Hey everyone, new here, and a new P4P owner. I'm on my fifth flight now just learning the new capabilities of this drone and I'm having some issues with the horizon going out of level during throttle forward or backward. It's so bad that it's unusable. (I've attached a YouTube link showing an example of both forward and backward throttle)

Also, if I'm just hovering and the horizon is level and I rudder right or left 360 degrees, the horizon goes out of level during the rotation, quite drastically.

I've performed multiple auto gimbal calibrations, as well as an IMU calibration on a level surface but no luck. I contacted DJI support and was told to try another IMU cal, as well as Gimbal Cal and compass, did that as well but the problem is still the exact same.

Since the horizon drifts during throttle, a simple manual adjustment of the gimbal doesn't fix the problem.

Hoping someone out there has experienced something similar and has a fix. Really loving the camera on this new drone and would like to get operational asap.

Do a COLD IMU, and Auto Gimbal calib and should fix it.

This gimbal tilt at speed is a well-known and previously reported issue with the current firmware.  I have a month-old post on the exact same issue you are reporting. I ultimately returned my P4Pro to Best Buy and am waiting for DJI to issue a firmware update to address the issue.  Then I will purchase another P4Pro from Best Buy and test it with the new formware. The P3Pro and P4 that I bought when they were first released by DJI also had tilted horizon issues and DJI's engineers finally got those issues completely resolved after 2-3 firmware releases. I'm confident that DJI will resolve the gimbal tilt issue on the P4Pro as well. I'm just surprised its been two months without a new firmware release. Should be one any day now.

TheMann58 Posted at 2017-3-5 17:34
This gimbal tilt at speed is a well-known and previously reported issue with the current firmware.  I have a month-old post on the exact same issue you are reporting. I ultimately returned my P4Pro to Best Buy and am waiting for DJI to issue a firmware update to address the issue.  Then I will purchase another P4Pro from Best Buy and test it with the new formware. The P3Pro and P4 that I bought when they were first released by DJI also had tilted horizon issues and DJI's engineers finally got those issues completely resolved after 2-3 firmware releases. I'm confident that DJI will resolve the gimbal tilt issue on the P4Pro as well. I'm just surprised its been two months without a new firmware release. Should be one any day now.

Mann, the 'tilted horizon' issue is still experienced on many P4's with the latest firmware, including mine. Regardless, like you I believe it isn't a hardware issue (except for the problems with cables catching on the camera during P4P initialisation on some). I believe it's gimbal code which fails to address some flight scenarios so that it doesn't register that it's off alignment. I'd read that the next firmware (P4 and P4P) will incorporate 'gimbal optimisation', so I'm looking forward to this.

Yesterday I was watching a video I'd taken earlier in the day. At one point the horizon was definitely off, and I'd then started a stationary pan to the right. After about a 180 turn, I stopped and after a second or so you could see the horizon then slowly being corrected to being perfect again. It was like it needed something basic to trigger the correction, which is a different outcome to that mentioned by the op in his original post.

Interesting that it rotates clockwise when going forward, and anticlockwise when in reverse.  That seems to me to be related to IMU, rather than airflow.

Mine often has a slight maybe 1 degree clockwise tilt, not normally a problem as I only take stills, but can and does cause a problem when stitching panoramas.

C'mon DJI you must surely have a solution by now?

Same crap, different day. I added a black line to show the extent of it, not that the line is needed. This is in sport mode and the tilt gets worse when going forward and giving it some yaw. To be fair I did a cold IMU and gimbal calibration on a verified level surface but haven't had any decent weather to try it yet.

I have the same issue especially when I yaw.. and sometimes during throttle forward backward as you have specified.

Same problem with Phantom 4.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?wv=qgPL6i5QyYQ

cenz Posted at 2017-3-9 03:15
Same problem with Phantom 4.... www.youtube.com/watch?wv=qgPL6i5QyYQ

https://youtu.be/qgPL6i5QyYQ

RodneyDangerous Posted at 2017-3-9 11:13
The overall number one concern DJI owners have had for multiple product iterations has been the horizon issue:
DJI repeats the same "IMU and gimbal" calibration which is so frustrating because that does nothing. Then they say to send the drone in for repair. That also doesn't fix the problem. It is so irritating for DJI to basically repeat things that don't address the issue. That is why users get irritated with DJI- they feel like they are being ignored.
DJI also appears to have a habit of denying the issue. They show footage where the craft either isn't high enough to see a horizon, or is already in an environment which doesn't have a level horizon to begin with. That's why this is most obvious when flying over water.

Gimbal horizon drift and gimbal rotate abruptly during flight.

I received my P4P after repair. Although it was repaired with the replacement of the camera board, the failure of the gimbal horizon drift remains the same or worse than when it was sent.

There is no way to have a decent horizon, the only time it hold the horizon is immediately after IMU and gimbal calibration but after replacing battery for another flight the problem show up again. This is probable why DJI repair team were unable to replicate the horizon drift problem during test flight after repair.

I have tried all calibrations and fly with and without the mechanical shutter. I notice the horizon tents various levels of tilt depending on heading during yaw turns (wobble horizon) and variations of tilt during acceleration / deceleration or Climbing / Descending. It seems like a weak gimbal or wrong IMU information.

Abrupt gimbal rotation on right lateral flight is the new issue after repair. Expose by many P4P users as well. {:4_142:}

Sometimes it's good to see things as they shouldn't look, puzzling the brain and making you think about what you are seeing.

Here is a quick example of what i mean.

E.T._Drone_Home Posted at 2017-3-6 19:45
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4LVAFlgT1kSame crap, different day. I added a black line to show the extent of it, not that the line is needed. This is in sport mode and the tilt gets worse when going forward and giving it some yaw. To be fair I did a cold IMU and gimbal calibration on a verified level surface but haven't had any decent weather to try it yet.

Checking back in to confirm that the cold IMU calibration and gimbal cal did nothing for the crooked horizon. Still tilts sideways under acceleration and worse in S mode. Maybe the technology just isn't there yet.

E.T._Drone_Home Posted at 2017-3-24 15:20
Checking back in to confirm that the cold IMU calibration and gimbal cal did nothing for the crooked horizon. Still tilts sideways under acceleration and worse in S mode. Maybe the technology just isn't there yet.

'Maybe the technology just isn't there yet.'

It has never been a problem with the bulk of P3 aircraft, so I don't think the technology is a problem.

guys, the new firmware 1.04.0602 will release today, which will have much improve in horizon keeping performance !

jburkett@zackbu Posted at 2017-6-7 19:34
guys, the new firmware 1.04.0602 will release today, which will have much improve in horizon keeping performance !

Nice pick up. Release Notes on the P4P Downloads page confirm this.

I looked hopefully on the equivalent download page for the P4. Damn...

FIXED as of firmware 1.05.0600 it is 1000% times better... you can throw the drone around and the horizon is more solid than even the Mavic now. WOW... The drone flies better now too with yaws being smoother... its a great improvement and I refused to use this drone for a year because I just thought it was baaaad. Now its on par with the mavic for flight stability and controlability and has a better camera... so im going to use it more. Phew

truthseekers Posted at 2018-6-6 02:30
FIXED as of firmware 1.05.0600 it is 1000% times better... you can throw the drone around and the horizon is more solid than even the Mavic now. WOW... The drone flies better now too with yaws being smoother... its a great improvement and I refused to use this drone for a year because I just thought it was baaaad. Now its on par with the mavic for flight stability and controlability and has a better camera... so im going to use it more. Phew

Well then let us cross our fingers that OP who was last active here 2017-4-27 get a notification that the problem might be solved...
I still have had horizon issues now and then even on latest versions, just saying.