Twice now, two weeks apart, the gimbal has decided to stop working. Both times were after removing a skyreat ND filter. I tried a gimbal calibration but it wouldn’t move, I had to switch the mini off and back on again to get it to work. Is it a coincidence? Are the filters causing the problem or the fact I find them really clumsy and fiddly to fit and maybe messing something up?
It is always powered down when fitting and removing, and it works perfectly in flight with a filter fitted. It’s only after taking a filter off I have a problem.
TIA
Looks like loads of folks are having issues with their gimbal not working, when using the Skyreat ND filters.
I did read lots of reviews before I bought them, but the latest reviews appeared to be a lot more favourable so I thought they had maybe improved ther design. However, the problem I am having is not during flight, they work perfectly well. It’s only after I remove the filter that the problem occurs. I power off, remove filter, power back on and the gimble goes through its startup check. After this, in flight, the gimble does not operate and I get no warnings about gimble overload or any other errors. I have to power the mini off and on again and all is fine. I’m starting to think it’s my heavy handedness when removing the filter, I find it quite difficult to fit and remove without the gimble being forced all over the place.
I assume you are add/removing the filter with the Mini 2 powered off?
Gimbals are very sensitive to weight, the slightest imbalance can cause this behaviour. Some users have even resorted to adding a bit of sticky tape behind the camera as a counterweight.
More issues regarding Mini 2 gimbal and 3rd party filters here:
Yes it is powered off when fitting or removing, but the problem doesn’t occur while the filter is fitted, it happens after the filter is removed.
Regardless, the issue only happens after using these 3rd party filters. That paired with all the negative feedback would suggest to me at least … that the solution is to try another brand of filter(s).
Personally, I don’t use any filters - never have. Equally, my gimbal has never stopped working.
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I’d doubt that a specific brand will be cause of the problem, since the drone doesn’t know which is on/off (only weight will vary between brands a miniscule amount), added to that the fact that the problem is only when there is no filter attached.
That others are having issues when they are on would suggest the gimbal has a dislike to the weight change, for some reason, and I’d hazard a guess that you could find similar comments for any make.
Never forgetting that negative comments will always be way in excess of positive ones … there’s never the same motivation to applaud as there is to moan/condemn, With all the post-mailorder requests I get to rate an item, I mainly never bother … unless it’s very substandard or massively exceeds my expectations. The latter are rare events. Even the former are not numerous - but I do have that extra vitriolic urge for some.
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I heard so many complaints about filters on the Mini and Mini 2, despite hearing many people droning on about how good they are to get those cinematic shots… I’m not a film maker, I have no interest in the 180 degree rule stuff. I just want to get my drone in the air and shot some video of something I find interesting. I owned a Mavic Mini for almost a year and hardly ever got a chance to use it… So I sold it and got myself a Mini 2… I carry it everywhere I go and it’s the greatest little drone ever (my opinion) and can pretty much fly it anywhere I want to… Just because someone comes on YouTube, talking about how great filters are, usually filters they got for free, doesn’t mean you have to go out and get a set… Plenty of photographers out there, including myself, with a massive selection of filters to choose from and play with. I never bought any and never wanted any… Only thing I have is lens covers, to protect the lens and in the case of the mini 2, the gimbal cover… When using a camera or drone, the last thing you need, no matter how much they charge you for it, is something covering the glass… Now get out there, fly and enjoy, don’t get bogged down with gadgets and accessories.
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I’m going to ignore the video side of things as I’m primarily a very amateur photographer.
This probably wasn’t aimed directly at me but I didn’t rush out to buy the latest gadget or filters because it was recommended by some anonymous person on YouTube. I bought them through my previous experience of photography using kit from range finders, to SLRs and Medium Format. When using a camera one of the most important things you can use is a filter. Certainly more important with digital than film, I’ll ignore infra red for this discussion as it gets even more complicated. Digital cameras, in general, have a much more narrow dynamic range than film. So how do we shoot a scene that has 10 stops of dynamic range when the camera is capable of recording only 7? The choices are:
Take a who cares attitude and expose for the shadow, blow out the highlights which will lose all detail and not be recoverable.
Expose for the highlights, knowing the shadows can be recovered but at expense of time in front of the computer.
Create multiple exposures using bracketing and combine the images on computer, again at the expense of time.
I can use my cameras HDR feature. It works pretty decent most of the time, but you can almost always tell it’s an HDR image that’s been done in camera. Great if that’s what you’re after, but not for me. The other downside is that on my particular Nikon it can only create JPGs for HDR. If I’m bothering to go for a tramp in the hills with a mind for laboriously printing my work at home, I don’t want JPGs, I want RAW. This again takes time in front of the computer but this can be greatly reduced by using filters, namely Graduated ND filters. Use them to balance out the dynamic range from 10 or more stops to 6 or 7 that I know my camera can handle. Minimal editing on computer if I choose JPGs as I set sharpening, contrast, colour saturation on the camera and save them as picture controls with an appropriate name. Ready for upload straight away. Or, I have the RAW files that are perfectly balanced, so if I choose to devote some time to what I think will be a masterpiece and worth the effort and time then I don’t need to worry about blown out highlights or no detail in the shadows.
I could go on about all the filters I use on my digital infra red Nikon D70 or even the value of polarisers, but I think I’ve typed enough shite.
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Oh and by the way I forgot to give some context and say I hate, in fact detest, processing on the computer. I find it dull, difficult, laborious and boring! Which is why I use filters to help me get things right in camera. I have the software, just not the patience. I’d rather be making photos than playing with them
I’m the complete opposite, can loose hours in front of a pc screen. That’s where the magic is, that’s where the pictures come to life. 
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This, and the darkroom before it, those were the days ;o)
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I loved the darkroom and like most people who printed their own work, I can still feel the magic of my first print appearing through the slosh of the developer. I had no family back then so had plenty of time to read, learn and practise. These days I’m very time poor and I just haven’t been able to learn how to use anything other than the very basics of photoshop. I still struggle to use layers ffs!!! That’s most likely why I hate editing, I just don’t know what I’m doing and I dont have the time required to invest in it to make it easy for myself.
Push Photoshop aside and try LightRoom, super simple in comparison. Hit the Auto button and a couple of small tweaks on contrast and see the difference. Honestly, so easy.
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I prefer editing exposure and colour afterwards. Never used filters on any camera in over 40 years. I liked the fun of the darkroom in the old days and 20 plus years of Photoshop tinkering in the digital era.
I know lots who like using filters, it’s an each to his own thing.
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Like yourself I’ve spent many hours in a dark room. But now we are digital the computer is now our digital darkroom. Digital sensors are now surpassing the information gathering capabilities of emulsion, and by adopting the notion that post processing is a bad thing you are only limiting your own creative capabilities.
As for the gimbal problems. I have noticed with the Mini2 that if it is placed on an uneven surface, allowing the gimbal to be even slightly obstructed, it can stall the gimbal boot-up process without producing an error message in the APP. The result is an unresponsive gimbal and a tilted horizon. Power cycling the Mini2, or even just moving it to a smoother take off surface fixes the issue.
I dont think post processing digitally is a bad thing, use whatever tools you are comfortable with and help you achieve your end goal is what I’m all about. Digital v film is a non starter for me, they’re just different tools.
As for the gimbal I think you could be spot on, both times I was set up on rough grass!!!
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I knew I had a clip in my cache of this.
Even random blades of grass can prevent the gimbal from performing a pre-flight calibration properly.
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my mini 2 has a gimbal overload problem without aNYTHING on it i had it repaired in july and only flown twice and it just goes NUTS sent it back this week hopefully it be fixed!
Planning on using an ND filter to get smooth images of fast moving trains later on as a trial run for grabbing a steam train passing through on Saturday. So will let you know how I get on and if the footage is any improvement from Mondays.