Hello again, people.

So... As previously reported, I've been experiencing a concerning issue with my Mavic since my very first flight. I've previously described the issue as "Camera/Gimbal Freakout"... Someone recently responded in that thread indicating that they'd once experienced their gimbal calibrating randomly once during a flight...  Searching for "Mavic Gimbal Calibrate During Flight" wound up turning up a LOT of identical experiences in Google - many being discussed at length on the Mavic Pilots forum...

Here's one video showcasing the issue:

One thing that I've noticed across all of the threads has been that DJI doesn't seem to have ever officially acknoledged this isssue and so there's a lot of guessing taking place about the possible causes... Possible causes guessed have included: Faulty/Slow SD Card, High Winds, Firmware Updates (most people feel that .400 has this problem the least).  But again, I've not seen anything official from DJI - depsite the fact that it seems that there are a LOT of people reporting it here, other forums and to their support Twitter handle...

As previously disclosed, I was urged by DJI to return my Mavic for warranty repair. So, I returned my NEW Mavic to DJI for repair, and was assured and reassured that it would be 100% repaired - only to get my Mavic back with the same issue (that I was able to reproduce 3 times on one charge using 3 different tablet/phone devices, and 3 different SD card).

DJI indicates that they replaced the Gimbal/Camera assembly in order to "fix" my problem - which of course didn't actually fix anything.  DJI has again indicated that they wish me to send my Mavic in for another round of repairs, which I am obviously reluctant to do. First, they've already failed to fix this once - which resulted in a month of headache and for a loss of a month's value on my purchase Care Refresh (I've asked for a partial refund or an extension to compensate, but they've refused any response to the request so far).  I've told them that the only way I feel comfortable sending this in is if they can promise me a new unit replacement - which of course they will not do. But when considering my experience, and when considering I've read of a guy who's experienced this on FIVE repair/replacement units so far, I just don't trust that DJI has a solid handle on this problem nor it's solution...

How about you guys?  Any ideas?  Suggestions? Curious how many people are experiencing this - and why DJI hasn't officially addressed it since it's clearly not just an isolated issue.

Thanks!

It doesn't look to me like a gimbal calibration. Considering you have had it twice now, I would suspect either the SD card or your phone. The quality of the picture is quite bad. Is this from the SD card or your phone?

MentalEcho, we totally understand how frustrating it must be, deeply sorry for the difficulties you've been caused.
Could you please provide me your case number so I can escalate it with the local repair department, I'll also reported your feedback to the engineers for evaluation.
We replied you on YouTube as well, would love to try our best to help you, appreciate your patience and support!

DJI Natalia Posted at 2017-4-29 02:32
MentalEcho, we totally understand how frustrating it must be, deeply sorry for the difficulties you've been caused.
Could you please provide me your case number so I can escalate it with the local repair department, I'll also reported your feedback to the engineers for evaluation.
We replied you on YouTube as well, would love to try our best to help you, appreciate your patience and support!

Thanks, admin. You are correct - this has been very frustrating. I am really hoping for a fair resolution this time.  I've spoken with support after posting on YouTube and Twitter, and have been assured that I will be provided with a functional new Mavic Pro to replace the defective one that I was initially sent.

Something that I've not been able to get a straight answer on is the Care Refresh plan... Of course the plan is for 12 months - but when we have to send our units in for a month or more, it only seems fair that DJI would either give a partial refund or extend the plan by the time the unit is in repair by default.  Do you know how this is handled?  Thanks.

I will DM the case numbers - I don't like that posting them here in the  open makes it so that anyone could access your case info (which has SN, UPS Tracking Number, Name, etc).  Thanks.

Jenee 2 Posted at 2017-4-28 21:42
It doesn't look to me like a gimbal calibration. Considering you have had it twice now, I would suspect either the SD card or your phone. The quality of the picture is quite bad. Is this from the SD card or your phone?

This is actually a download of the FB livesteam... When the issue happens, the Mavic stops recording video to the SD card, so it's hard to catch the issue in high quality - fortunately, the DJI GO 4 app continues streaming when the issue occurs.  As mentioned, I have been able to reproduce this with 3 different SD cards and 3 different devices (iPad Air 2, Galaxy Tab, Moto X) - all of which work without issue in my Phantom 3 Pro... Any other ideas?

Jenee 2 Posted at 2017-4-28 21:42
It doesn't look to me like a gimbal calibration. Considering you have had it twice now, I would suspect either the SD card or your phone. The quality of the picture is quite bad. Is this from the SD card or your phone?

Curious about the SD card thing... I've seen that mentioned as a suspected cause for this issue on Mavic Pilots, though there's a lot of guessing on it... I've not seen DJI officially comment on SD Cards causing this specific issue, though I've seen this issue reported a handful of times on here and on Mavic Pilots... Have you seen this SD Card link officially stated anywhere... In my talking with DJI Support, this has also never been mentioned by them...  My main gotos are 2 Sandisk Ultra 64GB cards and a Samsung 64 Evo+ (which was bought about the same time as the Mavic).  I'd love nothing more in the world for the problem to be an SD card and not an actual Mavic problem.... As stated, I LOVE my Phantom 3 and have never had an issue out of it - I've wanted nothing more than to love this Mavic Pro, and I would if I didn't have this one major issue reoccurring...

+1 for this. When it happens I think the mavic is crashing. It's rare, but enough to be annoying. Good post.

digitalintruder Posted at 2017-4-29 08:52
+1 for this. When it happens I think the mavic is crashing. It's rare, but enough to be annoying. Good post.

Yeah, I am seeing more and more reports of it... At first, I didn't really know what to search for - and "Gimbal Camera Freakout" wasn't giving many hits   Now that I've started searching for things like "gimbal recalibration during flight" and the sort, I am finding a lot of identical stories...

It's interesting tho, that in all of the many reported incidents, there are definitely people chiming in who've never once experienced this issue... people who will profess to abusing theirs for survey/construction purposes - flying in rain and snow.. but not having it once...

I don't really understand why there's not been an official DJI response on this... I've found no less than a dozen reports of this issue in the last 24hrs... As stated, I've been experiencing this since my first flight... I've talked to support on the phone, via chat and via various social media outlets at least a dozen times...

I've experienced it on just about every flight, though I do believe that there's been a couple of flights in my ~30 or so that this didn't happen on...  As mentioned, I usually rotate between 3 64GB cards - all high speed namebrand cards. Today, just really really not wanting to send mine in for warranty repair again, I've been trying to test, in hopes that it is just a faulty card (or 3)... But I just don't think that's the case... Just in the last 2 hrs of fooling around, I've experienced it 3 times across 2 different cards and 2 different devices...  I caught one on livestream again, so I am waiting for FB to finish processing that, then I will try to download it, edit it and share it like I did the previous one...

So I guess that I am going to have to send it in again and hope that they do what they've told me they are going to do and replace my defective-out-of-the-box-unit with a non-defective new unit... We shall see - will report back.

MentalEcho Posted at 2017-4-29 09:20
Yeah, I am seeing more and more reports of it... At first, I didn't really know what to search for - and "Gimbal Camera Freakout" wasn't giving many hits   Now that I've started searching for things like "gimbal recalibration during flight" and the sort, I am finding a lot of identical stories...

It's interesting tho, that in all of the many reported incidents, there are definitely people chiming in who've never once experienced this issue... people who will profess to abusing theirs for survey/construction purposes - flying in rain and snow.. but not having it once...

I suspect it's the software defect that controls the gimbal. Usually after this happens, all my settings for video/photography get reset.

Oddly, unlike you - I can never capture a video when this happens - and if I am recording, the recording seems to stop just before the gimbal freak out.

It would be interesting to hear DJI's response - or ack' on this bug; however I'm not holding my breathe - they are a good drone company, but not a good software company. It would also be nice for them to do a bug-fix release only; ie: put their app devs in bug jail before releasing the next version. I like the features packed in - but all the bugs make the software look like a second rate product imho.

I'm having the same issue. Have had it happen at least three times now and it's scared the heck out of me each time. Last one happened yesterday while I was 200 feet above a large lake. Definitely got the heart rate up! But mine seems to be a bit more drastic than what's shown in the above video.

For me it usually seems to happen after I stop recording a video clip.

It's certainly made me lose confidence in a device that has otherwised been pretty reliable. I've also notice the camera drift on the roll axis at times after startup while still on the ground. A reboot of the Mavic seems to make that go away. Unsure if that's related.

MentalEcho Posted at 2017-4-29 08:26
Curious about the SD card thing... I've seen that mentioned as a suspected cause for this issue on Mavic Pilots, though there's a lot of guessing on it... I've not seen DJI officially comment on SD Cards causing this specific issue, though I've seen this issue reported a handful of times on here and on Mavic Pilots... Have you seen this SD Card link officially stated anywhere... In my talking with DJI Support, this has also never been mentioned by them...  My main gotos are 2 Sandisk Ultra 64GB cards and a Samsung 64 Evo+ (which was bought about the same time as the Mavic).  I'd love nothing more in the world for the problem to be an SD card and not an actual Mavic problem.... As stated, I LOVE my Phantom 3 and have never had an issue out of it - I've wanted nothing more than to love this Mavic Pro, and I would if I didn't have this one major issue reoccurring...

Have you tried using the original SD card that came with the Mavic?
What phone are you using?
Do you have the sound turned on?

MentalEcho Posted at 2017-4-29 07:57
This is actually a download of the FB livesteam... When the issue happens, the Mavic stops recording video to the SD card, so it's hard to catch the issue in high quality - fortunately, the DJI GO 4 app continues streaming when the issue occurs.  As mentioned, I have been able to reproduce this with 3 different SD cards and 3 different devices (iPad Air 2, Galaxy Tab, Moto X) - all of which work without issue in my Phantom 3 Pro... Any other ideas?

So what is the video like directly off the SD card?

MentalEcho Posted at 2017-4-29 07:51
Thanks, admin. You are correct - this has been very frustrating. I am really hoping for a fair resolution this time.  I've spoken with support after posting on YouTube and Twitter, and have been assured that I will be provided with a functional new Mavic Pro to replace the defective one that I was initially sent.

Something that I've not been able to get a straight answer on is the Care Refresh plan... Of course the plan is for 12 months - but when we have to send our units in for a month or more, it only seems fair that DJI would either give a partial refund or extend the plan by the time the unit is in repair by default.  Do you know how this is handled?  Thanks.

I checked the status, the supervisor called you back for the explanation.
For DJI Care Refresh service, after you receive the new one back, please message me again, I'll check with DJI Care team to see what we can do for you.
Thank you for your patience.

MentalEcho Posted at 2017-4-29 09:20
Yeah, I am seeing more and more reports of it... At first, I didn't really know what to search for - and "Gimbal Camera Freakout" wasn't giving many hits   Now that I've started searching for things like "gimbal recalibration during flight" and the sort, I am finding a lot of identical stories...

It's interesting tho, that in all of the many reported incidents, there are definitely people chiming in who've never once experienced this issue... people who will profess to abusing theirs for survey/construction purposes - flying in rain and snow.. but not having it once...

Yeah, I am seeing more and more reports of it... At first, I didn't really know what to search for - and "Gimbal Camera Freakout"

Yes, I've seen a handful of reports of this from various different people, and I refer to it as Gimbals Gone Wild™ -- though I'm pretty sure that's not the official DJI name for it. Would I be correct in guessing that the file(s) that were being created when this occured are all right around the maximum (4GB) size? I don't know what the root cause of GGW is, but ifrom what I can tell it seems to occur when the Mavic is in the process of closing one file / opening another.

digitalintruder Posted at 2017-4-29 11:31
I suspect it's the software defect that controls the gimbal. Usually after this happens, all my settings for video/photography get reset.

Oddly, unlike you - I can never capture a video when this happens - and if I am recording, the recording seems to stop just before the gimbal freak out.

Yeah, I can't record it when it happens either. This video was actually captured as a Facebook livestream - which I downloaded, trimmed and shared on Youtube... That video feed is actually coming from the tablet, so different rules are in play for livestream (it's capturing what you're seeing on your device)... When the freakout happens, the record button just beeps, but the video recorder status either just doesn't show anything or shows "0:00" - no video will be captured to the SD during this time.

Jenee 2 Posted at 2017-4-29 21:51
Have you tried using the original SD card that came with the Mavic?
What phone are you using?
Do you have the sound turned on?

Yes, this issue also happens with the 16GB card that came with the Mavic.

I actually shared my devices with you in an earlier reply: iPad Air 2, Galaxy Tab, Moto X.

The video that's recorded by the Mavic when it's working normally looks great.  As stated, when the freakout happens, no video will be captured to the SD card - again, this video is actually a download of a livestream, which records what you see on your tablet/phone (not the same as what's recorded on SD).

DJI Natalia Posted at 2017-4-30 02:29
I checked the status, the supervisor called you back for the explanation.
For DJI Care Refresh service, after you receive the new one back, please message me again, I'll check with DJI Care team to see what we can do for you.
Thank you for your patience.

Thanks, Admin. I look forward to getting this sorted. Thanks for the assistance.

Were you previously in 1 of the Intelligent Flight Modes (particularly Cinematic Mode)?

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-4-30 04:08
Yeah, I am seeing more and more reports of it... At first, I didn't really know what to search for - and "Gimbal Camera Freakout"

Yes, I've seen a handful of reports of this from various different people, and I refer to it as Gimbals Gone Wild™ -- though I'm pretty sure that's not the official DJI name for it. Would I be correct in guessing that the file(s) that were being created when this occured are all right around the maximum (4GB) size? I don't know what the root cause of GGW is, but ifrom what I can tell it seems to occur when the Mavic is in the process of closing one file / opening another.

It's odd.. For mine, the issue usually happens when I am trying to begin recording... Usually, that's how I know it's going to happen - I press record, it beeps, status flashes "0:00", then freakout begins some number of seconds later...

Freakout varies. Often times, the video feed will go off tilt horizontally...then perhaps get blurry / out of focus... then a sort of drift... then the rapid bouncing of the camera... feed cutting out - going black... coming back partially, but degraded/pixelated... then eventually recovering and returning control to me...

In testing yesterday in a controlled area, I actually experienced something new or that I'd not noticed previously (possible due to height/distance away) that freaked me out a bit... At the end of the freakout, just before completely coming back into focus and before returning control the Mavic made a very sharp ~45 degree turn left - didn't move up/down/side/side or anything...just sharply turned.. and while the turn wasn't dangerous, I'd previously believed this to just be a video/camera issue - but this was the actual control of the flight systems of the Mavic, which is admittedly more concerning to me...

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2017-4-30 06:56
Were you previously in 1 of the Intelligent Flight Modes (particularly Cinematic Mode)?

No - 100% P-GPS. Since I've been experiencing this issue since my first flight, I've not felt 100% comfortable with this device (long time P3P pilot) and so have just really only been flying to reproduce this / troubleshoot.

MentalEcho Posted at 2017-4-30 07:15
No - 100% P-GPS. Since I've been experiencing this issue since my first flight, I've not felt 100% comfortable with this device (long time P3P pilot) and so have just really only been flying to reproduce this / troubleshoot.

OK, I asked because mine did this in the same conditions you were flying in (perfect conditions).  But I was in Cinematic Mode and this was 2 firmwares ago.  It wasn't quite to this degree, however.  

My Mavic has flown great since then MINUS the DJI GO 4 app "disconnecting" and leaving me blind (drone good; app bad).  

DRONE-flies-YOU Posted at 2017-4-30 08:01
OK, I asked because mine did this in the same conditions you were flying in (perfect conditions).  But I was in Cinematic Mode and this was 2 firmwares ago.  It wasn't quite to this degree, however.  

My Mavic has flown great since then MINUS the DJI GO 4 app "disconnecting" and leaving me blind (drone good; app bad).

Ugh.. Yeah, that's a scary one. I experienced it on my MXPE (https://forum.dji.com/thread-89789-1-1.html) and I just about sharted on myself... There's a lot that I love about the Mavic Pro, but I need it to be as reliable as my P3P.

MentalEcho Posted at 2017-4-30 06:50
Yes, this issue also happens with the 16GB card that came with the Mavic.

I actually shared my devices with you in an earlier reply: iPad Air 2, Galaxy Tab, Moto X.

I think it is time you opened a case as it is looking like it is an issue with your Mavic.

@MentalEcho, I'm keenly following your updates. Did DJI find a remedy?

I'm still experiencing the same issue after all the firmware revisions, which I was hoping would resolve the random gimbal resets mid-flight. I still can't pinpoint the issue. My MP build date is 14/02/17.

There's another thread that details the symptoms accurately here:

http://mavicpilots.com/threads/c ... s-mid-flight.14836/

Phatty1 Posted at 2017-5-15 22:54
@MentalEcho, I'm keenly following your updates. Did DJI find a remedy?

I'm still experiencing the same issue after all the firmware revisions, which I was hoping would resolve the random gimbal resets mid-flight. I still can't pinpoint the issue. My MP build date is 14/02/17.

HA! "DJI find a remedy"... That's both funny and sad at the same time... DJI is a terrible company, so I'd not hold my breath on them providing a remedy unless they are forced to... In speaking with support, they've acknowledged this as being a problem, but they've refused to comment on my questioning what they are going to do for all of the other people who reporting this around the web (my guess is that they are going to do nothing as long as they can - and then when a owner forces them, they will just give months of runaround)... DJI eventually agreed to replace my defective Mavic with a new one, but that's yet to materialize.. They keep taking to my posts on social media claiming that it's already shipped - but in reality, they printed a shipping label like 5 days ago and it's not moved since... I've just decided to wash my hands of it and file a charge dispute against this purchase - I don't even want the Mavic anymore...  I paid for this thing in February - and I've only been able to fly it a handful of times since... I've barely had it in my possession - been in repair for more than 2 months...  I'm over it at this point - I just want to recoup my losses... Seriously contemplating setting my P3P on fire and posting the video to Youtube out of spite... They've sucked all fun out of this once incredibly fun hobby - going forward, I will just do homebuilds...

Are you using an ND filter, if so, which one(s)? I only use DJI ND filters, but I have seen this issue on a friends mavic when he was using aftermarket ND filters. Basically, the gimbal overloads in wind due to the weight of the filter and then the camera does what I see in your video. Not sure if this is your issue, but it looks very similar.

Good luck.

fansb7d5c62d Posted at 2017-5-19 08:09
Are you using an ND filter, if so, which one(s)? I only use DJI ND filters, but I have seen this issue on a friends mavic when he was using aftermarket ND filters. Basically, the gimbal overloads in wind due to the weight of the filter and then the camera does what I see in your video. Not sure if this is your issue, but it looks very similar.

Good luck.

Nope. No nd filters. Haven't had it in my possession long enough to consider accessories...

Same issue with my Mavic.

CHF65 Posted at 2017-5-22 11:11
Same issue with my Mavic.

Yeah, I am getting so many 'me toos' across the various forums/sites that I've shared this on that I'm starting to suspect that perhaps all Mavics may experience this at some point in time if exposed to the right environmental factors...

Unfortunately, since DJI won't step up and get out in front of these reports (in typical DJI fashion), the community is left to guess at the possible factors that may lead up to this.  I've read of the following as possible contributing factors: SD Card, wind, rapid movements/maneuvers, type of device connected to controller, weight of ND filters / attachments, strong electrical interference, strong radio interference, strong magnetic interference, overheating internal Mavic components.  

But again...since DJI won't officially answer on the many reported cases, people are just guessing at these... It may be one of them, it may be a combination of any of them, it may be none of them - who really knows other than DJI, and they aren't saying...

For me, they've reportedly sent me out a new unit to replace my 'defective' unit that they failed to repair the first time (when they swapped out the Camera/Gimbal assembly) - will believe it when the UPS man has me sign for it...  

It's just a pain... Service is terrible and official answers are vague (at best)..  I paid DJI $1400 directly for this hunk of junk ~3 months ago and I've had it in my possession for less than a month in total - I won't even go into the wasted hours sitting on hold, fighting with support, researching this problem, making videos trying to prove the issue, driving to UPS to drop it off, waiting around to get it back, answering emails/calls, and the countless grey hairs that this process has brought on...  I LOVED DJI over the span that I owned just the P3P - they've converted that love to loathe over the last 3 months. And honestly, I just don't trust them as a brand anymore... Sure, perhaps they are sending me a new one, but what about when it tears up (which seems likely)?  I won't go through this process again - I will see if there's a legal avenue to pursue or I will sell it for parts before I go back through the DJI support nightmare again..  Definitely looking into getting an external insurance policy on this thing, so that if things do go wrong with it, hopefully they go really wrong (fall out of the sky = totaled), and I just get my money back through the insurance payout...

Best of luck... I wish I had words of encouragement to offer you since it sounds that you may be beginning this journey - the best that I can do is to suggest you just go ahead and plan for a long and painful process so at least you're prepared for what's to come.

I've had this same exact issue with my mavic

Same issue here. And I'll go ahead and just assume that no resolution has been found since no one has posted anything here and we are talking about DJI, which appears to be trying to win awards for worst customer service.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2017-4-29 02:32
MentalEcho, we totally understand how frustrating it must be, deeply sorry for the difficulties you've been caused.
Could you please provide me your case number so I can escalate it with the local repair department, I'll also reported your feedback to the engineers for evaluation.
We replied you on YouTube as well, would love to try our best to help you, appreciate your patience and support!

Exact same issue as the OP.  My case is CAS-782925-X1K0J9.  The 3month older refurb i received back is doing it just as much if not worse than the newer version i sent in.  I too am hesitant to send it in again and loose Care refresh equity as well as 2 months worth of summer videography down the drain.  I would like an official response as well. Thanks Natalia

I experienced the same thing multiple times yesterday.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lsi8l6 ... 5_19_19_49.mp4?dl=0

It happened only with recording in 4K (not in HD), always 41 seconds after the start of the recording. The affected video files on the SD card are always 325 MB in size.

This would suggest that it is indeed related to the SD card.

I used a SanDisk Extreme 64 GB card.

I have read so many of these stories now including several who get their drone back "repaired" or given a refurb unit only to have it do the same thing again. DJI continues to not acknowledge that this is a widespread issue and only asks to send the drone back for over a month for repair. Mine has been doing this since around the time I did the FW upgrade from .400. I am very reluctant to send back my pristine mavic only to get someone else's refurbed unit. Mine seems to go nuts when my video cache fills on my phone or tablet. I use a Lexar 633x 64 GB XC1 card.

I have the same kind of issue.
Have someone managed to solve this trouble with update to Firmware : v01.03.1000?
You can see it at 01:03 at timeline