Hello all,

It seems to be quite common problem: horizon is tilted when rotating the aircraft. In some direction/heading horizon stays leveled but when you rotate the P4 in place during flight it tilts noticeably. I have two P4´s and it does so with both units. Latest firmwares, latest DJI Go App (Android).   Calibrating the IMU, compass and gimbal does not help...

Any hints how to fix this will be appreciated.   

How many else Phantom4-owners got same problems?  

Updated mine today, and seems fine... not sure if it matters but I did a factory reset after the firmware upgrade, then did cold IMU calibration and gimble... I only do compass calibration if the drone says its needed

Just came back from flying 3 batteries out, mine seems fine, maybe try the factory reset before u calibrate... and be sure your on a fairly lvl surface

Hello petri, have you tried to refresh the latest firmware via DJI Assistant 2? Also, it is recommended to do the rotating softly.

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-7-30 09:27
Hello petri, have you tried to refresh the latest firmware via DJI Assistant 2? Also, it is recommen ...

Hello,  this current P4 is three days old and it has latest fw installed.  Gimbal should level the horizon when hovering still, right ?  This one has tilted horizon: for example when pointing to west or east but _may_ stay leveled when pointing north or south. It largerly depends on which direction camera is pointing.  Even when you rotate the aircraft sloowly.  

All the images taken yesterday (I do only photos with P4´s)  are tilted +3 degrees.

I will check the platform´s level and do again all calibrations and report

petri.puurunen Posted at 2016-7-30 14:56
Hello,  this current P4 is three days old and it has latest fw installed.  Gimbal should level the  ...

If the camera cannot hold level while hovering after IMU calibration and gimbal calibration, I'd suggest you to contact our Europe tech support and send it in. You can ask for a replacement if the drone has no crash or physical damage since it is only 3 days old.

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-7-30 10:11
If the camera cannot hold level while hovering after IMU calibration and gimbal calibration, I'd s ...

Hello Paladin,

Gimbal stays still but its not leveled.

This is three days old unit; if it has problems I will return it to dealer and not send to three week trip to DJI-Servicecenter. Buiyng a 1500€ unit and send it straight away to service is complete madness. As i stated on my first post: My other P4 has same symptom (Which is now on DJI-servicecenter).

Here is four shots taken after firmware-refresh, IMU, compass and gimbal-calibration.   One shot to each main-compass direction, few second pause after aircraft-rotation, then photo.  As you can see clearly gimbal tilt changes dramatically from 0.58 degree to 2.6degree.  Cannot be hardware-issue; otherwise the same problem would be on every shot?



The minor tilt on photo "West" is acceptable but the others are not.



So, is this normal behaviour?  Comments, please

I have had the same issue on every phantom 3 and 4 that I have owned.

Temporary fix is to use manual gimbal roll. Until DJI fixes it. Its not hw-issue, more of software.      

did u try doing a factory reset in dji assistant after updating software?... I did, and I dont have this issue, tho that might not have done it... just a thought...

Heebus Posted at 2016-7-31 23:46
did u try doing a factory reset in dji assistant after updating software?... I did, and I dont have  ...

Actually, I didnt do factory reset. This unit was just taken from the fresh box and then updated. So zero flights before last update.

Dirty Bird Posted at 2016-8-1 14:50
This problem appears to be an issue with many P4s.  Exactly what you describe.  Horizon will be tilt ...

Thanks!  That is exactly I was trying to say.   Anyone on DJI ; comments please?   

Wow that's a ways out!  Can't believe you maintained signal that far out with all the buildings and being somewhat low altitude (flight #1).
Any work I've done with brushless gimbals used a separate controller for the camera gimbal itself.  Not sure how DJI does it but I wouldn't
think it's tied to the flight controller in any way.  Then again I don't know much on the commercial stuff...

How hard are you turning? If you do a fast turn the camera will tilt in anticipation of the banking during a fast hard turn.

Dirty Bird Posted at 2016-8-1 07:50
This problem appears to be an issue with many P4s.  Exactly what you describe.  Horizon will be tilt ...

Man, that's an awesome video. Took some guts to do all that sideways & backwards flying with all those buildings around.

Just think of all the waivers you'd need to fly that after August 29th.

But, sticking to the topic, my P4's gimbal is fairly stable. I've noticed a minor tilt at times (in a hover, sampling NSEW after a delay) but not quite enough to spoil a shot. My P4 is a month old.

Very Impressive Flight!!!

Are you using any antenna boosters to maintain signal, especially at the lower altitude?

Were you at ground level throughout the flight? were you aided by an elevated terrain when flying over the city?

Dirty Bird Posted at 2016-8-1 12:50
This problem appears to be an issue with many P4s.  Exactly what you describe.  Horizon will be tilt ...

..............i think it is notonly P4s suffering from this problem, I have the P3p and it too has the same problem since day one.  After support took a look at it, slightly better but still pronounced like yours at certain altitude.
Also, the wind at surface is not always the same at different levels, a good guide to consider for a reference is www.windyty.com

https://www.windyty.com/40.731/-73.987?40.730,-74.564,9 an example.

I also think it is a software issue, but perhaps the purpose is to slow down the speedy reactions to avoid aggresive movements as the Phantoms are fast beasts. However, it would be good to give users option to avoid this problem and set it as they would like. I fly very gentle despite my style of flying it tends to bend either ways, I guess depending on the wind speed 'Dirty Bird' is right.

MD_Icarus Posted at 2016-8-1 16:28
Very Impressive Flight!!!

Are you using any antenna boosters to maintain signal, especially at the  ...

I think it was with the Litchi App.

MyUserName Posted at 2016-8-2 00:03
..............i think it is notonly P4s suffering from this problem, I have the P3p and it too has ...

I've updated and flown many many P4's and haven't had any camera issues at all.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-1 17:11
I've updated and flown many many P4's and haven't had any camera issues at all.

Perhaps there are some bad batches out there. I don't mean to be negative about this but it is what it is. Petri, he just bought his drone how would you explain it then? I had the same issue, it was January, i couldn't fly it enough to spot the issue, reseller told me it was the problems with P3s, but depsite his words I sent it to Netherlands and it still does it sadly. I wish i could give you all a good news about it but, I don't have it.

MyUserName Posted at 2016-8-2 00:23
Perhaps there are some bad batches out there.  I don't mean to be negative about this but it is  ...

If it's something that you cannot remedy yourself with proper calibrations, downgrading/upgrading firmware and other suggestions then you really should send it in again.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-1 17:25
If it's something that you cannot remedy yourself with proper calibrations, downgrading/upgrading  ...

Yes, you are right but I don't know if i could be bothered. I know what you are saying, thank you. It's just hassle to pack it all, etc. I do hope that there will be an answer to us, what is causing this. And are there others out there but they are not aware of the issue perhaps. I've yet to hear someone shows us a windy day flight and all straight. Then i'd say perhaps worth doing so. Most people when i asked they tell me fixed on Adobe CC or other programs etc.

Could you show us a flight perhaps that is all leveled please?

Thanks Ken!

MyUserName Posted at 2016-8-2 00:35
Yes, you are right but I don't know if i could be bothered. I know what you are saying, thank you. ...

Here's a video I did before the P4 was released showing it's Active Track feature.
I'ts pretty level.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-1 17:47
Here's a video I did before the P4 was released showing it's Active Track feature.
I'ts pretty lev ...

Thanks, the problem is normally, during turns, if you to stay put on the spot and turn then this occurs. When flying forward or backward all is fine.

Thanks for the video though.

.........also whilst flying forward and turning around 180/360 degrees... Sometimes also during going up.

I have sometimes is not straight level. Seems be mine is okey I heard a lot of this issues. Did u on level surface IMU calibrate? And after that camera calibrate?. That helps by me so far.

FI. Stanley Posted at 2016-8-1 23:48
I have sometimes is not straight level. Seems be mine is okey I heard a lot of this issues. Did u on ...

Hello,  It looks to be little better now. P4 was "cooling down" over night in cool storagespace and in the morning i did IMU-calibration again.  Now when flying it does level the gimbal little better; sometimes its in level; sometimes just one degree tilted; that can be fixed with RC (C2+right wheel).   Key thing is to do IMU-calibration to a "cold device" ?  

I noticed this issue on my p3 adv today. When turning to fly north I ended up with a tilt. I landed let it cool in the ac house, did a full calibrate tried it again and it did it again both times facing north

To me this has been the second most annoying problem I've had with the phantom 3 and 4 next to stress cracks. I've tried everything on all my phantom 3s and 4s and there always was non level horizon at some part of the flight. Over mountains it isn't noticeable. But over ocean where the horizon line is clearly visible, it's always there. Sometimes a little,sometimes a lot. Right now I have two phantom 4s. One tilts left on forward flight, the other right. In spite of both having been calibrated in the same environment, the left or right tendency is there. At first I thought it was magnetic interferences during IMU calibration but nah. Tried it all. In spite of both having DJI replacement phantom minus camera from stress cracks, the problem persists. I'm now of the belief that some are golden birds with no tilt tendencies. Whoever has those are a lucky bunch. Hopefully someday I'll be one of those.

Dirty Bird Posted at 2016-8-2 16:54
With all due respect please check Facebook P4 user groups, YouTube, Phantom Pilots, etc..  Tons of ...

If it can't be fixed with all the troubleshooting steps, send the unit in to be repaired.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-2 15:00
Here's another video showing Active Track with many quick turns and the camera has no issues.

htt ...

Hello Ken

Thanks for your efforts, but you need to fly over 20+ meters and you need a horizon that straight and apply joy stick rudder with turns. Let's see that please.

Best regards

No, better yet. Get it up over 20 meters above the ocean or another large body of water, where the horizon line is obvious, and then watch how inconsistent over the course of a flight the level becomes. Five phantom 3s and 2 phantom 4s and not one has been consistently level over ocean. Just today I did another IMU and gimbal calibration and while it was level on the ground, the moment it got faster than 14 meters per second the horizon tilted right. Stop it and it went a couple of clicks past level to the left. While I've given up on it, once in a while, like today, I'll do an IMU calibration thinking that it will be the golden one. While I've sent in two phantom 4s for stress cracks, I won't bother for the gimbal. For starters, whoever tests it needs to replicate the conditions that show the flaws and that is ocean where the the camera level is all over the place. I have received brand new ones, fly them over ocean and boom, out of level gimbal. Hence, I've given up.

Yes...   You need a flat horizon to really see the problem.  Either the ocean, or like where I live, the perfectly flat prairie.  I suspect there are owners who live in mountainous or hilly areas that are unaware of the tilt because there is no straight-line horizon to use as a reference.

petri.puurunen Posted at 2016-7-30 16:38
Hello Paladin,

Gimbal stays still but its not leveled.

Return it and get your money back. I had the same problem and had to send it in. They keep replacing my craft with a different one. I dont know if it is refurb or new. Im on my 3rd one and still have the horizon issue. And they keep feeding me BS. I asked why they send me a invoice showing a parts list that was repaired but the serial number is different and they told me they change the serial number because of the parts they had to replace. The parts they supposedly replaced are internal so why woukd the serial nunber if the craft change. I am going to report this to the BBB because this has been going on since May.

Dirty Bird Posted at 2016-8-2 04:54
With all due respect please check Facebook P4 user groups, YouTube, Phantom Pilots, etc..  Tons of ...

This is how one came back from service on its first flight out.

Wonky Gimbal Tilt

How's that for a tilted horizon, heh.

dancarver44@mai Posted at 2016-8-3 10:50
Ken - will you stop lying? Obviously you can't even SEE a horizon in that video. What you need to  ...

There have been a lot of tilted horizon issues reported with the phantoms.

st pauli Posted at 2016-8-3 22:43
This is how one came back from service on its first flight out.

Wonky Gimbal Tilt

What is your ticket number?
I'm sorry if you received it back and it's acting like that.

Same issue on my P3P since day one (3 months now)

The tilt does appear to be aggravated by any wind as well.

I've been hoping a resolution would be forth coming as it's an issue many users are having. I have not sent mine In for repair due to poor service, shipping costs to another country, we only have a few months to fly in and number of people that get their bird back the same or worse. Obviuosly DJI is sending back birds that are not tested, so the chance of getting a proper functioning bird back seems to be a crap shoot.
I would bring it back to the Authorized Repair depot I bought it from, but for some reason DJI wants me to send it to the U.S! Again a silly move to have an Authorized repair depot that isn't allowed to handle warranty claims??

As a  photographer I bought my bird to see if this was an area of photography that I wanted to get into. So far I'm impressed with what can be done with this tool but not impressed with DJI as a whole.