When the camera is facing all the way down as far as it will go, the gimbal pans up 25% without input. It happens instantly when you reverse. It also happens when you stop after going forward.

Thanks for letting us know, which app/firmware are you using? did it appear after app 1.1.3 update?

bugalugs22 Posted at 5-30 17:13
Thanks for letting us know, which app/firmware are you using? did it appear after app 1.1.3 update?

Yes, current app firmware is 1.1.3

I suspect nothing to do with app version. The camera can't move past 90° or thereabouts, thus not being able to move 90° absolute reverts to a safe setting.

If you really need to shoot something while looking directly above it is more convenient to shoot going forward.

This happens to my drone too. Never experienced this issue before. With the current latest App and firmware version it happens all the time.
Not being able have a steady video kills it for me.
so basically my drone is not usable atm because i always film 90° down.
FIX IT ASAP
Thanks

Can confirm this also but only saw I yesterday in combination with a high speed warning like the video the Op posted. Perhaps it’s related.

This happens to me too with the newest firmware. Never happened before.

It has nothing at all to do with the app or the firmware.  It's always been that way. The range of motion of the gimbal has physical limits as illustrated on page 23 of the User Manual.

The gimbal can be rolled down no more than 90° (relative to the body of the Mini).  When flying forward the gimbal will automatically roll forward to hold that same stabilized downward facing view.  But if you pull the Mini into reverse, or suddenly hit the brakes, the Mini will pitch backwards.  The gimbal physically cannot rotate further than 90° (relative to the body of the Mini), so you see the camera view rotate forward from vertical.

Zbip57's explanation is where I was going to go but I read before I post up. I've been doing a lot of stick time flights as a practice for uSAR flights. I don't record the footage but I fly and alternate between VLoS and camera monitoring (because who really wants to see a slow flight looking for a traffic cone in or near the edge of a wooded area). About the best angle for my use has been between -45 and -65 degrees tilt as I can get a good overview of an area and then should I find my object I can do speed/altitude adjustments for object confirmation. Early on, I was using -90 degrees for pinpointing and as I rolled backwards I would notice that I would lose the target. So, I brought the Mini near me and repeated my actions to see what was happening and can confirm ACFT pitch in reverse mode. Should I need to stay on the pin but use the Mini as a guide for a SAR team, I raise gimbal to about -70 degrees and reverse to recenter the target. Following this with a circle flight so that which ever way the ground is making their access they should be able to home in on the strobe package and the ACFT sound.

Zbip57 Posted at 6-1 08:25
It has nothing at all to do with the app or the firmware.  It's always been that way. The range of motion of the gimbal has physical limits as illustrated on page 23 of the User Manual.

The gimbal can be rolled down no more than 90° (relative to the body of the Mini).  When flying forward the gimbal will automatically roll forward to hold that same stabilized downward facing view.  But if you pull the Mini into reverse, or suddenly hit the brakes, the Mini will pitch backwards.  The gimbal physically cannot rotate further than 90° (relative to the body of the Mini), so you see the camera view rotate forward from vertical.

Naturally strong tail wind will cause the same even in hover, since the drone will attempt to compensate
with angled position beyond gimbal limit ...

Zbip57 Posted at 6-1 08:25
It has nothing at all to do with the app or the firmware.  It's always been that way. The range of motion of the gimbal has physical limits as illustrated on page 23 of the User Manual.

The gimbal can be rolled down no more than 90° (relative to the body of the Mini).  When flying forward the gimbal will automatically roll forward to hold that same stabilized downward facing view.  But if you pull the Mini into reverse, or suddenly hit the brakes, the Mini will pitch backwards.  The gimbal physically cannot rotate further than 90° (relative to the body of the Mini), so you see the camera view rotate forward from vertical.

Yes, exactly. It has always been this way. The angle of the camera cannot maintain the extreme downward angle. It can be a bit frustrating when trying to frame a shot sometimes. More affected with Sports mode than any other mode due to aggressive angle it tilts in Sport mode.

STOP saying this is normal. It isn't.
I have over 300GB of footage.
I received my drone on release. This was not the case before.
When flying full speed forward with a 0° angel and then tilting the gimbal down to 90° my gimbal stays at 90° for a second and then jumps up as described above.
Even when staying still this happens sometimes.

That was not the case before and should be fixed.

mrbubbels Posted at 6-2 02:29
STOP saying this is normal. It isn't.
I have over 300GB of footage.
I received my drone on release. This was not the case before.

The thread title claims this is due to an "Annoying Firmware Update".  Post #2 asks, "did it appear after app 1.1.3 update?" mrbubbels insists, "Never experienced this issue before. With the current latest App and firmware version it happens all the time."  In post#10 andrei193 says, "This happens to me too with the newest firmware. Never happened before."  mrbubbels still insists, "STOP saying this is normal. It isn't. That was not the case before and should be fixed."

Is it annoying, and should it be fixed?  Sure, that would be nice.

However, it was absolutely not introduced with the latest firmware version or the Fly app version.  It is due to the limits of the range of gimbal motion.  Nothing has changed in that respect since the first day the Mini was released.  Just because you haven't noticed it until now, doesn't change the fact that it has always been like this.

Here's an example from all the way back in Christmas 2019, long before the current versions of firmware and app were released.

At 2:40 in the video, the scale on the right side of the screen shows I have the gimbal rotated fully down to the 90° vertical position as the Mini is flying in automatic RTH mode and gradually slows to a halt directly over the recorded Home Point.  At 2:46, as it's descending, when I pull full back on the stick to make the Mini reverse the gimbal instantly jumps forward.

Well...  I take it all back.  Almost all.  The issue is definitely not something new.  It has always been there.


However, it actually might be something that can be corrected via a firmware or app update!  I just did a quick test.  You should try this for yourself to see what's happening.

Power up your app, controller, and Mini, but DO NOT start the motors!!  Pick up the Mini in your hand and, using the app, rotate the gimbal to its full-down 90° position.  Now experiment by manually tipping the Mini to different angles watching how the gimbal behaves.

As you tip the Mini forward, the gimbal automatically remains pointing straight down because this is within the gimbal's normal operating range of motion.  Tipping the Mini rearward should force the gimbal away from pointing straight down, since that is physically beyond its published 90° range of motion.  However, the gimbal actually does rotate further than 90° in order to remain pointing straight down as the Mini is tipped rearward!

Huh?!?  Try it, you'll see.

Okay, now try it with the motors running, holding the Mini from below to keep your fingers and face well away from the props. Hold on tight, because the Mini will fight you if you're tipping it to different angles!!!  (it would be much safer to remove the props for this test, but I didn't want to disturb the loctite on the new screws.)


With the motors running, and the gimbal again pointed vertically straight down, the gimbal behaves normally as expected whenever the Mini is tipped forward.  But, when the Mini is tipped rearward the gimbal will not remain pointing straight down (like it did before with the Mini powered up but motors not running).  Instead, as the Mini is tipped rearward, the gimbal jumps forward and remains stablilized in that forward position.

The fact that the gimbal can stay pointed straight down (rotating beyond the published 90° limit) with the motors not running, but does not stay pointed straight down when the motors are running, does seem to imply that something in the firmware could be changed to correct this issue.  Verrrrry interrrrresting...

well i am not saying it never happened to anyone before. so obviously you are right.
but for me it never did happen in the way it does now although i have a lot of footage.

I did have a few occasions where the gimbal jumped up just how you described it when going going full speed in S mode but it adjusted immediately to the same 90° angel in under a second.

Never before have i seen the gimbal just move up like it did on my last flight all the time. It wasnt windy and this never happened before.
I dont know why thats the case but obviously its some firmware adjustment that happened recently, because i havent been flying alot since the last update.