Hey all!

So recently bought a 2nd hand M2P and was loving it! untill i started having focus issues.

The first few flights were mint! and love the quality of image and footage it takes. How ever the first time i used it to get some real usable footage (3rd or 4th time overall) it would not focus. tried auto, manual and resetting all settings.

So far i have recalibrated everyhting, updated all firmware and i have come down to the following scenario.

I have placed the drone on a level bench. i turned it on and fine, the fan starts up after a while (Estimate of 2 mins) and the camera remains working. I turn the drone off and back on now the camera does not focus. I let it rest for 45 mins and power it up and connect and the camera focuses. After a couple of minutes the fan kicks on and i let it go for a bit and the camera still focuses. I restart immediately and bam the camera doesnt focus. I Have repeated this process 5ish times now all with the exact same result. It also occurs if the drone is left in my backpack in a car while i shoot using my DSLR for 45ish mins then go to put it up and it wont focus. So I have presumably nailed it down to a heat issue. Maybe fan isnt working? i dont know. How ever while the drone was on the bench only the power button as touched. it was never moved so i know its not a loose part or something.


Has anyone else had this problem? any ideas on where to go from here? the drone is 2 years old so no warranty etc.

Thanks in advance!

It should be auto focusing, have you checked that you don't have it set to manual focus.

Suren Posted at 10-10 11:41
It should be auto focusing, have you checked that you don't have it set to manual focus.

Yes, i knownit should be but it doesnt. If you have a reread, you can see it trying too but it doesnt find focus. Have also tried manual mode to no avail.

Hi Misc99,

so far I didn't experienced problems, even when operating the drone in cold, neither warm conditions. But, electronics sometimes can get sensitive to temperature after a while. Try it in cool as warm conditions. Watch out for condensation (in the drones body) like when going from an airconditioned area to a warm humid environment. It is possible that your drone got temperature sensitive. I had such a problem with the shutter speed of one of my cameras. Shutter speed went down when the camera got cold. Worked perfect in warmer environment. The problem was situated in the main circuit board and needed replacement.

Since you bought it used, any chance of returning it?  Sounds like an internal connection, cable, solder joint, or just a sketchy component problem.
Also, now that I think of it, there is a way to do a complete reset of the drone...You have to use the "older" DJI Assistant (for the Mavic Pro (1)..... There is a reset function in that program and not in the Assistant program for the Mavic 2.....Maybe try that?

JohnDG Posted at 10-11 03:45
Hi Misc99,

so far I didn't experienced problems, even when operating the drone in cold, neither warm conditions. But, electronics sometimes can get sensitive to temperature after a while. Try it in cool as warm conditions. Watch out for condensation (in the drones body) like when going from an airconditioned area to a warm humid environment. It is possible that your drone got temperature sensitive. I had such a problem with the shutter speed of one of my cameras. Shutter speed went down when the camera got cold. Worked perfect in warmer environment. The problem was situated in the main circuit board and needed replacement.

Hey John, Yeah i now feel like it is a problem in the main board. I will be sending it to DJI off my own back to get them to have a look. I don't want them to go straight to replacing the camera or anything like that when i now know its not the camera. The scenario i created up above is 100% repeatable. So hoping they take that on board.

Like JMB63 said i will give the hard reset a go and see if that helps at all.

I mean the drone still works fine when its been allowed to sit and cool. I'm wondering if it has some kind of temperature memory as the previous owner used it only while travelling in Canada.

I don't feel like i can take it back to the previous owner, that's the risk of buying second hand in my opinion.

You mention the fan kicks in on one of your scenarios, so it's probably working but somehow is getting itself confused,
I had major focus problems and found it boiled down to it locking on a close up subject if I started recording when the drone was still on the ground.  Unsure if you have a focus lock setting that may be keeping the focus point too close for normal shooting.  
This video may help as it goes through the various modes and also shows how to use the incredibley useful Focus Peaking option so you know you're in focus in flight.....
Cheers,
Ian

Ian in London Posted at 10-13 23:38
You mention the fan kicks in on one of your scenarios, so it's probably working but somehow is getting itself confused,
I had major focus problems and found it boiled down to it locking on a close up subject if I started recording when the drone was still on the ground.  Unsure if you have a focus lock setting that may be keeping the focus point too close for normal shooting.  
This video may help as it goes through the various modes and also shows how to use the incredibley useful Focus Peaking option so you know you're in focus in flight.....

That's some good stuff - I had no idea  (or had forgotten)  focus peaking.  Thanks.