I bought a P4 second hand and it's an amazing device. Right now I'm learning about the camera functions, but I'm haviing difficulty finding detailed information in the user manual. No problem, that's why I signed up for the forums!

1. Is it normal for the camera to flop about when the drone is unpowered?

2. I see that the camera has good freedom of movement (tilt, roll, yaw), but I only see to have a tilt control on the transmitter. Is that correct?

3. If I don't control the roll then what does?  E.g. is it normal for roll to be non-zero on the camera in flight, or does this indicate a damaged gimbal?

4. I live on a hill. Is the onboard firmware perhaps taking the sloping horizon as a cue for the camera orientation? Or is it simply based on the calculated tlt of the props?

1) Yes this is quite normal when the aircraft is switched off. (Gimbal camera retainer usually fitted for transporting)

2) You only have tilt control 0 to -90 degrees by default using the gimbal tilt wheel on the controller. You can also set the camera in DJI Go to tilt up to +30 degrees (You would probably have propellers in shot, so this isn't much advantage).

3) There are two gimbal modes FPV (First Person View) where the gimbal will stay static and only roll left or right when the aircraft turns left or right (trying to give the impression of a pilots eye view). The other mode is Follow, where the camera will always remain level, the best mode for smooth video.

The aircraft has an IMU unit (Inertial Management Unit) which contains various sensors to allow the aircraft to establish which way it is moving, whether it is level or not.

So good practice to do all the calibrations

1) IMU (On a level surface, spirit level is handy)
2) Gimbal (just after IMU)
3) Sensors (Using DJI Assistant 2 on a computer)
4)RC sticks (with aircraft off)
5) Compass (In an open area , away from any metal objects)

If the camera still appears to have a slight tilt after calibration (it should be level) then this Roll can be adjusted either within  DJI Go, OR using controller shortcut:- Press and hold the C2 button, while keeping this held roll the right hand wheel at the top of the controller. To the left or right as required. This can also be used in flight if needed.

Thanks for replying.

Ah, calibration. I didn't consider that.  I did see mention of calibration in the Assistant 2 app, but I must admit that I did't understand what it wanted me to do (wave your drone in the air, do the hokey cokey and turn around). Compass calibration I think that was : it didn't seem relevant if I could see the drone orientation myself.  I didn't know there was several types of calibration!

So, gimbal probably not damaged then.

DonMilne Posted at 2016-11-23 15:27
Thanks for replying.

Ah, calibration. I didn't consider that.  I did see mention of calibration in  ...

The calibrations usually only need to be done once in a while, when prompted by DJI Go, or after an aircraft firmware upgrade.

It seems unlikely that the gimbal is damaged, if it's moving freely and not making funny noises under normal use then all seems fine.

Get into a big open space and try it out, stick in beginner mode for the first few flights, and read through the online manual a few times.

Thanks again. I've already flown it several times, in fact I was flying it when I noticed that the camera had a permanent ~15deg roll attutude, hence my questions here.  The camera still works though: picture quality is really quite stunning - it's in the 4K mode, I haven't tried to change it because I don't typically have my phone attached - DJI Go seems to do horrible things to my phone's battery life unless I force stop it (Samsung Galaxy J5 2016, Android 6.0.1).

DonMilne Posted at 2016-11-23 16:51
Thanks again. I've already flown it several times, in fact I was flying it when I noticed that the c ...

15 degrees is a bit excessive, try a firmware refresh & factory reset in Assistant 2. Followed by calibrations. Have a look in DJI Go and see that the gimbal roll hasn't been previously set at some extrememe offset.

You might suffer some tilt if you were flying in moderately strong winds.

The winds in Stonehaven,UK weren't too bad today. I wish I could say the same for the temperature!

I'll hook up DJI Go when I can. Maybe even this evening as I should be able to do this indoors. The remote did have unusual config selections when I got it, e.g. it was set for mode1.