I have a Platinum Mavic and the camera seems awfully lame.
The color is very bland . This sunset was very colorful to the eye but washed out seen through the camera.

In low light it has a terrible time focusing and won't focus even in MF.
My Spark would have shot this picture far better.


What's wrong here?

Try using a different color profile. I like 'film' 'beach' they are a nice balance. Or you can just turn up saturation of course.

Since DJI refused to give us detailed control over manual focus, what you can do when low light makes the auto-focus fail, is turn off AFC feature, then touch-focus at something oh let's say 12M. Hover to that altitude then point the camera down. Then you should have everything in focus just fine and it won't try to refocus, ever.

sigkill Posted at 2017-12-19 19:02
Try using a different color profile. I like 'film' 'beach' they are a nice balance. Or you can just turn up saturation of course.

Since DJI refused to give us detailed control over manual focus, what you can do when low light makes the auto-focus fail, is turn off AFC feature, then touch-focus at something oh let's say 12M. Hover to that altitude then point the camera down. Then you should have everything in focus just fine and it won't try to refocus, ever.

I tried vivid and normal color profiles with no noticeable difference.
Turned off the Auto focus and tried to manually focus and that picture was the best it got.
I will try more with different settings.

I use d-cinelike and punch the saturation in post. The spark has a great colour profile straight out of the box but its not suited to the more serious 4k film standard.

Hi Aeromirage, for the color of the picture, I agree with Sigkill, you can try more colors when shooting, post-produce is also a great option.
For the focus, it might be hard or take some time to get the camera focused when it is in the dark, for my personal experience, the manual focus helps, tap the thing that you need to focus on the screen. If it is possible, you can also test if you can get it focused on where there has a good light condition.
Please try more and see if it acts like to same as you posted above. Looking forward to your feedback. An operating procedure video is highly appreciated.

Aeromirage Posted at 2017-12-19 19:26
I tried vivid and normal color profiles with no noticeable difference.
Turned off the Auto focus and tried to manually focus and that picture was the best it got.
I will try more with different settings.

Hmm that sounds like RAW PHOTO to me, which I've read ignores profiles. You should certainly notice difference.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-12-19 21:04
Hi Aeromirage, for the color of the picture, I agree with Sigkill, you can try more colors when shooting, post-produce is also a great option.
For the focus, it might be hard or take some time to get the camera focused when it is in the dark, for my personal experience, the manual focus helps, tap the thing that you need to focus on the screen. If it is possible, you can also test if you can get it focused on where there has a good light condition.
Please try more and see if it acts like to same as you posted above. Looking forward to your feedback. An operating procedure video is highly appreciated.

I looked at camera settings and noticed that they don't stay as set when powering down and back up. Focus assistant for one. So, I connected it to compter and refreshed FW through DJI assistant.
Now it seems as the camera settings are staying.
Hope to test it again tomorrow.

You can improve focus in low light conditions by enabling focus peaking, which will help you nail focus in manual mode, or serve as a reality check in autofocus modes. As for Mavic color, I get a lot more keepers in strong light with RAW files, though with the latest firmware updates the JPGs have improved quite a bit.

Aeromirage Posted at 2017-12-20 18:28
I looked at camera settings and noticed that they don't stay as set when powering down and back up. Focus assistant for one. So, I connected it to compter and refreshed FW through DJI assistant.
Now it seems as the camera settings are staying.
Hope to test it again tomorrow.

You also lose camera settings when returning from some Intelligent Flight Modes like Active Track, or using apps like Hangar 360. Super-annoying.

MP gimbal is very good but but not excellent. It's not the best, but if you try tapping on the device screen you'll get a much better quality focused photo/video.

Did some more testing and am still very disappointed in this camera.
Settings still don't stay, focus assist has to be turned on every time I power up the bird.
I set C1 to focus and it still doesn't focus worth a damn.
Exposure does not lock when shooting panos. I even tried touching the AE lock before shooting.
The first shot has color and the rest are washed out resulting in a cold colorless pano. See example below.
Again, my Spark shoots far better pics than this bird.

Aeromirage Posted at 2017-12-21 15:33
Did some more testing and am still very disappointed in this camera.
Settings still don't stay, focus assist has to be turned on every time I power up the bird.
I set C1 to focus and it still doesn't focus worth a damn.

Hi there, for the settings not being saved issue, do you mean that when you save the C1/C2 as a custom setting, it will not save or it is the camera settings that don't save? If it is the former one, it is the known issue of iOS app, if you are using the iOS with v4.1.18, it is said we engineers had optimized it in v4.1.20, please update it if you can update it. If it is the latter case, would you mind providing me with a short video which displays the settings doesn't save?
Besides, for the pano exposure issue, please help to provide the pano on the Editor and the pictures which stitch the pano from the SD card. Please upload them to Dropbox and past the link here. I will forward to our engineers to check. Thank you so much.

Aeromirage Posted at 2017-12-21 15:33
Did some more testing and am still very disappointed in this camera.
Settings still don't stay, focus assist has to be turned on every time I power up the bird.
I set C1 to focus and it still doesn't focus worth a damn.

Nice pictures..

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-12-22 02:04
Hi there, for the settings not being saved issue, do you mean that when you save the C1/C2 as a custom setting, it will not save or it is the camera settings that don't save? If it is the former one, it is the known issue of iOS app, if you are using the iOS with v4.1.18, it is said we engineers had optimized it in v4.1.20, please update it if you can update it. If it is the latter case, would you mind providing me with a short video which displays the settings doesn't save?
Besides, for the pano exposure issue, please help to provide the pano on the Editor and the pictures which stitch the pano from the SD card. Please upload them to Dropbox and past the link here. I will forward to our engineers to check. Thank you so much.

Camera settings don't save. Focus assist does not stay on.
I am using Crystalsky, so not an IOS problem.
First shot of pano has good color, the other 8 are at different EV with huge loss of color.
Exposure lock is inoperable.
Not the least bit happy with this camera. Completely useless.
I would send it in, but don't want to get back a refurb.

Quality control is rough at DJI.  I just sent back my 2 day old phantom 4 pro obsidian. It didn't work straight outta the box.  Super disappointed.

Oracle Miata Posted at 2017-12-22 06:34
Quality control is rough at DJI.  I just sent back my 2 day old phantom 4 pro obsidian. It didn't work straight outta the box.  Super disappointed.

If you saw the enthusiasm of the DJI employees you'd understand the poor quality control LOL

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/ ... -its-drone-factory/

Hopefully the repair department is a little more enthusiastic.
I entered a repair ticket today and shipping label has been sent to me.
Now I get to wait....... can't send it out till Tuesday.... then wait to see if they repair it.
But, I waited 4 1/2 months for my Crystalsky to come..... so I have a little experience here.

Hopefully I get back the same bird (Fixed) and not a refurb.

Aeromirage Posted at 2017-12-22 15:59
Hopefully the repair department is a little more enthusiastic.
I entered a repair ticket today and shipping label has been sent to me.
Now I get to wait....... can't send it out till Tuesday.... then wait to see if they repair it.

The local team will help diagnose whether to repair or replace the drone and take care of it when it arrives. If there is a need, you can also PM me your case number, I will help to keep an eye on it.
Hope you can get the drone back to you soon.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-12-23 00:01
The local team will help diagnose whether to repair or replace the drone and take care of it when it arrives. If there is a need, you can also PM me your case number, I will help to keep an eye on it.
Hope you can get the drone back to you soon.

Thanks!!
My hopes as well.

Got news today from DJI.
My Platinum Mavic will be repaired under warranty. Not sending me a refurb.

Got the bird back today. Actually another one. No not a refurb! Completely new.
Had all of the labels on it, had to activate it and there is not a letter R anywhere in the serial number.
They had indicated that they were going to replace 3 parts but apparently that didn't work. So they sent me a brand new bird. I got the same remote back and had to link it, update FW etc. Took it out or a test flight this evening but couldn't really assess the camera as it was quite dark and cloudy.
Overall, I am happy and very impressed with professional customer service after the sale.
It was 14 days from the day I sent it out to the day it arrived back.