Process of elimination - unstable video and photos

[AlphaZeroOne]

Having flown my P3 for several months now I have to say that I'm still very impressed with the machine. As a semi professional photographer, my interest is very much focused on the abilities of the camera and the new opportunities that this provides. Stunning clarity and rock solid images, I can understand why the P3 is often referred to as a tripod in the sky. However, some weeks ago, all this changed for me. The video footage became jerky and the horizon in photos were way off level. I did all the usual stuff, calibrated this and that but to no avail. The only thing that I had not done was to update the firmware. I was getting the annoying 'gimbal motor overload' message constantly. Finally, with the last release of the firmware (I had skipped the previous one based on reported problems) I decided that I should upgrade both the Phantom and the RC. Problem free, simple process. So, confident that the video problems would have been solved, I fired up and low and behold, no gimbal overload message! Brilliant, I thought. Until I took off and quickly saw that the video feed was still as jerky and useless. So scratching my head for possible causes I was in the process of having the send my phantom for repair. And then a thought stuck me. The only modification that I have made to my P3 was to fit a gimbal guard. On checking the action of the gimbal axis very carefully it became clear that the gimbal guard was fitted too tightly and was restricting the gimbal moving left and right. Loosening off the screws a little resulted in silky smooth videos and photographs again! Brilliant. So, if you are having stable video problems and have fitted the gimbal guards (which is a good insurance measure), check that the retaining screws are not so tight that the guard restricts the movement of the gimbal. I'm hoping that this might help someone with similar problems.