I was flying my Air 2S with the RC Pro today, and I noticed that the gimbal wheel has no proportional control over the gimbal tilt speed. With my Mavic 2 Pro (using the stock controller and the Go 4 app), when I rotate the wheel a little, the gimbal tilts slowly, and when I rotate the wheel a lot, the gimbal tilts faster. However, with my RC Pro/Air 2S, this is not the case.  When I just slighty rotate the wheel, the gimbal immediately tilts at the Max Control Speed as set in the Fly app gimbal gain settings.  

Steps to reproduce:

• Set the gimbal Max Tilt speed to 30
• Set the gimbal Tilt Smoothness to 0
• Rotate the gimbal wheel slightly -- gimbal instantly starts tilting at the Max Tilt speed.  Unable to gradually increase the tilt speed using the wheel
  

My guess is that the Gimbal Expo is set to a high setting.  However, the Fly app does not show this setting, nor allow you to change it.  Thought I could use DJI Assistant 2 to reset the drone settings to Factory Default, but the Assistant does not give me the option.

Here are the firmware versions.   I have used the DJI Assistant 2 to refresh the firmware on both the drone and the RC Pro, but the problem remains.  

• Fly App version: 1.9.9
• Air 2S firmware: 12.04.2500
• RC firmware: 03.01.1200
  

I answered at Mavic Pilots. If my suggestion did not work, I would strongly consider opening a repair case for the RC Pro. It seems as though the gimbal wheel is faulty,

Mobilehomer Posted at 4-11 13:45
I answered at Mavic Pilots. If my suggestion did not work, I would strongly consider opening a repair case for the RC Pro. It seems as though the gimbal wheel is faulty,

I did try your suggestion.   During the wheel calibration, I moved the wheel slowly, as you suggested.  The display clearly shows the slow incremental movement, matching movement of the physical wheel.  This leads me to disagree with your assessment that the RC Pro is at fault.   I still believe it is a firmware setting.  

Do you have access to a RC N1? If so, give that a try.

Hello, there. Here are some introductions about the Pitch in the Advanced Gimbal Settings.
Pitch Speed: Tap to set the pitch speed of the gimbal. The larger the value, the faster the gimbal will turn up and down.
Pitch Smoothness: Tap to set the buffer level for the gimbal when the control sticks are pressed. A larger value will increase the buffer distance (that is, the greater the value, the longer it takes for the gimbal to reduce the rotating speed to “0” after the user stops rotating the gimbal dial).
Would you please also tell us if the gimbal will react properly as you change the value?

The problem is not with these settings (please reread my post).   Max Tilt Speed works properly.  Tilt Smoothness works properly.  Regardless of these settings, you should be able to control tilt speed proportionally by how much you turn the wheel.  I can’t!   

DJI Wanda Posted at 4-12 00:05
Hello, there. Here are some introductions about the Pitch in the Advanced Gimbal Settings.
Pitch Speed: Tap to set the pitch speed of the gimbal. The larger the value, the faster the gimbal will turn up and down.
Pitch Smoothness: Tap to set the buffer level for the gimbal when the control sticks are pressed. A larger value will increase the buffer distance (that is, the greater the value, the longer it takes for the gimbal to reduce the rotating speed to “0” after the user stops rotating the gimbal dial).

The problem is not with these settings (please reread my post).   Max Tilt Speed works properly.  Tilt Smoothness works properly.  Regardless of these settings, you should be able to control tilt speed proportionally by how much you turn the wheel.  I can’t!   

Mobilehomer Posted at 4-11 17:55
Do you have access to a RC N1? If so, give that a try.

Was thinking the same thing.   That's the only way to be sure which is off kilter, before I send anything out for repair.    It still puzzles me that DJI gives you no way to reset the Air2S to factory settings -- something you should be able to do before you sell the drone.

Thank you for your thoughtful suggestions, and for actually reading my post before posting a response.

Jim12-55 Posted at 4-12 03:02
The problem is not with these settings (please reread my post).   Max Tilt Speed works properly.  Tilt Smoothness works properly.  Regardless of these settings, you should be able to control tilt speed proportionally by how much you turn the wheel.  I can’t!

First, the gimbal tilt speed does associate with the Pitch Speed and Pitch Smoothness settings.
Second, would you please check the advance settings in the GO 4 APP -Camera- Advance Settings and tell us whether the values you set are the same as you set in the DJI FLY APP?

DJI Wanda Posted at 4-13 00:46
First, the gimbal tilt speed does associate with the Pitch Speed and Pitch Smoothness settings.
Second, would you please check the advance settings in the GO 4 APP -Camera- Advance Settings and tell us whether the values you set are the same as you set in the DJI FLY APP?

Seems like something (perhaps literally) is being lost in translation here.
  
To start out, I did not say the gimbal tilt speed was not related to the "Pitch Speed" (Max Tilt Speed) and "Pitch Smoothness"  (Tilt Smoothness).  The former controls the maximum  tilt (pitch) speed, and the latter controls how quickly the gimbal ramps up to/down from that maximum speed.   As I stated,  these settings do work as advertised.   What I am saying is that I have no proportional control over the speed using the gimbal wheel.   In my "steps to reproduce",  I am purposly  setting the smoothness to 0 (no ramping), because it is easier to demonstrate that the slightest wheel movement results in instantly going from 0 to max tilt speed (whatever that may be).

I can only assume that you are now asking about the Go 4 App because you want me to compare settings with my Mavic 2 Pro.  I don't see how it is relevant, but I played along and fired up my M2P.  I set Pitch Speed to 30, and Pitch Smoothness to 0, matching the settings on the Air2S/Fly App.   On the M2Pro,  slight movement of the wheel results in a slow (less than max) tilt, and as I gradually move the wheel more, the tilt speed increases, as expected.  This is the proportional wheel movement/speed control that is missing with the Air2S.

I don't know how else to explain this any clearer.

Do you have access to another RC Pro compatible drone? If so, try that. If not, maybe open a case with DJI on the Air 2S.

Jim12-55 Posted at 4-13 03:18
Seems like something (perhaps literally) is being lost in translation here.
  
To start out, I did not say the gimbal tilt speed was not related to the "Pitch Speed" (Max Tilt Speed) and "Pitch Smoothness"  (Tilt Smoothness).  The former controls the maximum  tilt (pitch) speed, and the latter controls how quickly the gimbal ramps up to/down from that maximum speed.   As I stated,  these settings do work as advertised.   What I am saying is that I have no proportional control over the speed using the gimbal wheel.   In my "steps to reproduce",  I am purposly  setting the smoothness to 0 (no ramping), because it is easier to demonstrate that the slightest wheel movement results in instantly going from 0 to max tilt speed (whatever that may be).

Sorry for the late response.
Actually, I understand what you mean.
As we know, they are two different products. About the differences, we may need to consult with our engineers furtherly.
To avoid interference with the gimbal settings, we advise you to adjust the settings in advance. By doing this, we can bring your questions to our engineers in a clearer manner.

DJI Wanda Posted at 4-13 23:21
Sorry for the late response.
Actually, I understand what you mean.
As we know, they are two different products. About the differences, we may need to consult with our engineers furtherly.

I don't understand what you mean by "...adjust the settings in advance..."   If you mean "Advanced Settings", I don't see any Advanced Settings for the gimbal on the Fly App.   Please explain if there is something further you are asking me to do.

Mobilehomer Posted at 4-13 08:02
Do you have access to another RC Pro compatible drone? If so, try that. If not, maybe open a case with DJI on the Air 2S.

Don’t have access to another drone. Decided instead, to invest in an N1 controller — scheduled to arrive sometime next week.   Watch this space…

Jim12-55 Posted at 4-14 02:49
I don't understand what you mean by "...adjust the settings in advance..."   If you mean "Advanced Settings", I don't see any Advanced Settings for the gimbal on the Fly App.   Please explain if there is something further you are asking me to do.

Hi, we escalated your question to our engineers. Here is the response:
1. the parameters are not the same: both Mechanical Range and Controllable Range are different for the two drones;
DJI Air2s title angle:
stabilization
3-axis (tilt, roll, pan)
Mechanical Range
Tilt: -135° to 45°
Roll: -45° to 45°
Pan: -100° to 100°
Pan Axis
Not Controllable
Controllable Range
Tilt: -90° to 0°(default); -90° to 24° (extended)
Max Controllable Speed (tilt)
100°/s
Angular Vibration Range
±0.01°

Mavic 2 pro:
Gimbal
Mechanical Range Tilt: -135–45° Pan: -100–100°
Controllable Range Tilt: -90–30° Pan: -75–75°
Stabilization 3-axis (tilt, roll, pan)
Max Control Speed (tilt) 120° /s
Angular Vibration Range ±0.01° (Mavic 2 Pro)
±0.005° (Mavic 2 Zoom)
2. under the same settings, if you push the gimbal dial with the same degree but result in a different gimbal movement range; please reset the gain & expo tuning to try.
3. Because of the remote controller difference.  DJI RC PRO is more flexibly responsive.

DJI Wanda Posted at 4-14 06:12
Hi, we escalated your question to our engineers. Here is the response:
1. the parameters are not the same: both Mechanical Range and Controllable Range are different for the two drones;
DJI Air2s title angle:

I went into settings, to the Control Tab.  Selected Gain & Expo Tuning, scrolled to the bottom and tapped Reset Current Settings.  Nothing is changed.  The gimbal speed is still not proportionally controllable by slight movement of the wheel.
Note that I have done this step before.  I also perfored the RC Calibration several times.   None of these actions remedy the issue.

Another member of this forum, who has an RC Pro and an Air2S,  has duplicated my gimbal settings and has confirmed that he can porortionally control the gimbal tilt speed with slight movments of the wheel.

Can you engineers determine if this would be an issue with the Air2S drone, or an issue with the controller?

Also, is it possible that another app may have set a gimbal parameter via the SDK?   I have flown the drone using the Map Pilot Pro app.

DJI Wanda Posted at 4-14 06:12
Hi, we escalated your question to our engineers. Here is the response:
1. the parameters are not the same: both Mechanical Range and Controllable Range are different for the two drones;
DJI Air2s title angle:

I have confirmed that the proportional gimbal wheel speed control issue is with the drone.  I just paired the Air2S with an N1 controller and the issue remains.    Any chance I can get a reply to my questions regarding the response from your engineers? (see my reply to your message last week)

Jim12-55 Posted at 4-20 03:38
I have confirmed that the proportional gimbal wheel speed control issue is with the drone.  I just paired the Air2S with an N1 controller and the issue remains.    Any chance I can get a reply to my questions regarding the response from your engineers? (see my reply to your message last week)

Hello, there. Sorry for the late response. I will add the information to our engineers. We have not received a response from our engineers. I will urge them again.

DJI Wanda Posted at 4-23 06:04
Hello, there. Sorry for the late response. I will add the information to our engineers. We have not received a response from our engineers. I will urge them again.

Just an update...

I decided to ship the drone off to Drone Nerds Repair Service, which I have used in the past. I included a detailed description of the problem, including a step-by-step procedure for how to reproduce the issue. The diagnostic results response was this...

"We have finished diagnosing your Mavic Air 2 and this is what we found.
Upon first inspection we noticed that your gimbal cameras internal settings have been adjusted. We went ahead and reset the gimbal camera to stock settings. I have full control over the gimbal camera. It's movements are smooth and clean and I see no issues with calibrations. As of this moment we believe the gimbal camera is working as needed. Firmware was refreshed and the compass, IMU and vision sensors were all calibrated as well. "

This sounded suspicious, so I called and found out that all they did was go into the Fly app and reset the Gimbal settings (Max Tilt and Smoothness) to the defaults. They ignored my instructions for reproducing the problem. So I asked that they do a side-by-side comparison with another 2S (or Mini). That was last Friday.

Today I called and the tech was busy, so I requested a call back. Instead, this was the emailed response....

"I see no issues with your remote or control over your gimbal. This unit is functioning as intended. These new remotes are not the same as the mavic pro 2 wheels. They do not have the same smooth control over the gimbal as the mavic pro 2 units did. I fiddled around with your speed and smoothness and not setting will work as you requested. However, the primary setting are 15/8 giving an amazing panning ratio. I recommend flying at 15/0 if you wish but both will work fine. She is currently back to her 30/0 settings as you requested. I will go ahead and send this unit off to billing so we can get her back to you asap."

So, I have just wasted over $200 for nothing!

Can someone at DJI please either confirm or deny Drone Nerd's claim that the "new remotes...do not have the same smooth control over the gimbal as the mavic pro 2 units did..."?  If this is indeed the case, then the Air2S is useless to me as a serious videography platform

Jim12-55 Posted at 5-8 10:18
Just an update...

I decided to ship the drone off to Drone Nerds Repair Service, which I have used in the past. I included a detailed description of the problem, including a step-by-step procedure for how to reproduce the issue. The diagnostic results response was this...

Hello, there. Sorry for the late response. I was just back from my holidays and will look into your case now.

Our engineer replied:
Because of the differences in the model, the controllable range of the gimbal, and the joystick input will have a gap, too.
If the dial controlling for the gimbal is slow, then whether you use the DJI RC Pro or RC-N1, the result is the same. Custom settings will make no difference in controlling the gimbal smoothly.
You may refer to the following methods:
1. Calibrate the joystick and gimbal, and make sure they work properly.
2. Make sure the DJI FLY APP is the latest version. We saw that you used DJI FLY APP V.1.9.9.
Please clean the cache after backing up all the data to try again.
3. Reset all the gimbal parameters to default.
4. Even with the same parameters, the controllable range and speed are different. This is probably the reason why you think the DJI Air2s is slower than Mavic 2 even with the same settings.
5. If you really think the speed is different. Please record a video for us and tell us the APP version, firmware version, and gimbal settings and record how you control the gimbal. Export the App log and Logs in the remote controller for us. We will analyze the issue further.