Hello, I'm here to generate a list of requests from early users for the next firmware update on the DJI Focus Pro (hand unit, handgrip, lidar or motors).

First - please allow to set the lidar to sensor distance over 300mm on handgrip - at least 500mm is needed for better lidar positioning when using mattebox + bigger (zoom or anamorphic) lenses. Right now this limitation won't allow me to place the lidar unit under my mattebox for a best and closest to the lens position - 300mm limit is 5cm before most of my lenses end. Please allow to adjust distance over this number, it's crucial to have bigger range with bigger zoom and usual anamorphic lenses with mattebox on.

Second - please add an option to set custom distance in the mobile app - say if someone wants to add diopter compensation, which is used a lot with anamorphics of any kind and is a simple math thing, but requires numbers over 1000mm, or even better - do the math in the app and simply allow users to select the diopters in 0,5 increments. At least. please, make the custom lidar distance in the app possible - in numbers up to 9999mm.

Third suggestion - in the menu one can choose to set AF/MF or AMF/MF to the M button of the hand unit and handgrip. Please add a third setting, where one can have all three - MF/AF/AMF. Sometimes as a single shooter you want to use focus knob to select between people, but if something is wrong mid shot - you want to jump into AMF, which is impossible because you need to take several actions in the menu, while the shot is totally ruined for a single shooter.

Fourth - handgrip calibration says you need to place the target in 0.5-1.5m, but actually accepts only when it's over 0.9m. Please, allow pressing ok and focusing closer for some lenses, like it says in text - I'd like to calibrate closer on wider lenses and further on longer lenses. Focusing in 1m on 12mm Laowa is too far for a lot of shots that this lens is used for (close focus 120mm), thus it won't calibrate ok on closer end.

Fifth - calibrating lenses using the handgrips is working glitchy somewhy. It doesn't show any issues when using hand unit, but on the focus pro grip it's a pain to focus properly 4m away on softer lenses. Idk what's wrong and why it's acting like that, it should be like in MF mode.

Sixth - please, sell longer cables that are straight to angled USB-C and straight to straight - like 50cm, 70cm, 100cm. The ones that DJI sells now are too short for a lot of setups and applications, like - on the Ronin 2 or Ronin 1 (yes the OG one). On a big gimbal when working solo you don't want to place the handgrip used to select focus zone on a camera, you want it on the ring, and that's where longer cables also come handy. Right now everyone uses USB-C extension cables, it shouldn't be so.

Seventh - please add/sell an accessory that allows using the handgrip on a standard Arri Rosette, or even better - release a whole bunch of mounting options|accessories for the Focus Pro Grip. Not everyone is using nato rails, and a lot of us want to use this handgrip on tripod pan bars (like on events/concerts/wildlife stuff), on shoulder rigs etc - places where nato rail is hard to adopt and is creating unnecessary bulk.

Eighth - Zoom rocker that can be added to the left nato side of the Focus Pro Grip with a separate accessory - would be awesome. Like it already is on the Nucleus M handgrips. This is the only reason I'm still having to use both DJI Focus Pro Grip and Tilta Nucleus M on my rig - it's a totally different use case, you won't ever have a slow speed zooming on a handwheel like you do on a zoom rocker.

Ninth - I understand, that it is too late to change the design on the lidar itself, but proper mounting options, like 1/4 and 3/8 threads are a MUST for such thing, to have flexibility to put it where one needs to. I suppose selling a cage for the lidar with 1/4 and 3/8 threads with Arri locating pins (on every side - at least one of each, like left, right, top, bottom of the unit).

Thanks! Otherwise it's a magic, the unit itself is working pretty awesome, I hope DJI will listen to those requests!

I holeheartetly agree with being able to set the first calibration distance closer than 1 meter for wide angles lenses. I'd love to be able to set my first calibration distance at 25cm or 30cm. Also for some lense I feel more than two calibration points are needed, not all lenses rack focus lineraly.

i love all those suggestions. also can we have ability to NAME the lenses instead of just focal length? with 15 slots and potentially multiple XXmm lenses, can get confusing without a handwritten map, in app would be fine. also longer than 100mm focal length.

one thing i do wonder is point of focal plane distance since you are basically calibrating lens to 2 set points. whatever those two points are from where lidar is aimed at should be same. as long as its placed in exact same position every time. lidar already shows X.XXm to distance from where its mounted. maybe also to speed things up is lenses are marked, so set it to 1M, once target is in focus set that for lidar unit, set at 4M and set second point once in focus. then lidar makes adjustment in itself to meet focus markings on lenses vs what its measuring [would offset where its mounted to focal plane]

but i just got mine and just testing it right now figuring mounting location, how it works, how well it focuses etc, the various settings so my opinions might not be super helpful, or wrong.

prOkrEAt Posted at 7-31 09:20
i love all those suggestions. also can we have ability to NAME the lenses instead of just focal length? with 15 slots and potentially multiple XXmm lenses, can get confusing without a handwritten map, in app would be fine. also longer than 100mm focal length.

one thing i do wonder is point of focal plane distance since you are basically calibrating lens to 2 set points. whatever those two points are from where lidar is aimed at should be same. as long as its placed in exact same position every time. lidar already shows X.XXm to distance from where its mounted. maybe also to speed things up is lenses are marked, so set it to 1M, once target is in focus set that for lidar unit, set at 4M and set second point once in focus. then lidar makes adjustment in itself to meet focus markings on lenses vs what its measuring [would offset where its mounted to focal plane]

As far as I understand, the LiDAR is showing a distance from sensor (if you have set distance from lidar to sensor - it compensates for that already). I've calibrated using tape measure and a chart, and was surprised that I have to measure from camera sensor, not the LiDAR sensor (my camera to lidar distance is maxed out at 300mm, so quite obvious to notice when calibrating using tape measure)

this guys sits @ 275mm... you are definitely running a long lens. but i do agree. we shouldnt have hard limitations for mounting point, especially considering matte boxes and flags. right now i have it off a handle up above the camera to get a fairly clear shot, and its 155mm from focal plane. but what i was getting at is if you set focus where lidar is 1m away [from where ever], whenever the lidar measures 1m it focuses the lens to that point [wont be 1m on lens necessarily]. ive finally got all the system, full focus pro, rs4 pro, transmission+hi bright combo, and the 4D grips. its a lot to setup and get mounted all together and work together. so trying to keep a basic cage setup with rails for my fx3 and whatever lenses im using without having to do anything more than choose the lens, calibrate motors and go. ive got it on the extended rs4 pro rail so i can put on rs4 pro or on my tripod with focus handle or just hand held. so have the 3 options without having to rerig everything or recalibrate anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvyWjM0Cti0

prOkrEAt Posted at 8-6 08:22
this guys sits @ 275mm... you are definitely running a long lens. but i do agree. we shouldnt have hard limitations for mounting point, especially considering matte boxes and flags. right now i have it off a handle up above the camera to get a fairly clear shot, and its 155mm from focal plane. but what i was getting at is if you set focus where lidar is 1m away [from where ever], whenever the lidar measures 1m it focuses the lens to that point [wont be 1m on lens necessarily]. ive finally got all the system, full focus pro, rs4 pro, transmission+hi bright combo, and the 4D grips. its a lot to setup and get mounted all together and work together. so trying to keep a basic cage setup with rails for my fx3 and whatever lenses im using without having to do anything more than choose the lens, calibrate motors and go. ive got it on the extended rs4 pro rail so i can put on rs4 pro or on my tripod with focus handle or just hand held. so have the 3 options without having to rerig everything or recalibrate anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvyWjM0Cti0

Usually cheaper lenses are smaller, but cinema stuff is big, almost always big - be it Cooke S5/7, Cooke 2x Ana, Arri Signatures, Fujinon (Allura) or other zooms. In my case it's a Red Pro Zoom - and it's a pity I can't use it with a top flag, because the lens is prone to glare, and the biggest source of glare outdoors is the sky.

Please allow setting up lens profiles for focal lengths above 100mm. I have set up all my vintage primes (28,35,50,85) but I cannot set up my 135mm lens. The hand grip will not allow me to create a profile with a focal length greater than 100mm. This is a problem that should be fixed.

PLEASE add actual fiz control to the grip... having no control of iris or easy control of zoom as a solo-operator (who the creator combo was marketed to) is a big miss

PS - agreed on all other points made in this thread

+1 to all the OP requests!

Another thing I'd like to be addressed is that every time you Zoom in and Out and when you switch from FlexibleSpot to Wide the motor jerks the focus in and out, so that it makes impossible to use it while filming, when it would be very important to be able to switch modes on the fly while recording to maximize the usability, thanks

it would be nice to have a slider beside the 2x zoom to match the grip's camera fov to the actual lens

Another useful and easy thing to implement would be the option to adjust the AMF return speed when you override the autofocus for smoother rack focusing action, the same parameter could be used for the focus switching between different subjects in AF

+1 to all of this requests in this thread.

Any idea if/when DJI will put out another firmware update? Seems like no updates since April on this..

With the new firmware they fixed the jittery motor during lens calibration, but after updating I had to recalibrate all my 15 lenses because they were all slightly off, not cool...
They didn't fix anything else.

I can't even update mine. It just doesn't see the update. The app in on the latest version etc, no updates.

localradio Posted at 10-4 00:09
I can't even update mine. It just doesn't see the update. The app in on the latest version etc, no updates.

Lucky you, don't update, latest firmware fucks up the lens calibration and the focus is off when under 1m if you calibrate at 1m and 4.5m, it's useless for me now

Please dji give us the option to roll back to older firmwares!

As pointed out from a user on the Facebook group, there should be a setting for the focus behavior when a person or a tracked object goes out of frame: we should be able to choose between the focus searching for the closest object after a specific time or the focus waiting at the last focus distance for the subject to get back into frame.

_Pawel_ Posted at 10-13 14:14
As pointed out from a user on the Facebook group, there should be a setting for the focus behavior when a person or a tracked object goes out of frame: we should be able to choose between the focus searching for the closest object after a specific time or the focus waiting at the last focus distance for the subject to get back into frame.

I've updated the firmware to the latest version, and in AMF mode using WIDE (faces tracking), when you've selected a person (the box is lit yellow) it does stay on place for several seconds even if person left the frame

_Pawel_ Posted at 10-10 06:09
Lucky you, don't update, latest firmware fucks up the lens calibration and the focus is off when under 1m if you calibrate at 1m and 4.5m, it's useless for me now

I can second this one, new firmware sucks on close focus (below 60cm and lower) on my DZO Arles. Previous firmware did not exhibit any issues like this one.

localradio Posted at 11-3 02:59
I can second this one, new firmware sucks on close focus (below 60cm and lower) on my DZO Arles. Previous firmware did not exhibit any issues like this one.

I contacted the dji support through the chat and I'm communicating through emails now, I sent two videos detailing the issue, let's hope they fix it soon. I tried downgrading the handle's firmware but it's not the culprit, I think the Lidar one is but we can't downgrade that one sadly.

I sent my focus pro to the repair service in Germany, they weren't able to replicate my issue (was extremely easy, don't know how they couldn't) so they replaced my Lidar module and now IT WORKS as intended at close focus, it's on firmware V1.00.0000 so it's definitely a firmware issue so again DON'T UPDATE THE LIDAR MODULE.

_Pawel_ Posted at 11-28 08:24
I sent my focus pro to the repair service in Germany, they weren't able to replicate my issue (was extremely easy, don't know how they couldn't) so they replaced my Lidar module and now IT WORKS as intended at close focus, it's on firmware V1.00.0000 so it's definitely a firmware issue so again DON'T UPDATE THE LIDAR MODULE.

My LiDAR died on me all of a sudden on this week. Never powered from anything other than the Pro Grip, never used non-stock cable to power it, never charged the Pro Grip while in use. It just didn't power on all of a sudden. Never used outside, so my verdict is that it's not a reliable thing to own at all. I did buy another one while my previous is in repairs, but duh what a bummer.

I tested it more today and found another defect:
when I switch from Wide to 2X in AF or AMF mode the focus shifts, an offset is introduced that makes the focus not accurate anymore, more noticeable on longer focal lenghts but annoying anyway, here's a video showing the behaviour
Let me know if you experience this as well and on what firmwares.

localradio Posted at 2024-11-28 09:03
My LiDAR died on me all of a sudden on this week. Never powered from anything other than the Pro Grip, never used non-stock cable to power it, never charged the Pro Grip while in use. It just didn't power on all of a sudden. Never used outside, so my verdict is that it's not a reliable thing to own at all. I did buy another one while my previous is in repairs, but duh what a bummer.

UPD: It was exchanged free of charge by the store I bought it in. But it makes me wonder how reliable this stuff is - I haven't seen anything die on me in the first 6 month of use like - ever. I have two of them (Creator Combo and All-in-one combo), and yesterday saw a post in the facebook group with the news, that the Lidar unit was... discontinued. Link to BHphotovideo with discontinued badge, while the Creator Combo yet again is listed as out of stock on DJI store. If they are silently killing this product, it will be my worst investment ever, and literally my last product ever branded by DJI (I was extremely disappointed by RS2 line of gimbals after Ronin1, which they literally killed by not allowing to use 3rd party batteries, or being able to repack batteries - the onboard chip goes to failed state once you remove the cells).
Also, after picking up the second one and having a new replaced lidar - I can say that my first one was working different than those two. New lidar does better tracking when moving back from an object, while the first one was always lagging behind. Which made me think they certainly have quality control issues.

The lack of activity from DJI, even on such obvious things like cable length - is simply disappointing. First they cripple the USB-C with a simple pin-out hack, forcing everyone on using their own branded cables, but still they have zero common sense in cable length, no L-shaped options, and the cable quality is utter garbage. And that's literally issue of any 2nd person that is using this product and still DJI doesn't care.

@dji anyone listening to these great ideas to make the whole Focus Pro ecosystem… Pro!

Hi, another request is for the system to automatically reverse the dial rotation for those lenses that have opposite focusing direction compared to others, otherwise it's a nightmare to manually reverse it on a lens basis every time we switch, thank you.