Got out for my first flight this morning. Quite nerve wracking, to be honest, not least because when I’d arrived at my spot I realised that it was a good bit more windy than it was at home! However, I did manage to fly around for a little bit and took some video. It was sunny enough that I struggled to see my phone screen, but otherwise things mostly went as expected, and the drone was easier to control than I had expected.
A few things I noticed, and a couple of questions (note that my drone is a C-Fly Faith Mini 2, so some of the questions may not be relevant to other drones?):
RTH seemed to actually take the drone quite high (although I expect my understanding of ‘high’ will probably get higher as I get more experienced), is this usual?
I know one of the quirks of the Faith Mini 2 is that the controller has the phone underneath rather than on top. However, I kept nudging the cable out with my hand and losing connection - any advice?
Footage I’ve seen from reviewers seemed to be of good quality, but mine had quite a lot of defects - could this just be the wind, or is it the SD card? I bought a brand new 64GB SandDIsk Extreme. Any way to run tests other than just doing more flights? (I forgot to take any still photos, otherwise I would post them).
Some drone apps allow you to set the RTH height. Have a nosey around in your app, this might be a value you can change too. If so, change it on each flight, based on your surroundings at the time. Keep it as low as possible in case of wind battles - but obviously higher than any obstacles en route.
Have you had a look around on eBay for a “tablet holder” for your drone? These often place the tablet above the controller. In your case, you could buy a tablet holder and put your phone in it instead.
Alternatively, a lot of people use a right-angled USB cable to help with this issue. Plenty to choose from on Amazon.
That depends on what the defects are?
I’m not familiar with your model of drone, is the gimbal stabilised or is it a fixed position camera?
Again, it depends on what the “defects” are.
Can you be more specific? Or upload a video to YouTube and share the link here, so we can see what the defects are?
It came with a custom right-angled cable. I will try taking my phone out of it’s case, which might help, otherwise will look for a tablet holder as suggested.
3-axis gimbal stablisation.
I’ve uploaded 2 videos from this morning to youtube. Obviously the wind and the newbie piloting will account for some of the issues, but not all of them…
My Fimi defaults to a 30m return height - quite normal, and gets it clear of anything between you and the drone.A s PingSpike said, look in the app.
For the video issue, try reformatting the SD card. Plug it into a Windoze box and format it “ex-FAT”. Also, if you have a 32Gb micro-SD card, try that (formatted “FAT32” ) instead. Als0, some onboard recorders chop the recording into 5-minute chunks.
Is there an FPV option somewhere? I have never used your type of drone, but my DJI Minis have an option of setting the gimbal to work in FPV mode. This makes the gimbal rock side to side with the drone. If that option is turned off, the drone can lean over, but the camera will stay level.
If you have that setting, I’d suggest changing the position of the ‘switch’ and see if it halos to stabilise your video.
Hi @mrben. I have looked at the manual for your drone and can’t see anything like FPV mode so i would check for firmware updates, looking at other Youtube videos on the same model is not showing the erratic movement of the gimbal that you are getting. also re-calibrate the drone. otherwise send it back.
Il keep my fingers crossed.
Some drones take 64Gb+ cards…but on actually looking at the video, my SD card comment was pretty irrelevant, sorry. But there was certainly a bit of wind involved - see the last few frames of the second vid…and before that the direction in which the picture the picture was rocking (pitch or roll) changed with the direction the drone was pointing. It’s not a big drone, I believe. Gains problem?
It seems almost every second of your footage is unstable unfortunately. I don’t know anything about that drone but at almost 1/6th the price of the mini 4, I’m not sure you could realistically expect the level of image stabilisation DJI MP4 provides. Pretty much in any flyable wind, DJI produces stable and completely smooth footage/sharp photos. I’d say it’s either a fault or grim characteristic of that drone. Maybe look at other Faith footage on youtube to compare as the other guys suggest - good luck
Just to be clear - I did watch a bunch of footage and reviews before purchase, and this was one of the drones that was ranked highest in its price bracket, not least because it does have a 3-axis gimbal and good stablisation. You can see an example below, but there are plenty of others.
Lack of skill and wind certainly make up a good deal of the flight. I expect that to improve in better conditions and with practice. My main question was whether or not some of the defects (which actually seemed to be less obvious in the YT upload than in the original) were down to the SD card. I shall do some more testing in some better conditions and see how I get on.
OK - time to file this one under “n00b being an idiot”. Went to double check for firmware updates, and discovered this piece of foam stuffed in above the gimbal. This might explain an awful lot…
Just goes to show how much attitude correction is mopped up by the gimbal. Glad it was a simple problem, and looking forward to seeing your drone run without the handicap!
