My company recently purchased an M300RTK system complete with the L1 and P1 payloads and the D-RTK 2 base station. I am a land surveyor and I have been performing photogrammetry with DJI systems (phantoms and inspires) for over 5 years with great results and have over 20 years of photography experience. I was very excited to get my hands on the P1 and to start utilizing LiDAR with the L1 but have encountered some severe issues with the implementation of these 2 systems as well as the flight controller DJI PILOT and am hoping that bringing these to the forum will get DJI to take note and make some changes with future firmware updates. If you share any of these opinions, please share your thoughts here so they know I am not alone in my thinking! I'll list my concerns below by the payload with an explanation/description below each numbered point.

  

Zenmuse L1
1. IMU Calibration is not available during a Terrain Following mission.
I am based in western Washington State, USA and the terrain here is never flat. Terrain following is an absolute necessity for nearly every project we have to ensure proper coverage and overlap is achieved. DJI states that an IMU calibration should be performed every 1000m or 100 seconds of flight to ensure the best results but it is not possible during terrain following missions. This means I perform the calibration before the flight plan and after but there is no option to pause the mission and perform a calibration again during a mission covering a large area. There should be an option to enable IMU calibration during the terrain following mode even if it is something that requires a manual pause of the mission and calibration with a resume option after.

2. Terrain following is not available during a Corridor Mapping mission.
Again Terrain following is a necessity, not a nice option. To exclude it from corridor missions is insane and completely removes the corridor mission feature from my use and I'm sure many other users. Not having the ability to use the corridor mission type means I have to manually create separate flight paths for each segment of a corridor that is at a different angle, which leads to having multiple point clouds and trajectory files with no good way to combine them into one cohesive point cloud and trajectory file for editing as a whole for processing. Even if I load all of the multiple files into DJI Terra and process them together, Terra spits them out as separate files which complicates processing in Terrascan as they don't have an option to import more than 1 file set at a time.

3. LiDAR data is collected at all times during a Terrain Following mission, even during turns.
During an IMU Calibration flight the L1 stops collecting data during the turns and only collects data on the straight portions of the flight lines. This is not the case for terrain following missions as LiDAR data is collected during the entire flight from the start point to the end point. This leads to extremely noisey and inaccurate point clouds and creates the need to manually filter out all that data collected during turns and any navigational flight lines. There should be an option to only collect data during the planned flight lines and not during the entire route. This would greatly improve data accuracy and reduce the noise in the raw point cloud.

  
  

4. No option to set forward overlap or use DNG instead of jpeg format images while using LiDAR "RGB coloring" mode.

  

Not being able to set a desired forward overlap is a crippling miss. If there is a need to fall back on photogrammetry, we should be able to set this parameter to ensure we get enough data to perform quality photogrammetric processes. As it is I can not even find any documentation as to what it is set at as a default. This should be added as a slider in the advanced settings. Furthermore, using DNG format files is a necessity for quality photogrammetry when using a sensor like the 1" sensor in the L1 due to the increased dynamic range when compared to the overly compressed and processed jpegs. Not being able to select that as an option is very disappointing and should be addressed.

I realize that these issues are all primarily flight controller based but only apply to the L1 payload.

5. The Sensor is scanning slightly off center by about 5% implying that it is not facing at a true 90 degrees/Nadir(straight down) orientation.

Upon processing the point cloud and isolating the individual flight lines I have noticed that the right side(when the drone is traveling forward) is scanning further than the left. For example, at an altitude of 250' AGL the swath right of the flight line extends to about 245 feet from the flight line while the swath to the left of the flight line only extends to about 209 feet from the flight line. This implies that the sensor is not oriented at a true nadir or straight down position and is instead pointing slightly to the right. This needs to be addressed as the overlap is affected. It should be notede that during a mission with a setting of 70% overlap I AM seeing a 70% overlap on the short sides and over a 80% overlap on the long sides of the swath. This would imply that this off center orientation is being taken into account with the overlap settings but seems like it would be more efficient use of flight time if the swath was centered and overlap would be identical on all sides of the flight lines. I am curious to see if any other users of the L1 have noticed a similar situation or if this is specific to my sensor/payload.

  
  

Zenmuse P1
1. EV (exposure) meter does not correspond to the DNG files.

There is no replacement for using manual camera settings when it comes to photogrammetry. Using automatic camera settings is often the difference between getting quality repeatable results vs getting questionable, unreliable and inaccurate results in your 3D data reconstructions and outputs. being able to accurately monitor your exposure as it applies to your raw DNG files is beyond critical. For some reason the EV meter corresponds to the JPEG files but not the DNG files. When I exposed based on the EV meter and the preview on the screen my settings had me under exposed by about -0.7 EV. However, when I downloaded my DNG files they are over exposed by nearly 1.5 EV. meaning there is a 2-stop difference between the DNG and JPEG files. This makes no sense and is not something I have encountered in ANY of the many phantoms, inspires and even mavics I have used for years. This is nothing I have seen in any of the cameras I have used in the past 20 years. Typically, the exposures of the DNG vs JPEG files are nearly identical with the main differences being increased dynamic range in the DNG files as well as zero compression and a "flatter" color profile. I have never seen such a drastic difference in exposure results and this leads me to believe there is some sort of darkening algorithm being applied to the JPEG files during the internal processing. Why? This should not be the case and it leaves me with no way to correctly set my exposure for DNG files.

  
  

2. All smart camera features have been stripped from the system.

  

There are no options to utilize any of the photo modes found on DJI's consumer offerings. My typical workflow includes performing a 360 panorama above every project site to give its surroundings context. This mode has not been included in the P1 system for some reason. Why would DJI strip away features found in consumer level drones out of an Enterprise system that we are paying 3 times (or more) the price for. These photo modes should be added to the feature modes, if anything we should get more options than the consumer level offerings.  

  
  

3. Camera aperture has been limited to only a few options.

  

When setting the f-stop of the camera lens it goes from f2.8 to f4 to f5. 6....What happened to all the stops in between. Even the L1 has the option of using f3, f3.2, f3.5 and so on. Why would this not be the case on such a vastly superior camera system?

  
  

4. Video settings have been stripped down to only 2 options.

  

Setting up to do a fly over inspection of a site I was baffled when I could only select 4k/30fps or 1080p/30fps. Why would DJI strip away the ability to utilize 720p and 2.7k resolutions? Why would DJI strip away the ability to utilize industry standard 24fps and 25fps frame rates, why wouldn't they offer 60fps at lower resolutions? It doesn’t make sense to have such an awesome camera sensor and strip away all the features that would make it useful.

  
  

I'm sure I will encounter more issues but this is what I have for now. Please let me know your thought or if I have missed a way to accomplish any of these things. I recognize that I am new to these 2 systems so if there is a way to accomplish any of this, I would love to hear ideas.

  

Thank you!

Interesting. I only have the H20T and P1 but I do agree that DJI is holding back camera options for the P1. One of the most capable cameras on the market when looking at the spec sheet but I think some of the video settings are being dictated by the internals of the camera and the lens it uses.  DJI only claimed it was a great mapping camera. If you look at the spec sheet the 35mm lens is the only one you can use to record 4K/60 video. Not sure if you are using one of the other two lenses they offer.  I just checked all the possible settings for the P1 using the 35mm and nothing has changed from the first time I used it. The aperture range is 2.8 thru 16. Video settings are 4K @ 60fps. Don't see why they couldn't include 24 or 25fps. I've never seen the option for a 30fps video. Everything else seems normal. I do agree with your comments about exposure. I will test the JPEG vs DNG exposure issue you are having. I agree that auto settings will not get the best pictures, you must use manual mode. The question is, are you using the radio or an external tablet?  After the last update, I had a few settings NOT available but once I opened the mapping program I then went back to the manual flight mode, rebooted, everything was back to normal. DJI has not released the APK for the latest Pilot app, which doesn't make sense. I copied the latest  APK off the radio and installed it on my tablet. Seems to be working fine and I have all the new features now available on the tablet. Haven't had time to test the new pano option. I think that is for only the H20 camera. Don't understand why the P1 could not be included. What a great pano that would be! I'll do some testing this weekend. Thanks for your comments.

Dear Jesse. My company recently purchased an M300RTK system complete with the L1 and P1 payloads and the D-RTK 2 base station as you. I'm having trouble using the "terrain follow" in a non-4G area. Since you seem to have experience I would like to ask you a couple of things. After programming the flight and starting the work, the drone ends up lowering until it almost touches the ground during the flight. I think that either the kml or the map does not incorporate well (we have tried both), or the base station does not work correctly. What is your opinion? What do you think we can try? also I would like to know which is the tool you use and recommend to filter the echoes of the Lidar. Thanks in advance. carles

mikes1 Posted at 10-29 05:57
Interesting. I only have the H20T and P1 but I do agree that DJI is holding back camera options for the P1. One of the most capable cameras on the market when looking at the spec sheet but I think some of the video settings are being dictated by the internals of the camera and the lens it uses.  DJI only claimed it was a great mapping camera. If you look at the spec sheet the 35mm lens is the only one you can use to record 4K/60 video. Not sure if you are using one of the other two lenses they offer.  I just checked all the possible settings for the P1 using the 35mm and nothing has changed from the first time I used it. The aperture range is 2.8 thru 16. Video settings are 4K @ 60fps. Don't see why they couldn't include 24 or 25fps. I've never seen the option for a 30fps video. Everything else seems normal. I do agree with your comments about exposure. I will test the JPEG vs DNG exposure issue you are having. I agree that auto settings will not get the best pictures, you must use manual mode. The question is, are you using the radio or an external tablet?  After the last update, I had a few settings NOT available but once I opened the mapping program I then went back to the manual flight mode, rebooted, everything was back to normal. DJI has not released the APK for the latest Pilot app, which doesn't make sense. I copied the latest  APK off the radio and installed it on my tablet. Seems to be working fine and I have all the new features now available on the tablet. Haven't had time to test the new pano option. I think that is for only the H20 camera. Don't understand why the P1 could not be included. What a great pano that would be! I'll do some testing this weekend. Thanks for your comments.

Thanks for the input Mike! It would be a pity if they can't unlock more of this cameras potential. I am using the Enterprise smart controller and have not yet experimented with using an external tablet. I have only taken the P1 up for the single test flight and was using the 24mm. There is a chance I was remembering the frame rate incorrectly so I will check that on Monday as well as swapping lenses and seeing if any options change with the 35mm. The video settings are less of a real issue and more of an annoyance. The photo settings, lack of intermediate apertures and incorrect exposure metering are the real problems with the P1 for me. Maybe they're not present with the 35mm so I will test that and report back.

carles.raimat@g Posted at 10-29 11:38
Dear Jesse. My company recently purchased an M300RTK system complete with the L1 and P1 payloads and the D-RTK 2 base station as you. I'm having trouble using the "terrain follow" in a non-4G area. Since you seem to have experience I would like to ask you a couple of things. After programming the flight and starting the work, the drone ends up lowering until it almost touches the ground during the flight. I think that either the kml or the map does not incorporate well (we have tried both), or the base station does not work correctly. What is your opinion? What do you think we can try? also I would like to know which is the tool you use and recommend to filter the echoes of the Lidar. Thanks in advance. carles

I have not had any trouble with the terrain following function besides not being able to calibrate the IMU as much as recommended during the mission. I only had one flight that was in a poor 4G coverage area but I had already loaded the mission onto the controller and cached the map imagery at the office before leaving for the project. Properly preparing the DSM file is important, here is a tutorial from Arotas for the procedure https://www.aerotas.com/phantom-4-rtk-terrain-awareness it works well for data based in the US. I am using Terrascan to process the results after preprocessing the point cloud and trajectory in DJI Terra. Terrascan is offering an offshoot of their main program for free with the purchase of the L1 until 2023 and it works well once you wrap your head around the interface but some processes could definitely be improved upon. I’m finding that the raw point cloud out of Terra is very thick and full of noise before refining it Terrascan but good data is achievable!

I have just purchased the P1 35mm lens and mounted and activated it yesterday, only to find that when the camera has finished calibrating, it is not centered and points at an angle to the right as you look at the camera. For a camera and platform that is so expensive this should not happen. What, if any, have I done wrong, besides adjusting the yaw angle to get closer to the centre, is there a fix? I have no problem with the H20T

Hi, there. Thanks for your advice. We have forwarded it to our designated teams. Please kindly know that. Your voice is really important for us. Really appreciate your support.

djiuser_s15q2ORRSizc Posted at 10-31 21:55
I have just purchased the P1 35mm lens and mounted and activated it yesterday, only to find that when the camera has finished calibrating, it is not centered and points at an angle to the right as you look at the camera. For a camera and platform that is so expensive this should not happen. What, if any, have I done wrong, besides adjusting the yaw angle to get closer to the centre, is there a fix? I have no problem with the H20T

That is a very strange problem and is one I have not experienced so unfortunately I don't have a solution for you. If it was me I would head out for a test flight to see if the gimbal is doing this in flight. I would take off from a marked location(say a landing pad or even an X marked with paint) and go straight up(without any other movement) to about 100-200 feet high and then set my gimbal to -90 degrees so it's pointing straight down(or should be) and take a picture to see if the take off location is centered or if it way off to one side. If it is centered I think the gimbal is functioning correctly. If it is way off to one side then you know you have a gimbal calibration problem.

DJI Wanda Posted at 10-31 23:14
Hi, there. Thanks for your advice. We have forwarded it to our designated teams. Please kindly know that. Your voice is really important for us. Really appreciate your support.

Thank you for the response, it's nice to know someone from DJI is listening. Please tell the team that they can reach out to me directly for more details if needed.

djiuser_s15q2ORRSizc Posted at 10-31 21:55
I have just purchased the P1 35mm lens and mounted and activated it yesterday, only to find that when the camera has finished calibrating, it is not centered and points at an angle to the right as you look at the camera. For a camera and platform that is so expensive this should not happen. What, if any, have I done wrong, besides adjusting the yaw angle to get closer to the centre, is there a fix? I have no problem with the H20T

First, I absolutely agree with JesseG about the M300/P1 combination...

Magnificent platform and camera held back by what seem to be oversights in software.

My main complaint is still that the P1 only has once chance for a autofocus per mapping mission, and if that happens to be over water, there is no autofocus and the entire mission is wasted. The big problem is that you don't know the mission was wasted until you get back and can look at the images on a large screen.

With respect to the off-center P1 gimbal, I've never encountered that either, but stumbled across a "Gimbal Calibration" process in the flight setting under the little camera icon.

Maybe that would help?

JesseG I commiserate fully. Please let us know if you hear back from anyone at DJI on this matter. Many of us have grown quite used to posting our issues here and having the mods assure us that they are being relayed to "their teams", only to never hear from them again. It would be great if you do get some response and can help them work out some of the many bugs and limitations in this kit.

Hi JesseG,

I have exactly the same list of issues, please let me know if DJI ever comes back to you with a solution.

Also just to add to your list though, when doing a terrain follow mission the drone drastically slows and sometimes stops when changing elevation as opposed to transitioning smoothly and at a steady speed. This greatly reduces mission efficiency. It would be great if this problem could be resolved to transition smoothly and at a steady velocity,

DJI Wanda Posted at 10-31 23:14
Hi, there. Thanks for your advice. We have forwarded it to our designated teams. Please kindly know that. Your voice is really important for us. Really appreciate your support.

DJI Wanda, because no DJI rep has commented on the horrible braking issues with the M300 could you look at this post or pass it to someone that can comment on this issue? Sorry everyone for injecting another issue into this post but it seems DJI is ignoring another post and there are many pilots that would love some help ASAP.
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php? ... D564%26typeid%3D564

mikes1 Posted at 12-1 06:03
DJI Wanda, because no DJI rep has commented on the horrible braking issues with the M300 could you look at this post or pass it to someone that can comment on this issue? Sorry everyone for injecting another issue into this post but it seems DJI is ignoring another post and there are many pilots that would love some help ASAP.
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=237320&extra=page%3D1%26filter%3Dtypeid%26typeid%3D564%26typeid%3D564

Thanks for your remind. We will try to answer the questions as much as we can.

My P1 payload on the M300 will not record any images during a mapping task. It is saying it is as you can see the number of images clicking up but they’re not any cards?? Anyone else had this or know the fix?

Almost everything we do is mapping missions with the P1, and I've never seen anything like this.

Have you tried formatting the SD card in the P1?

Does the number of available images that can be stored on the SD card, as shown on the display of the smart controller, go down during a mission?

Do video clips store normally on the SD card?

If it will help, I can send screen shots of the various pages of one of our working missions to see if you have anything defined differently

I'm also curious, other than the full size SD card in the P1 enclosure, what other SD cards are you talking about?
Since this isn't really on the track of this post, perhaps you should start a new one

djiuser_s15q2ORRSizc Posted at 2021-10-31 21:55
I have just purchased the P1 35mm lens and mounted and activated it yesterday, only to find that when the camera has finished calibrating, it is not centered and points at an angle to the right as you look at the camera. For a camera and platform that is so expensive this should not happen. What, if any, have I done wrong, besides adjusting the yaw angle to get closer to the centre, is there a fix? I have no problem with the H20T[Image]

hello, were you able to fix this problem with your P1?  I have the same problem and I haven't been able to solve it.
my email: nicolasluke@yahoo.com

We hit a similar issue with terrain tracking and the IMU calibration on the L1, flying 1 sq km missions. Sent in a ticket , and a full description of the issue and they said it would be improved in the March firmware update for the L1, software and M300 so fingers crossed it will now work. Even with terrain tracking it was flying at 70 feet when it should have been at 400, so definitely something wrong. And yeah, can’t see the point in creating a DEM in Terra before running a terrain track for the same area, we used a 10m DEM with a 100 m buffer so hopefully this will now work.

So everyone, the new firmware is here and looking through the release notes it seems that most of my complaints were addressed regarding the L1 besides the ability to use DNG format. The P1 complaints seem to have been ignored since non of them were addressed.
HOWEVER
My L1 did not accept the new firmware and failed to update. I now have an L1 that will not function at all. So be very weary of updating the firmware on your systems until this is sorted out. I would hate to see more companies in the position I am in with projects that I can not complete because my sensor has been a paperweight for almost a week. I just posted a new thread about the issue and have an active support ticket in which I am communicating with DJI so I will let everyone know what happens.

Thank's JesseG, I wait for news.
Best Regard.
JL

I have had major issues with the latest pilot 2 update for flying L1 missions. It will not allow me to continue a mission after landing to change a battery. I have been in touch with DJI to solve the issue, I post this here to suggest that anyone who has the M300 and L1 avoid doing the update for now. We are grounded until the issue can be resolved.

Just a quick update... Early Friday morning I received a reply from support that gave me one last thing to try and if/when that didn't work  they directed me let them know so they can start a repair ticket for me to send the L1 in for diagnostics/repair. So I tried the last solution and it did not work. Rather than wait on a response I called into the support hotline and created a ticket and sent the L1 overnight to the repair center in California. It arrives this morning so I am hoping for a speedy diagnostics and repair or a quick warranty claim. I will keep everyone posted as things progress. The bad news is that it seems like if this has happened to your sensor there does not seem to be a solution to fix it yourself. Perhaps with my sensor in hand they will be able to find the problem and issue a fix for the rest of the affected users but who knows.

Update... DJI has determined the following "Livox Lidar Module was malfunctioned, which caused fail to update the firmware". They have started a warranty claim and begun repairing the unit at no cost to me since the unit is still under warranty. Right now I am unsure if I will receive a new unit or if they are repairing the unit I sent in but according to the status tracker the "repair" is complete and going through the quality assurance process before shipping out to me. I did have to pay $70 to upgrade shipping to next day air but I am grateful that they have handled this repair quickly and there was an option for faster shipping.

So there you have it, if you are in this situation I encourage you to reach out to DJI and go through the process of sending your unit in for repair. However, with reports of other problems facing the new firmware (like AndrewHull mentioned above) IF the unit I receive is on the previous firmware I will be downgrading my aircraft and controller to the previous version and see if DJI issues a new firmware update to address the bugs in the near future.  

I will update when I receive the sensor and let everyone know how it goes.

AndrewHull Posted at 5-19 22:45
I have had major issues with the latest pilot 2 update for flying L1 missions. It will not allow me to continue a mission after landing to change a battery. I have been in touch with DJI to solve the issue, I post this here to suggest that anyone who has the M300 and L1 avoid doing the update for now. We are grounded until the issue can be resolved.

Have you considered downgrading the firmware of your equipment? I know you can do both the aircraft and controller through DJI Assistant2 (since I did it successfully while troubleshooting my L1) but am unsure if you can do it with the L1.

After mapping 15,000 acres with the M300 and P1 there are multiple issues with this setup.  Before I go on, the M300 is awesome and the P1 is awesome.  But DJI has totally dropped the ball on the Pilot 2 app.  There are multiple issues with using the Pilot 2 and since there is ZERO support for third party apps, anyone using the P1 is at the mercy of DJI.  For some of the issues below, there are work arounds, or steps you can take to prevent the problem.  That does not change the fact that a problem exist

1.  When the SD card is full it will continue to fly the mission.  Even if you pause immediately, there will be gaps in the photos.  So you must always stay on top of the SD card and change it before it gets full.  When the SD card gets full, it should stop the mission immediately.  Offer to return to home so the card can be changed.  But it keeps flying.

2. And now when you land, you have the option to resume, or start over.  There is no option to begin at a certain waypoint, so the best option is to resume and simply go back to fly over the missing area if is vital to have those missing photos.  

3.  We need the option to start a mission at a specific waypoint.  This is very elementary and could be needed for a variety of reasons.  Maybe I am resuming on a different day and I want to increase the overlap, I would not do resume, but rather start over and choose the waypoint that would give me extra overlap I desire.

4. The High Wind Velocity Warning is absolutely worthless.  When it sounds off all day, it is crying wolf over and and over and over.  Not only is it annoying, it is an alarm that will never be listened to.  So while they are trying to CYA, they created a warning that will never be listened to.  Since I fly from a 40-50 lift, I am well aware of the winds but this is still annoying and the user should be able to specify the wind speed warming, not DJI.    Make me accept all kind of disclaimers, etc. but let me choose the wind speed threshold, not DJI.

5. The clicks of the photos is another annoying feature.  I should be able to turn this off.  Turning the volume down is not an option for me.  want the volume up in case there is some type of true warning.

6. You can not shoot panos.  Really !!!!  Panos are part of construction and many other areas.  But I should be able to map 2000 acres, and then set points for the M300/ P1 to fly to and shoot panos.  This is so freaking basic and yet it can not be done.  And since there is no 3rd party support for the P1, there are no panos.  Terrible terrible.

7. Simmarly, you can not fly around a perimeter and take repeated photos (for repeated visits).  Very needed in construction, but you can't do it with the  M300/P1 combo.  

IMO, if these problems were fixed, this would be an awesome setup.   What is the chance these will be fixed?

FlyinLo Posted at 7-4 04:44
After mapping 15,000 acres with the M300 and P1 there are multiple issues with this setup.  Before I go on, the M300 is awesome and the P1 is awesome.  But DJI has totally dropped the ball on the Pilot 2 app.  There are multiple issues with using the Pilot 2 and since there is ZERO support for third party apps, anyone using the P1 is at the mercy of DJI.  For some of the issues below, there are work arounds, or steps you can take to prevent the problem.  That does not change the fact that a problem exist

1.  When the SD card is full it will continue to fly the mission.  Even if you pause immediately, there will be gaps in the photos.  So you must always stay on top of the SD card and change it before it gets full.  When the SD card gets full, it should stop the mission immediately.  Offer to return to home so the card can be changed.  But it keeps flying.

The latest update, the one that installs Pilot2 is not recommended for P1 and L1. I know it's painful you have to read the notes before installing, and it is not written in an obvious way, thank you DJI. Have you tried with UGCS?

LV_Forestry Posted at 7-4 15:35
The latest update, the one that installs Pilot2 is not recommended for P1 and L1. I know it's painful you have to read the notes before installing, and it is not written in an obvious way, thank you DJI. Have you tried with UGCS?

I believe that the note you are referencing in the M300RTK release notes is saying that Skyhub2 is not recommended to be used with the P1 and L1, not the entire firmware version.
"The current version is updated for experiencing DJI FlightHub 2. Use DJI FlightHub 2 together with Matrice 300 RTK, Zenmuse H20 series, and DJI Pilot 2 Open Beta. It is not recommended to use Zenmuse P1 and Zenmuse L1."
The Pilot2 update fixes many issues with terrain following when used with the P1. It also adds the ability to use terrain following and calibration flights at the same time with the L1. These are huge fixes aimed straight at the P1 and L1 sensors so they are definitely recommended for the update.

As for my issues with the firmware it seems as though it was in fact a bad livox unit that caused my firmware update to fail and brick my sensor. I have since received a new unit from DJI that was in the earlier V3 firmware. After testing it and flying a few pressing missions I have now updated the L1 to the V4 firmware and will be testing it out today. For the most part I have seen an improvement when using the P1 with the V4 firmware loaded onto the M300RTK and the Pilot2 app but still have some gripes which I will post later after I test the new L1 firmware.

FlyinLo Posted at 7-4 04:44
After mapping 15,000 acres with the M300 and P1 there are multiple issues with this setup.  Before I go on, the M300 is awesome and the P1 is awesome.  But DJI has totally dropped the ball on the Pilot 2 app.  There are multiple issues with using the Pilot 2 and since there is ZERO support for third party apps, anyone using the P1 is at the mercy of DJI.  For some of the issues below, there are work arounds, or steps you can take to prevent the problem.  That does not change the fact that a problem exist

1.  When the SD card is full it will continue to fly the mission.  Even if you pause immediately, there will be gaps in the photos.  So you must always stay on top of the SD card and change it before it gets full.  When the SD card gets full, it should stop the mission immediately.  Offer to return to home so the card can be changed.  But it keeps flying.

I agree with all these complaints, there should be options for all of these to be customizable. I will point out though that you actually CAN use third party apps with the smart controller. I use UgCS regularly because it addresses nearly every issue you brought up (besides the SD card capacity). You can resume from any waypoint in a mission, set custom gimbal angles, set to take photos by time or by distance, plan panoramas, set flights around your perimeter at any gimbal angle you desire, etc. It really is the best, most configurable flight planning software out there but it does require a laptop to be used in the field and does not yet support the AirSense feature that is very nice to have in congested airspace.

JesseG Posted at 7-5 09:18
I believe that the note you are referencing in the M300RTK release notes is saying that Skyhub2 is not recommended to be used with the P1 and L1, not the entire firmware version.
"The current version is updated for experiencing DJI FlightHub 2. Use DJI FlightHub 2 together with Matrice 300 RTK, Zenmuse H20 series, and DJI Pilot 2 Open Beta. It is not recommended to use Zenmuse P1 and Zenmuse L1."
The Pilot2 update fixes many issues with terrain following when used with the P1. It also adds the ability to use terrain following and calibration flights at the same time with the L1. These are huge fixes aimed straight at the P1 and L1 sensors so they are definitely recommended for the update.

Great, I can't wait to hear your feedback. thanks

JesseG Posted at 7-5 09:30
I agree with all these complaints, there should be options for all of these to be customizable. I will point out though that you actually CAN use third party apps with the smart controller. I use UgCS regularly because it addresses nearly every issue you brought up (besides the SD card capacity). You can resume from any waypoint in a mission, set custom gimbal angles, set to take photos by time or by distance, plan panoramas, set flights around your perimeter at any gimbal angle you desire, etc. It really is the best, most configurable flight planning software out there but it does require a laptop to be used in the field and does not yet support the AirSense feature that is very nice to have in congested airspace.

I use UGCS for my Lidar missions.  I will be using it for the larger mapping missions as well.  I don't understand why someone at DJI decided to leave out all of the items I mentions as they are elementary needs for many types of missions.  But it is what it is.  Thanks for the feedback!

While I don't have the M300/P1/L1 I agree w/ all of FlyinLo's issues from a general perspective, and note that even the "lowly" P4RTK is missing the pano mode. I have to bring an M2P along just to do panos after a P4R mapping mission. Ridiculous!