Hello DJI Brains trust,

I have been using a DJI M200 series drone with an X4S Camera now for a while and I have been getting some unusual and sporadic images lately. Below are 2 different images which show the difference between a good shot and a blurry one. General for my flights I keep all the camera settings as default and this used to work fine, however lately I have been getting more and more blurry images.

Any ideas as to a fix??

Good_vs_Bad

Good_vs_Bad_GCP

Hi JKolar, sorry for the trouble caused, may I know if you have reset camera settings to have a try? Do all the pictures and videos have the blurry issue? Which focus mode did you select? AF or MF? What is your current firmware version? Thank you.

Hi, given the height where you take your pictures, I advise you to stay in MF and set your camera to infinity, more if you use the cendense, the focus is with another button that the one who takes the photos ;-)

Thanks for the replies, we use Pix4D capture to fly set areas. I have reset the camera and the focus is set to AF. We fly at different heights mainly ranging between 60-80m depending on the area we are flying. Generally the photos are OK but every now and then we have a flight with alot of blurry images. The firmware is the latest version. The capture of the images is automated so MF does not work well as I am not controlling when the photo is taken, nor am I looking at the camera view. Generally I am watching the flight path and the drone in the sky on the look out for Wedge Tail eagles.

JKolar Posted at 2018-2-26 14:31
Thanks for the replies, we use Pix4D capture to fly set areas. I have reset the camera and the focus is set to AF. We fly at different heights mainly ranging between 60-80m depending on the area we are flying. Generally the photos are OK but every now and then we have a flight with alot of blurry images. The firmware is the latest version. The capture of the images is automated so MF does not work well as I am not controlling when the photo is taken, nor am I looking at the camera view. Generally I am watching the flight path and the drone in the sky on the look out for Wedge Tail eagles.

Some non-software aspects to consider...Might there be wind turbulence at that altitude causing extreme motions/compensation, grit in the gimbal drives causing uneven motion, and/or perhaps a nicked or otherwise unbalanced prop causing vibrations under certain flight conditions?  From time-to-time, have seen similar blurry images when flying under low-light conditions in a complex environment.

JKolar Posted at 2-26 14:31
Thanks for the replies, we use Pix4D capture to fly set areas. I have reset the camera and the focus is set to AF. We fly at different heights mainly ranging between 60-80m depending on the area we are flying. Generally the photos are OK but every now and then we have a flight with alot of blurry images. The firmware is the latest version. The capture of the images is automated so MF does not work well as I am not controlling when the photo is taken, nor am I looking at the camera view. Generally I am watching the flight path and the drone in the sky on the look out for Wedge Tail eagles.

Hi JKolar, did you resolve your blurry images, we too do similar operations, M210 / P4d Capture & have observed blurry images, have you any further advice?

map1 Posted at 12-4 19:59
Hi JKolar, did you resolve your blurry images, we too do similar operations, M210 / P4d Capture & have observed blurry images, have you any further advice?

Hello Map1,
I have not yet found a definitive solution to this issue. i have been able to reduce the frequency of its occurrence however by slowing the flight speed down slightly, minimising my flights during 'windy' weather and frequent gimbal/imu calibrations (generally after getting a series of blurry images i will do this before my next flight).  

JKolar Posted at 12-6 13:41
Hello Map1,
I have not yet found a definitive solution to this issue. i have been able to reduce the frequency of its occurrence however by slowing the flight speed down slightly, minimising my flights during 'windy' weather and frequent gimbal/imu calibrations (generally after getting a series of blurry images i will do this before my next flight).

Well, who (or what) is determining the shooting parameters of images? I mean ISO, aperture and shutter speed? Focusing aside, the motion blur will happen at certain speed of moving camera and the effect is directly related to the shutter speed. Set the camera to Manual, Aperture at around 4.5 - 5.6, Shutter at around 1/250 or faster, and see if the image is properly exposed in average. If not, try to adjust ISO to keep shutter speed as fast as possible, but without going crazy. You've already noticed some improvement flying slower. That's it.

JKolar Posted at 12-6 13:41
Hello Map1,
I have not yet found a definitive solution to this issue. i have been able to reduce the frequency of its occurrence however by slowing the flight speed down slightly, minimising my flights during 'windy' weather and frequent gimbal/imu calibrations (generally after getting a series of blurry images i will do this before my next flight).

Hi JKolar,

We have been having some similar issues with pictures from the Pix4D capture app, albeit with a M600 Pro and X5.

Our approach has been to take off, hover at mission altitude and tap to focus. Then we switch to MF and manual exposure with a preference for smaller apertures to maximise depth of field. Once that is set we switch to Pix4D and upload / execute the mission. This seems to work for us.