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Horizontal tilt issue?

wonny

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I am almost ready to buy the Karma drone bundle package, but I read on some reviews, and also saw some Youtube videos, that the videos can be recorded slightly tilted. I also read that this tilt can be corrected somewhat easily but it requires landing the drone and going through a calibration procedure. It seems like this tilt issue occurs on the DJI Mavic as well but on the DJI, the tilt can be adjusted while in flight (I may be incorrect here).

Can the users of the Karma drone comment on this issue? Is this a minor inconvenience that can be corrected if you calibrate the gimbal before the flight, or is this something that is quite troublesome?

Thank you everyone for all the help.
 
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I have not had that problem with my Karma. I'm assuming it's a problem with the gimbal. Would definitely call GoPro support and get a replacement gimbal if it happened frequently. I have had that issue with gimbals on other drones though. Not a big deal unless it happens every time you fly.
Don't know about the Mavic. Would be surprised if you could calibrate the gimbal mid flight though.

One of the reasons I bought the Karma over the Mavic was customer support. Have dealt with DJI before and it really turned me off to their products. I feel like if I did have issues with the Karma GoPro would be a better company to deal with.
 
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I've had the gimbal tilt on me a few times. Its usually fixed by landing and power cycling the drone, or you can just adjust the video in post production. After converting your clip in GoPro Studio, open the Framing panel and adjust the tilt and then zoom in a tiny bit to hide the corners.
 
I had it happen with my Karma. I guessed that it might need calibration, so I did it before I took it out the next time and it hasn't happened since. I've only had mine about 8 weeks, so I can't comment on the frequency of the problem. Calibration is trivial.
 
I have experienced the tilt issue using the Karma Grip while riding my bike. Just turning it off and back on again reset the proper orientation. I haven't noticed it yet using the drone, but I only have 75 minutes of stick time so far.
 
Thank you everyone for the helpful tips. I went ahead and purchased the drone. I am seeing the tilt happen sometimes so I'll try out the power cycle trick.
 
Tried the power cycle trick, and I can see that the camera has corrected itself.
 
Hello everyone... I am new to this fantastic world of Gopro and like many other I am considering getting a Karma drone. So before spending a lot of money on the drone I started reading and watching reviews and fairly soon it became clear to me that there is something called horizon tilt issues and after some thoughts I came up with the following...I believe that the Karma drone and the integrated Karma grip use some form of gyro in order to keep its position in space and one of the things you learn in flight school (I am an airliner pilot) is that gyros like many other systems have drawbacks and limitations. I do not know exactly what kind of gyro Gopro use but with regards to the price it certainly is not one made out of lasers i.e it is fairly simply in design. Without getting too much into detail there is something called "Gyroscopic wander", as the rigidity of the gyro system want to keep the spin axis fixed in space, the gyro will either "drift" or "topple". Drift is when the spin axis turns in the earth horizontal plane and topple is when the axis tilts in any earth vertical plane. Furthermore there is something called "real wander" and that is when the gyro axis is not staying in its position in space mainly due to imperfections of the gyro.

But the gyro also appears to drift due to the fact that the gyro tries to keep its position in space as the earth rotates. This is a function of latitude, Drift=15 x sin latitude/h. So in Sweden where I live a gyro is drifting:
15 x sin 58/h Equals approximately 13 degrees/hour this means that if you have a directional gyro in your sports aircraft (airliners use more stable platforms) the gyro will drift about 13 degrees in the example above and the pilot has to calibrate the gyro every now and then, for example 4 times an hour in order to fly in the right direction. So with the above in mind, why does a Karma gyro drift or wander or both? is it due to imperfections of the system, yes very like, is it a gyro like the one I just described and has to be calibrated prior to each flight with the drone, also very likely.

More reading on various forums on the internet seem to point out the horizon tilt issue not only on Gopro but a also on the competitors gimbles. I think in this price-range we are focusing on the tilt is a fact that we need to address and if I had a drone I would certainly calibrate it prior to each flight in order to get the most of it.

Anyone else who have a similar theory?
 
I had it happen to me once and I believe it was because I powered it on while it was on a hill - actually, an abandoned freeway overpass. The calibration fixed it and it's never happened to me again.
 
Bit of an old thread, but I've had my Karma for nearly two weeks and haven't experienced any tilt issues. I know what you're referring to though - I had the first generation Karma (pre-recall) and saw the tilt problems first-hand, and posted a video on YT about it.

So far, so good. Looks like the firmware updates have dealt with the issue.
 

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