conditions with your client and explain that the mission is subject to having suitable conditions, and reschedule flying for a suitable time.

Of  course this only applies to honest pilots.
?????