Flown my new P4: Not convinced...

[sergekouper]

I flew my new P4 today. The whole 4 batteries.
I was way more impressed by the P3P.
It's a bit direct and cold, but that's the feeling.
Where to start?
First, IMO, It is a bit slow.
In log mode, manual camera settings, when tilting the gimbal, iso was changing by steps, like if it was auto, and not sure which one to chose. Unusable.
In sport mode, the gimbal is not happy at all, and sometimes in normal mode too: Readjusting brutally quite often. (vertically)
Horizon is not particularly straight.
Jello is minimal but definitely there. (if you look for it)
when stopping moving and hover, it looses about 1 meter in altitude. Every time.
Picture is as grainy as the P3 if you don't kill the sharpness.
I checked course lock and POI and it was working as expected.
I don't feel like it's flying better than the P3 to be honest, or that the picture is better... The AWB is better though, and the new flight modes and camera modes are interesting but... Bit disappointed so far.
Is it some things that have been improved by the latest(s) FW update(s)? I believe I'm not the only one experiencing these glitches...

 

[WWK888]

What firmware are you on? If you turn off Obstacle Avoidance it will be just as fast as the P3. My P4 camera is sharper than the P3P and I have absolutely no jello. I know the latest firmware corrected some issues with the camera.

 

[sergekouper]

App 2.8.2
Aircraft version 01 .01 .0301
controller V1.6.0

Oh and I forgot, Loosing video signal too often, even very close range. 5m?

Any other input?

 

[stefan350]

What firmware are you on? If you turn off Obstacle Avoidance it will be just as fast as the P3. My P4 camera is sharper than the P3P and I have absolutely no jello. I know the latest firmware corrected some issues with the camera.

It's faster than the P3 with it off, my P4 hit 42mph yesterday. My P3P never came close to that speed. Also, the fpv seems a lot clearer too on the same device used.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[jwt873]

If you're using an iOS device, upgrade to 2.8.3. 2.8.2 had serious problems with video. You should also upgrade the craft's firmware to the latest 01.01.0411

The tilted horizon is unfortunately a common complaint with the P4 as is the altitude drop on braking.

Your gimbal "Readjusting brutally" doesn't sound right. You might have a mechanical problem with the gimbal.

On Jello... One of the things I really noticed about the P4 (compared to other multi rotors I've flown) was the lack of jello. I often view my footage on a 50 inch UHD TV and there isn't a trace of it. I've been following P4 forums for about a month and a half now, and you are the first person I've seen to report jello.

As far as speed goes, with a bit of a tailwind, in Sport mode or Atti mode you should be able to get up near 60 Mph.. I've managed 57 Mph so far. P is designed for stable photography and provides a pretty good set of "training wheels" for beginners.

 

[sergekouper]

If you're using an iOS device, upgrade to 2.8.3. 2.8.2 had serious problems with video. You should also upgrade the craft's firmware to the latest 01.01.0411

The tilted horizon is unfortunately a common complaint with the P4 as is the altitude drop on braking.

Your gimbal "Readjusting brutally" doesn't sound right. You might have a mechanical problem with the gimbal.

On Jello... One of the things I really noticed about the P4 (compared to other multi rotors I've flown) was the lack of jello. I often view my footage on a 50 inch UHD TV and there isn't a trace of it. I've been following P4 forums for about a month and a half now, and you are the first person I've seen to report jello.

As far as speed goes, with a bit of a tailwind, in Sport mode or Atti mode you should be able to get up near 60 Mph.. I've managed 57 Mph so far. P is designed for stable photography and provides a pretty good set of "training wheels" for beginners.

So that was the question, is some of these problems addressed by a FW upgrade... I'm going to do that asap. I hope that will solve the short video range / bad reception problem too. On the jello it's quite minimal and you have to look for it, I'm not amazed you don't notice any, most people don't see these things.
The goal is not racing but filming. I should probably do what said above, disabling the sensors to get a bit of reactivity back.

 

[lukx]

So that was the question, is some of these problems addressed by a FW upgrade... I'm going to do that asap. I hope that will solve the short video range / bad reception problem too. On the jello it's quite minimal and you have to look for it, I'm not amazed you don't notice any, most people don't see these things.
The goal is not racing but filming. I should probably do what said above, disabling the sensors to get a bit of reactivity back.

Let us know if it fixed the problems for you.

 

[Stealthmatt]

If your drone has a tilted horizon you need to take it back and get it replaced. It is a hardware fault sorry to say.

 

[Justgregg]

Test flight after the upgrade

 

[rexster314]

I had a slightly tilted horizon on the videos, I used the gimbal adjustment for gimbal roll and that took care of it.

 

[sergekouper]

If your drone has a tilted horizon you need to take it back and get it replaced. It is a hardware fault sorry to say.

When I say tilted this is 1 degree maybe 2. (just like my p3 actually, and y old P2 if I remember... )no need for a replacement, I can fix it in post. I also noticed some tabs concerning the gimbal roll. So I guess it must be adjustable.

 

[sergekouper]

2.8.3 improved my video transmission by a ratio of 100:1 Everything's fine with this now. About my gimbal that jumps in some situations, such as nervous flying for example, I realise now that I have installed a ND filter that is probably not the lightest one, and it could be the extra weight...
I have flown 3 batteries today and it was just fine. The picture was nice. I just dropped the sharpness to -1, which seems to remove this grainy effect. I could push to-2 maybe. But I'm generally happy with the contrast and saturation, and I don't like using the log style. I think the camera does a pretty good job as it is (except the exaggerated sharpness) Jello almost imperceptible. Satisfied of the day. I look forward to see my P3P (That I crashed like an idiot recently) coming back and compare them side by side for video settings and results.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I had a slightly tilted horizon on the videos, I used the gimbal adjustment for gimbal roll and that took care of it.

Yes, the gimbal roll settings survive a power off, so once set correctly, if the tilt was consistent, it will fix it permanently. It did on mine, which required a -1.0 adjustment. I had it at -2.2 without realizing it before!

 

[sergekouper]

Test flight after the upgrade

Ok, what are you testing/ showing?