I have my new Phantom 4 for a week now and noticed that it does not hold well its height distance to the ground especially in S mode.
I also have the P3P and i did not notice such a problem.
I have full GPS signal, i fly over level ground surface and i have done compass and imu calibration .. no errors on go-app also before flight so it must be something else.
I think it is very important to guarantee a level flight level when not using the controller and not to worry to fly to low to crash.
I hope it is something that can be fixed by a firmware update and its not a sensor error.
I read in the phantom pilots fourm that many other users have the problem.

Hmm...  wonder what the S mode is designed to do?  Hovering stationary and steady.  Yeah.  I guess P mode is simply redundant, huh?  And you say also "not using the controller"?  For S mode?  Brilliant.

boxerman Posted at 2016-3-23 07:04
Hmm...  wonder what the S mode is designed to do?  Hovering stationary and steady.  Yeah.  I guess P ...

Even more smart ass reply's boxerman?
EDIT: Do you even own a P4 boxerman?

Hi,

Yes, several P4 owners are reporting this issue (including me). Both on the phantompilots forum and this forum. The mods here are aware of the issue. Let's hope a future FW update fix this. You can try to do a IMU calibration on a perfectly level surface - I have done this, but it did not help...

Lose of latitude is normal when you roll or pitch very fast intensive back and forward. Phantom 4 doesn't loose the altitude flying constantly in one direction

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-3-23 13:03
Lose of latitude is normal when you roll or pitch very fast intensive back and forward. Phantom 4 do ...

Sorry to disagree with you as when i am flying i keep a steady forward motion without piching and rolling and i still notice the p4 flying downwards.
In any case i still have and use the p3p so i can see the difference for sure!

Mine seems to be staying at the same altitude when flying, but I have noticed that when I take off and let it hover for the 30 seconds or so before flying, that it slowly drops down.

Mine would drop 1 or 2 meter if I Fly a straight at full stick and suddenly stop, specially when windy.  Maybe it cause a turbulent and change the air pressure around it.

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-3-23 13:03
Lose of latitude is normal when you roll or pitch very fast intensive back and forward. Phantom 4 do ...

I am very sorry, but I have to disagree with you... this also happened after the 2nd firmware for the Phantom 3... it was fixed, however, in a next firmware update which we had to wait for a long time... here is an example:

corfulaurent@gm Posted at 2016-3-23 16:36
Sorry to disagree with you as when i am flying i keep a steady forward motion without piching and  ...

you are very right! See my answer to DJ-TIM, please... when I fly right or left the PH4 even ascends.... and at times descends upto 3 meters, which is quite dangerous, even having the VPS on!!

raywongmusic Posted at 2016-3-23 17:31
Mine would drop 1 or 2 meter if I Fly a straight at full stick and suddenly stop, specially when win ...

that can't be the reason... it should stay stable "seein" more than 8-10 satellites... Mine just dropped about 3 meters and I was receiving 19 satellites!!

raywongmusic Posted at 2016-3-23 17:31
Mine would drop 1 or 2 meter if I Fly a straight at full stick and suddenly stop, specially when win ...

this just happened without any wind to me!

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-3-23 06:03
Lose of latitude is normal when you roll or pitch very fast intensive back and forward. Phantom 4 do ...

Like everybody else has said. You're wrong! This is an issue I have noticed with multiple Phantom 4s.

I am seeing this too.  I can do an auto-takeoff and nothing else.  The aircraft will take off and rise to about 4 feet and then gradually descend over less than a minute, to the point that I wondered if it would actually contact the ground if I didn't intervene.  This needs to be fixed.  The vision positioning system is showing the altitude changes in the DJI GO app, but it is not adjusting accordingly.

--Jim

TK-421 Posted at 2016-3-23 10:47
Tim, but it DOES randomly lose and gain altitude...even when moving in a steady forward direction ( ...

I haven't seen anybody report here that they are losing and gaining altitude when hovering...only when braking. I've seen dozens say it happens when they brake to a stop, as mine does as well, but I haven't seen anybody say that it's when they're hovering (if you could link a thread where the altitude issues while hovering were reported that would be great)

I disagree with the dji lost above.  I too, am experiencing loss of altitude while hovering in one place.  I shoot real estate professionally with a 333 exemption and have done roughly 20 shoots since getting the p4.  The problem has persisted on every shoot.  I've tried every fox I could think of.  I've had dji products going all the way back to the original phantom.  My p3p was actuall more stable than my p4.  Please address this and provide a firmware fix asap.

Hi guys.
I have been training around 40 newbies the last month and I can confirm that all P4s are losing altitude, from 1 to 3 meters.
Have tried IMU, Compass.... nothing worked.
Cheers.

I need to voice my opinion too....   most definitely losing altitude after stopping a forward or backward flight.  Will gradually lose 1 to 3 meters.  This can happen after a slow crawl of a flight too.  Doesn't have to be a hi-G stop.  Also, happens with 14 satellites, in a wide open space, free of any obstructions...not flying over water, IMUs precisely balanced, compass calibrated, etc etc etc.

The other day I was slowly "taxiing"   about 3 feet off the ground to get my bird to a clear landing spot on pavement.  I stopped the forward motion and just hovered, but watched the drone slowly lower itself all the way to the ground (it wasn't trying to land, it just lost altitude to the point where the landing gear was tickling the pavement). So I finally set her down and killed the motors.
This is just an issue that DJI needs to look in to.  Plain and simple.

I've certainly seen my P4 lose altitude while hovering.

I've never noticed altitude change while hovering when in S mode...   But, I rarely hover then. Most of my S mode flying is 'pedal to the metal'   I'll have to check it out next time I'm in the air. (Rain forecast here for the next two days).

I do get the altitude drop occasionally when braking in S and P

My p4 desends on its own when flying forward at a slow rate.  Distance is way off and height is off too.  This is a p4 problem as I have had 5 replacements through dji and they all do it.  I can't even film one real estate job with it.  All calibrations have been done and all firmwares are updated.  Dji needs to recall this model as it is unsafe to fly.

Drones Eye Posted at 2017-1-9 12:53
My p4 desends on its own when flying forward at a slow rate.  Distance is way off and height is off too.  This is a p4 problem as I have had 5 replacements through dji and they all do it.  I can't even film one real estate job with it.  All calibrations have been done and all firmwares are updated.  Dji needs to recall this model as it is unsafe to fly.

" All calibrations have been done and all firmwares are updated.  "

So which calibrations have you done ?

I lost my drone today due to elevation loss in Sport Mode.   Did a P-mode run down my street at about 25 feet above tree line.  Switch to sport mode and the altitude loss resulted in a crash into a tree.   Datalog shows not altitude loss, shows the same altitude as the P mode fly-by, but now I have a drone stuck in a very tall redwood tree…..   My problem…. or is this an equipment malfunction (was not braking - have my datalogs, little to no winds)

I lost my drone today due to elevation loss in Sport Mode.   Did a P-mode run down my street at about 25 feet above tree line.  Switch to sport mode and the altitude loss resulted in a crash into a tree.   Datalog shows not altitude loss, shows the same altitude as the P mode fly-by, but now I have a drone stuck in a very tall redwood tree…..   My problem…. or is this an equipment malfunction (was not braking - have my datalogs, little to no winds)

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/DKC89DKU8W6Y835LTSTC/#   Here is my datalog:  You'll notice I fly over the very same tree on the pass before it's death and the elevation noted for S-mode is actually higher than the pass in P-mode.   

cbeitel67657 Posted at 2017-1-9 17:00
I lost my drone today due to elevation loss in Sport Mode.   Did a P-mode run down my street at about 25 feet above tree line.  Switch to sport mode and the altitude loss resulted in a crash into a tree.   Datalog shows not altitude loss, shows the same altitude as the P mode fly-by, but now I have a drone stuck in a very tall redwood tree…..   My problem…. or is this an equipment malfunction (was not braking - have my datalogs, little to no winds)

"My problem…. or is this an equipment malfunction (was not braking - have my datalogs, little to no winds)"

Regarding braking and stopping performance, here is an extract from the manual page 11:-

if I let mine hover it will touch the ground even from about 5m if its hovering for a couple of minuets and this is in p-mode hopefully the next firmware can fix this issue

bluemarley67 Posted at 2017-1-11 08:54
if I let mine hover it will touch the ground even from about 5m if its hovering for a couple of minuets and this is in p-mode hopefully the next firmware can fix this issue

Agree.

If I fly level down a field at 30' for maybe 300 feet, it gets hard to visually judge the height.  Could be 20', 30' or 40' from where I view it at.

However, when GO reports it as flying -6 feet underground on the screen something is wrong.  It's not flying underground.  Landing shouldn't show -46 feet either, but mine does.  Data is poor someplace, whether it's sonar, VPS, GPS, or the barometer to generate underground altitudes or elevations on GO.

I hope they get this fixed too.

Aardvark,

I have done imu,  compass,  rc, and cold imu.

Drones Eye Posted at 2017-1-27 10:53
Aardvark,

I have done imu,  compass,  rc, and cold imu.

Try calibrating the sensors using 'DJI Assistant 2' from Here, that has been known to cure some altitude problems.

No use.  Still does the samething

corfulaurent@gm Posted at 2016-3-23 06:36
Sorry to disagree with you as when i am flying i keep a steady forward motion without piching and rolling and i still notice the p4 flying downwards.
In any case i still have and use the p3p so i can see the difference for sure!

Yes, I had a similar experience crashing my drone in the sea from a 10 m altitude under moonlight. My controller is still saying 10 m while the video capture shows how the surface was approaching. The log shows a straight line with no touching of any other control than full throttle forward.

An expensive experience and I will definitely think twice before using sports mode again.

I've also noticed this issue. It occasionally happens in P mode as well when hovering, it will drop 2-3m even with ~18 satellites.