Extremely annoyed at DJI arrogance

[mr_quatson]

Hello everyone!

I just want a place to share my story about the camera on my P2V+
First off, everything is fine with flying it. No crashes so far *knock on wood*. It flies beautifully and everything. I just have one issue. The white balance setting of the camera.

After the initial test flights I noticed that the white balance was shifting midway through the video. It was/is very obvious when filming grass, when pointing the camera down. First it has a yellow tone, as soon as I make the gimbal move the camera straight the white balance shifts to a much cooler, more blueish tone. I'm a photographer, so I do know white balance inside out.

OK, the iOS app allows to set the white balance manually, so I did that. Filmed again. Nothing changed, still the color shift midway through the video. Also, it's a smooth shift, so almost impossible / very annoying to fix in post. Hence the setting in the app!

Maybe I got a faulty unit I thought, emailed DJI support and show them some videos demonstrating the issue. Got a confirmation from them that the camera is not supposed to behave like this. OK, send it in to the dealer where I bought it, since DJI won't accept direct warranty returns. Fair enough.
A couple of weeks later (now) I receive the (same) phantom back and the issue persists! Nothing changed.

So I email DJI again about the topic and now it get juicy...

Support3 EU (DJI)
Jan 28, 22:08
Hello, this is an action camera and not a camera for 1000€! This will not be better whatever we/you do!

I can't believe this?! To be able set the white balance manually is not a feature only high-end cameras have... But it get's even better...

We gave you the RMA that we can check if there´s a fault with the camera...we never said there was fault with it because of looking a short video. We never saw a better Video from Vision+! You can send your complaint to the dji hq.

Best Regards,
Technical Support
DJI GmbH

I'm extremely pissed at DJI at this moment. Because of misinformation, their tone and the money I wasted on their product.

The camera on the P2V+ is not good, really not. But what should I do now? Sell the phantom, fight DJI some more (which I doubt will yield any results) or just get one of those dronexpert adapters so I can put a GoPro on it?

 

[flyNfrank]

No doubt it is far from being a high end camera. They use to take decent video before the v3.2 firmware update. I can shoot video of my neighborhood and most all of the houses look white. The crazy part is we have only two out of 50 that are actually white.

 

[CloudPhantom]

wait. so the camera that comes with the Vision+ sucks? i was under the impression it was a fairly nice camera...

 

[mr_quatson]

Yes, the camera sucks. It can get somewhat decent results, when conditions are perfect. But other than that - forget it.
But my beef is not so much with the camera itself (I kind of knew that the quality was below a GoPro) but how DJI is handling things.
First saying, "Yes this camera behaviour is erratic" and then backing out of it. It ignores the setting of manual white balance - "it's not a high end camera- it's not broken, so f--- off!"

 

[Zebra-one]

The DJI P2V+ camera cost as much as a good DSLR camera....for $700.00 , it should be worth its money

 

[mr_quatson]

It's definitely NOT worth the money but DJI's support is completely worthless. I have a hard time recommending DJI products, everything seems a bit half-done... the manual, the erratic software updates, their support. I don't know..not a trustworthy company I want to give my money to.

 

[Larry L]

JMO, The camera on the vision is better than a go pro for stills. I always shoot in raw for my stills & have been happy as long as it was not at night or in really low light conditions. As far as video, the go pro blows away the vision+. I am a photographer & I went with the vision+ for that very reason. If I were doing video, I would defiantly look at the go pro with FPV. The camera for the vision is like the the old camcorders that took stills. The stills suck as the focus was on video. That seems to be the way this camera is. You are right though, the WB shouldn't shift during it.

 

[garrock]

I'm satisfied with the P2V+ camera.
I know its is not a professional grade camera.

The P2V+ is a out of the box, ready to fly, system for the masses.
Anyone else should consider other platform solutions.

 

[fastsmiles]

The camera on the V+ is certainly not worth the $700. I wish someone would design a $200-$300 replacement for it. It wouldn't hurt so bad when the bird falls from the sky and smashes the camera.

 

[mr_quatson]

Obviously it's a consumer level camera. No doubt about that. And I knew that also when I purchased the Phantom. The added advantage of having FPV via my phone was the thing that made me buy the P2V+.
However, not being able to have a camera that respects a setting is a huge disappointment. And the way DJI is handling things doesn't increase my trust in them.

 

[Jstic]

This is not a high level "professional grade" camera, and anyone who buys it thinking that they are going to get perfect white balance or other tweaks is naive. The camera costs probably a few hundred dollars to make and is designed to operate in conditions that most cameras are never exposed to. What do you expect for $1200?

As far as DJI's response, at least they were honest with you and didn't give you some sugar coated response like most companies do. If you want sugar coated, go to Apple. They will lie to you and make you feel good about it.

 

[Jstic]

The DJI P2V+ camera cost as much as a good DSLR camera....for $700.00 , it should be worth its money

No "good DSLR" cameras for $700 come with a 3 axis gimbal with WIFI which can be operated and controlled from up to 2500 feet away and is designed to function at different altitudes and conditions. It also supplies telemetry data for the aircraft, I don't know of ANY DSLR cameras that do any of that. The $679 that they charge is for the gimbal mostly, the camera itself is just a fairly simple, inexpensive digital.

 

[max]

I've got to agree with OP. If you allow the user to take white balance off of auto, then it shouldn't change. It should be set to a single temperature, corresponding to day time, shade, or whatever else. If you're still going to allow the camera to adjust WB itself, then call it what it is: AUTO white balance. Don't give user selectable WB settings. And also, don't be rude to your customers, that's a whole other level of shittiness.

P.S., I too have been annoyed by the white balance. Freaking annoying

 

[mr_quatson]

I knew from the very beginning, that the camera was not on a high quality level, let alone DSLR quality.

And before purchasing the P2V+ I did read the manual because I wanted to know if it would allow for something else than Auto White Balance. And sure enough, the manual describes how you can set the white balance to sunny/cloudy/incandescent.

So, why offer a feature that clearly doesn't work as advertised and then be rude about it, instead of offering any solutions (firmware update, etc.)
Far from honest in my book...