I'm having a problem with the gimbal on my Mavic 3 Pro Cine. I own two Mini 3 Pros and have not seen this issue on either.   The problem mostly occurs when the gimbal is pointed straight down at -90º, specifically when I'm moving the drone forward and at the same time, tilting the gimbal down. When it reaches the end of the tilting motion, -90º, it goes berserk and jumps around before finally settling, by which point the shot is ruined. It occurs with all three lenses, in all three modes - C, N, S - and with different filters installed on the front (don't see how that would matter).   Below is a link to some clips showing this problem occur. I know most of these shots are not very pretty. At this point I was simply trying to troubleshoot the issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b81mGLUlq9o  



This is unacceptable for a $4000 drone. I re-calibrated the gimbal and got the same result. I purchased the drone two weeks ago, and have not crashed it or dropped it or in any way abused it.   Any thoughts?

Have you tried it without any of the "filters" you mentioned? I will assume the drone is brand new and you have removed ALL of the shipping tape and spacers. Make sure there is no interference or binding of the Gimbal. Have you performed a calibration of the Gimbal (with any "non-stock" filters installed)? That is not normal and if you can, just exchange for another.

jmb63 Posted at 2-14 18:39
Have you tried it without any of the "filters" you mentioned? I will assume the drone is brand new and you have removed ALL of the shipping tape and spacers. Make sure there is no interference or binding of the Gimbal. Have you performed a calibration of the Gimbal (with any "non-stock" filters installed)? That is not normal and if you can, just exchange for another.

I've recalibrated several times with different filters. I may go out tomorrow and do a test with different filters, recalibrating every time.

I use Freewell NDs. Is recalibrating with a new filter something that needs to be done every time?
And no, there are no pieces of tape or packing on the drone.

Andrew Bland SF Posted at 2-14 18:44
I've recalibrated several times with different filters. I may go out tomorrow and do a test with different filters, recalibrating every time.

I use Freewell NDs. Is recalibrating with a new filter something that needs to be done every time?

It is usually best practice to calibrate when installing a filter in place of the stock lens just to compensate for any weight differences. But if switching a different filter from the same brand/batch/kit just to change the ND level, you shouldn't have to calibrate each lens swap. Freewell is known to be good quality and shouldn't normally be too much for the gimbal's motors to keep in place but have you tried that same (looking down 90 degrees) without a filter just to experiment?

jmb63 Posted at 2-14 19:15
It is usually best practice to calibrate when installing a filter in place of the stock lens just to compensate for any weight differences. But if switching a different filter from the same brand/batch/kit just to change the ND level, you shouldn't have to calibrate each lens swap. Freewell is known to be good quality and shouldn't normally be too much for the gimbal's motors to keep in place but have you tried that same (looking down 90 degrees) without a filter just to experiment?

Well, I don't intend to fly it without any glass covering the lenses.
The drone came with a Hasselblad UV filter. I might throw that back on, recalibrate and see if the issue persists.

Andrew Bland SF Posted at 2-14 19:17
Well, I don't intend to fly it without any glass covering the lenses.
The drone came with a Hasselblad UV filter. I might throw that back on, recalibrate and see if the issue persists.

Yes, that is what I meant by "no filter" ......just going back to the stock/supplied lens cover.
If it still jumps like that with that stock cover on it, I would consider exchanging/sending it back.
I will assume you have done the latest firmware updates. It might be worth a try to "refresh" the firmware utilizing the DJI assistant program. That is almost always the first step that DJI will ask you to do when troubleshooting. Let us know how you make out

jmb63 Posted at 2-14 19:25
Yes, that is what I meant by "no filter" ......just going back to the stock/supplied lens cover.
If it still jumps like that with that stock cover on it, I would consider exchanging/sending it back.
I will assume you have done the latest firmware updates. It might be worth a try to "refresh" the firmware utilizing the DJI assistant program. That is almost always the first step that DJI will ask you to do when troubleshooting. Let us know how you make out

Yep, I did the updates when I opened it. I'll check again.
And I'll report back.
Meanwhile, I'd love to hear if anyone else has had this issue.

Andrew Bland SF Posted at 2-14 19:32
Yep, I did the updates when I opened it. I'll check again.
And I'll report back.
Meanwhile, I'd love to hear if anyone else has had this issue.

Also, can someone point me to an email or direct line for DJI product support?
Thanks again.

I flew the M3 Pro Cine today using DJI's filters.  No such issues for me.  If your issue cannot be corrected, I would get DJI to look at it.

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. This is normal. If the aircraft has an excessively large attitude angle, with an excessive downward or upward tilt of the nose, the gimbal needs to rotate to a greater angle to maintain the original frame. However, the gimbal can rotate only within a limited range. To prevent hitting the limits and to avoid damage, the gimbal automatically performs avoidance actions (recenter). Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-14 21:39
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. This is normal. If the aircraft has an excessively large attitude angle, with an excessive downward or upward tilt of the nose, the gimbal needs to rotate to a greater angle to maintain the original frame. However, the gimbal can rotate only within a limited range. To prevent hitting the limits and to avoid damage, the gimbal automatically performs avoidance actions (recenter). Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us.

Yes at high speed/angle of the drone, it will try to find its limits as you mentioned, and cause that "twitch" but the operation you describe "large attitude angle" does not apply to the posted condition. The attitude of the drone is not high in this instance because it is at a very slow speed (at least in the clip that was shared). I operate my Mavic 3Pro with the Gimbal angled completely down while coming in for a landing but still moving and haven't seen the "glitch/twitching" that the video shows.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2-14 21:39
Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. This is normal. If the aircraft has an excessively large attitude angle, with an excessive downward or upward tilt of the nose, the gimbal needs to rotate to a greater angle to maintain the original frame. However, the gimbal can rotate only within a limited range. To prevent hitting the limits and to avoid damage, the gimbal automatically performs avoidance actions (recenter). Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us.

I have trouble accepting that this erratic, out-of-control twitching is a normal part of the drone's design. I had this occur while in Cine mode, too, meaning low attitude angle. That was stated in the original post.

I will go out again this morning and try to troubleshoot it some more. I would think that if this were normal, more people would be complaining about it.

The twitch, can it be described as kind of a bobble. The M3Pro gimbal is heavy to being with. Some people have reported issues when using supplemental lenses like the wide angel when slowing. It would course the gimbal to bobble a bit as the drone slowed. Just more inertia to dampen with essentially the same size gimbal motors as the M3. So it apparently suffered from a dampening cycle as the motors try to compensate. Does everybody suffer this, unknown. Others have mentioned it before.

When the gimbal reaches its limit, ANY movement will cause this action. The only way the drone moves is by pitch. Try a maximum of -85 degrees instead of -90.

Mobilehomer Posted at 2-16 11:55
When the gimbal reaches its limit, ANY movement will cause this action. The only way the drone moves is by pitch. Try a maximum of -85 degrees instead of -90.

So am I to understand then, that this is indeed normal?
I took it out yesterday morning, and was able to do some -90º shots without any jumpiness. I just had to be delicate on the controls.

jmb63 Posted at 2-15 05:17
Yes at high speed/angle of the drone, it will try to find its limits as you mentioned, and cause that "twitch" but the operation you describe "large attitude angle" does not apply to the posted condition. The attitude of the drone is not high in this instance because it is at a very slow speed (at least in the clip that was shared). I operate my Mavic 3Pro with the Gimbal angled completely down while coming in for a landing but still moving and haven't seen the "glitch/twitching" that the video shows.

Hello, jmb63. We appreciate your feedback regarding the cx concern. We also stated in the response that the excessive downward and upward tilt of the nose will cause some kind of "recenter" to avoid damage to the gimbal itself. Should you have other inquiries, feel free to contact us. Have a good one.

Andrew Bland SF Posted at 2-15 06:19
I have trouble accepting that this erratic, out-of-control twitching is a normal part of the drone's design. I had this occur while in Cine mode, too, meaning low attitude angle. That was stated in the original post.

I will go out again this morning and try to troubleshoot it some more. I would think that if this were normal, more people would be complaining about it.

Thank you for your response, Andrew. We will take the DJI Mini 2 as an example:

If the gimbal angle is -90°, the aircraft’s attitude angle in Cine mode and Normal mode will reach 25°. As the gimbal’s limit angle is -105°, the gimbal will at least bounce back by 10°. However, it would bound back about 15° due to safety considerations.

If the gimbal angle is -90°, the aircraft’s attitude angle in Sport mode will reach 40°. As the gimbal’s limit angle is -105°, the gimbal will at least bounce back by 25°. However, it would bound back about 30° due to safety considerations. The rebound angle may vary between different models.

Mavic 3 series gimbal avoidance upper limit is 40 °, the lower limit is 131 °, gimbal avoidance angle is between 15 ° -20 °(this is related to the flight mode and the drone’s attitude).

Hope this helps.

I'm having similar issues as well. But the using the DJI wide angle lens is has been the most problematic. Often times if I try powering on the drone with it installed, I get the gimbal error warning. Or it malfunctions during flight, or powers up horizontally screwed to its stop limit.

I think simply put, this camera is great but the gimbal is not strong enough to support it especially with the heavy wide angle lens.

If there are attitude/gimbal angle conflicts that impede the camera stability, those conflicts should be removed with performance limitations. If concern over reducing the maximum speed or whatever it causing the angle conflicts is a marketing concern then give the user a menu option to accept these risks and switch off camera stability for the sake of high flight  performance.

It seems like a no brainer to me, hopefully we'll see something in a future firmware update. All I can say for sure is had I known of these issues beforehand I would have bought something diff

having the same issue with the M3P

bikoo Posted at 7-7 08:46
having the same issue with the M3P

Hi there, thank you for reaching and we do apologize for the trouble.

Kindly inform us the full details of the issue that you experienced with your DJI product, and we will surely provide you with an accurate resolution after we review the details. Rest assured that we're committed to providing the best experience for our users.

Please keep us posted. Thank you for understanding.

DJI Natalia Posted at 7-8 00:05
Hi there, thank you for reaching and we do apologize for the trouble.

Kindly inform us the full details of the issue that you experienced with your DJI product, and we will surely provide you with an accurate resolution after we review the details. Rest assured that we're committed to providing the best experience for our users.

Thank you Natalia, this issue happend only once and now seems everything works fine.

bikoo Posted at 9-2 01:38
Thank you Natalia, this issue happend only once and now seems everything works fine.

Hi there,
thank you for reaching out.

We appreciate the update provided and are glad the issue has been resolved. Alternatively, if you are encountering the same problem as the original poster, you may refer to reply #10 for a detailed explanation.

Should you have any other questions, kindly message us here for assistance. Thank you.