Is this just something inherent to DJI drones? I had my first Mini 2 replaced because of it and the replacement does it... and now my 2 week old Air 2 is doing it as well.

Anyway, on just about every flight, everything works great until about 3 minutes into the flight when the drone will appear to start flying diagonally. I thought it was the drone having an issue with compass, motors, or propellers until today's flight. I can now see that at some point, the gimbal actually starts turning slowly during flight.

I used the feature where you can use your finger on the screen to move the gimbal. I moved it 10 degrees left and when the drone got back home, the gimbal was perfectly in line with the body of the drone. I inspected the Mini 2 after a flight and, sure enough, the gimbal was facing a little to the right upon return.

I've done a gimbal calibration. Is there anything else that can be done or do I just have to live with it?

It is not normal, I would suggest doing an IMU Calibration on a flat surface.

Since this is common to two drones is there anything that the flights have in common that is possibly unique to you, e.g. do you consistently turn the drones in only one direction?
What happens if you tilt the gimbal down and up with the button on the controller, I can't remember if that is a default setting but I have my mini 2 set up so the fn button does this.
When the camera is askew have you tried adjusting the yaw via the option in the app? It might be +- 10 deg, it would be interesting to note if it gives you that adjustment based around the skewed position.

I don't think I turn to one direction any more than the next guy. I usually just straight line it to my subject and straight line back. It's usually on these straight lines that I notice the gimbal shift. The weird thing is that if I stop in one spot and do a 360 one direction and then a 360 the other direction, it takes care of it for the rest of the flight.

My fn button is set to recenter the gimbal. If I press it, it goes down or up as expected but doesn't correct the issue.

On my next flight, I'll take a look at the yaw settings.

Hello there blue_canyon21. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. May we please know if you are receiving any error message on the DJI Fly application when this is happening and kindly please try to calibrate the IMU of your DJI Drone to see if the issue will persist. Thank you.

DJI Stephen Posted at 3-29 20:04
Hello there blue_canyon21. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. May we please know if you are receiving any error message on the DJI Fly application when this is happening and kindly please try to calibrate the IMU of your DJI Drone to see if the issue will persist. Thank you.

I did the IMU and gimbal calibration last night and did a test flight this morning.

It did seem to perform better but is still about 2-3 degrees off at times.

I did do the calibrations inside at my computer desk and did the gimbal before the IMU. Would that effect the calibration?

blue_canyon21 Posted at 3-30 09:45
I did the IMU and gimbal calibration last night and did a test flight this morning.

It did seem to perform better but is still about 2-3 degrees off at times.

I had the same issue with my Air 2 and then I fixed it by following these steps:

1. Calibrate IMU on a very flat surface
2. Restart the drone
3.  Calibrate the Gimbal on a very flat surface
4. Calibrate the RC Controller (from DJI Fly Control Tab)
5. Turn off the drone, go outside
6. Turn on the drone, wait for GPS Lock
7. Once GPS has locked, calibrate the compass
8. Restart the drone once more, try to fly!

Yaros1 Posted at 3-30 23:38
I had the same issue with my Air 2 and then I fixed it by following these steps:

1. Calibrate IMU on a very flat surface

When you do the IMU, during the step when the drone is on it's side, do you let it sit how it does or do you prop it up so it is straight up and down? Sorry if that makes no sense.

How often have you had to do this?

blue_canyon21 Posted at 3-31 06:34
When you do the IMU, during the step when the drone is on it's side, do you let it sit how it does or do you prop it up so it is straight up and down? Sorry if that makes no sense.

How often have you had to do this?

You let it sit just how it does on its own.

IMU calibration is mostly done only once: When you got the drone, but it should be also done after a crash, or when you're having problems with the drone.

Yaros1 Posted at 3-30 23:38
I had the same issue with my Air 2 and then I fixed it by following these steps:

1. Calibrate IMU on a very flat surface

Thank you!

There was a break in the weather and I was able to do these steps and do a test flight this morning. Everything went great and the gimbal and aircraft were aligned correctly.

*Note: Worked for my Mini 2 as well.

Hi there blue_canyon21. Thank you for the given update and it is great to know that you were able to sort the issue out. Have a safe and a happy flying always.

Well, The suggested solution worked great for a few flights but both my drones are back to doing this again. Should I have to do this so often?

What can cause the calibrations to go out of whack?