I tried a few waypoint missions with my Mavic 3 Pro today, and encountered a few surprises on what did NOT work. Wondering if these actions are simply unsupported or if there is something else going on (if unsupported, the M3 Pro manual should be updated to state these limitations!).  Note that some of this could be relevant to the regular Mavic 3, since the behavior is pretty much the same (I think) except for the existence of the medium 70mm telephoto). I'm using the RC Pro controller, and I planned the mission in advance offline in the Fly app. I'm using the latest firmware for the RC Pro and the M3 Pro, and also the latest Fly app version, as of July 1, 2023.

1) Ran a pre-defined mission which was set to take photos at various waypoints (via "take photo" camera action).  Prior to starting the mission, I set the mode to Photo, with Automated Exposure Bracketing (AEB) selected (5 shots),  with RAW+JPEG selected.  So, I expected the camera to take a rapid 5 shot AEB series for each of the "take photo" actions assigned to the waypoints (as would happen if I manually pressed the snapshot button).  The waypoint mission ran fine generally, and did take the photos at the proper points, but AEB was NOT used --- instead it automatically  turned AEB off and just took regular single-shot photos. I tried multiple times and even tried turning AEB back on between wayoints but each time it was deactivated by the waypoints and just regular shots were taken.  Note that I had 5 second hover periods assigned to each of the photo waypoints to allow plenty of time for the AEB shots to be completed.
So, is this a known limitation that only single shot photos can be taken?
If so, why is it not documented anywhere?

2) Ran two other waypoint mission for videos, one video mission with the main Hasselblad camera at 1X, and one using the medium 70mm telephoto at 3X. The same mission was run for both, the only difference was that prior to each mission I manually selected the 1X or 3X camera, respectively. An early waypoint was used to "start recording" and the final waypoint was used to "stop recording".  First mission ran fine with the 1X camera, as expected.  Second mission ran OK except that when video recording was started by the waypoint, the camera setting reverted automatically from the 3x tele camera setting back to the 1x main camera, so the entire recording was on the main camera, just like the first mission.
So, again, is this a limitation where waypoints can only use the main Hasselblad camera for videos and cannot use the 70mm tele camera for videos?  
If so, why is this not documented anywhere?
Note: not interested in digital zoom here as I know that can be set using the waypoint zoom setting -- my question is about using medium tele instead of the main wide camera.

3) Extra question (which I have not yet tried but would like to confirm): I'm assuming that there is no automatic way to combine automated photo camera actions with automated start/stop video actions in the same mission, simply because the waypoints can only take action on the camera mode that was selected manually prior to starting the mission (ie photo or video) -- correct?   Or, are waypoint actions capable of switching the mode automatically -- eg, if initially set to photo mode, but the "start record" action is used, would that action cause video mode to be entered?  I pretty sure not, but wanted to verify that there is no way to do this.


Thanks.

Hi, dar1. Thank you for reaching out. The first 2 scenarios are currently not supported but we will take it as a suggestion of yours and forward it to our relevant team for its potential. In addition to this, the waypoint function only can use normal photo mode and only can use a 1x-3x main camera. For the 3rd scenario, you may set the waypoints camera action but you can only set one action which means it will follow the settings you've set to trigger photo or video mode.

DJI Gamora Posted at 7-4 03:11
Hi, dar1. Thank you for reaching out. The first 2 scenarios are currently not supported but we will take it as a suggestion of yours and forward it to our relevant team for its potential. In addition to this, the waypoint function only can use normal photo mode and only can use a 1x-3x main camera. For the 3rd scenario, you may set the waypoints camera action but you can only set one action which means it will follow the settings you've set to trigger photo or video mode.

DJI Gamora -- thanks for the reply and info.  I'd like to follow up on question 3 with this example, for clarification: on whether both video and photo actions can be used in the same mission:
Let's say there are 4 waypoints total, and I have manually put the camera in photo mode prior to starting the waypoint mission.  Waypoints 1 and 2 are both have camera actions set to take a photo. Waypoint 3 has a camera action to start recording (so the Mavic would need to automatically switch to video mode here, if that's possible), and then Waypoint 4 has a camera action to stop recording.   Would this sequence work in a fully automated way?   I'm guessing that since I set the camera manually to photo mode prior to starting the mission, that video waypoints 3 and 4 would not work, but this is specifically what I'm trying to confirm.

By the way, as mentioned before, I would strongly recommend that DJI update the M3 and M3 Pro user manuals to make the limitations of questions 1, 2, and 3  very clear. Otherwise, as I proved, new users will tend to assume that whatever camera or mode was selected prior to "Go" (whether it be AEB, the mid tele camera, or whatever) will work when a waypoint triggers a camera action..  
Furthermore I really don't know why all these things aren't supported, since it seems waypoints are just issuing a "take photo" command or start/stop recording command, so why does the type of photo or type of camera even matter to the software... is it a processing load issue?

Thanks.

dar1 Posted at 7-4 04:39
DJI Gamora -- thanks for the reply and info.  I'd like to follow up on question 3 with this example, for clarification: on whether both video and photo actions can be used in the same mission:
Let's say there are 4 waypoints total, and I have manually put the camera in photo mode prior to starting the waypoint mission.  Waypoints 1 and 2 are both have camera actions set to take a photo. Waypoint 3 has a camera action to start recording (so the Mavic would need to automatically switch to video mode here, if that's possible), and then Waypoint 4 has a camera action to stop recording.   Would this sequence work in a fully automated way?   I'm guessing that since I set the camera manually to photo mode prior to starting the mission, that video waypoints 3 and 4 would not work, but this is specifically what I'm trying to confirm.

Hi, dar1. Let's say there are 4 waypoints total, and you have manually put the camera in photo mode prior to start the waypoint mission. Waypoints 1 and 2 both have camera actions set to take a photo. Waypoint 3 has a camera action to start recording (so the Mavic would need to automatically switch to video mode here if that's possible) and then Waypoint 4 has a camera action to stop recording. Would this sequence work in a fully automated way? ------ Yes, the camera action will follow your setting in waypoints, and the process will be automated, that means this depends on the waypoint settings you set not on the shooting mode that you set before triggering the waypoint function.

Regarding your recommendation, we're sorry for any inconvenience, we will forward it to the related department for improvement. Thank you for your understanding and support.

DJI Gamora Posted at 7-5 07:26
Hi, dar1. Let's say there are 4 waypoints total, and you have manually put the camera in photo mode prior to start the waypoint mission. Waypoints 1 and 2 both have camera actions set to take a photo. Waypoint 3 has a camera action to start recording (so the Mavic would need to automatically switch to video mode here if that's possible) and then Waypoint 4 has a camera action to stop recording. Would this sequence work in a fully automated way? ------ Yes, the camera action will follow your setting in waypoints, and the process will be automated, that means this depends on the waypoint settings you set not on the shooting mode that you set before triggering the waypoint function.

Regarding your recommendation, we're sorry for any inconvenience, we will forward it to the related department for improvement. Thank you for your understanding and support.

OK - thanks for the clarification -- I will test this mixed mode type of mission in the next few days, and will post an update if I encounter anything unusual or unexpected.

Wanted to update this thread with some insights from additional test flights I've done recently that show I can overcome some of the limitations I originally posted about...  

Using the medium tele camera with waypoints:
Regarding M3 Pro waypoint missions not being able to use any camera other than the main Hasselblad camera, I've found that it is possible, despite DJI saying that only the main camera is supported. I guess it might be considered a slight "hack" but here's what I did to allow the medium 70mm tele on the M3 Pro to be used both for automatic waypoint photos as well as automatic waypoint videos -- the solution was quite simple:
I found that if I manually selected the desired camera (ie, selected the 3X medium 70mm tele) AFTER launching the waypoint mission but PRIOR to reaching a waypoint with a camera action, all subsequent waypoints with camera actions would continue to use that same selected camera. S
So, with that simple method, I was able to take automated waypoint photos and videos with the 70mm tele camera -- that was a nice discovery. The problem I saw previously happened because I was selecting the desired camera BEFORE launching the waypoint mission, and then when the waypoint mission was started, the camera would always automatically be reset to the main Hasselblad camera.... so waiting until after mission launch to select the camera seems to make all the difference.  

Taking AEB photos in a waypoint mission:
In my additional test flights, I continued to verify that automatic waypoint photos cannot take any photo type other than single shot (which DJI confirmed as a limitation). Any time I set the photo mode to multi-shot AEB prior to reaching a photo waypoint, the photo camera action at the waypoint would always turn off AEB mode and take a single shot (I had waypoint hover periods set to accommodate a stationary period for the multiple shots, but it did not matter).
So, as a workaround, I would set the photo waypoint to just a hover period (up to 30 seconds), with no automatic camera action --- then, when the hover period started I knew the waypoint was reached and the drone was stopped, I would simply hit pause (either the RC pause button or the on-screen pause button) at which point I was free to manually take any type of photo, including AEB --- so, although it required a manual interaction at each AEB photo point, it was a solution that worked for me --- I was still able to get the full benefit of the pre-planned waypoint positions, headings, and gimbal angles, so that running the mission on different days/times would produce identical shot composition.
Also, fwiw, the pilot can pause the waypoint flight at any time and at any point between waypoints, and take AEB shots manually at that time while the drone is paused/stopped, followed by a resume to continue the mission.  

Mixing automated video recording with automated photo shots in the same mission:
While automated photo and video start/stop actions can't be done at the same waypoint, and photos can't be taken while video is being recorded, I did verify that I can take photos at certain waypoints, and also start and stop video recording at other waypoints, meaning that the mission can automatically change from photo mode to video mode in the same mission, or vice versa.
This is something I was not sure was possible (good to see that it is) given that waypoints generally can't change shooting modes or photo/video settings.  


So, hope this helps anyone who might be interested in getting a bit more out of their waypoint missions. Would like to here from anyone who has other insights or workarounds for these particular issues on Mavic 3 / Mavic 3 Pro.   


BTW, I understand that most likely none of these limitations are present when using Litchi or (even better) Dronelink, but since neither of those apps are available for the Mavic 3 or Mavic 3 Pro due to the lack of a released SDK, those solutions are of no value for these drones. Dronelink does support the Mavic 3 Enterprise, but the M3E has other issues that limit its creative camera capabilities, such as not supporting 60fps and not supporting D-Log profiles.

Thank you Dar1 for your dedication to helping others.

dar1 Posted at 7-5 09:49
OK - thanks for the clarification -- I will test this mixed mode type of mission in the next few days, and will post an update if I encounter anything unusual or unexpected.

You're welcome. Thank you for the update and sharing the results as well.

Hi Everyone I would very much appreciate AEB (5)  to be a preset for photos at weigh points as it is and brainier.  Please please please include this in an upcoming firmware update as it just make sense.  until then pausing the mission and shooting  sounds like a plan.  

Pete photog Posted at 9-18 21:56
Hi Everyone I would very much appreciate AEB (5)  to be a preset for photos at weigh points as it is and brainier.  Please please please include this in an upcoming firmware update as it just make sense.  until then pausing the mission and shooting  sounds like a plan.

Thank you for your recommendations. Please rest assured that we will register the information and provide feedback to the related departments for evaluation. In the future, we will optimize and improve the product or service based on user comments. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Теперь 70 мм поддерживает ночной режим съёмки по путевым точкам. Ура

As someone who just bought a DJI Mini Pro 4 I really hope we get the option to do more than just a simple photograph during waypoints.

fansfe14884e Posted at 11-14 08:08
As someone who just bought a DJI Mini Pro 4 I really hope we get the option to do more than just a simple photograph during waypoints.

We appreciate your valuable suggestions. We will forward your feedback to the related department. Thank you for your great support.