Gimbal twitch when shutter activates

[Traveler]

Do others get this or just me.

AC on a table inside house, snap a picture, and the gimbal will twitch in various directions, up, down, left and right. Then after a number of repeated snaps, the gimbal will begin to twitch without any further actions. Twitch is about once a second. Restart and it becomes stable again. Also, the sound that indicates a picture "click" is sometimes absent when taken with the RC button vs screen button.

Just me, or common issues?


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[Traveler]

More data, the twitch appears to be the result of the mechanical shutter. Makes sense I guess. It doesn't happen if you use the frame capture simulated shutter.


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[John Locke]

That's doesn't make sense to me. The mechanical shutter can't be that heavy to move the gimbal, no way. The gimbal must be getting a command to twitch like that, somehow. I'm betting it's a firmware bug that needs addressed.

 

[Traveler]

I don't know, but when I touch the gimbal case then take a snapshot, I feel something mechanical. Doesn't happen on a non mechanical shutter snapshot. Can you test yours for me please.


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[smiller]

The mechanical shutter can't be that heavy to move the gimbal, no way.

I don't know about that, you can feel it in SLR cameras that are a lot more massive than the extremely light camera on the P4P. Of course the shutter mass is a lot smaller on the P4P, but so is the camera. It doesn't seem outside of the realm of possibility to me.

 

[Traveler]

If it's a bug I can't say, but It for sure bugs me. Not a big deal for a higher shutter speed, but when you slow things down it would likely blur an image.
It won't impact video because the camera doesn't use the real shutter for pics taken while shooting video.

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[smiller]

Whether it blurs the image or not depends on when the movement is occurring. Usually any reaction motion is created by the shutter coming to a stop, and at that point the exposure has already occurred.

 

[John Locke]

I don't know, but when I touch the gimbal case then take a snapshot, I feel something mechanical. Doesn't happen on a non mechanical shutter snapshot. Can you test yours for me please.


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Slow down camera shutters speeds in the manual settings and see if that affects the intensity of the twitch. You can go all the way out 8 second exposures I believe.

 

[Traveler]

Good point, good test, snapshots at 2 and 4 seconds and each time the twitch came at the end of the cycle, aka shutter closing or recoiling to the ready. Either way, it does appear to be the result of a mechanical movement.
2nd test at 8 and same result, but the good news is, it didn't blur the image.


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[John Locke]

Good point, good test, snapshots at 2 and 4 seconds and each time the twitch came at the end of the cycle, aka shutter closing or recoiling to the ready. Either way, it does appear to be the result of a mechanical movement.
2nd test at 8 and same result, but the good news is, it didn't blur the image.


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That's pretty amazing. I would have never guessed the shutter could do that. Apparently the velocity of the shutter is pretty fast, so when it suddenly stops, the inertia twitches the camera slightly. Well Gaulauleey.

 

[Traveler]

That's pretty amazing. I would have never guessed the shutter could do that. Apparently the velocity of the shutter is pretty fast, so when it suddenly stops, the inertia twitches the camera slightly. Well Gaulauleey.

I know, who would have thunk it.
These test have all been done on a bench vs actual flight, but I can't imagine that hovering will change the results. Surely the lightweight gimbal will give before the entire craft would absorb any of the recoil shock from the shutter. I would likely have never even noticed it if I hadn't been testing the auto focus for @ppdrone.

Good to know data.



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[alokbhargava]

Last month I was just thinking how did DJI implement gimbal motors control during shutter movements. I get some feel now.


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[smiller]

I know, who would have thunk it.

Just those of us old enough to have owned 'real' SLRs lol

 

[EDugan]

I've been experiencing and researching this very issue. Happens when or just after mechanical shutter closes on my P4P even when sitting on the ground. Does not happen in AEB mode which uses the electronic shutter. Per DJI support, they recommended refreshing the firmware but admitted: there aren't any documented resolutions yet. Totally makes sense to me as a 1 inch sensor needs a large shutter and the vibration has to go somewhere.... Having the option of choosing between electronic and mechanical shutters seems like the best solution IMHO....

 

[KykPhantom]

Yes this is common issue. DJI replied to me that in the next firmware they will add a switch (for DJI GO 4) to choose between mechanical and electronic shutter.

 

[EDugan]

Yes this is common issue. DJI replied to me that in the next firmware they will add a switch (for DJI GO 4) to choose between mechanical and electronic shutter.

Thanks! Problem solved!

 

[CiaranMc]

How does this affect AEB shooting?

 

[EDugan]

How does this affect AEB shooting?

In AEB mode the camera uses an electronic shutter so there is no vibration. My works perfectly without any gimbal movement in AEB mode.

 

[smiller]

If the vibration occurs at the end of shutter travel, after exposure has taken place (which is almost always the case), why is this a 'problem'? This is nothing new, cameras have exhibited this effort for a long, long time. It is just more noticeable because of the extremely low mass of the camera, but should have no impact on image quality.

 

[EDugan]

If the vibration occurs at the end of shutter travel, after exposure has taken place (which is almost always the case), why is this a 'problem'? This is nothing new, cameras have exhibited this effort for a long, long time. It is just more noticeable because of the extremely low mass of the camera, but should have no impact on image quality.

I have no way of knowing exactly when it's happening. If it is the moment the shutter is completely closed than there would be no image blur on that particular image. If you wanted to manually bracket several shots for blending it would be preferable for them to align 100%. Any movement during a longer exposure could cause motion blur issues so I don't see any advantage for using a mechanical shutter for still photography on a gimbal. Even on a DSLR it's common practice to lock the mirror up for a long exposure to avoid any potential motion as the shutter opens.