Is there A Phantom 4 Without 'Horizon Tilt' Problem?

PKPhantom · Mar 9, 2017

Guys,
First post here. Just a quick background. I bought a P3P a while back, about 8 Months ago. I LOVED IT! Thousands of Miles of incredible flights without any problems at all. Well, knock on wood.

Fast forward to last Christmas, I decided to get myself a P4. What a great looking beast! Flight experience is out of this world, especially 'Sports Mode'. For a minute, I believed that I had a real upgraded Phantom. Well, not until I started noticing the annoying 'Horizon Tilt' problem. I simply couldn't deal with it.

Returned the P4 and got a replacement. Again, the same problem. They say three time's a charm, right? VERY WRONG! Still, THREE P4's later, the Horizon Tilt was there in every single one of them. Incredibly annoying. I tried all possible remedies in the book; IMU, Gimbal, Compass Cold/ Hot Calibrations etc. Nothing helped. Out of frustration, with that money, I ended up getting another P3P. So now, I have two. Awesome awesome birds!

So, here I am trying to find out whether there is a P4 without the 'Horizon Tilt problem'. Does it actually exist? Is there a member on here that can actually come out and tell me that they have a P4 WITHOUT HORIZON TILT PROBLEM? Is this problem experienced by all users but simply ignored?

It is my wish to jump into the P4, P4P and possibly P5 bandwagon (if ever released). But there is simply no way I would do that with the 'Horizon Tilt' problem. Out of all of the current & past problems with these drones, I simply cannot stand this one.

Thanks for all your feedback.

-PK

Dramface460 · Mar 9, 2017

I had the same Problem but I took mine back and don't really notice the horizon issue anymore since they replaced the camera for free. When I do notice an issue with the horizon, I just use the horizon button configuration to fix it...I bet this will fix your problem

If you hold the c2 button on the bottom of the remote while flying and then scroll the camera wheel on the right side you can correct the horizon tilt.

zgembit · Mar 9, 2017

Yeah, phantoms are not a perfect product. On my former P3P I used to level it manually with "gimbal tilt" in the settings.
I think my P4 does not have perfect horizont leveling either but I never really concentrated on that. And even in P4 settings you can adjust that manually if you want.

PKPhantom · Mar 9, 2017

The problem with manual adjustment C2 button and/or gimbal roll doesn't seem to be a permanent fix. More of a 'band-aid'. I have tried this approach as well. Unfortunately, once the drone is restarted, the problem reverts. I am looking for a more permanent fix. Or just a P4 that doesn't have this issue. Like I said, I have 2 P3P and NONE of them have the Horizon Tilt Problem.

Dramface460 · Mar 9, 2017

Yea must be that particular p4 then bc once I sent mine in they replaced the camera and never had serious issues with horizon tilt again.

Hawkwind · Mar 9, 2017

I have had this problem ever since I've had my P4. When I want to take a specific shot I adjust the view if needed.At this time I don't know of any permanent cure.If you have the luxury of time for your shot that's great;but if not your out of luck.Until DJI addresses this problem it will stay as a P4 glitch IMHO.

Suhail78 · Mar 9, 2017

I also have a P4 that has this problem,and nothing i've tried has solved it, now i too use the C2+Wheel method to fix it if i know i'm trying to capture some footage that i want to use. Very annoying.......seems very widespread as well.

Another annoying thing is that if i correct it with C2 and i yaw one direction or another, the horizon is tilted again, and i have to correct it again.

zgembit · Mar 9, 2017

Checked footage that I filmed today and yes, big tilt!

zgembit · Mar 9, 2017

Suhail78 said:
I also have a P4 that has this problem,and nothing i've tried has solved it, now i too use the C2+Wheel method to fix it if i know i'm trying to capture some footage that i want to use. Very annoying.......seems very widespread as well.

Another annoying thing is that if i correct it with C2 and i yaw one direction or another, the horizon is tilted again, and i have to correct it again.

Is C2+yaw and actually going in under gimbal meny and adjusting "gimbal roll" the same?

You tried calibrating imu and all that wlthout any results? What else did you try?

tcope · Mar 9, 2017

I corrected by P3P this way.....

Determine which way you'd need to tilt the Phantom in order to correct the camera if the camera did not move. That is, if the camera was locked and could not move, what way would you need to tilt the Phantom to correct the camera tilt. Use this information to prop up one side of the Phantom accordingly. Now do a gimbal calibration. The tilt of the Phantom (not level) will compensate for the incorrect Gimbal setting. The trick is, which way you need to tilt the Phantom. I can't rememeber if its the same way or the opposite in order to compensate. I _think_ its the opposite way. Once you know the correct direction you may need to do this a few times to get the camera level.

You are basically "tricking" the Gimbal leveling process to compensate for camera being off.

Brockrock · Mar 9, 2017

I have been grousing about this tilted horizon issue for awhile now on this forum. It is very frustrating to say the least. The problem with the C2 / Scroll Wheel combo is that it causes a gimbal twitch. This is OK if you are setting up for a still image, but it's not OK in the middle of a video you are attempting to capture.

I dislike complaining about this too, because I think the P4 is a pretty amazing product, and DJI has done a great job over the years improving each new series of drone based on issues that the prior series had. But, at the end of the day - or flight session - these are aerial camera systems, and the product that they produce - apart from being a joy to fly - is digital photographic and video content. As such, I feel that it is very reasonable for a P4 / P4P owner to reliably expect that their horizon will be level during a flight.

wildturkeyway · Mar 9, 2017

Brockrock said:
I have been grousing about this tilted horizon issue for awhile now on this forum. It is very frustrating to say the least. The problem with the C2 / Scroll Wheel combo is that it causes a gimbal twitch. This is OK if you are setting up for a still image, but it's not OK in the middle of a video you are attempting to capture.

I dislike complaining about this too, because I think the P4 is a pretty amazing product, and DJI has done a great job over the years improving each new series of drone based on issues that the prior series had. But, at the end of the day - or flight session - these are aerial camera systems, and the product that they produce - apart from being a joy to fly - is digital photographic and video content. As such, I feel that it very reasonable for a P4 / P4P owner to reliably expect that their horizon will be level during a flight.

+1

DarkDrone 1 · Mar 9, 2017

I've learned that with winds of 25+ MPH, the horizon tilt becomes an issue when the wind is hitting the Phantom 4 from the sides.

Last weekend I finally flew in higher wind conditions and as I was filming a 360 degree horizon video, the horizon would tilt, then level out, then tilt, etc. as the P4 rotated.

The horizon would rise, tilt right, lower, tilt left, etc (if that makes any sense).

Just curious if this (higher winds), may be causing your issues...

Blah · Mar 9, 2017

I think I'm one of the lucky ones. I didn't really know about this when I got the P4. It's only a few weeks old, maybe it's from the last batch or summat!

Dramface460 · Mar 9, 2017

Blah said:
I think I'm one of the lucky ones. I didn't really know about this when I got the P4. It's only a few weeks old, maybe it's from the last batch or summat!

View attachment 78075

Yea same here. It must be the early productions of the p4's. I had to send my p4 in(a replacement p4 bc of a RTH failure crash) the next p4 they sent me had a beeping sound so then they sent me another replacement lol. Just received the replacement 4 days ago. This latest one has a higher serial number than all my last 2 p4's. Haven't had one issue with the horizon tilt now.

JMR · Mar 9, 2017

Hey, received P4 a few days ago, and horizon tilt looks ok so far even on this windy day.

RémyHeli · Mar 9, 2017

Find horizon tilt TEST;

Suhail78 · Mar 9, 2017

zgembit said:
Is C2+yaw and actually going in under gimbal meny and adjusting "gimbal roll" the same?

You tried calibrating imu and all that wlthout any results? What else did you try?

Yes, i believe its the same, i've dont it both ways, going into the gimall roll settings and using C2+ wheel, it fixes the issue temporarily, but it comes back during the same flight.

Yes i've done IMU calibration, gimbal calibration, resolves the issue at first, but after not very long its tilted again.