Hi all

I am suffering occasional totally blurred clips that ruin an entire video sequence with my Mavic 2 Pro.  I lost a few clips in Iceland and this morning I happened to shoot the same shot twice, same settings and same flight. But one was totally blurred and the other crystal clear.

My AF is on. No NDs and no changes to camera settings between shots.... So any advice on why some clips of mine are ending up entirely blurred?
Both clips uploaded as unlisted videos here; unedited raw 4 k clips;


Cheers,
Ian

Blurred:


Not Blurred:

Is it just a case of AF having trouble with the speed your travelling at , it’s hard to judge if your lower than focus range which is just over a metre to infinity.

hallmark007 Posted at 4-21 01:40
Is it just a case of AF having trouble with the speed your travelling at , it’s hard to judge if your lower than focus range which is just over a metre to infinity.

The clips I lost in Iceland were normal slow moving high up clips.  And in this morning's clip, the Pro rises up towards the end of the clip but still everything remains out of focus....

Wellsi Posted at 4-21 01:59
The clips I lost in Iceland were normal slow moving high up clips.  And in this morning's clip, the Pro rises up towards the end of the clip but still everything remains out of focus....

I've noticed that when I launch I sometimes get an out-of-focus screen.
Don't know why that occurs either.
Even with the crystal sky it's not always easy to see.
So...every time I launch and/or hit record, I tap the screen to make sure the focus is correct.

geoffz Posted at 4-21 06:43
I've noticed that when I launch I sometimes get an out-of-focus screen.
Don't know why that occurs either.
Even with the crystal sky it's not always easy to see.

Yes, I've actually set both custom buttons on the back to be re-focus on centre of screen, but you have to remember to do that all the time, which you really shouldn't have to.....  
I was kind of hoping I still had a setting wrong rather than it being a 'feature'  

Ian

Wellsi - I normally follow your advice so I am not sure if I am qualified to comment. My experience is during launch if there is long grass etc in view during lift-off the M2Pro autofocus goes to minimum focus - then if there is not enough contrast for it to refocus it stays on the minimum focus distance no matter how many times you tap the screen. I tested this recently having lost some important footage (only spotted on home computer screen). Now I launch - point at contrast area -tap focus- select manual focus to lock - and fly.  Litchi app can calibrate infinity focus - just selecting infinity can sometimes not be pinsharp. I mostly take still landscape images so sharp focus is critical. Most of the time I am staggered how tack sharp the images are. Bottom line - Manual focus.

dunfr Posted at 4-21 10:16
Wellsi - I normally follow your advice so I am not sure if I am qualified to comment. My experience is during launch if there is long grass etc in view during lift-off the M2Pro autofocus goes to minimum focus - then if there is not enough contrast for it to refocus it stays on the minimum focus distance no matter how many times you tap the screen. I tested this recently having lost some important footage (only spotted on home computer screen). Now I launch - point at contrast area -tap focus- select manual focus to lock - and fly.  Litchi app can calibrate infinity focus - just selecting infinity can sometimes not be pinsharp. I mostly take still landscape images so sharp focus is critical. Most of the time I am staggered how tack sharp the images are. Bottom line - Manual focus.

Ha, I'm grateful for all advice.  What you say makes sense, especially for the rapeseed flowers yesterday.  But this video in Iceland was lost due to poor focusing and I started recording in flight.  You can imagine i wasn't too happy.....

I have the same problem with M2P! I would like an answer from dji.

Tap to focus (2/3 in the distance, on your screen) to infinity and immediately switch to Manual Focus mode to avoid the AF system refocusing when detecting a contrast change. That's what every M2P drone operator HAS to do. It has always been like this, since the original Mavic (the Air is already focused to infinity out of the box).
In the example of the video above, you should tap where the little islands on the base of the mountain are, wait until the drone's camera locks focus and then swith to MF (tap the AF button on the corner) before starting recording. Everything will be sharp and in focus now. Just remember not to go beyond f/4.5 for the best results. Anything above it will be influenced by disffraction and will produce a softer image. f/2.8 to f/4 works best

El Diabolico Posted at 5-3 03:42
Tap to focus (2/3 in the distance, on your screen) to infinity and immediately switch to Manual Focus mode to avoid the AF system refocusing when detecting a contrast change. That's what every M2P drone operator HAS to do. It has always been like this, since the original Mavic (the Air is already focused to infinity out of the box).
In the example of the video above, you should tap where the little islands on the base of the mountain are, wait until the drone's camera locks focus and then swith to MF (tap the AF button on the corner) before starting recording. Everything will be sharp and in focus now. Just remember not to go beyond f/4.5 for the best results. Anything above it will be influenced by disffraction and will produce a softer image. f/2.8 to f/4 works best

Thanks for that.  Do you find you have to do that every flight?  Or does it remember from previous flights made days befroehand?

Ian

i have noticed that m2p focuses very well, even on sky. i usually trust it and had no mistakes. so it may be faulty unit. maybe you have a greasy filter in front, like finger stain?

Wellsi Posted at 5-4 00:06
Thanks for that.  Do you find you have to do that every flight?  Or does it remember from previous flights made days befroehand?

Ian

You are very welcome

You need to do this every time unfortunately...

Cheers.

ps. I follow your channel, good work.